Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

The Place of Theory: Rights, Networks, and Ethnographic Comparison

Englund, H.; Yarrow, T.

The Place of Theory: Rights, Networks, and Ethnographic Comparison Thumbnail


Authors

H. Englund



Abstract

The relationship between theory and place has remained a central problem for the discipline of anthropology. Focusing on debates around the concepts of Human Rights and Networks, specifically as these traverse African and Melanesian contexts, this paper highlights how novel ideas emerge through sustained comparison across different regions. Rather than understand places as sources of theories to be applied to other contexts, we argue that anthropologists need to recognise how new concepts are generated through reflexive comparison across different regions. This analysis leads us to question a widespread propensity to understand places as the sine qua non of anthropological theory, proposing instead that place emerges retrospectively as an artefact of comparison. We conclude that while it is therefore necessary to acknowledge the analytic construction of Africa and its sub-regions, there remain compelling reasons to recognize its analytic utility.

Citation

Englund, H., & Yarrow, T. (2013). The Place of Theory: Rights, Networks, and Ethnographic Comparison. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice, 57(3), 132-149. https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2013.570308

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2013-11
Deposit Date Jan 26, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology
Print ISSN 0155-977X
Electronic ISSN 1558-5727
Publisher Berghahn Journals
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 3
Pages 132-149
DOI https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2013.570308
Keywords Anthropological theory, Ethnographic comparison, Melanesia, Africa, Relational rights, Networks, Area studies.

Files

Accepted Journal Article (389 Kb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedited version of an article to be published in Social analysis.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations