Headhunting as Reflexive Violence

Abstract

This is a commentary article on existing anthropological views on headhunting practices. Its focus is an article by Mikkelsen (2017) in this journal, 'Facehunting: Empathy, Masculinity and Violence among the Bugkalot.' The commentary article sees value in Mikkelsen's critical stance on the issue of extreme violence, such as headhunting not entailing a prior dehumanization of the victim. 'Headhunting as Reflexive Violence' addresses an issue of 'selective empathy,' and concludes that in light of the Bugkalot ethnography and impulsive headhunting, the discussion point could be one, following Persson and Savulescu (2017), of 'reflexive empathy. ' The article argues that attention should be given to the material, plastic, and tonal practices celebrating and possibly even eliciting the kill. These might provide us with a rare window into the way cultural techniques can embellish violence.Keywords Bugkalot, Ilongot, headhunting, sacrifice, empathy, masculinity, violence aestheticization, MikkelsenThe [Bugkalot] men were fully armed with spears, bows and arrows, shields, and head-knives; geestrings apart, they were naked. Some of them wore on the head the scarlet beak of the hornbill; these had taken heads. (Willcox 1912, 6) Headhunting in Words and ActionAs with other topics of recent interest, such as animism, the issue of headhunting may open up for a broader ontological evaluation. A review of the theme would include the following key contributors: