The Politics of Perspectivism: Further

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by Dr. Alcida Ramos on 09/28/12. For personal use only.
Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2012. 41:481–94 Keywords

The Annual Review of Anthropology is online at indigenous peoples, anthropological theory, Brazilian anthropology,
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This article’s doi:
10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145950 Abstract
Copyright c 2012 by Annual Reviews. In recent decades, ethnographic research in Brazil has been influenced
All rights reserved
by a model termed perspectivism that inverts the equation between
0084-6570/12/1021-0481$20.00 nature (as a given) and culture (as variable). Focusing on the interac-
tion between humans and animals, this model attempts to generalize
about thought processes across indigenous Amazonia, resulting in the
proposition that nature is the variable whereas culture remains the same.
The model’s generality has resulted in a remarkable similarity of ethno-
graphic interpretations, giving the false impression that the Amazon is a
homogeneous culture area. This critique of perspectivism highlights its
theoretical and empirical flaws and points out that the recurrent use of
certain laden expressions can have adverse consequences for indigenous
peoples.
481
INTRODUCTION: in Brazil and abroad, influenced a growing

PERSPECTIVISM IN number of professionals and students, and
PERSPECTIVE projected Brazilian anthropology beyond its
The word perspective has gained a surprisingly national borders. Unlike the equally influential
inflated dimension since Brazilian anthropol- theory of interethnic friction proposed by
ogist Viveiros de Castro began to apply it to another Brazilian anthropologist, Cardoso de
a new theoretical offshoot of Lévi-Strauss’s Oliveira, in the 1960s and 1970s (Cardoso
structuralism (Turner 2009). Viveiros de de Oliveira 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976),
Castro has dedicated many years of his prolific perspectivism bypasses the political reality
career to intensive and extensive readings on of interethnic conflict to concentrate on the
lowland South American cultures. In analyzing principles of ontology and cosmology internal
the vast mass of ethnographic material in the to indigenous cultures. Under Viveiros de
Amazon region and elsewhere, he concluded Castro’s leadership, an impressive collection of
that Amerindian philosophy—or ontology, as monographic works on Amazonian Indians has

he prefers—about nature and culture inverts been produced since the 1990s (Andrello 2006;
the Western model. Hence, for Amazonian Calavia Sáez 2006; Cesarino 2011; Fausto 2001;
Indians, nature is the variable, whereas culture Gonçalves 2001; Gordon 2006; Lagrou 2007,
is the constant. As a corollary, humans and Lasmar 2005; Lima 2005; Pinto 1997; Pissolato
nonhumans (especially animals, and game 2007; Vilaça 1992, 2006; among others).
animals in particular) partake of the same However, most of this copious production
ontological makeup, and what varies is their fails to exhibit the talent of its mentor. In con-
point of view, that is, their specific perspective. trast to the theory of interethnic friction, which
He dubs this dichotomy Amerindian multi- was enacted with similar aptitude by its creator
naturalism versus Western “multiculturalism.” and many of his followers, perspectivism suffers
“One ‘single’ culture,” multiple “natures,” from what has troubled, for instance, Marxism:
he asserts (Viveiros de Castro 1998, p. 478) It is very interesting in Marx’s hands, but not
and reiterates (Viveiros de Castro 2004, p. 6). so in those of many of his disciples. A common
These various natures would be literally incor- feature of these perspectivism-inspired works is
porated in the body. In a plethora of articles, the uniformity of results. Most focus on cosmol-
he persistently elaborates on this idea (Viveiros ogy, shamanism, categories of otherness, es-
de Castro 1998, 2002, 2004, 2011). Each new chatology, mythology, and associated symbolic
publication takes his generalizing imagination systems. Such similitude of ethnographic prod-
a little further away from the nitty-gritty of ucts reinforces the notion that perspectivism
indigenous real life. Structuralism is at once is the most appropriate theoretical strategy to
his inspiration and point of departure, whereas apply in indigenous Amazonia, thus creating
a certain facet of Western metaphysics is part a feedback effect that propels further research
of his motivation and rhetoric. Latour (2009) projects in the same direction. The Indians thus
eagerly endorsed perspectivism as it reinforces portrayed, regardless of where they are in the
his hyperbolic argument against modernity Amazon, what their linguistic affiliation is, and
according to which the West is as “holistic” which historical paths they have trodden, differ
as any indigenous society. This review intends very little from each other. Perhaps the model’s
to survey perspectivism by pointing out its excessive generality and its prêt-à-porter char-
contribution as well as its shortcomings. acter render it easily applicable even when it is
not quite appropriate. Regrettably, it has be-
AMAZONIAN INDIANS BACK come a facile recipe for producing copies with-
ON CENTER STAGE out the flair of the original. The ease with which
In the past two decades, perspectivism has one can deploy perspectivism facilitates its dis-
dominated a certain kind of ethnography both semination and capacity to travel far and wide.
