Anthropology and Open Access

While still largely ignored by many anthropologists, open access (OA) has been a confusing and volatile center around which a wide range of contentious debates and vexing leadership dilemmas orbit. Despite widespread misunderstandings and honest differences of perspective on how and why to move forward, OA frameworks for scholarly communication are now part of the publishing ecology in which all active anthropologists work. Cultural Anthropology is unambiguously a leading journal in the field. The move to transition it toward a gold OA model represents a milestone for the iterative transformation of how cultural anthropologists, along with diverse fellow travelers, communicate more ethically and sustainably with global and diverse publics. On the occasion of this significant shift, we build on the history of OA debates, position statements, and experiments taking place during the past decade to do three things. Using an interview format, we will offer a primer on OA practices in general and in cultural anthropology in particular. In doing so, we aim to highlight some of the special considerations that have animated arguments for OA in cultural anthropology and in neighboring fields built around ethnographic methods and representations. We then argue briefly for a critical anthropology of scholarly communication (including scholarly publishing), one that brings the kinds of engaged analysis for which Cultural Anthropology is particularly well known to bear on this vital aspect of knowledge production, circulation, and valuation. Our field’s distinctive knowledge of social, cultural, political, and economic phenomena should also—but often has not—inform our choices as both global actors and publishing scholars

Savage Minds Interview: Sarah Kendzior

Sarah Kendzior is a writer for Al Jazeera English. She has a PhD in cultural anthropology from Washington University and researches the political effects of digital media in the former USSR. You can find her work at sarahkendzior.com,and on Twitter: @sarahkendzio

Cultural Anthropology Background Reading

Top 100 books on cultural anthropology

From Völkerpsychologie to Cultural Anthropology: Erich Rothacker’s Philosophy of Culture

Erich Rothacker (1888–1965) was a key figure in early-twentieth-century philosophy in Germany. In this paper, I examine the development of Rothacker’s philosophy of culture from 1907 to 1945. Rothacker began his philosophical career with a völkerpsychological dissertation on history, outlining his early biologistic conception of culture (1907–1913). In his mid-career work, he then turned to Wilhelm Dilthey’s (1833–1911) Lebensphilosophie (philosophy of life), advancing a hermeneutic approach to culture (1919–1928). In his later work (1929–1945), Rothacker developed a cultural anthropology. I shall argue that Rothacker’s later theory of culture retained key motifs of his earlier works. In this way, I trace central aspects of Rothacker’s reception of both Völkerpsychologie and Lebensphilosophie. The paper focuses on two aspects of Rothacker’s philosophical development that deserve more attention than they have received to date: his reception of Völkerpsychologie and the political character of his theories of culture. Rothacker’s theoretical work was closely connected to his political conservatism, which culminated in his engagement with National Socialism. The paper unearths problematic aspects of the legacy of Völkerpsychologie and Lebensphilosophie in early twentieth-century German thought

ON BUDAYA AND THE RE-SACRALIZATION OF INDONESIAN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The Indonesian concept of budaya and its derivatives such as budi, budidaya, kebudayaan, budiman, budi pekerti, as well as budayawan were sacred conceptslong ago. However, with the emergence of Cultural Anthropology by Indonesian anthropologists from the 1960s onwards, the concept of budaya became desacralized. Its desacralization started when budaya was construed as culture by Indonesian cultural anthropologists, and Ilmu-Ilmu Budaya was interpeted as the Humanities. This paper explores the sacred concept of budaya prior to the emergence of the Cultural Anthropology, then investigates the desacralization of the concept of budaya through the history of Indonesian Cultural Anthropology and finally attempts to offer a re-sacralization of the concept of budaya by revitalizing the concept through the Indonesian Hindu and Islamic metaphysical heritage. The re-sacralization of the Indonesian concept of budaya will provide a pathway to the emergence of a Budaya Anthropology which can correct some of the problems of the profanized Cultural Anthropology

Contemporary Cultural Anthropology in Poland

Contemporary cultural anthropology in Poland is characterized by two types of change within the discipline . One is the change in emphasis from founding or renewing old institutions, such as departments in universities, museums, and research institutes, to maintaining and improving them. Accounts of Polish post-World War II ethnography stress the rebuilding of the old institutions and the expansion of the discipline by the founding of new ones (e.g.,Kutrzeba-Pojnarowa 1964, 1968). While it is difficult to predict the course of future events, it appears that the rebuilding and founding phase is all but over and that current emphasis and future activity will focus on maintaining and improving existing institutions

Tamil Artefacts in Cultural Anthropology

Material culture and other sources, which are the basic source of anthropology, contribute greatly to the evaluation of the course of ancient civilization. Evidence of this can be found in our Sanskrit literature and the numerous artifacts found during archeological excavations. The culture of anthropology is not new, it is the field of knowledge that has been followed over time, social development. Man, who lived naturally with nature, discovered metals along with soil, wood, stone, etc., and used them to find many tools for everyday living needs. He also learned about the pros and cons of the products, as well as the beliefs of the method of use. The existence of antiquities of ancient Tamils ​​in many objects can be traced back to material culture and Sangam literature. Remnants of ancient Tamil civilization are said to have been used in everyday life for household and industrial purposes. There is little doubt that despite the use of machines in modern times, what the superman used is still used by the rural people today