Jul 26, 2023
Anthropology of Knowledge beyond the Human
- 09:00 to 14:00
- Methods Intensive Masterclass
- IMPRS
- Lyle Fearnley
In this workshop, we will examine and compare how anthropologists treat knowledge and rationality in 1) the classical culture paradigm; and 2) contemporary works that challenge the epistemological closure and anthropocentrism of cultural accounts of knowledge.
Anthropology is, by definition, the science of the human. Yet in a moment of environmental crises from climate change to pandemic disease, defining knowledge within a human reference (for instance, “cultural context”) intensifies a modernist gap between humanity and the nonhuman world. Drawing on the semiotics of C. S. Peirce and Science and Technology Studies (STS), the workshop will explore how nonhumans can be incorporated into anthropological accounts of knowledge. We will pay particular attention to specific methodological tools that can be used to expand cultural translation beyond the human world.
- Activity 1: Experiment in cultural translation
- Activity 2: Semiotic ethnography of human-nonhuman worlds
Readings for discussion:
- E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande (Abridged) (Oxford University Press, 1976): Chapters 1-4: 1-89. Also please see Appendix 1. “A list of terms employed in describing customs and beliefs.”: 226-230.
- Eduardo Kohn, How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human (University of California Press, 2013). (please focus on Intro, Ch. 1 and Ch. 2: 1-100)
Recommended to see also:
- Lily Hope Chumley and Nicholas Harkness, “Introduction: QUALIA.” Anthropological Theory 12 (1/2) (2013): 3-11.
- Anna Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World (Princeton, 2015): Part 1, What’s Left?: pp. 11-54; Ch. 16 and Ch. 17, 217-239.
Contact and Registration
This event is open to all at the Institute. A limited number of places is available.
For further information and registration, please contact: IMPRS Office (imprs-office@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de).
About This Series
The Methods Intensive Master Class @ MPIWG is organized as part of the International Max Planck Research School “Knowledge and Its Resources.” The Master Class series offers a forum where participants from a spectrum of disciplines can critically compare, confront, and combine their specific methodological skills and training in scientific, practical, or humanistic analysis. It serves as a creative platform to explore agendas, discuss limits, and expand the cross-disciplinary boundaries of the history of science.
For more information, please visit https://imprs.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ or contact imprs-office@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de