Anthropology & Sociology of Development (ANSO) PROFESSOR

Academic year 2015 - 2016

Isabelle Schulte-Tenckhoff
isabelle.schulte-tenckhoff@graduateinstitute.ch

Office hours : Tuesday 14h30-16h

World Anthropologies: Uses and Abuses of ‘Culture’ Office : MdP P1-511
Phone : +41 22 908 5805
ANSO008 - Spring - 6 ECTS
Monday 14:15 – 16:00 (S4) ASSISTANT
Course Description Nataliya Tchermalykh
nataliya.tchermalykh@graduateinstitute.ch
The purpose of the class is to engage with the
anthropological culture concept. Rather than simply Office hours : Monday 12h30-14h
revisiting classical cultural anthropology, it will explore its Office : MdP P1-517
Phone : +41 22 908 5845
appropriation and instrumentalization outside the discipline
as well as in popular discourse. This focus reflects (and
means to question) the prevalence of the ‘cultural
difference’ argument in addressing a variety of
contemporary concerns. Since the consolidation of
anthropology as a discipline has largely been contingent
upon European expansion overseas and the relations of
domination (colonialism, imperialism, cultural hegemony...)
this has fostered, particular attention will be also paid to
theoretical contributions that reach beyond the classical –
European and North American – schools of thought.

Syllabus

22 Feb 2016 – Introduction

N.B. Students who have little or no background in cultural anthropology are invited to refer to
the following:

 ELLER J.D., 2013, Cultural Anthropology: Global Forces, Local Lives. 2nd ed. New York /
London: Routledge.
 HARRIS M., 2001, The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture.
Updated edition. Walnut Creek (CA): AltaMira Press.

See also:
 CUCHE D., 2010, La notion de culture dans les sciences sociales. Paris: La Découverte.

Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2 | CP 136 - CH-1211 Genève 21 | +41 22 908 57 00 | graduateinstitute.ch

MAISON DE LA PAIX
From the outset, students are also invited to read at least one of the following articles:

 HARRISON F., 2012, Dismantling anthropology’s domestic and international peripheries. e-

journal World Anthropologies Network 6: 87-110 at http://www.ram-
wan.net/documents/05_e_Journal/journal-6/5-harrison.pdf
 RESTREPO E., A. ESCOBAR, 2005, Other anthropologies and anthropology otherwise: steps
to a world anthropologies framework. Critical Anthropology 25(2) : 99-129.
 RIBEIRO G. L. 2014, World anthropologies: anthropological cosmopolitanisms and
cosmopolitics. Annual Review of Anthropology 43: 483-498.

29 Feb 2016 – Recalling the basics: ‘culture’ in anthropology

7 March 2016 – Identity politics, strategic essentialism

14 March 2016 – Culturalism, multiculturalism, interculturalism

21 March 2016 – Decolonising ‘culture’

28 March 2016 – no class (Easter Monday)

4 April 2016 – Student presentations I (modalities TBA)

11 April 2016 – Methodologies, indigenous and otherwise

18 April 2016 – Student presentations II (modalities TBA)

25 April 2016 – World anthropologies

2 May 2016 – Student presentations III (modalities TBA)

9 May 2016 – Student Presentations IV (modalities TBA)

16 May 2016 – no class (Whit Monday)

23 May 2016 – Review

Deadline for research paper: 25 May 2016 midnight

Week 14 (30 May 2016) – Final evaluation (‘mini-defence’)

N.B. The organisation of the class and the student presentations as of 4 April will be fine-
tuned once the number of participants and their research interests are settled.

Teaching Objectives

This course seeks to engage with the culture concept in and beyond anthropology. To this end,
students will be enabled to:

 assess key concepts and theories from cultural anthropology in light of their relevance for
international and development studies ;
 gain a critical understanding of the politics of culture and identity in its various guises ;
 probe the potential appropriation and instrumentalisation of ‘culture’ outside the discipline of
anthropology;

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 gauge the paradox of anthropology as, both, a system of knowledge and a stake in relations of
power ;
 engage with non-Eurocentred contributions to anthropological theory and methodology.

Readings

Students are expected to read a number of articles or chapters for the class sessions. These texts will
be posted on the Moodle class page as of Week 1. Additional references and readings will be posted
as needed.

Furthermore, in view of the research paper, each student will read two books to be chosen from a list
of monographs and a list of topic-oriented general works. Both lists will be circulated and discussed in
Week 1. The selection of the books for study (to be finalised by Week 3) should reflect participants’
research interests and disciplinary background.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on the basis of a research endeavour to be presented in class first, then
defended on the basis of a short paper during an oral evaluation. The final grade will be determined
as follows: research presentation and paper 60%, oral evaluation 40%. The twenty-minute oral
evaluation will take place on the last day of class (Monday 30 May 2016).

