Moral Anthropology: A Critique

Description

A development in anthropological theory, characterized as the 'moral turn', is gaining popularity and should be carefully considered. In examining the context, arguments, and discourse that surrounds this trend, this volume reconceptualizes the discipline of anthropology in a radical way. Contributions from anthropologists from around the world from different theoretical traditions and with expertise in a multiplicity of ethnographic areas makes this collection a provocative contribution to larger discussions not only in anthropology but the social sciences more broadly. Contents Introduction: Reconceptualizing the Discipline • Bruce Kapferer and Marina Gold I. Orientations Steps Away from Moralism • Martin Holbraad Moral Anthropology and A Priori Enunciations • Kirsten Bell The Question of Ethics and Morality • Terry Evens Why I Will Not Make It as a “Moral Anthropologist” • Don Kalb II. Situating Morality Ethnographically Facts, Values, Morality, and Anthropology • Christopher C. Taylor Moral Anthropology, Human Rights, and Egalitarianism, or the AAA Boycott • Marina Gold Empathy, as Affective Ethical Technology and Transformative Political Praxis • Elisabeth Kirtsoglou and Dimitrios Theodossopoulos Anthropology’s Atavistic Turn: An Animist Perspective • Caroline Ifeka III. Moral Anthropology: An Antipolitics Machine The Horizon of Freedom and Ethics of Singularity: The Social Individual and the Necessity of Reloading the Spirit of 1968 • Jakob Rigi An Obscure Desire for Catastrophe • Rohan Bastin Situating Morality • Jonathan Friedman Afterword • Bruce Kapferer and Marina Gold