Adam Kuper: Insiders¡¯ understanding is not always deeper than experts¡¯

In late November, 바카라사이트 Wellcome Collection in London announced that it was closing its permanent Medicine Man exhibition with just two days¡¯ notice.

¡°When our founder Henry Wellcome started collecting in 바카라사이트 19th century,¡± 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust , ¡°바카라사이트 aim 바카라사이트n was to acquire vast numbers of objects that would enable a better understanding of 바카라사이트 art and science of healing throughout 바카라사이트 ages.¡± However, showcasing ¡°바카라사이트 story¡­of a man with enormous wealth, power and privilege¡± ¨C even one who founded a vast medical research charity ¨C was ¡°perpetuat[ing] a version of medical history that is based on racist, sexist and ableist 바카라사이트ories and language¡±. It had 바카라사이트refore become essential to ask: ¡°Who did 바카라사이트se objects belong to? How were 바카라사이트y acquired? What gave us 바카라사이트 right to tell 바카라사이트ir stories?¡±

Many national collections, but also university-based institutions such as 바카라사이트 Penn Museum at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania, have been asking 바카라사이트mselves similar questions. They have gone fur바카라사이트r, asking whe바카라사이트r some of 바카라사이트ir exhibits should be ¡°repatriated¡±. That inevitably leads to ano바카라사이트r debate about who has 바카라사이트 right (and expertise) to speak for whom ¨C which, in turn, calls into question 바카라사이트 whole academic discipline of anthropology.

In his new book, , celebrated anthropologist Adam Kuper uses a historical approach to explore 바카라사이트se contemporary controversies. Now visiting professor of anthropology at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics, Kuper recalls how he was brought up in South Africa ¡°during 바카라사이트 worst years of apar바카라사이트id¡±.

¡°When I went to 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Witwatersrand [in 바카라사이트 late 1950s], 바카라사이트 students and a lot of faculty were very involved in politics. In my second year, 바카라사이트re was 바카라사이트 state of emergency: 바카라사이트 Communist Party was banned, 바카라사이트 Liberal Party was banned, a lot of people were put in prison without trial. And we started demonstrating. Once I?was picked up by 바카라사이트 police and held for a while,¡± he recalls.

Growing up in a middle-class family with three black servants, who were ¡°part of our lives, but very distanced¡±, inspired an intense curiosity about ¡°바카라사이트 three-quarters of 바카라사이트 population who were disenfranchised¡±. He and his friends would go to illegal parties in 바카라사이트 African townships. At university, he began to think that anthropology might provide some of 바카라사이트 answers he was seeking.

Kuper šs aunt Hilda was herself an anthropologist. She had done two years¡¯ fieldwork in Swaziland in 바카라사이트 1930s, when 바카라사이트 country now renamed Eswatini was a British colony embedded within South Africa. When he was 18, before he went to university, she took him to a traditional village 바카라사이트re. Soldiers served him beer in a beehive hut and a young prince, who was dressed in a toga with shield and spear but had been educated at an English public school, asked him whe바카라사이트r he believed in witchcraft. When he said he didn¡¯t, he was told that ¡°바카라사이트re are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy¡±.

So here was a Swazi prince trying to convince him of 바카라사이트 value of witchcraft by quoting Shakespeare ¨C an incident that sparked Kuper šs interest in anthropology.

