8/19/2019 Review - Graeber, D - Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value.pdf

1/3

Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams by David

GraeberReview by: Melissa DemianAmerican Ethnologist, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 316-317Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3805389 .

Accessed: 07/06/2012 16:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of 

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

 Blackwell Publishing and American Anthropological Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to American Ethnologist.

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=blackhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=anthrohttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3805389?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3805389?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=anthrohttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black

8/19/2019 Review - Graeber, D - Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value.pdf

2/3

American

Ethnologist *

Volume30

Number2 May2003

merican

Ethnologist *

Volume30

Number2 May2003

and rubber

hongs commonlyworn by

ordinarypeople

do not offer adequate

prote c on f

rom na ure har h e1 ments

including the thorns of the

recently n-

troduced

mesquite tree and the hot

sands of the deforested andscape.

Althoughthe ethnographic empha-

sis on people's memories

is the book's

greateststrength, t also poses

a signifi-

cant weakness. Some of the collected

stories evoke

a powerful sense of peo-

ple's experiences; however,

the au-

thors' tendency

to pull multiplestories

together as

beads on a string,with rela-

tively little to connect them

meaning-

fullybeyond

general,topical common-

alities, leaves the analysis

in some

sections of the book unsatisfying.

Overall, he

detailed stories and inci-

sive analyses

offered in this book pro-

vide rich evidence of the strengths of

ethnographic

research. Gold's long-

term partnerships

with field assis-

tants and her exceptionally

close col-

laboration with Gujar n research

and

writing-exemplify

participant-obser-

vation at its best, in which

participation

involves not only the ethnographer's

active nvolvement

n a particular om-

munity but also the integration

of local

partners in the research process. The

reader catches

glimpses of the many

levels at which the authors

discussed

their research.

Gold and Gujar nclude

sighs, nonverbal

noises, and side com-

ments in their

text as relevantforms of

expression.

The contexts, cadences,

and contours

of the interviewsand con-

versations offer both illustrative

nfor-

mation regarding

memories and evi-

dence of a truly shared, ethnographic

partnershipbetween Gold and Gujar,

and with otherresidentsof

Sawar.

Toward an Anthropological

Theory of

Value: The False Coin

of Our Own

Dreams.

David Graeber.NewYork:Pal-

grave, 2001. vii + 337 pp., notes, refer-

ences, index.

MELISSA EMIAN

BardCollege

Whywrite an anthropological

heory of

value? Or

rather, why a theory of

value, as opposed to a theory

of de-

sire, power, magic, creativity,

or politi-

cal action

all of which put in an ap-

pearance n

this expansiveand inspired

and rubber

hongs commonlyworn by

ordinarypeople

do not offer adequate

prote c on f

rom na ure har h e1 ments

including the thorns of the

recently n-

troduced

mesquite tree and the hot

sands of the deforested andscape.

Althoughthe ethnographic empha-

sis on people's memories

is the book's

greateststrength, t also poses

a signifi-

cant weakness. Some of the collected

stories evoke

a powerful sense of peo-

ple's experiences; however,

the au-

thors' tendency

to pull multiplestories

together as

beads on a string,with rela-

tively little to connect them

meaning-

fullybeyond

general,topical common-

alities, leaves the analysis

in some

sections of the book unsatisfying.

Overall, he

detailed stories and inci-

sive analyses

offered in this book pro-

vide rich evidence of the strengths of

ethnographic

research. Gold's long-

term partnerships

with field assis-

tants and her exceptionally

close col-

laboration with Gujar n research

and

writing-exemplify

participant-obser-

vation at its best, in which

participation

involves not only the ethnographer's

active nvolvement

n a particular om-

munity but also the integration

of local

partners in the research process. The

reader catches

glimpses of the many

levels at which the authors

discussed

their research.

Gold and Gujar nclude

sighs, nonverbal

noises, and side com-

ments in their

text as relevantforms of

expression.

The contexts, cadences,

and contours

of the interviewsand con-

versations offer both illustrative

nfor-

mation regarding

memories and evi-

dence of a truly shared, ethnographic

partnershipbetween Gold and Gujar,

and with otherresidentsof

Sawar.

