A literature review of two approaches to ontology within anthropology: a juxtaposition between the ‘ontological turn’ and Marisol de la Cadena’s Earth Beings
(2017) SANK02 20171Social Anthropology
- Abstract
- This literature review describes the methodology of the ontological turn as represented in the book Thinking Through Things. It furthermore traces the critique that the ontological turn has met, as well as juxtaposes the methodological approach of the turn with the ontological approach of an- thropologist Marisol de la Cadena, as seen in her monograph ‘Earth Beings’. The thesis shows how the ontological approaches of respectively Henare et. al. and de la Cadena share several similarit- ies, such as the intellectual ‘heritage’ from Latour, Strathern and Viveiros de Castro, the antagon- istic position towards multiculturalisms and representativity, the ethnographic focus on radical on- tological difference, and the acknowledgement of the... (More)
- This literature review describes the methodology of the ontological turn as represented in the book Thinking Through Things. It furthermore traces the critique that the ontological turn has met, as well as juxtaposes the methodological approach of the turn with the ontological approach of an- thropologist Marisol de la Cadena, as seen in her monograph ‘Earth Beings’. The thesis shows how the ontological approaches of respectively Henare et. al. and de la Cadena share several similarit- ies, such as the intellectual ‘heritage’ from Latour, Strathern and Viveiros de Castro, the antagon- istic position towards multiculturalisms and representativity, the ethnographic focus on radical on- tological difference, and the acknowledgement of the analytically beneficial effects of a ‘frontal comparison’ approach to ethnographical research. The thesis also shows how these two approaches to ontological anthropology differs on the question of politics in that de la Cadena problematises her own position as anthropologist based on her feminist approach, as well as situates herself within a (post-)colonial context, while Henare et. al. avoids any such discussion. What becomes ap- parent then is how Henare et. al. has been informed by Marilyn Strathern’s methodology but has not adopted her feminist politics and ethics in their practice. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- This literature review describes the methodology of the ontological turn as represented in the book Thinking Through Things. It furthermore traces the critique that the ontological turn has met, as well as juxtaposes the methodological approach of the turn with the ontological approach of an- thropologist Marisol de la Cadena, as seen in her monograph ‘Earth Beings’. The thesis shows how the ontological approaches of respectively Henare et. al. and de la Cadena share several similarit- ies, such as the intellectual ‘heritage’ from Latour, Strathern and Viveiros de Castro, the antagon- istic position towards multiculturalisms and representativity, the ethnographic focus on radical on- tological difference, and the acknowledgement of the... (More)
- This literature review describes the methodology of the ontological turn as represented in the book Thinking Through Things. It furthermore traces the critique that the ontological turn has met, as well as juxtaposes the methodological approach of the turn with the ontological approach of an- thropologist Marisol de la Cadena, as seen in her monograph ‘Earth Beings’. The thesis shows how the ontological approaches of respectively Henare et. al. and de la Cadena share several similarit- ies, such as the intellectual ‘heritage’ from Latour, Strathern and Viveiros de Castro, the antagon- istic position towards multiculturalisms and representativity, the ethnographic focus on radical on- tological difference, and the acknowledgement of the analytically beneficial effects of a ‘frontal comparison’ approach to ethnographical research. The thesis also shows how these two approaches to ontological anthropology differs on the question of politics in that de la Cadena problematises her own position as anthropologist based on her feminist approach, as well as situates herself within a (post-)colonial context, while Henare et. al. avoids any such discussion. What becomes ap- parent then is how Henare et. al. has been informed by Marilyn Strathern’s methodology but has not adopted her feminist politics and ethics in their practice. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8921995
- author
- Bjørch-Haderup, Hjalte LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SANK02 20171
- year
- 2017
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Social Anthropology, Method, Ontology, Difference, Politics
- language
- English
- id
- 8921995
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-21 12:45:49
- date last changed
- 2017-07-21 12:45:49
@misc{8921995,
abstract = {{This literature review describes the methodology of the ontological turn as represented in the book Thinking Through Things. It furthermore traces the critique that the ontological turn has met, as well as juxtaposes the methodological approach of the turn with the ontological approach of an- thropologist Marisol de la Cadena, as seen in her monograph ‘Earth Beings’. The thesis shows how the ontological approaches of respectively Henare et. al. and de la Cadena share several similarit- ies, such as the intellectual ‘heritage’ from Latour, Strathern and Viveiros de Castro, the antagon- istic position towards multiculturalisms and representativity, the ethnographic focus on radical on- tological difference, and the acknowledgement of the analytically beneficial effects of a ‘frontal comparison’ approach to ethnographical research. The thesis also shows how these two approaches to ontological anthropology differs on the question of politics in that de la Cadena problematises her own position as anthropologist based on her feminist approach, as well as situates herself within a (post-)colonial context, while Henare et. al. avoids any such discussion. What becomes ap- parent then is how Henare et. al. has been informed by Marilyn Strathern’s methodology but has not adopted her feminist politics and ethics in their practice.}},
author = {{Bjørch-Haderup, Hjalte}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{A literature review of two approaches to ontology within anthropology: a juxtaposition between the ‘ontological turn’ and Marisol de la Cadena’s Earth Beings}},
year = {{2017}},
}