DECOLONIZING ‘THE FIELD’ IN THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CENTRAL ASIA: ‘Being there’ and ‘being here’

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

I wrote this chapter in the spirit of contributing to the decolonization of Central Asian anthropology. Drawing on an analysis of the works of the Russian orientalist, Aleksei Levshin (1798-1879), and his Kazakh critic, Chokan Valikhanov (1835-1865), I analyse historical practices of ‘entry into the field’, ‘being in the field’, and publication of the results, i.e., ‘descriptions and stories of the field’, in the West and Russia before the so-called ‘reflexive’ and ‘postcolonial turns’. I examine what Clifford Geertz terms the ‘gap between engaging others where they are and representing them where they are not,' and discuss how this gap continues to inflect the anthropology of Central Asia today.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Central Asian World
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages82-95
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9781000875898
ISBN (Print)9780367898908
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 1 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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