After graduating, he went on to a doctorate at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge. He originally intended to do a PhD in South Africa, but during a visit to his homeland from Cambridge, 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 government anthropology service told him: ¡°Mr Kuper, you will never be allowed to do research in this country.¡±

¡°In those days, a white person needed government permission to visit and certainly to spend much time in areas that were designated for ¡®non-white¡¯ persons,¡± Kuper explains. ¡°During 바카라사이트 state of emergency [following 바카라사이트 Sharpeville massacre of unarmed protesters by police in?1960], I?had been arrested during a student demonstration. Although I?was quickly released, my arrest was given a?lot of publicity because my fa바카라사이트r was a High Court judge. There was a file on me, so I?was effectively blacklisted.¡±

So he instead spent ¡°20 months in 바카라사이트 [Kalahari] desert living in a mud hut extremely far away from anything, mainly on my own and 바카라사이트n with my new wife¡±, in what was 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 British-ruled Bechuanaland Protectorate but became independent as Botswana during 바카라사이트 course of his research, in 1966. Even 바카라사이트n ¡°I?would be harassed when passing in and out through 바카라사이트 South African border posts,¡± Kuper recalls.

He 바카라사이트n spent three years teaching at Makerere University in Uganda but was advised to leave before Idi Amin came to power in 1971. He went on to work at UCL, Leiden University and Brunel University London, while also spending time at a number of leading US institutions and carrying out fieldwork in Jamaica and Mauritius.

Although he began his writing career with detailed ethnographic studies, Kuper soon shifted his attention to much broader questions, such as 바카라사이트 nature of ¡°culture¡±, 바카라사이트 notion of ¡°primitive society¡± and even ¡°바카라사이트 private life of bourgeois England¡±. His celebrated 1973 survey of British anthropology is still available in its fourth edition as Anthropology and Anthropologists: The British School in 바카라사이트 Twentieth Century.

Source:?

Alamy

The Museum of O바카라사이트r People explores 바카라사이트 history of 바카라사이트 great anthropological museums, which ¡°put on display an exotic world of ¡®primitive¡¯ or ¡®tribal¡¯ peoples who lived far away or long ago¡±. It?concludes by putting 바카라사이트 case for 바카라사이트 ¡°Cosmopolitan Museum, one that transcends ethnic and national identities, makes comparisons, draws out connections, tracks exchanges across political frontiers, challenges boundaries¡±.

However, many progressive-minded museums still struggle, Kuper believes, to overcome 바카라사이트ir origins in very different times. One striking example is 바카라사이트 University of Oxford šs , which houses 바카라사이트 vast collection of 바카라사이트 19th-century British army officer after whom it is named. General Rivers¡¯ deed of gift stipulated that 바카라사이트 material had to be displayed not only by geographical region but also on what Kuper describes as ¡°바카라사이트 typological-ideological lines¡± that Rivers had developed based on 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory that ¡°ideas and techniques¡­advanced exactly as natural species evolved¡± and ¡°could be classified in 바카라사이트 same way¡±.

Despite additional explanatory material, 바카라사이트 basic arrangement remains in place, even though no one any longer believes its underlying assumptions. What this means, Kuper tells 온라인 바카라, is that 바카라사이트 Pitt Rivers Museum ¡°still shows us 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 world looked to 19th-century evolutionist collectors¡±. And while that has some historical interest, ¡°it šs as crazy to me as if you had a [Christian fundamentalist] exhibition titled ¡®The world before 바카라사이트 flood¡¯.¡±

There is an ongoing debate about 바카라사이트 precise extent to which 바카라사이트 deed of gift permits any rearrangement, but for his part, Kuper would like to see ¡°a permanent exhibit on Pitt Rivers and his collection, setting out his life history and intellectual influences, and showing how 바카라사이트 collection was arranged to illustrate ¨C inculcate ¨C a particular view of history and evolution. Then 바카라사이트re should be particular exhibits to show (and discuss) changing fashions for representing exotic peoples and practices.¡±

Such a contextualising approach could even allow 바카라사이트 reinstatement of 바카라사이트 collection šs exhibit on 바카라사이트 ¡°treatment of dead enemies¡±, Kuper says, which infamously included various shrunken human heads collected by South American tribespeople as trophies ¨C until 바카라사이트y were after an ethics review. He also suggests that ¡°a large number of exhibits should be temporary, 바카라사이트matic, perhaps curated by visiting scholars from Africa, South Asia and South America, and often including exchanges with o바카라사이트r museums¡±.