482 Ramos
Just like Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism, when intellectual wealth of the “Rest.” The novelty
used in local cultures, perspectivism leaves out in Viveiros de Castro’s theoretical proposition
such a large sociocultural residue that the fi- hinges on its philosophical rhetoric, which is
nal product is a suspect ethnographic homo- more appropriate to generalizations than to the
geneity covering over the Amazon and beyond. understanding of specific worlds of meaning,
The creativity and specificity of each indige- a feature he candidly admits: “[M]y strong (or
nous group are thus drowned under the run-of- weak) point has always been the synthesis, gen-
the-mill Kuhn (1970) called “normal science.” eralization, and comparison rather than the fine
I do not delve into particular perspectivist phenomenological analysis of ethnographic
ethnographies, important as it is to assess the materials” (Viveiros de Castro 2011, p. 3). Un-
merit and shortcomings of this theory when fortunately, this inclination has skidded into the
applied to the specificity of ethnographic work. terrain of reductionism, oversimplification, and
My purpose is rather to delineate perspectivism overinterpretation. For a West-trained mind,
in terms of its theoretical, methodological, and to break up with deeply rooted dichotomies
political profile. would take much more effort than required to
simply invert the terms of an equation. Indeed,
perspectivism replicates structuralism, (Turner
PERSPECTIVISM IN A 2009) without the latter’s ambitious quest to

POLITICAL NEVERLAND arrive at a universal human mind frame.
Most ethnographers who spend more than As in the structuralist era, the enormous
a couple of months in an Indian village rec- indigenous diversity is currently in danger of
ognize in Viveiros de Castro’s “discovery” being compressed into formulas and principles
of animal-human interaction a very familiar of an alien philosophy. For this reason, and for
phenomenon. Intercourse between human the automatism with which it has been applied,
and nonhuman beings is a recurring fact in perspectivism, started as a brilliant idea, runs
fieldwork, regardless of one’s research focus. the risk of spawning a new ethnographic
Nevertheless, this does not entitle us to pro- species: a generic Amerindian forever trading
pose that, for the Indians in general, culture is substances and viewpoints with animals in a
constant and nature is variable. First, because cosmological orgy of predation and canni-
there are no Indians in general; second, because balism. Closely associated, but somewhat in
the very idea of nature as we use the word, be competition with perspectivism, and equally
it one or many, is mostly alien to indigenous inspired by French structuralism, is the model
peoples; third, because to attribute so much concept of animism, an anthropological de-
uniformity to native thinking—Amerindian funct that has been resurrected by French
thought, Amerindian mind, Amerindian soul, anthropologist Descola (1996a,b; Bird-David
even Amerindian Bildung are favorite phrases 1999). Whatever its theoretical sequels may
(Viveiros de Castro 1998, pp. 470, 476, 478, be, the perspectivist model for constructing
481, 482; 2004, pp. 6,19; 2011, p. 3)—is to ethnographies has stamped its brand on Brazil-
flatten down (if not deny) their inventiveness ian anthropology and has become a reference
and aesthetic sophistication and to ignore their point in international ethnology.