Toward an Anthropological

Theory of

Value: The False Coin

of Our Own

Dreams.

David Graeber.NewYork:Pal-

grave, 2001. vii + 337 pp., notes, refer-

ences, index.

MELISSA EMIAN

BardCollege

Whywrite an anthropological

heory of

value? Or

rather, why a theory of

value, as opposed to a theory

of de-

sire, power, magic, creativity,

or politi-

cal action

all of which put in an ap-

pearance n

this expansiveand inspired

series of meditations.

Eachof the seven

chapters in Graeber's book

could al-

most stand

alone, which points to his

selection of value as the themeforthe

book:This s,

despite Graeber's ndeav-

ors to rein in his voracious

investiga-

tions, an anthropological theory of

EveIyiing That Matters.

What matters

here is the degree to

which human beings perceive them-

selves as possessing

the capacity to act

on the physical and social

world-to

apprehend

what is valuable. So this is

no orthodoxworkof economic

anthro-

pology but, rather,

an attempt to find a

consistent analytic

or as many conno-

tations of value

as possible. Graeber

takes as his startingpoint the

proposi-

tion that globalizationand its

academic

rendering, postmodernism,

appear to

assertthat the

only capacity or creativ-

ity we have lies in our consumption

practices. He then argues

to the con-

trary that, alongside the

dominant

Western traditions of possessive

indi-

vidualism and positivism,

there has

also been a suppressed but

perennially

emergent tradition of intersubjectivity

and dynamism.

It is the latter, never-

quite-realized

radition o which Grae-

ber would like

anthropologyto turn in

its contemplation of value.

Actions, or,

more precisely, the latent

capacitr to

act and the means by which people

make this capacityvisible, are his ana-

lytical grail.Graeberwants to know, for

example, why

items of adornment so

often become

trade media-why

something

used to draw attention to

the visible part of a person's

body

should also

be the most appropriate

thing to make

manifest a person's in-

visible intentions, insofar as

economic

activities are revelatoryof certain

cate-

gories of intent. To Graeber's

redit,he

does not then

resort o vacuous notions

of performativity, ven

when dis-

cussing the drama-obsessedKwakiutl.

And action or him is not

the same as

Bourdieu's practice, which Graeber

finds too economistic

(in the formalist

sense) to account for why

people

choose certain actions and

transac-

tions over others.

So what is it?

At this point the most interesting

part

of Graeber's

nquiry also becomes its

most problematic. n an effort

o distin-

guish action

as an undertheorizedarea

of social life,

he makes a number of

series of meditations.

Eachof the seven

chapters in Graeber's book

could al-

most stand

alone, which points to his

selection of value as the themeforthe

book:This s,

despite Graeber's ndeav-

ors to rein in his voracious

investiga-

tions, an anthropological theory of

EveIyiing That Matters.

What matters

here is the degree to

which human beings perceive them-

selves as possessing

the capacity to act

on the physical and social

world-to

apprehend

what is valuable. So this is

no orthodoxworkof economic

anthro-

pology but, rather,

an attempt to find a

consistent analytic

or as many conno-

tations of value

as possible. Graeber

takes as his startingpoint the

proposi-

tion that globalizationand its

academic

rendering, postmodernism,

appear to

assertthat the

only capacity or creativ-

ity we have lies in our consumption

practices. He then argues

to the con-

trary that, alongside the

dominant

Western traditions of possessive

indi-

vidualism and positivism,

there has

also been a suppressed but

perennially

emergent tradition of intersubjectivity

and dynamism.

It is the latter, never-

quite-realized

radition o which Grae-

ber would like

anthropologyto turn in

its contemplation of value.

Actions, or,

more precisely, the latent

capacitr to

act and the means by which people

make this capacityvisible, are his ana-

lytical grail.Graeberwants to know, for

example, why

items of adornment so

often become

trade media-why

something

used to draw attention to

the visible part of a person's

body

should also

be the most appropriate

thing to make

manifest a person's in-

visible intentions, insofar as

economic

activities are revelatoryof certain

cate-

gories of intent. To Graeber's

redit,he

does not then

resort o vacuous notions

of performativity, ven

when dis-

cussing the drama-obsessedKwakiutl.

