Genealogies for the Present in Cultural Anthropology

In the wake of tensions between modern and postmodern sensibilities, what larger directions now emerge in cultural anthropology? In this major work, Bruce Knauft takes stock of important recent initiatives in cultural and critical theory. By combining critical reviews and ethnographic engagements with fresh readings of major figures and approaches, the work develops a larger vantage point for considering the dispersing influence of practice theories, postmodernism, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, modern/post-positive feminism, and multicultural criticisms. The larger relationship between culture, power, and representation is critically recast in the course of the analysis, and through frontal engagement with ethical considerations as well as ethnographic specifics, Knauft shows how contemporary anthropology begs for a critical revaluation of humanist sensibilities. Ultimately, anthropology can draw upon past strengths as well as future potentials to combine ethical grounding, ethnographicrigor, and intellectual power.