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Four Stories, a Lament, and an Affirmation
Author(s) -
Waterston Alisse
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/aman.13030
Subject(s) - introspection , lament , resistance (ecology) , feeling , anthropology , sociology , presidential address , aesthetics , epistemology , psychoanalysis , philosophy , psychology , theology , political science , ecology , public administration , biology
The following is the text of the presidential address presented on December 2, 2017, at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Washington, DC. I took the opportunity of this talk to reflect on this moment of being in anthropology. No doubt these are dark times, which prompts my questions: “What of us, as anthropologists, in these times? How will we pass the time that is given us?” Referring back to and in dialogue with Hannah Arendt and Bertolt Brecht, I consider some meanings of being introspective, of thinking in dark times, of the trivial, and of envisioning an alternative world, as these relate to anthropology. Comprising the four stories of the title, this reflection embraces deep feelings and the great promise of the discipline. [ radical evil, dark anthropology, resistance, introspection, thinking, anthropological knowledge, Arendt, Brecht ]