specific historical trajectories. Essentialism By and large, perspectivism is indifferent
may be an apt label for such an approach. to political considerations regarding the
There is no reason why we should expect predicament of indigenous peoples in adverse
indigenous peoples to behave according to this interethnic contexts, but it can be the object of
or that academic model. And fourth, because political scrutiny. If we agree with Austin (1975)
to squeeze the ethnographic imagination into a that words can shape behavior and, hence, real-
rigid cast is to rob anthropology of its best asset, ity, it should not go unnoticed that perspectivist
namely, to expose the heedless “West” to the vocabulary has the disquieting potential to add
www.annualreviews.org • The Politics of Perspectivism 483

to indigenous political difficulties and intellec- With this Lévi-Straussian canon guiding the
tual fragility. I exemplify this point by focusing profession for more than two decades, it is un-
on some terms that, as anthropological com- derstandable that anthropologists have stuck to
monplace, frequently appear in perspectivist the reduced model conveyed in the concept of
discourses without a necessary critical appraisal. cosmology. As a result, the Indians have cos-
Take, for instance, cosmology. A perfectly mology, whereas Westerners have theory. Fur-
sound concept in its dictionary sense, it be- thermore, Lévi-Strauss’s proposition has been
comes problematic in its vulgar rendering. As deemed so efficient as to induce us to believe
the study of the cosmos, it maintains its scien- that it equips us to reach out into the most in-
tific integrity, but as worldview, its most cur- timate corners of indigenous cosmological sys-
rent anthropological usage, it has opened up tems. In perspectivism, a label Viveiros de Cas-
an unnecessary gap between indigenous and tro (2004, p. 5) uses to refer to “a set of ideas and
Western science. A theory of knowledge along practices found throughout indigenous Amer-
the lines Evans-Pritchard (1937) spelled out ica,” cosmology is a key concept. “This cos-
for Zande witchcraft merits the name epistemology imagines a universe peopled by dif-
mology rather than cosmology. In this sense, ferent types of subjective agencies, human as
the creation and popularity of the notion of well as nonhuman, each endowed with the same
“pensée sauvage” (Lévi-Strauss 1962) has con- generic type of soul, that is, the same set of
tributed to widening the gap between West- cognitive and volitional capacities” (Viveiros de
ern and indigenous knowledge systems, despite Castro 2004, p. 6). Here cosmology is an in-
Lévi-Strauss’s caveat that savage, wild, nonsci- strument of reductionism, a conceptual cookie
entific thinking is also present in the West. cutter leveling out all differences both trivial
Even in the academic milieu, one easily forgets and important that make a difference between
this Lévi-Straussian appeal to the “psychic unity being a Makuna, a Ye’kuana, or a Yanomami
of mankind” and often regards savage thought (to invoke the examples by J.A. Kelly, unpub-
as mere folklore pertaining exclusively to na- lished information1 ). Myth is another loaded
tive peoples. Moreover, to characterize, as Lévi- term. Like any other word, it is not semanti-
Strauss did, indigenous intellectual activity as a cally neutral. Myth is part of the common lan-
manifestation of the “science of the concrete” guage used by both anthropologists and nonan-
contributes to reducing indigenous thinking to thropologists. Precisely because we share the
an infrascientific level. We should recall that same idiom with our readers, nonspecialists can
Lévi-Strauss’s way to demonstrate indigenous read what we write. However, the fact that our
acumen was to present a patchwork of curiosi- work is read does not mean it is understood
ties very likely to be read by laypersons as a as we intend it to be. And this is where the
collection of assorted beliefs rather than as ex- problem arises. The meaning anthropologists
pressions of empirical knowledge. His cut-and- attribute to myth has very little or nothing at
paste multiethnographic demonstration was in- all to do with its popular sense. In the latter,
tended to show that indigenous classifications
are mostly an intellectual endeavor not lim-
ited to merely pragmatic considerations. Ulti- 1
In an unpublished paper titled “Multinatural Perspec-
mately, however, Lévi-Strauss did not distance tivism,” J.A. Kelly assembles a number of assorted short pas-
himself from Lévy-Brühl (1910) as much as he sages from ethnographic works on the Yekuana in Venezuela,
claimed. Both induced the uninformed reader the Makuna in Colombia, and the Yanomami in Brazil. From
these unconnected passages, he concludes that such “frag-
to imagine indigenous worlds as turning around ments of indigenous discourse” (p. 1) provide “substantial ev-
mystical and mythical relationships, thus favor- idence of MP [multinatural perspectivism] as a phenomenon,
ing the exotic at the expense of the empirical. as a constitutive part of Amerindian’s socio-cosmological
regimes” (p. 11). At no point does the author justify hav-
In short, the “science of the concrete” has very ing chosen those and not any other fragments out of the rich
little of the concrete and even less of science. ethnographic material he selected.