And action or him is not

the same as

Bourdieu's practice, which Graeber

finds too economistic

(in the formalist

sense) to account for why

people

choose certain actions and

transac-

tions over others.

So what is it?

At this point the most interesting

part

of Graeber's

nquiry also becomes its

most problematic. n an effort

o distin-

guish action

as an undertheorizedarea

of social life,

he makes a number of

Gujardescribe

the bountyof the natu-

ralenvironmentwhileemphasizing

he

rigid constraints

that Sawar people

confronted

in utilizing the natural re-

sources that

surrounded them. Just as

the authors elaborate the

realities of

princely power, they also emphasize

the powers of collaborative

resistance

and collectivepersistence that enabled

Sawar esidents

o lead sociallyrichand

physically

robust ives. Incontrastwith

these memories, Gold and

Gujarpre-

sent the realities of postindependence

Sawar, n which moral decay,

laziness,

and conceit are perceived

by contem-

poraryvillagers s manifestations

of in-

stitutional and individual

irresponsi-

bility. Ironically, today's

political and

social freedoms are apparent

both in

the visibly degradednatural

surround-

ings and in the depravityof social val-

ues that place individualistic

acquisi-

tiveness over communal

generosity.

Where the voices of Sawarresidents

are integrated

with insightful analysis,

both the

ethnographic materials and

the theoretical

analyses are riveting.

In the chapter

entitled Shoes, the

authors examine

the deeply internal-

ized collective memory of

punishment

by the shoe. Offeringa nuanced

analy-

sis of the symbolic mportance

of shoes

in demarcating

social strata, the

authors suggest that prohibition from

wearing shoes, as well as

punishment

by theshoe -an

oversized and semi-

myiologized shoe whose

sole purpose

was punishment

were inextricably

linked with

representationsof domin-

ion and dispossession.Moreover,

hoes

are important mediating

elements in

people's

relationship with nature:

Without shoes, feet become

blistered,

impaled,

and cold. Through their dis-

cussion of

shoes, the authors convinc-

ingly argue that both the

social values

inherent in wearing shoes

and the in-

terface between people and nature as

representedby shoes were controlled

and manipulated through

the powers

of the feudal state during

the time of

the kings.

In the concluding chapter,

Gold and

Gujaroffer a fascinatingdis-

cussion of the paralleldecline

of natural

ecology and moral economy

of Sawar,

and againshoes become an important

symbol of

change.Although n contem-

porarySawarno one is prohibited

rom

wearing shoes, the Japanese sandals

Gujardescribe

the bountyof the natu-

ralenvironmentwhileemphasizing

he

rigid constraints

that Sawar people

confronted

in utilizing the natural re-

sources that

surrounded them. Just as

the authors elaborate the

realities of

princely power, they also emphasize

the powers of collaborative

resistance

and collectivepersistence that enabled

Sawar esidents

o lead sociallyrichand

physically

robust ives. Incontrastwith

these memories, Gold and

Gujarpre-

sent the realities of postindependence

Sawar, n which moral decay,

laziness,

and conceit are perceived

by contem-

poraryvillagers s manifestations

of in-

stitutional and individual

irresponsi-

bility. Ironically, today's

political and

social freedoms are apparent

both in

the visibly degradednatural

surround-

ings and in the depravityof social val-

ues that place individualistic

acquisi-

tiveness over communal

generosity.

Where the voices of Sawarresidents

are integrated

with insightful analysis,

both the

ethnographic materials and

the theoretical

analyses are riveting.

In the chapter

entitled Shoes, the

authors examine

the deeply internal-

ized collective memory of

punishment

by the shoe. Offeringa nuanced

analy-

sis of the symbolic mportance

of shoes

in demarcating

social strata, the

authors suggest that prohibition from

wearing shoes, as well as

punishment

by theshoe -an

oversized and semi-

myiologized shoe whose

sole purpose

was punishment

were inextricably

linked with

representationsof domin-

ion and dispossession.Moreover,

hoes

are important mediating

elements in

people's

relationship with nature:

Without shoes, feet become

blistered,

impaled,

and cold. Through their dis-

cussion of

shoes, the authors convinc-

ingly argue that both the

social values

inherent in wearing shoes

and the in-

terface between people and nature as

representedby shoes were controlled

and manipulated through

the powers

of the feudal state during

the time of

the kings.

