The Postmodern Challenge to Anthropological Truth

Postmodern Critique of Anthropological Epistemology

The postmodernist critique argues that the anthropologist’s epistemology and view of society is often shown to be Western provincialism—a Western ethnocentric approach applied to the rest of the world. Ethnographies, at best, distort reality and carry significant political implications.

The Crisis of Anthropological Objectivity

Critiques of postmodernism arise when anthropology, which assumed it was an objective scientific truth, is revealed instead to be a product of power.

What is Left of Anthropology?

If all writing is nothing more than interpretations of interpretations, then ethnography risks being viewed as fiction. The conclusion drawn by some is that Anthropology is merely a representational genre.

Representation, Relativism, and Colonialism

Cultural Relativism and the Representation of the Other

Cultural relativism aimed for a better understanding and representation of the ‘other,’ notably through the work of Malinowski and Mead. This approach sought a less ethnocentric description of the ‘savage.’

However, even when arguing that the ‘savage’ was like the Western observer—experiencing and expressing the same basic human emotions (jealousy, anger, love, and fear) and being a product of nature (culture)—the subject was still often presented as timeless and changeless. This reinforced a Western simplistic stereotype, thereby strengthening the power relationship between the constructing subject and the object (a phenomenon known as Orientalism).

Postmodernism and the Hidden Agenda

Nonetheless, postmodernism has led to a better understanding and representation of the ‘other.’ Its theories challenge and question the assumption of an objective, scientific, rational, and truthful anthropology. Key theoretical frameworks include:

• Orientalism
• Postcolonialism
• Deconstructionalism

These theories highlight the real and hidden agenda of anthropology, claiming that anthropology was the handmaiden of colonialism. Ethnographic information was used in the pacification, control, and subjugation of peoples in the colonies, as well as to provide a justification for the colonial system (the so-called “civilizing mission of Europe”).

The Ethical Question: Detachment to Engagement

The Anthropologist's Moral Dilemma

Since the truths about anthropology’s historical role have been revealed, a fundamental question of ethics remains: What is left of the discipline? Even high personal morals do not guarantee objective writing. This leads to critical ethical questions:

• How can anthropology be used in a good way?
• Should the anthropologist help the people, or merely observe?
• What do we do now that anthropology is acknowledged as non-objective?
• Do you intervene, or do you leave the people as they are?

The discipline faces a necessary shift from detachment to engagement.