484 Ramos
myth is very often a synonym of lie, pretense, then dub the Indians as savage predators? Is
falsehood, a way of thinking opposed to scien- it reasonable to imagine that anthropological
tific and logical thought. The Merriam-Webster eloquence has the power to convince laypeople
Dictionary reinforces this notion by including to discard the overload of archetypes coming
among its definitions of myth “a person or thing down the centuries about man-eating brutes,
having only an imaginary or unverifiable exis- primitive warmongers, and doomed heathens
tence” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/ (Ramos 1998, pp. 11–59)?
dictionary/myth). Although some anthropol- The issue of ethics and social responsibility
ogists may not disagree with these meanings, came home to North American anthropologists
most would be uncomfortable as they witness with the publication of Darkness in El Dorado:
the Indians telling their fascinating narratives How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the
that, perhaps with innocent license, they call Amazon by US journalist Tierney (2000). The
myths. To do justice to the philosophical depth massive scandal it provoked is still in the pro-
of these narratives, it would be more appropri- fession’s living memory and led to a number of
ate to abandon the term myth, for it occupies a actions and events aimed mostly at minimizing
niche in Western perception that has no corre- the harmful effects that ethnographic research
spondence with the indigenous narratives mis- and writing can have on the people studied
labeled as myths. (Borofsky 2005). An array of abusive reports in

If terms such as cosmology and myth can the mass media, allegedly based on Chagnon’s
potentially diminish the intellectual value of in- work (1968, 1988), portrayed the Yanomami
digenous thinking, what to say of cannibalism, as killers, warmongers, baboon-like, etc. This
one of the favorite themes in perspectivist the- negative publicity provided the Brazilian
ory? “[T]he omnipresence of cannibalism [is] military in the late 1980s with arguments to
the ‘predicative’ horizon of all relations with dismember the Yanomami lands into “19 small
the other, be they matrimonial, alimentary or ‘islands’: being too violent, they have to be
bellicose” (Viveiros de Castro 1998, p. 480). separated in order to be ‘civilized,’ as the Mili-
Contributing to the pejorative connotations tary Chief of Staff, General Bayma Denys, [. . .]
of this term, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary commented to journalists” (Albert & Ramos
provides as synonyms of cannibalism “savage 1989, p. 632). His source of ethnographic
cruelty; barbarism.” information was a series of newspaper articles
A companion to cannibalism, the concept reproducing fragments of the 1988 Science
of predation is equally ubiquitous in the per- article by Chagnon (Ramos 1995, 1996).
spectivist lexicon. Cannibalism-cum-predation Apart from the real political risks that the
constitutes the medium of interaction between use of such vocabulary entails for the Indians,
humans and nonhumans, be they animals or the generalized perspectivist use of predation
spirits. Whether these terms make sense in the imputes characteristics to indigenous peoples
confined ambiance of academic theoretical de- that are often insufficiently established by solid
bates is a matter of intellectual frustration or ethnographic data and analyses. In many cases,
gratification. However, as mentioned above, rather than an empirical demonstration, this
our anthropological products can reach out, po- problematic term is no more than a discursive
tentially or actually, into the real world, and device.
when that happens, the words we use are, we Frugality in humbleness and self-criticism,
may say, up for grabs. How can we expect the albeit often unconscious, can constrain anthro-
general reader, nonspecialist in the ethnogra- pologists in several ways. On the one hand, it
phy of lowland South America, to be able or is quite uncomfortable to face the increasingly
willing to convert words such as predation and evident indigenous challenge regarding our
cannibalism into a metaphor, a figurative way capacity to interpret their worlds. Lack of
of speaking, rather than take them literally and self-criticism painfully exposes our analytical

limitations. There are many ethnographic indigenous epistemologies, and to create the
scenarios where Indians have shown a clear conditions of possibility for the establishment
mistrust of anthropologists’ work, which comes of a common cross-cultural field of intellectual
as no surprise if we consider that theoretically debate. Still worse, this arrogance can intensify
ambitious anthropologists have distinguished the potential for discrimination via discourses
themselves in their ability to take local precepts that obstruct the dissemination of knowledge
from around the world as raw material to about indigenous peoples and, hence, preclude
construct grand descriptive or explanatory respect for them.
