Anarchist Anthropology and Militant Ethnography
AMST 319
Spring 2019
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ANTH 315 |
Today, anthropology is better known as a discipline that still grapples with its colonial past more than as a discipline that has an affinity with anarchy. In Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, David Graeber suggests that anthropology shares a particular affinity with anarchist theory because of its history of with working within "stateless" societies and how it accounts for the range of human possibilities in terms of social organization, power, and authority. Thus, he calls for the need to create a body of social theory gravitating around anarchism. This includes developing methods for radical critical engagement with and understanding of social processes. Anarchist thought and practice has left its mark on a series of high-profile social movements over the past few years, such as the uprisings in the Arab world, indigenous autonomous zones in Latin America, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter. In turn, some anthropologists have taken up militant ethnography, a burgeoning approach to qualitative research that is consciously politicized, enabling activist-researchers to engage directly with radical social movement(s). We will explore: anthropological theories and practices of democracy; the power of the state; social movements; and the anthropology of politics, culture and power. Topics include: collectivism, autonomy, solidarity, anarcho-primitivism, anarchist ecology (including non-hierarchical connections with the natural world), non-market productions, relationships, ethics, political insurrections and revolutionary movements, experimental societies and utopian communities, power structures, democracy and horizontal power. As the study of domination is informed by the legacy of slavery and the enduring structures of settler colonialism, the case studies for this course will be drawn primarily (though not exclusively) from the Americas. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS ANTH |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Less than 50% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Required Texts:
Shannon Speed, RIGHTS IN REBELLION: INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHIAPAS
William C. Anderson and Zoé Samudzi, AS BLACK AS RESISTANCE: FINDING THE CONDITIONS FOR LIBERATION
James Scott, THE ART OF NOT BEING GOVERNED: AN ANRCHIST HISTORY OF UPLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA
Andrej Grubacic and Dennis O'Hearn, LIVING AT THE EDGES OF CAPITALISM: ADVENTURES IN EXILE AND MUTUAL AID
David Graeber, DIRECT ACTION: AN ETHNOGRAPHY
Nicolas Apoifis, ANARCHY IN ATHENS: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF MILITANCY, EMOTIONS, AND VIOLENCE
Eds. Erika Biddle, David Graeber, and Stevphen Shukaitis, CONSTITUENT IMAGNATION: MILITANT INVESTIGATIONS, COLLECTIVE THEORIZATION
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| Instructor(s): Kauanui,J. Kehaulani Times: ..T.... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: CAMS 1; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 1 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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