Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter

Citation

Asad, T. (Ed.). (1973). Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter. Ithaca Press.

Chapter Summary

This is an edited collection, not a monograph by one author. After Talal Asad's introduction it has two parts: four "General Studies" and seven "Case Studies", followed by a bibliographical note by Philip Marfleet and an index. The publisher's synopsis describes the contributions as analysing and documenting how anthropological thinking and practice have been affected by British colonialism, from different points of view and at different levels, each offered as an original contribution to an argument that was, in 1973, only just beginning. The summaries below follow the essay titles in the table of contents and say only what the titles and the synopsis show.

Introduction (Talal Asad)

The editor's introduction opens the volume and introduces the argument that the contributions develop.

Part 1: General Studies

Peter Forster, "A Review of the New Left Critique of Social Anthropology". The first general essay reviews the critique of social anthropology made from the New Left.

Wendy James, "The Anthropologist as Reluctant Imperialist". The title presents the anthropologist as a figure drawn, against inclination, into the imperial enterprise.

Stephan Feuchtwang, "The Discipline and Its Sponsors". This essay concerns the institutions and patrons that supported anthropology and how they relate to the discipline's development.

Talal Asad, "Two European Images of Non-European Rule". The editor's own essay contrasts two European ways of imagining the rule of non-European peoples.

Part 2: Case Studies

Helen Lackner, "Colonial Administration and Social Anthropology: Eastern Nigeria 1920–1940". A study of the relationship between colonial administration and anthropology in a particular region and period.

James Faris, "Pax Britannica and the Sudan: S. F. Nadel". An essay on the work of the anthropologist S. F. Nadel in relation to British rule in the Sudan.

Richard Brown, "Anthropology and Colonial Rule: Godfrey Wilson and the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, Northern Rhodesia". An essay on Godfrey Wilson's career and the institute where he worked, set against colonial rule in Northern Rhodesia.

John Clammer, "Colonialism and the Perception of Tradition in Fiji". An essay on how colonial rule shaped understandings of "tradition" in Fiji.

Roger Owen, "Imperial Policy and Theories of Social Change: Sir Alfred Lyall in India". A study of the colonial administrator Sir Alfred Lyall and the connection between imperial policy and ideas of social change.

Roy Willis, "An Indigenous Critique of Colonialism: The Fipa of Tanzania". An essay that turns to a critique of colonialism developed within an African society.

Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, "Some Remarks from the Third World on Anthropology and Colonialism: The Sudan". A perspective on the subject from a Sudanese standpoint.

Bibliographical Notes

Philip Marfleet, "Bibliographical Notes on the Debate". The closing essay guides readers to the literature on the debate.

Key Concepts

Introduction and Part 1

• Anthropology and colonialism: the volume's organising relationship, the effect of British colonialism on anthropological thought and practice.
• The New Left critique: the radical criticism of social anthropology reviewed by Forster.
• Sponsorship: how the institutions and patrons behind anthropology relate to the discipline, in Feuchtwang's title.
• European images of rule: the contrasting ways, in Asad's chapter title, that Europeans imagined their rule over non-Europeans.

Part 2

• Colonial administration: the relationship between administrators and anthropologists in a given region.
• Perception of tradition: how colonialism shaped what counted as tradition, in the Fiji essay.
• Indigenous critique: a critique of colonialism by the people studied (the Fipa essay).
• Third World perspective: a view of the discipline from the societies it studied (the final Sudan essay).

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear, focused theme. The synopsis and the contents show a single question, the effect of British colonialism on anthropology, tackled by several authors at different levels.
• A balance of general and case-based essays. The four general studies and seven case studies let readers move between the discipline-wide argument and specific contexts: Eastern Nigeria, the Sudan, Northern Rhodesia, Fiji, India and Tanzania.
• Different vantage points. The contents include an essay from an Indigenous perspective (the Fipa) and one explicitly written from the Third World (the Sudan), and the case studies deal with individual anthropologists, institutions and administrators.
• A reading guide. Marfleet's bibliographical notes on the debate point readers to the surrounding literature.

Limitations

• A collection from 1973. The volume belongs to its moment; it predates later work on postcolonial theory, reflexivity and decolonisation, which a reader will need to add.
• Mostly British and African cases. The synopsis speaks of British colonialism, and the case studies are drawn largely from Africa, with Fiji and India as the other settings. Other colonial systems are not the subject the synopsis announces.
• Specialised essays. Several essays, judging by their titles, discuss particular individuals and institutions (Nadel, Godfrey Wilson, Lyall, the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute), so readers need some knowledge of the history of anthropology to follow them.
• Argument still taking shape. The synopsis itself calls the argument one that is "only just beginning", so the book is better read as a starting point than as a settled account.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within this anthropology of globalisation and development course, Asad's volume is the historical foundation: it asks how anthropology itself emerged within colonial relations of power, a question that lies behind later work on development and globalisation. Eriksen's Globalization: The Key Concepts is a short, concept-based introduction suited to a first encounter with the topic. Crewe and Axelby's Anthropology and Development is an introductory textbook showing how anthropology can illuminate international development, and Gardner and Lewis's Anthropology and Development: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century is a critical textbook on the same relationship.

Escobar's Encountering Development examines how the idea of development was constructed after the Second World War, and sits naturally after Asad: Asad examines how anthropology was entangled with colonial rule, Escobar how development became an object of knowledge and intervention. For most students, the textbooks should come first, Asad second, and Escobar as the next step.

How to Use This Book

It suits advanced undergraduates and graduate students who already know the basic history of social anthropology and want to see how it has been questioned. It is not a textbook; the essays are specialised and expect some knowledge of colonial history.

A practical plan:

• Start with Asad's introduction and the four general studies, which present the argument and the intellectual setting.
• Then choose case studies relevant to your region or interest: Lackner (Eastern Nigeria), Faris (the Sudan and Nadel), Brown (Northern Rhodesia), Clammer (Fiji), Owen (India), Willis (the Fipa).
• Finish with Ahmed's essay for the Third World viewpoint and Marfleet's bibliographical notes for further reading.

While reading, note for each essay the case, the claim about how colonial rule and anthropology were connected, and what evidence would support or challenge it. Pair the book with more recent work on decolonising anthropology and on development.