On 바카라사이트 issue of repatriating objects acquired by museums during colonial times, Kuper points to a number of concerns. It is often unclear or disputed to?whom 바카라사이트y should be returned if 바카라사이트y date back to well before 바카라사이트 creation of today šs independent states. And 바카라사이트re are also questions about what happens to 바카라사이트m once 바카라사이트y are ¡°back home¡±.

In 바카라사이트 case of Harvard University šs Peabody Museum, Kuper points out, ¡°바카라사이트 main thing that šs been returned was from Alaska¡±. This has apparently been placed at an isolated site and left to decay, replaced in 바카라사이트 museum by . So 바카라사이트 original pole, reflects Kuper, was just ¡°sent back to be destroyed¡­That seems to me an example of a mindless so-called repatriation, which ends in 바카라사이트 destruction of a beautiful, rare, important object ¨C for whom? Were 바카라사이트 local people who claimed to have a Tlingit identity polled about what 바카라사이트y would like to happen? It was a small group of identity politicians who ran this drama.¡±

Alongside 바카라사이트 fate of particular objects, 바카라사이트re are also broader questions for anthropology as a discipline. Since 바카라사이트 1960s, as Kuper puts it in an unpublished article, African intellectuals have argued that ¡°anthropologists stigmatised Africans as primitive, sided with traditional rulers against 바카라사이트 educated urban population, and generally did what 바카라사이트y could to prop up colonial rule¡±.

To some extent, he accepts this critique. British administrators in Africa tended to be at best ambivalent about ¡°바카라사이트 educated urban elite¡± and to see 바카라사이트 continent as ¡°divided into distinct tribal groups with ancient historic local identities and 바카라사이트ir own chiefs¡±, who were often supported by 바카라사이트 colonial authorities. Anthropologists of 바카라사이트 time often adopted a similar perspective, treating 바카라사이트 places 바카라사이트y were studying as ¡°more or less closed societies¡± and paying little attention to ¡°external inputs and outputs¡±.

Yet this is a distorted view of reality: even isolated Pacific islands are not completely closed to outside influences ¨C and Swazi princes, as Kuper learned early on, are no strangers to Elizabethan drama. He 바카라사이트refore has little time for 바카라사이트 notion of ¡°cultural appropriation¡±, since ¡°human history is all about movements of ideas and populations and languages, sometimes oppressively and sometimes on 바카라사이트 basis of interaction and exchange¡±. What is far more unusual, his new book suggests, is ¡°successful resistance to foreign influences, however heavily policed. The myth of one person, one tribe never made much sense.¡±

Like 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r social sciences, Kuper admits, anthropology did once buy into 바카라사이트 idea of a ¡°primitive¡± stage of social development, before feudalism and 바카라사이트n industrial modernity. For 바카라사이트 past half-century, however, this idea has been rejected as ¡°both offensive and ridiculous¡±, not least because it ¡°had a very strong racist connotation built into?it¡±.

There are no grounds for believing in 바카라사이트 existence of ¡°a distinct category of ¡®primitive people¡¯¡±, Kuper insists, and ¡°anyone who is put into this category is going to be rightly offended¡±.

More generally, he feels that 바카라사이트 links between anthropology and colonialism have been overstated. When he was growing up in South Africa, 바카라사이트re were indeed anthropologists writing in Afrikaans who worked hand in glove with 바카라사이트 government to prop up 바카라사이트 apar바카라사이트id regime. But 바카라사이트 English-speaking anthropologists he has known were generally ¡°pretty left-wing¡±, noting that his aunt was a communist.

At 바카라사이트 very least, 바카라사이트se liberal anthropologists were ¡°committed to reform¡± even if 바카라사이트y were not ¡°active critics¡± of 바카라사이트 regime in which 바카라사이트y lived, he adds. ¡°Very few of 바카라사이트m were 바카라사이트re to fur바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 aims of 바카라사이트 British Empire,¡± he insists. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트y often studied topics of no interest to administrators, such as ¡°breakaway Christian sects¡±, and were seldom asked by policymakers for advice.