schemes. Each theory derived from fieldwork
among indigenous peoples has transformed
research material into something different OUT ON A LIMB
from the sum of its original parts, hence Proponents of perspectivism assert the impor-
reducing each native theory of knowledge to tance of “taking the Indians seriously” (Viveiros
the anonymity of ethnographic data. de Castro 2002, p. 129; 2011, p. 5), a rather
At different moments, concerned anthro- startling enterprise, considering that anthro-
pologists have taken our discipline to task for pologists, of all people, should take it as a matter
having deprived the peoples we study of certain of course, a sine qua non condition for fieldwork
Western prerogatives. Fabian (1983) called our and subsequent analysis. Yet, this truism is sur-
attention to the denial of coevalness in much prisingly overlooked, beginning with Viveiros
ethnographic writing. Perhaps unconsciously de Castro. The oft-repeated quote extracted
(which is not an excuse, instead quite the from Lévi-Strauss (1976) about the sixteenth-
opposite), anthropologists habitually write century episode in which the natives drowned
about their hosts in the past tense as if the white people to see whether their bodies were
latter lived suspended in a fixed, unchanging real and capable of rotting away has taken up
time slot, usually bounded by the ethnog- an iconic status in perspectivism. Whereas the
rapher’s sojourn among them. In so doing, Spaniards busied themselves with debates about
anthropologists consign these “natives” to the whether the Indians had souls (spirits), the In-
past, thus depriving them of historicity and dians experimented with the corporeal real-
participation in present events. We should also ity of the Spaniards (Viveiros de Castro 2004,
recall Goody (2007) in his condemnation of p. 8). This anecdote so excited Viveiros de
the West for the theft of other peoples’ history. Castro’s imagination as to lead him to state
When historians, perhaps absent mindedly, that it “encapsulates the anthropological situ-
ignore achievements, such as inventions, orig- ation or event par excellence, expressing the
inated in other milieus, they contribute to the quintessence of what our discipline is all about”
West’s self-aggrandizement. Anthropology, (Viveiros de Castro 2004, p. 10).
as a Western artifact, often inadvertently, has A critic of Lévi-Strauss’s dualism between
added to this theft of histories, but its greatest nature (as given) and culture (as variable),
responsibility lies in its contribution to the Viveiros de Castro aspires to break away from
theft of native theories. it. Nevertheless, this breach is more apparent
Furthermore, the intellectual arrogance than real, for what he proposes is a mere rever-
found in some academic quarters limits sal of the terms—culture (as given) and nature
anthropology’s potential to build a truly (as variable). He then proceeds to demonstrate
theoretical ecumene2 (Ramos 2011), that is, this maxim by adding more ethnographic tid-
the coexistence on equal terms of academic and bits by means of the cut-and-paste technique, as
2
The term ecumene, from the ancient Greek Oikoumenê,
has been used in anthropology at least since the mid-1940s. global recognition of distinct, legitimate voices (Hannerz
In its current anthropological use, it roughly refers to the 1996, Kroeber 1945).
