Campos (Oct 2008)
Antropologias em perspectiva: notas sobre as relações entre Estado e saber antropológico
Abstract
In this paper I discuss the relationship between Anthropology and the National States within the background of the European colonial expansion, which took place in the first decades of the 20th century. In particular, I analyze the role of anthropologists from the three centers that established the modern anthropological practice, i.e., France, England, and the United States. I demonstrate how anthropological knowledge and interventionist actions of the colonial State articulate in processes of mutual construction, considering the interests of distinct political actors. Hence, this paper aims to demonstrate that there are distinct ways of thinking and practicing Anthropology in different "national traditions". It also searchs to instigate the debate about the social conditions of production of the anthropological knowledge.