In the concluding chapter,

Gold and

Gujaroffer a fascinatingdis-

cussion of the paralleldecline

of natural

ecology and moral economy

of Sawar,

and againshoes become an important

symbol of

change.Although n contem-

porarySawarno one is prohibited

rom

wearing shoes, the Japanese sandals

3lSlS

8/19/2019 Review - Graeber, D - Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value.pdf

3/3

BookReviews*

American Ethnologist

ookReviews*

American Ethnologist

idiosyncratic forays into psychology,

philosophy, and social history,some of

which are more successful than others.

I found the introduction of Roy

Bhaskar's criticalrealism to be illu-

minating in a consideration of the dy-

namistic tradition Graeber wishes to

champion, but his invocation of Piaget

in the same context seemed cosmetic.

Graeber's reatments of child develop-

ment and changing fashions in Euro-

peanmen's dress,althoughdistracting,

do not cause irreparable amage to the

flow of his argument.

These detoursdo, however,highlight

the fact that Graeber s farmore persua-

sive in his own idiom, the most compel-

ling instance of which is in the dialogue

he establishes between what he calls

Marxian cynicism and Maussian

naivete that is, between a denial

that action is possible outside of a total-

izing system versus a denial that such a

system exists. Graeberargues that it is

possible both to critiquecapitalistrela-

tions and imagine their alternatives.To

do so requires that we take seriously

capacities like creativity:This is one of

the most importantobservationsGrae-

ber makes. But he moves rather too

swiftlyto issues of power and the roles

of desire in his concluding chapter on

fetishism, in which he asks, just how

mystified are people by their ideolo-

gies? His answer seems to be that peo-

ple are not so much mystified as defi-

cient in perspectives, a condition that

changes during periods of social and

economic upheaval. Powerful objects

remain powerful because people col-

lapse into them the relations they per-

ceive to have destabilized around

them. It is a compelling idea; one only

wishes he had paid closer attention to

the Melanesian material touched on

earlier n his book and considered that

some peoples extract he relations hey

desire from objects regardless of

whether or not they are undergoingan

epochal shift. They do so because the

objects enable the very multiplication

of perspectives he claims is absent in

nonrevolutionary ystems.

Graeber'swriting s dexterous,witty,

and in places wonderfullypoetic. One

complaint, however, is that it is not al-

ways clear for whom he is writing.The

first three chapters are didactic n tone

and seem to be aimed at an under-

idiosyncratic forays into psychology,

philosophy, and social history,some of

which are more successful than others.

I found the introduction of Roy

Bhaskar's criticalrealism to be illu-

minating in a consideration of the dy-

namistic tradition Graeber wishes to

champion, but his invocation of Piaget

in the same context seemed cosmetic.

Graeber's reatments of child develop-

ment and changing fashions in Euro-

peanmen's dress,althoughdistracting,

do not cause irreparable amage to the

flow of his argument.

These detoursdo, however,highlight

the fact that Graeber s farmore persua-

sive in his own idiom, the most compel-

ling instance of which is in the dialogue

he establishes between what he calls

Marxian cynicism and Maussian

naivete that is, between a denial

that action is possible outside of a total-

izing system versus a denial that such a

system exists. Graeberargues that it is

possible both to critiquecapitalistrela-

tions and imagine their alternatives.To

do so requires that we take seriously

capacities like creativity:This is one of

the most importantobservationsGrae-

ber makes. But he moves rather too

swiftlyto issues of power and the roles

of desire in his concluding chapter on

fetishism, in which he asks, just how

mystified are people by their ideolo-

gies? His answer seems to be that peo-

ple are not so much mystified as defi-

cient in perspectives, a condition that

changes during periods of social and

economic upheaval. Powerful objects

remain powerful because people col-

lapse into them the relations they per-

ceive to have destabilized around

them. It is a compelling idea; one only

wishes he had paid closer attention to

the Melanesian material touched on

earlier n his book and considered that

some peoples extract he relations hey

desire from objects regardless of

whether or not they are undergoingan

epochal shift. They do so because the

objects enable the very multiplication

of perspectives he claims is absent in

nonrevolutionary ystems.