486 Ramos
did Lévi-Strauss before him, and as does one of an old anthropological habit that, as so many
Viveiros de Castro’s followers in a tenaciously others, dies hard. No wonder V. Turner,
persistent way ( J.A. Kelly, unpublished infor- impatient with the elegance of formalism, used
mation). The selective choice of ethnographic a quote from poet Robert Browning—“On
passages picked out of their usually very com- earth the broken arcs, in heaven the perfect
plex contexts assures the possibility of achieving round”—to affirm the following:
a much-coveted elegance of analysis, by juxta-
posing statements that point in the direction of Complex, urbanized societies have generated
the analyst’s choice. classes of literate specialists, intellectuals of
Elegance, however, can be a sort of mer- various kinds, including cultural anthropol-
maid’s song. Enticing as it is, its very allure can ogists, whose paid business . . . is to devise
disclose its shortcomings. Viveiros de Castro logical plans, order concepts into related
evokes the success Sahlins attained with his lav- series, establish taxonomic hierarchies, dena-
ishly elegant analysis of the story about Captain ture ritual by theologizing it, freeze thought
Cook’s fatal blunder in Hawai’i as he miscal- into philosophy . . . . Anthropologists have
culated his luck as god Lono’s impersonator. A assigned overmuch prestige to the models
native Hawaiian intellectual was required to un- held up to them by these and similar profes-
ravel Sahlins’ elegant equivocation (a concept sionals and imposed upon the living tissues
to which I return below). Hawaiian political of dynamic social reality in non-Western
scientist Silva (2004) describes the work of US cultures the branding irons of Western
missionaries in nineteenth-century Hawaii. scholarly thought. (Turner 1975, p. 146)
For the purpose of translating the Bible, these
missionaries opened schools and printing Drawing a parallel to his own interpretation
presses. In due time, the native peoples learned about bodies and spirits, Viveiros de Castro
to use them and began to write copiously about (2004, p. 10), apparently oblivious of these crit-
their own history, literature, worldview, etc. icisms, incurs Sahlins’s aesthetic temptation.
Published in the indigenous language, these Whereas the latter used European documents
documents were only superficially understood as research material, the former singled out
by the missionaries owing to the extensive use fragments collected in the field, in written
of figures of speech intended for Hawaiian ethnographies, or in personal communications
readers only. These writings served as polit- (Viveiros de Castro 2002, pp. 132–40) to com-
ical tools in the Hawaiians’ struggle against pile grandiose interpretations about indigenous
US annexation of the archipelago. But they souls, minds, and “natures.” “Since the soul is
also recorded quantities of narratives that formally identical in all species, it can only see
account for the emergence and maintenance of the same things everywhere—the difference
Hawaiian ethnic integrity. They contain a long is given in the specificity of bodies” (Viveiros
inventory of local divinities, of which Lono is de Castro 1998, p. 478). Such interpretations
but one, and a catalog of European explorers, often exceed ethnographic good sense (Turner
including Captain Cook. Had Sahlins read 2009) or lack significance in local contexts.
that literature and chosen to explore Hawaiian This is clearly a syndrome of what Eco (1992)
written history in the Hawaiian language, criticizes as overinterpretation. He shows,
very likely his analyses (1981, 1985) would for example, the futility of finding signs of
not display such trim and glittering elegance. occultism in works such as Dante’s Divina
More often than not, cultural complexity gets Comedia, because, even if they were found—and
in the way of analyses that meet the criteria given the size and depth of the oeuvre, they
of economy, parsimony, and elegance, as in may be found—they would contribute little or
canonical linguistics. The mismatch between nothing at all to the understanding of the text
neat analyses and the complexities of life is and the author’s purpose. In short, it would

be an idle exercise in “looking for hair on an Bateson’s “if” sets the limits of cross-cultural
eggshell,” as the Brazilian saying goes. communication and spells out the inexorable
A high point in Viveiros de Castro’s (2004) domain of equivocation. But even if that “if”
more recent work is his reflections on the were eliminated, there would be no guaran-
concept of controlled equivocation. Akin to the tee of an adequate degree of intercommuni-
notion of equivocal compatibilities presented cation. If the desired grasp of a culture’s to-
by Portuguese anthropologist Pina Cabral tality falls short of utter transparency, what
(2002), and to the familiar idea of productive can we say about the patchy cut-and-paste
misunderstanding, controlled equivocation method current among theoreticians such as
is, indeed, the quintessence of the ethno- Lévi-Strauss, Viveiros de Castro, and many
graphic métier. If communication among others?
