Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology
Encyclopedia
Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology is one of a series of pamphlets published by Prickly Paradigm Press
in Chicago. With the essay, anthropologist David Graeber
attempts to outline areas of research that intellectuals might explore in creating a body of anarchist social theory
.
Graeber posits that Anthropology is "particularly well-positioned" as an academic community that can look at the gamut of human societies and organizations, to study, analyze and catalog alternative social and economic structures around the world, and, most importantly, present these alternatives to the world.
, including one with the Tsimihety
in the northwest of the country. The Tsimihety, rejecting all governmental authority and organizing their society along very egalitarian lines, were able to continue their autonomy and culture for decades on end, up to today, not by confronting the government, but by retreating. Graeber writes,
Part of the problem, Graeber claims, is that traditionally, academics on the radical left have gravitated toward the more "High Theory"-oriented Marxism
(Karl Marx
himself was a PhD
) rather than the more practice-oriented anarchism
. Graeber further claims: "1. Marxism has tended to be a theoretical or analytical discourse about revolutionary strategy. 2. Anarchism has tended to be an ethical discourse about revolutionary practice." (p. 6)
Prickly Paradigm Press
Prickly Paradigm Press is a new incarnation of Prickly Pear Pamphlets, which was started in 1993, in Cambridge, England, by anthropologists Keith Hart and Anna Grimshaw. Together they published a series of ten pamphlets on a range of topics in anthropology, the history of science, and ethnographic...
in Chicago. With the essay, anthropologist David Graeber
David Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber is an American anthropologist and anarchist who currently holds the position of Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, although Yale controversially declined to rehire him, and his...
attempts to outline areas of research that intellectuals might explore in creating a body of anarchist social theory
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
.
Graeber posits that Anthropology is "particularly well-positioned" as an academic community that can look at the gamut of human societies and organizations, to study, analyze and catalog alternative social and economic structures around the world, and, most importantly, present these alternatives to the world.
Revolution through non-confrontation
One of the most striking suggestions in the pamphlet challenges the traditional anarchist notion of aggressive confrontation with the state. Graeber did postgraduate work with tribal cultures in MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, including one with the Tsimihety
Tsimihety
The Tsimihety are a Malagasy ethnic group located near the north-central coast of Madagascar. Their name means "those who do not cut their hair," in reference to their refusal to adhere to the customs imposed by the rule of Merina King Radama I., numbering around one million The Tsimihety are a...
in the northwest of the country. The Tsimihety, rejecting all governmental authority and organizing their society along very egalitarian lines, were able to continue their autonomy and culture for decades on end, up to today, not by confronting the government, but by retreating. Graeber writes,
"To this day they have maintained a reputation as masters of evasion: under the French, administrators would complain that they could send delegations to arrange for labor to build a
road near a Tsimihety village, negotiate the terms with apparently cooperative elders, and return with the equipment a week later only to discover the village entirely abandoned—every single inhabitant had moved in with some relative in another part of the country." (p. 55)
Aspects of an anarchist anthropology
In particular, Graeber suggests several areas a hypothetical anarchist anthropology would need to tackle, and in the book elaborates on each point briefly:- A theory of the state
- A theory of political entities that are not states
- Yet another theory of capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
- Power/ignorance, or power/stupidity (Graeber explores a possible theory of the relation of power not with knowledge, but with ignorance and stupidity, in explicit opposition to FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
's theories of power and knowledge. "Because violence, particularly structural violence, where all the power is on one side, creates ignorance." (p. 72)) - An ecology of voluntary associations
- A theory of political happiness
- Hierarchy
- Suffering and pleasure: on the privatization of desire
- One or several theories of alienation
Reasons for the nonexistence of anarchist anthropology
He also offers several possibilities why anthropologists are reluctant to come out and make normative judgments and proposals: "In many ways, anthropology seems a discipline terrified of its own potential. It is, for example, the only discipline in a position to make generalizations about humanity as a whole—since it is the only discipline that actually takes all of humanity into account, and is familiar with all the anomalous cases." (p. 96) Anthropologists, Graeber writes, may be also simply afraid of being dismissed as "utopian."Part of the problem, Graeber claims, is that traditionally, academics on the radical left have gravitated toward the more "High Theory"-oriented Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
(Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
himself was a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
) rather than the more practice-oriented anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. Graeber further claims: "1. Marxism has tended to be a theoretical or analytical discourse about revolutionary strategy. 2. Anarchism has tended to be an ethical discourse about revolutionary practice." (p. 6)
External links
- Full PDF version of "Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology"
- Largely positive review of "Fragments" by Stevphen Shukaitis
- Largely critical review of "Fragments" by Marxist cultural critic Steven ShaviroSteven ShaviroSteven Shaviro is an American cultural critic. His most widely read book is Doom Patrols, a "theoretical fiction" that outlines the state of postmodernism during the early 1990s, using poetic language, personal anecdotes, and creative prose....
- Prickly Paradigm Press