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508 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
“The society we belong to is the only society we are in a position to transform without any risk of destroying it, since the changes, introduced by us, are coming from within the society itself,”But idk about this at all! First of all, it maintains the assumption that societies are these discrete, immutable units, and furthermore that individuals only ever belong to one society. Finally, it assumes that transforming a culture is destroying it, and that this is a risk which must be avoided. But culture is not a static thing, it is always in a process of change. So what makes one culture better than another? I think this is the Unanswerable Question, because anyone answering it will always already be imbued with a particular social background. Also, is there any inherent value in preserving the traditions, authenticity, or “reality” of a culture in the face of constant change? For the western anthropologist, yes. But for the individuals belonging to the constantly shifting cultures themselves??
“Why did I come here? Was it a trick on my part, a clever diversion, which would allow me to resume my career with additional advantages for which I would be given credit? Or did my decision express a deep-seated incompatibility with my social setting so that, whatever happened, I would inevitably live in a state of ever greater estrangement from it?... The value that the anthropologist attaches to foreign societies has no independent foundation; it is a function of his disdain for the customs prevailing in his native setting.”