In and Out of the West

Analyzing the role and trajectory of anthropology

Is anthropology simply a continuation of colonial domination and cultural imperialism by other means, or has it - since its nineteenth-century rebirth as a purportedly scientific discipline - produced reliable knowledge about the cultures it studies? This title places social anthropology in its historical perspective.Does anthropology really add to our understanding of foreign cultures or is it the continuation of colonial domination by other means? Is this academic discipline a mirror-one reflecting the preoccupations of predominantly Western anthropologists-or a window, through which it is possible to observe lives very different to our own?
Maurice Godelier places social anthropology in its historical context, with its origins in the West, and more particularly, colonialism. He also argues that it has to some extent transcended its origins, achieving a measure of scientific objectivity and validity that cannot be reduced to the self-interested concerns of imperial ideology. The final chapter discusses the issues surrounding the presentation of non-Western cultural artefacts to a Western general public.