Irfan Ahmad - Anthropology and Ethnography are Not Equivalent

ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY ARE NOT EQUIVALENT

Methodology and History in Anthropology

Series Editors:

David Parkin, Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford

David Gellner, Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford

Nayanika Mathur, Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Oxford

Recent volumes:

Volume 41

Anthropology and Ethnography Are Not Equivalent: Reorienting Anthropology for the Future

Edited by Irfan Ahmad

Volume 40

Search after Method: Sensing, Moving, and Imagining in Anthropological Fieldwork

Edited by Julie Laplante, Ari Gandsman, and Willow Scobie

Volume 39

After Society: Anthropological Trajectories out of Oxford

Edited by Joo Pina-Cabral and Glenn Bowman

Volume 38

Total Atheism: Secular Activism and Politics of Difference in South India

Stefan Binder

Volume 37

Crossing Histories and Ethnographies: Following Colonial Historicities in Timor-Leste

Edited by Ricardo Roque and Elizabeth G. Traube

Volume 36

Engaging Evil: A Moral Anthropology

Edited by William C. Olsen and Thomas J. Csordas

Volume 35

Medicinal Rule: A Historical Anthropology of Kingship in East and Central Africa

Koen Stroeken

Volume 34

Who Are We? Reimagining Alterity and Affinity in Anthropology

Edited by Liana Chua and Nayanika Mathur

Volume 33

Expeditionary Anthropology: Teamwork, Travel and the Science of Man

Edited by Martin Thomas and Amanda Harris

Volume 32

Returning Life: Language, Life Force and History in Kilimanjaro

Knut Christian Myhre

For a full volume listing, please see the series page on our website: http://berghahnbooks.com/series/methodology-and-history-in-anthropology

Reorienting Anthropology for the Future

Edited by
Irfan Ahmad

First published in 2021 by

Berghahn Books

www.berghahnbooks.com

2021 Irfan Ahmad

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ahmad, Irfan, 1974 editor.

Title: Anthropology and Ethnography Are Not Equivalent: Reorienting Anthropology for the Future / Edited by Irfan Ahmad.

Description: New York: Berghahn, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020048762 (print) | LCCN 2020048763 (ebook) | ISBN 9781789209884 (hardback) | ISBN 9781789209891 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: AnthropologyCross-cultural studies. | EthnologyCross-cultural studies.

Classification: LCC GN25 .A576 2021 (print) | LCC GN25 (ebook) | DDC 301dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048762

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048763

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78920-988-4 hardback
ISBN 978-1-78920-989-1 ebook

To My Teachers Who Are No More

Mahmood Alam
[Madrasa Islamia Arabia, Dumri, Sheohar, Bihar, India]

Gerd Baumann (19532014)
[University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands]

Joginder Singh Gandhi
[Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi]

Johan Goudsblom (19322020)
[University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands]

Mustafa Master
[Madrasa Islamia Arabia, Dumri, Sheohar, Bihar, India]

Abdul Moghni
[B. N. College Patna, Patna University, Bihar]

Bikram Narayan Nanda
[Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi]

SM Akram Rizvi
[Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi]

Yogendra Singh (19322020)
[Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi]

Irfan Ahmad

Hatsuki Aishima

Arpita Roy

Jeremy F. Walton

Patrice Ladwig

Patrick Eisenlohr

Irfan Ahmad

Tim Ingold

The idea of this volume organically emerged from a discussion that took place in September 2017 at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Gttingen, Germany. The aim of the discussion was to reflect on Tim Ingolds influential recent interventions concerning the relationships between anthropology and ethnography. One of the questions the discussion addressed was: Is thats enough about ethnography enough?

I thank Nate Roberts who enthusiastically supported the idea of the discussion as well as lent help in its organization. As the Director of the Max Planck Institute, Peter van der Veer graciously facilitated the discussion as well as took part in it. I am thankful to him. Several months after this event, I contacted Tim Ingold, inviting him to respond to the writings brought together in this volume, which critically engage with his exposition. I thank him for accepting my invitation and offering multiple rich suggestions in the subsequent stages of this project. Of course, I am thankful to the contributors for writing their chapters and attending to my comments, suggestions, and queries.

I am greatly thankful to the two anonymous reviewers who offered constructive criticisms and helpful suggestions about the volume as well as specific chapters. Their incorporation has hopefully made the volume richer and more refined. Their comments have enabled me to sharpen some points in the Introduction as well as organize the volume. My thanks also go to the editors of the Methodology & History in Anthropology series, of which, I am pleased, this book eventually became part, and whose editors also made instructive comments. Tom Bonnington, Assistant Editor at Berghahn, efficiently supervised the peer review process, offered useful advice along the way, and, yes, sent me uplifting timely reminders. Early on, Marion Berghahn, Director of Berghahn Books, enthusiastically took interest in the book proposal. I am extremely grateful to her. In its penultimate stage, my partner, Sana Ghazi (herself an anthropologist), has contributed to this book in many ways. I wonder if thank you to her is a suitable phrase to say.

Figure 0.1. Cat at Irfan Ahmads souterrain apartment during the Coronavirus quarantine, Gttingen, Germany. Irfan Ahmad.

Much of the revision, including the editorial, of this volume was done during social distancing in order to fight (escape?) the coronavirus. The friend with whom I interacted most during this strange period was the black-and-white cat in my neighbourhood who visited me regularly. Our friendship is over one year long. Initially, I offered her milk, which she had no interest in. Unlike cats in India, cats in Germany eat meat dishes. So, based on my new knowledge, I began to buy special cat food from the supermarket. As I used to get Alnatura organic corn flakes for myself, I began to buy organic food for her too, which the cat liked more than the nonorganic type. Desire for others, so goes a