Research presentation and paper (60%)

The research paper (in English or French; ca. 3500 words ± 10% excluding footnotes and
bibliography) is meant to illustrate one of the many possible angles from which the culture concept
can be critically addressed. The choice of that angle is up to each participant. Possible topics, the
modalities of bibliographic research as well as the format of both presentation and paper will be
discussed in class.

The final paper (either in English or in French) must be handed in by 25 May 2016 midnight.
Students who fail to hand in their paper on time will not be allowed to pass the scheduled exam.

Oral evaluation (40%)

The oral evaluation (either in English or in French) will take place on 30 May 2016. A timetable will
be circulated ahead of time for registration. The twenty-minute evaluation can be viewed as a ‘mini-
defence’, which means that there is no extra preparation time. Students bring their paper and any
illustrative materials they wish to use. They have five minutes to introduce their topic and main
argument. This is followed by a discussion dealing both with the research paper and the substance of
the class including the readings. Here, the grade depends on criteria such as the quality of the
presentation (including keeping to the allotted time and making a concise argument), the ability to
make connections with the readings and the class substance, the ability to answer questions
effectively, and the appropriate use of concepts and terminology.

Select Bibliography

APPARDURAI A., 1996, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. University of

Minnesota Press.
ASAD T. (ed.), 1973, Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter. London: Ithaca Press.
BONNELL V., L. HUNT (eds), 1999, Beyond the Cultural Turn: New Directions in the Study of Society
and Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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BOŠKOVIĆ A. (ed.), 2008, Other People’s Anthropologies: Ethnographic Practice on the Margins.
New York: Berghahn.
BREIDENBACH J. P. NYÍRI, 2009, Seeing Culture Everywhere: From Genocide to Consumer Habits.
University of Washington Press.
CHAKRABARTY D., 2000, Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference.
Princeton University Press.
CLIFFORD J., G. E. MARCUS (eds), 1986, Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography.
University of California Press.
GEERTZ C., 1973, The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
GREENBLATT S. et al., 2010, Cultural Mobility: A Manifesto. Cambridge University Press.
GUPTA A., J. FERGUSON (eds), 1997, Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology.
Duke University Press.
HANNERZ U., 1996, Transnational Connections: Culture, People, Places. London: Routledge.
HARRISON F. V. (ed.), 1997, Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology
for Liberation. 3rd ed. Washington DC: American Anthropological Association.
ESCOBAR A., W. MIGNOLO (eds), 2010, Globalization and the Decolonial Option. London:
Routledge.
FARDON R. (ed.), 1990, Localizing Strategies: Regional Traditions of Ethnographic Writing.
Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
FOX R. A. & B. J. KING (eds), 2002, Anthropology Beyond Culture. Oxford: Berg.
MARCUS G., M. M. J. FISCHER, 1986, Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental Moment
in the Human Sciences. University of Chicago Press.
MIGNOLO W. D., 2000, Local Histories/Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and
Border Thinking. Princeton University Press.
MORAÑA M., E. DUSSEL, C. A. JÁUREGUI (eds), 2008, Coloniality At Large: Latin America and the
Postcolonial Debate. Duke University Press.
NTARANGWI M., D. MILLS, M. BABIKER (eds), 2006, African Anthropologies: History, Critique and
Practice. Dakar: Codesria/London: Zed Books.
ORTNER S. (ed.), 1999, The Fate of 'Culture': Geertz and Beyond. University of California Press.
RIBEIRO G. L., A. ESCOBAR (eds), 2006, World Anthropologies: Disciplinary Transformations Within
Systems of Power. Oxford: Berg.
SAILLANT F. (dir.), 2009, Réinventer l'anthropologie? Les sciences de la culture à l'épreuve des
globalisations. Montréal : Liber.
SANTOS B. S. (ed.), 2007, Another Knowledge is Possible: Beyond Northern Epistemologies.
London: Verso.
SMITH L. T., 2012, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. 2nd ed. London:
Zed Books.
UBEROI P., N. SUNDAR, S. DESHPANDE (eds), 2007, Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian
Sociology and Anthropology. Calcutta: Seagull.
VERTOVEC S., S. WESSENDORF (eds), 2010, The Multiculturalism Backlash: European
Discourses, Policies and Practices. London: Routledge.
WOLF E., 1997, Europe and the People without History. 2nd ed. University of California Press.

IST/7 January 2016

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