same-language speakers is a sort of gamble in The methodological convenience of select-
which the chances of being misunderstood are ing ethnographic fragments as building blocks
considerable, what to say of the interaction of for grand theories creates an illusion of uni-
people who live in different social worlds and versalization. When put back in context, these
speak different languages? To do ethnography fragments lose much of their weight. One of
is to translate and, as Viveiros de Castro (2004, Viveiros de Castro’s most frequently evoked
p. 10) rightly points out, to “translate is to pre- indigenous people to prove that perspectivism
sume that an equivocation always exists; it is to is the antidote for anthropology’s “intellectual
communicate by differences, instead of silenc- narrowness” (Viveiros de Castro 2002, p. 135)
ing the Other by presuming a univocality—the are the Makuna of Northwest Amazon, ac-
essential similarity—between what the Other cording to Århem, one of their ethnographers
and We are saying.” We cannot overstate the (Viveiros de Castro 1998, pp. 469, 472, 475,
importance of this statement. Image-making 477). Viveiros de Castro’s use of Makuna ethno-
hinges upon it. Cross-cultural fairness depends graphic traits is not wrong, but it misses the
on it. Intercultural interaction is possible only if point about what holds together the Makuna
the engaged parties are aware of it. The 12 cases logical system. Over and above the fact that
explored in the volume Pacificando o Branco jaguars and humans exchange substances and
(Pacifying the Whiteman) (Albert & Ramos viewpoints, the yurupary complex, which in-
2000) are examples of the indigenous effort to cludes jaguars, humans, spirits, ritual objects,
control equivocation in their encounters with as well as spaces and times both of origin and
non-Indians. Each case brings up representa- currently obtained (and a great deal more), is
tions of interethnic contact, “true devices . . . for so pervasive that one has to resort to Western
the symbolic and ritual domestication of the high science as a mental aid to appreciate its full
whites’ alterity and neutralization of their evil dimension. At one and the same time, yurupary
powers (pestilence and violence)” (Albert 2000, is institution, ideology, theory, and practice. It
p. 10). Bateson’s concern about the spreading is the power that moves the world and the major
of exoticism by anthropology is another source of knowledge. In sum, it is at the basis, so
example: to speak, of the atomic constitution of Makuna
society. Like thought itself, it is anywhere and
If it were possible adequately to present the everywhere. Like the DNA of Western ge-
whole of a culture, stressing every aspect ex- netics, yurupary is constitutive of both micro
actly as it is stressed in the culture itself, no and macro phenomena, making sense of ap-
single detail would appear bizarre or strange parently disparate elements, bringing together
or arbitrary to the reader, but rather the de- ideas and actions that, at first sight, seemed dis-
tails would all appear natural and reasonable as jointed to the ethnographer’s eye (Cayón 2010).
they do to the natives who have lived all their It is, in other words, impervious to cutting and
lives within the culture. (Bateson 1958, p. 1) pasting.
488 Ramos
THE LIMITS OF generations, are reduced to a gluttonous gaping

GENERALIZATION mouth!
One cannot but wonder about the merit of
The yurupary case in the Makuna context
grand theories as exemplified by perspectivism.
demonstrates that it is not sound anthropology
Although it has inspired—and continues to do
to assert that multinaturalism is universal
so—younger anthropologists, it entails a num-
in the Amerindian world. What a people’s
ber of risks, as V. Turner pointed out decades
jaguar perceives is not what all peoples’ jaguars
ago. First, it is open to vulgar replication, invit-
perceive (a point stressed by Turner 2009),
ing interpretative excesses. Second, it is easily
let alone the perception of the jaguars them-
replicated, leading to an implausible uniformity
selves! Each new text takes Viveiros de Castro
of results and often taking the disquieting shape
a notch up in extravagant statements that
of a dogma. Third and foremost, by reduc-
become increasingly self-indulgent, verging on
ing ethnographic complexity to a single model,
irreverence. The following trying translation
it virtually refuses to acknowledge indigenous

effort provides an example: “a model we might
creativity. Moreover, such a reduced model, in-
label ‘quasi-ergative’ (or, who knows, ‘split
teresting as it may seem to perspectivists, is not
ergativity,’ if I knew what that is)” (Viveiros
so for the Indians. By abdicating the central role
de Castro 2011, p. 4). The ease with which
of ethnographic research as a means to arrive

overstated generalizations are made in the
at a deeper understanding of and respect for
name of an “Amerindian perspectivist cos-
indigenous peoples, perspectivism fails to in-
mology” (Viveiros de Castro 2004, p. 11) can
cite ethnographers to use their anthropological
astound seasoned anthropologists familiar with
imagination for new discoveries. Moreover, as
indigenous Amazonia. Carried away by his own
a theory, perspectivism is, at best, indifferent to
eloquence, Viveiros de Castro has taken unwar-
the historical and political predicament of in-
ranted liberties with indigenous ethnography.
