The Coming of Age of Anthropological Practice and Ethics

Briody, Elizabeth K.; Pester, Tracy Meerwarth

doi:10.22439/jba.v1i1.4260

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…As Douglas has stated, such categorisations do not exist in a vacuum and are not absolute nor impervious to change (1986: 4). Like others, I would like to see the academy incorporate applied anthropologists (Brody and Pester 2014;Platzer and Allison 2018;Fix and Elroy 2020). It would also be nice to be able to promise students well-paid and interesting careers and to see the anthropological profession grow in both size and reputation.…”

Section: Beyond Anthropology's Edges: Practicing Pragmatism and Embra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Anthropology's Edges

Sear¹

2023

Anthropology in Action

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In recent years, anthropology has become a buzz word in the corporate world. Companies such as Google have hired anthropologists for research and product design while marketing consultancies such as Red Associates have built their brands around anthropological methods. Yet, corporate anthropologists such as myself occupy an uneasy space within anthropology. Despite the discipline's internal commitment to reflexivity of its complicity in broader hegemonies, on the ‘outside’ when communicating to the public, the pristine figure of a ‘noble anthropologist’—acting to make the world a better place, free from influence and self-interest—is often evoked. While some applied anthropologists conform to this image of the ‘noble anthropologist’, the corporate anthropologist often does not. In the context of decreasing student numbers and dissolving departments for anthropologists working in the academy, I consider how a pragmatic and entrepreneurial approach to securing corporate work, while not necessarily ‘noble’, might still be ‘good’.

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Section: Beyond Anthropology's Edges: Practicing Pragmatism and Embra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Anthropology's Edges

Sear¹

2023

Anthropology in Action

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“…This unfolding of my academic research into the emergence of a nonprofit organization suggests an intertwining of theory and practice in anthropology that dissolves the divide between academic‐ and practice‐oriented approaches—a contemporary issue being contemplated in theories of Anthropological Practice (Koons :138–139; Nolan :389; Puckett :2–4; Van Willigen ). In line with the definition of anthropological practice provided by the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA), by means of founding a nonprofit organization, I worked in tandem with community leaders to evaluate, create, and implement programs and services within the community while I was engaged in ethnographic research (Brody and Pester :11–12; http://practicinganthropology.org/practicing-anthro/, accessed September 7, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deafness and sign language in a Yucatec Maya community: Emergent Ethnographic Practice

MacDougall

2015

Annals of Anthropol Pract

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This paper outlines the potential that community‐based, family‐oriented research strategies have for generating inclusive and sustainable local social programs. Examples drawn from long‐term fieldwork in an indigenous Mayan‐speaking community in Yucatán, Mexico highlight the utility of aligning ethnographic evaluations with available state resources in appropriate and holistic ways. There is a high percentage of deafness in the community of Chican, and a nondiscriminatory attitude toward sign language use that enables the involvement of deaf persons into everyday life activities. In Chican, deafness represents a positive constitutive feature of community identity; the locally developed Yucatec Mayan Sign Language is widely used among both deaf and hearing persons enabling for the inclusion of deaf persons in community life. However, disjuncture between local and state approaches toward community wellbeing are apparent in that state conceptualizations of deafness as a disabling condition, and indigenous identity as being problematic, contrast sharply with local understandings. Through carrying out in depth participant‐observation, I assumed the role I was assigned within community life, and thereby gained insight into local understanding of deafness, communication, and identity. Engaging with children, adolescents, extended family, and community leaders, I participated with family members across age and gender lines in their customary daily activities. By these means, I realized that external perceptions of Chican, concentrating primarily on the presence of deafness in the community, were overshadowing more pressing and generalized community needs. To facilitate local communications with state and humanitarian agencies, I founded a nonprofit organization called “YUCAN Make a Difference A.C.,” which envisions ethnographic practice as a pivotal force in generating mutually rewarding programs of social assistance. [applied anthropology, deafness and sign language, Yucatec Maya, ethnographic practice, nonprofit organizations]

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“…Underlying all of these conversations is, we think, a powerful notion that the subcommittee took great care to discuss and include. The Guidelines reify the AAA Statement's central tenet of “do no harm” (2012) while suggesting, where possible, an additional aspiration to “do some good,” as introduced by Briody and Meerwarth Pester (). “Do some good” is framed as an important disciplinary aspiration in the NAPA Guidelines , whereas “Do no harm” is referred to as a “core, guiding principle.” Combined, these directions serve as the theoretical foundation for the Guidelines .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%