Anthropology and the Bushman

by Alan Barnard

Overview

The Bushman' is a perennial but changing image. The transformation of that image is important. It symbolizes the perception of Bushman or San society, of the ideas and values of ethnographers who have worked with Bushman peoples, and those of other anthropologists who use this work. Anthropology and the Bushman covers early travellers and settlers, classic nineteenth and twentieth-century ethnographers, North American and Japanese ecological traditions, the approaches of African ethnographers, and recent work on advocacy and social development. It reveals the impact of Bushman studies on anthropology and on the public.The book highlights how Bushman or San ethnography has contributed to anthropological controversy, for example in the debates on the degree of incorporation of San society within the wider political economy, and on the validity of the case for 'indigenous rights' as a special kind of human rights. Examining the changing image of the Bushman, Barnard provides a new contribution to an established anthropology debate.A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845204297
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/01/2007
Pages:	190
Sales rank:	784,712
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alan Barnard is Professor of the Anthropology of Southern Africa at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. From Early Encounters to Early Anthropology3. Victorian Visions of the Bushman4. Beckoning of the Kalahari5. Amateurs and Cultural Ecologists6. An Original Affluent Society? 7. The Return of Myth and Symbol8. Kalahari Revisionism and Portrayals of Contact9. Advocacy, Development and Partnership10. Representations and Self-Representations11. Reflections and Conclusions