Graeber'swriting s dexterous,witty,

and in places wonderfullypoetic. One

complaint, however, is that it is not al-

ways clear for whom he is writing.The

first three chapters are didactic n tone

and seem to be aimed at an under-

graduate or nonspecialist audience,

whereas the remainder appear to ad-

dress graduate and professional-level

anthropologists. Graeber's thesis is

strongestwhen it is most ethnographi-

cally presented, whether he is discuss-

ing the emergence of wampum as a

wealth item among the Iroquois or the

sources of power attendant on Mala-

gasy magicalobjects.In these phenom-

ena, the value of anthropology (rather

than its inverse) emerges almost of its

own accord.As Graeberdemonstrates,

it is and alwayshas been anthropologists

who have insisted that the objects we

hold up as most valuable ultimately

point to the relations we deem most

indispensable to our efficacy in the

world.

Ethnography n Unstable Places: Eve-

ryday Lilres n Contexts of Dramatic

Political Change. Carol Greenhouse,

Elizabeth Mertz, and Kay B. Warren,

eds. Durham, NC: Duke University

Press,2002.439 pp., bibliography,ndex.

SUSANCOOK

BrownUniversif

Travelingbetween Rwanda and Cam-

bodia, I had an eight-hour layover in

Singapore. While in the airport, I

watched a TVdocumentaryabout fire,

fascinated by its discussion of the con-

cept of commitrnent n the science of

human behavior in fire. Apparently,

when threatenedby fire people exhibit

an extraordinary eluctance to aban-

don whatever they are doing, even

when it is obvious that they are in im-

minent danger. Firefightersbattle this

tendency not only in the civilians they

are rescuing, but also in themselves;

many Elre-related eaths are attributed

to this irrational mpulse to cling to a

sense of realitythat is literallyburning

up before one's eyes.

I was reminded of this concept while

readingEthnographyn UnstablePlares.

This pathbreakingcollection of chap-

ters exploressome of the most interest-

ing frontiers of ethnographic analysis,

in particular he variousways in which

people respond to tumultuous (and

sometimes catastrophic) political

changes. Some of the chapters portray

what could be seen as commitment

to a social reality hat is in fact going up

graduate or nonspecialist audience,

whereas the remainder appear to ad-

dress graduate and professional-level

anthropologists. Graeber's thesis is

strongestwhen it is most ethnographi-

cally presented, whether he is discuss-

ing the emergence of wampum as a

wealth item among the Iroquois or the

sources of power attendant on Mala-

gasy magicalobjects.In these phenom-

ena, the value of anthropology (rather

than its inverse) emerges almost of its

own accord.As Graeberdemonstrates,

it is and alwayshas been anthropologists

who have insisted that the objects we

hold up as most valuable ultimately

point to the relations we deem most

indispensable to our efficacy in the

world.

Ethnography n Unstable Places: Eve-

ryday Lilres n Contexts of Dramatic

Political Change. Carol Greenhouse,

Elizabeth Mertz, and Kay B. Warren,

eds. Durham, NC: Duke University

Press,2002.439 pp., bibliography,ndex.

SUSANCOOK

BrownUniversif

Travelingbetween Rwanda and Cam-

bodia, I had an eight-hour layover in

Singapore. While in the airport, I

watched a TVdocumentaryabout fire,

fascinated by its discussion of the con-

cept of commitrnent n the science of

human behavior in fire. Apparently,

when threatenedby fire people exhibit

an extraordinary eluctance to aban-

don whatever they are doing, even

when it is obvious that they are in im-

minent danger. Firefightersbattle this

tendency not only in the civilians they

are rescuing, but also in themselves;

many Elre-related eaths are attributed

to this irrational mpulse to cling to a

sense of realitythat is literallyburning

up before one's eyes.

I was reminded of this concept while

readingEthnographyn UnstablePlares.

