Art, Science, or Politics? The Crisis in Hunter‐Gatherer Studies

In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 94, Heft 1, S. 31-54

Abstract

In the complex history of hunter‐gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic discourses can be discerned. However, one critique has emerged that would render all hunter‐gatherer discourses irrelevant and do away with the concept altogether. The paper explores the poststructuralist roots of this "revisionism" and then argues why the concept of hunter‐gatherer continues to be politically relevant and empirically valid. However, if they are to fulfill their promise of illuminating an increasingly fragmented and alienating modernity, hunter‐gatherer studies will have to become more attuned to issues of politics, history, context, and reflexivity.