T.R. Edward
v. 1 (19.2.23)
The paradox of anthropology at home and solutions to it: a handout and review


Preliminary statement. From Jeanette Edwards: "I disagree with those who adhere to a notion that anthropology at home is an oxymoron because anthropological knowledge is generated, by its nature, through epistemological unfamiliarity." (2000: 11)


Reconstruction. It seems the defender of anthropology at home must abandon one of the following propositions, but which? (1) Anthropologists achieve knowledge by starting with different assumptions from those studied, leading them to be struck by the differences and report them. (2) There can be anthropology at home. (3) Anthropology at home is anthropology amongst people who share one’s assumptions.


Solutions. There are various solutions in the literature, of which I shall identify four I suppose.


From Susan Carey: the meaning holist internal diversity solution. Some people at home might appear to be making the same assumptions, but they are not. And they are using the same words to express different concepts (1986). This person does not use "guess" to express our concept of a guess, and so forth. (How does the anthropologist detect this though? Is there some departure from the epistemology in (1)?)


From Marilyn Strathern: the foreign anthropology solution. An English anthropologist studying England can achieve "epistemological unfamiliarity" by using a foreign anthropological framework, such as a French or American one (see Strathern 1992: 4) The solution is underdeveloped. There is no detailed example of how it works. Also, a consistency worry: she casts herself as describing general processes in Western culture (1992: 6).


From Jeanette Edwards: the internal diversity solution. "To participate in a shebeen in Manchester and then a game of croquet on a lawn in Windsor would require, for many of us, an adaptation in behaviour and language with a sensitive negotiation of appropriate manners." (2000: 11) In short, the anthropologist can find groups who are sufficiently unfamiliar at home. But it is doubtful that this is a solution for anthropologists who are interested in very widespread assumptions and alternatives to them, such as Strathern.


From me: logical analysis. It is possible to identify assumptions of a group studied not because one does not share them but simply by logical analysis of a discourse (see Edward 2017). This is an alternative to the epistemology presented in proposition (1) of the reconstruction.


References
Carey, Susan. 1988. Conceptual differences between children and adults. Mind and Language 3: 167-181. Available at:
https://www.harvardlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Carey.-1988.-Conceptual-Differences-Between-Children-and-Adults.pdf
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2017. When can we know our assumptions? Philosophical Pathways (208): 1-4. Available at: https://philpapers.org/archive/EDWWCW.pdf
Edwards, Jeanette. 2000. Born and Bred. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Strathern, Marilyn. 1992. After nature: English kinship in the late twentieth century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Further reading (by me)
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Anthropology at home in a Rawlsian society: a Strathernian problem. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/97184607/Anthropology_at_home_in_a_Rawlsian_liberal_society_a_Strathernian_problem
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Are these assumptions about anthropology at home contradictory? Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/98239121/Are_these_assumptions_about_anthropology_at_home_contradictory
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Defining anthropology at home: ideal history and actual history. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/94907385/Defining_anthropology_at_home_ideal_history_and_actual_history
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. How anthropology at home can be informative? Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/98282507/How_anthropology_at_home_can_be_informative_the_arrangement_solution
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Meaning holism as an attempted solution to an anthropology at home paradox. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/93157230/Meaning_holism_as_an_attempted_solution_to_an_anthropology_at_home_paradox
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Measuring anthropological knowledge production at home and away. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/98578175/Measuring_anthropological_knowledge_production_at_home_and_away
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. On Marilyn Strathern's use of American anthropology to solve a paradox at home. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/97360337/On_Marilyn_Stratherns_use_of_American_anthropology_to_solve_a_paradox_at_home
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. On the diversity solution to the paradox of anthropology at home. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/97410895/On_the_diversity_solution_to_the_paradox_of_anthropology_at_home
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Style and the diversity solution to anthropology at home. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/100215413/Style_and_the_diversity_solution_to_the_paradox_of_anthropology_at_home
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. W.H. Rivers and the "Why fieldwork there?" question. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/93860886/W_H_R_Rivers_and_the_Why_fieldwork_there_question
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. Style, anthropology at home, and a problem of colonialism for Jeanette Edwards. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371274673_Style_anthropology_at_home_and_a_problem_of_colonialism_for_Jeanette_Edwards
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2023. An anthropology philosophy etiquette myth. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371651225_An_anthropology_philosophy_etiquette_myth