Epistemology, Fieldwork, and Anthropology
Epistemology, Fieldwork, and Anthropology provides a systematic examination of the empirical foundations of interpretations and grounded theories in anthropology. Olivier de Sardan explores the nature of the links between observed reality and the data pro
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E pi s t e m o l o g y, Fi e l d w o rk , and Anthropology
Jean-Pierre OLIVIER de SARDAN Tr a n s l a t e d b y A n t o i n e t t e T I D J A N I A L O U
EPISTEMOLOGY, FIELDWORK, AND ANTHROPOLOGY
Copyright © Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan 2015 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-48849-7 All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-69593-5 ISBN 978-1-137-47788-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137477880 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Olivier de Sardan, Jean-Pierre. Epistemology, fieldwork, and anthropology / Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan ; translated by Antoinette Tidjani Alou. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Anthropology—Methodology. 2. Anthropology—Fieldwork. 3. Anthropology—Philosophy. 4. Social epistemology. I. Title. GN33.O48 2015 301.072'3—dc23 2014044626 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Amnet. First edition: May 2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
vii
1 Introduction: Empirical Adequacy, Theory, Anthropology
1
2 The Policy of Fieldwork: Data Production in Anthropology and Qualitative Approaches
21
3 Emic and the Actors’ Point of View
65
4 From Observation to Description
83
5 The Methodological “I”: Implication and Explicitation in Fieldwork
103
6 Methodological Populism and Ideological Populism in Anthropology
133
7 The Violence Done to Data: On a Few Figures of Overinterpretation
167
8 Conclusion: Common Sense and Scholarly Sense
195
Postface: Researcher and Citizen: Science and Ideology
211
Notes
215
References
243
L i s t o f Fi g u re s a n d Ta b l e s
Figures 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 5.1
Empirical adequacy Data production Traces of data in the final text One emic for two etics The three levels of anthropological subjectivity
3 25 61 78 113
Tables 2.1 Field inquiry and inquiry through questionnaires 3.1 The emic/etic oppositions 3.2 Harris final classification
22 69 69
“The results of scientific research in any branch of learning ought to be presented in a manner absolutely candid and above board . . . In ethnography, where a candid account of such data is perhaps even more necessary, it has unfortunately in the past not always been supplied with sufficient generosity . . . I consider that only such ethnographic sources are of unquestionable scientific value in which we can clearly draw the line between, on the one h
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