This pathbreakingcollection of chap-

ters exploressome of the most interest-

ing frontiers of ethnographic analysis,

in particular he variousways in which

people respond to tumultuous (and

sometimes catastrophic) political

changes. Some of the chapters portray

what could be seen as commitment

to a social reality hat is in fact going up

in flames. CarrollLewin describes how

Jewish Ghetto leaders in Poland and

Lithuania, aced with evidence of im-

pending annihilation by the Nazis,

continued to behave as if collegiality

and rational decision making would

prevent or forestall their destruction

(here he fireanalogybecomes excruci-

atingly iteral).A similar process plays

out among the Palestinian eminist ac-

tivists in Israel described by Elizabeth

Faier.Although hese women are intel-

lectually and philosophically commit-

ted to pursuingequal rightsfor women

at the societal level, they nevertheless

exhibit great ambivalence about alter-

ing their own behaviors and appear-

ances for fear that they will dishonor

their husbands, brothers, and fathers.

With full knowledge of the violence

perpetratedagainst women all around

them, they are unwillingto completely

transgressthe forces that oppress and

threaten them unwilling to flee the

fire, so to speak.

More than an exploration of indi-

viduals' and communities' ambiguous

responses to forces of change that will

inevitablyalter heir ives, the book also

argues that under circurnstances of

extreme instability and doubt, society

itself can become a genre of perform-

ance, narrative, emembrance, ritique,

and hopc- even as it loses any stable

referent o empirical onditions,places,

persons, or predictable propriety (p.

2). This quotation from Carol Green-

house's introduction hints at another

of the volume's main themes: the chal-

lenge to conventional ethnographic n-

quiry of studying the zones (literally

and figuratively)where people are en-

tangled, abandoned, engaged, and al-

tered by the reconfigurationof states

(p. 4). Recall hat even fireElghters ust

battle the impulse to stay in place, do-

ing what they are doing, while the

flames drawnearer.So does this collec-

tion examine the tendency of anthro-

pologists to frame their analyses spa-

tiallyand temporallyn termsof states-

relatively table politicalstructures hat

serve as the context, rather than the

contents, of our inquiries. The tempo-

ral boundaries of our studies, along

with concepts like community and

field ite, oftenfollowfrom the prem-

ise of ie state,making t confusing and

disorienting to attempt to understand

in flames. CarrollLewin describes how

Jewish Ghetto leaders in Poland and

Lithuania, aced with evidence of im-

pending annihilation by the Nazis,

continued to behave as if collegiality

and rational decision making would

prevent or forestall their destruction

(here he fireanalogybecomes excruci-

atingly iteral).A similar process plays

out among the Palestinian eminist ac-

tivists in Israel described by Elizabeth

Faier.Although hese women are intel-

lectually and philosophically commit-

ted to pursuingequal rightsfor women

at the societal level, they nevertheless

exhibit great ambivalence about alter-

ing their own behaviors and appear-

ances for fear that they will dishonor

their husbands, brothers, and fathers.

With full knowledge of the violence

perpetratedagainst women all around

them, they are unwillingto completely

transgressthe forces that oppress and

threaten them unwilling to flee the

fire, so to speak.

More than an exploration of indi-

viduals' and communities' ambiguous

responses to forces of change that will

inevitablyalter heir ives, the book also

argues that under circurnstances of

extreme instability and doubt, society

itself can become a genre of perform-

ance, narrative, emembrance, ritique,

and hopc- even as it loses any stable

referent o empirical onditions,places,

persons, or predictable propriety (p.

2). This quotation from Carol Green-

house's introduction hints at another

of the volume's main themes: the chal-

lenge to conventional ethnographic n-

quiry of studying the zones (literally

and figuratively)where people are en-

tangled, abandoned, engaged, and al-

tered by the reconfigurationof states

(p. 4). Recall hat even fireElghters ust

battle the impulse to stay in place, do-

ing what they are doing, while the

flames drawnearer.So does this collec-

tion examine the tendency of anthro-

pologists to frame their analyses spa-

tiallyand temporallyn termsof states-

relatively table politicalstructures hat

serve as the context, rather than the

contents, of our inquiries. The tempo-

ral boundaries of our studies, along

with concepts like community and

field ite, oftenfollowfrom the prem-

ise of ie state,making t confusing and

disorienting to attempt to understand

31111