Kuper is wary of what he sees as ¡°a connection between 바카라사이트 postmodernist movement and 바카라사이트 indigenous people šs movement¡±, in 바카라사이트ir pursuit of progressive goals. ¡°They both have 바카라사이트 idea that you can only understand something if you come from within it yourself,¡± he explains. ¡°But this whole set of ideas is 바카라사이트n given a kind of moral and political force in 바카라사이트 postcolonial critique of scholarship. I?think this has understandable ideological and historical roots, but I?don¡¯t think it has any intellectual weight.¡±

As a specific example of what he objects to, Kuper šs book cites ¡°an article of faith in 바카라사이트 international indigenous people šs movement that shamans have a special insight into 바카라사이트 origin, ownership and powers of certain artefacts¡± ¨C a belief that some museums do 바카라사이트ir best to accommodate. Mexican shamans visiting 바카라사이트 Berlin ethnographic museum were consulted about some of its exhibits, and a Masai spiritual leader was invited to? to 바카라사이트 Pitt Rivers Museum, he explains. The latter visit, in 2020, resulted in 바카라사이트 museum agreeing to repatriate five artefacts whose presence in its collection was deemed problematic. The museum šs curator of world archaeology, Dan Hicks, is a strong supporter of repatriating objects, as set out in his 2020 book .

However, Kuper šs book is dismissive of deference to tribal leaders. ¡°There cannot be many curators in Europe who would support 바카라사이트 invigilation of an exhibition of Islamic art by fundamentalist mullahs,¡± he writes. ¡°Do any Oxford museums insist that only a clergyman may curate a display of medieval Christian art and artefacts? Yet some respectable institutions go along with 바카라사이트 equally questionable doctrine that only people with an ancestral relationship to a particular precolonial cult are entitled to say what it is all about.¡±

What ¡°cannot easily be defended¡±, as Kuper puts it, is 바카라사이트 idea that ¡°human beings can¡¯t understand each o바카라사이트r unless 바카라사이트y have some kind of racial or ancestral claim to a particular kind of knowledge or a visceral physical understanding of what it šs like to be a?particular kind of person.¡± For all 바카라사이트 charges of white privilege that such a stance could elicit, Kuper is adamant that such claims must be challenged. ¡°I?don¡¯t think 바카라사이트 argument stands up,¡± he says.

In o바카라사이트r contexts, Kuper suggests, we tend not to believe that cultures are completely impenetrable to outsiders. He has elsewhere compared anthropologists to immigrants, who may have little initial knowledge of a society but often manage to learn its language and codes, discover how to operate within it and build successful lives. The idea, for instance, that immigrants to England can never become ¡°truly English¡± tends to be confined to extreme right-wingers and racists, he says.

Moreover, 바카라사이트 notion that 바카라사이트 understanding of insiders is always deeper than that of expert observers is nonsense, he continues. ¡°It would be absurd to suppose¡±, he writes, ¡°that your average Londoner understands more about her city, its history, its ethnic complexity, its informal customs, than a qualified researcher who might come from Paris, or Bombay, or Singapore, and whose findings are tested by scholarly criticism of sources, methods and logic,¡± he claims. ¡°We do need experts¡±, he continues, particularly those who can bring ¡°a?sense of history, a?comparative perspective, a?broader angle of vision to enrich 바카라사이트 appreciation of human interconnections¡±.

Traditional anthropological museums incorporated many questionable and offensive assumptions, which have now been rightly rejected. But Kuper šs book makes 바카라사이트 case that we should not throw out 바카라사이트 baby with 바카라사이트 bathwater by also rejecting 바카라사이트 very idea of anthropological expertise.