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Anthropology and the Present Moment
Author(s) -
Robotham Don
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
transforming anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1548-7466
pISSN - 1051-0559
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-7466.2011.01124.x
Subject(s) - materiality (auditing) , dialectic , honor , moment (physics) , sociology , epistemology , anthropology , philosophy , aesthetics , computer science , physics , classical mechanics , operating system
This article, in honor of A ntonio L auria‐ P erricelli, examines some of the central theoretical issues which the current economic crisis poses for anthropological theory and practice. It points out that the “brute materiality” of the crisis, calls into question culturalist concepts of practice derived from B ourdieu as well as poststructuralist theories which minimize the significance of material macrostructures. It ends by emphasizing the need for a renewed understanding of the economy by anthropologists as well as for a more dialectical notion of structure as inherently contradictory and dynamic.