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Philosophy - General & Miscellaneous, Socio-Cultural Anthropology - General & Miscellaneous, Ethnology
Minima Ethnographica : Intersubjectivity and the Anthropological Project by Michael Jackson β€” book cover

Minima Ethnographica : Intersubjectivity and the Anthropological Project

by Michael Jackson
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Overview

The postmodern opposition between theory and lived reality has led in part to an anthropological turn to "dialogic" or "reflexive" approaches. Michael Jackson claims these approaches are hardly radical as they still drift into such abstractions as "society" or "culture." His Minima Ethnographica proposes an existential anthropology that recognizes even abstract relationships as modalities of interpersonal life.

Written in the style of Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia, Jackson's work shows how general ideas are always anchored in particular social events and critical concerns. Emphasizing the intersubjective encounter over objective descriptions of the whole historical and contemporary situation of a given people, he illustrates the power and originality of existential anthropology through a series of vignettes from his fieldwork in Sierra Leone and Australia. An award-winning poet, novelist, and anthropologist, Jackson offers a timely critique of conventions that dull our sense of the links between academic study and lived experience.

Synopsis

The postmodern opposition between theory and lived reality has led in part to an anthropological turn to "dialogic" or "reflexive" approaches. Michael Jackson claims these approaches are hardly radical as they still drift into such abstractions as "society" or "culture." His Minima Ethnographica proposes an existential anthropology that recognizes even abstract relationships as modalities of interpersonal life.

Written in the style of Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia, Jackson's work shows how general ideas are always anchored in particular social events and critical concerns. Emphasizing the intersubjective encounter over objective descriptions of the whole historical and contemporary situation of a given people, he illustrates the power and originality of existential anthropology through a series of vignettes from his fieldwork in Sierra Leone and Australia. An award-winning poet, novelist, and anthropologist, Jackson offers a timely critique of conventions that dull our sense of the links between academic study and lived experience.

Booknews

Poet, novelist, and anthropologist Jackson illustrates the power of existential-phenomenological anthropology with vignettes from his fieldwork in Sierra Leone and Australia. He focuses on anthropology as a study of relationships, and on the relationship between the particular and the universal. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About the Author, Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School.

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Editorials

Booknews

Poet, novelist, and anthropologist Jackson illustrates the power of existential-phenomenological anthropology with vignettes from his fieldwork in Sierra Leone and Australia. He focuses on anthropology as a study of relationships, and on the relationship between the particular and the universal. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Book Details

Published
August 1, 1998
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Pages
249
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780226389462

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