digenous life in the modern world. It may be
Consider the following passages: “Amerindian
fair to say that the more extensive and deeper
thought can be described as a political on-
ethnographic knowledge is, the less arrogant we
tology of the senses, a radical materialist
become and the more clearly we perceive the
pan-psychism.” It is a thought that conceives of
folly of projecting our theoretical ambitions on
“a dense universe, saturated with intentions that
indigenous peoples. It is not without a shade of
are avid for differences” in which all relations
nostalgia that we look back at Viveiros de Cas-
are social. These relations “are schematized
tro’s superb “O Mármore e a Murta” (“Marble
by means of an oral-cannibal imagery, a topic
and Myrtle”), a fine analysis of missionary work
obsessively trophic that inflects all conceivable
in sixteenth-century Brazil (1992), and his con-
cases and voices of the verb to eat: tell me how,
tribution to the Annual Review of Anthropology
with whom and what you eat (and what you
(1996) on images of nature and society in in-
eat with whom)—and I’ll tell you who you are.
digenous studies in the Amazon.
One predicates through the mouth” (Viveiros
Perspectivism’s theoretical goal, rather
de Castro 2011, p. 3). Despite the numerous
than a down-to-earth hermeneutical effort
analyses of the ritual use of the human body
(phenomenological, in Viveiros de Castro’s
(Seeger 1975, Turner 2007), Viveiros de Castro
parlance) (see Viveiros de Castro 2011, p. 3),
goes out on a limb with gratuitous tirades such
attempts to arrive at the equivalence between
as these. With sweeping flamboyance, entire
native and academic epistemologies. It is
indigenous traditions, such as the highly valued
interested in “anthropological knowledge
arts of oratory, ceremonial dialogues, shamanic
involving the fundamental presupposition that
séances, ritual singing and chanting, and other
the procedures which characterize research are
powerful verbal expressions, meticulously
conceptually of the same order as those investi-
constructed and diversified through untold
gated” (Viveiros de Castro 2002, pp. 116–17;

see also Gordon n.d.; J.A. Kelly, unpublished doctoral degree in anthropology, states that
information). As a philosophical proposition, it now,
is a welcome change from the anthropological
inclination to dodge this issue. Nevertheless,
instead of a white subject studying Indian sub-
pretentious rhetoric and outlandish generaliza-
jects as objects of knowledge, which allowed
tions are at odds with the ethnographic works
him [her] to claim an alleged objectivity and
singled out as material for building a “sym-
epistemic neutrality, a new situation emerges
metrical” anthropology (a cherished phrase as,
where Indian subjects study themselves as
for instance, in Gordon n.d.). It is, after all, in
agents who think and produce knowledge,
the actual products of ethnographic research
and soon there will also be indigenous subjects
that theoretical changes are likely to occur and
studying whites, including anthropologists.
new anthropological patterns emerge, as some
(Luciano 2011, p. 105)
classical texts demonstrate. The great majority
of perspectivist products have yet to show

convincingly that they are heading toward a Auto-ethnographies as Luciano proposes, in
“trans-epistemic” anthropology in the sense fact, should be regarded as the culmination of
of taking indigenous systems of knowledge the political effort on the part of generations of
on equal intellectual terms (Ramos 2010, Brazilian anthropologists who believe that aca-
pp. 40–42). Between theoretical propositions demic work and political engagement should
and empirical results there seems to be a go hand in hand (Ramos 1990). Nevertheless, it
vacillation that reveals the distance between is high time we evaluate disengagement as the
the perspectivist philosophical postulation and ultimate result of engagement, as indigenous
its ethnographic practice. After all, cultural peoples progressively occupy political and
theories are tools to understand real cultures. academic spaces. Anthropologists should be
Let us not call this substantialism or essen- prepared to welcome them to center stage.
tialism, for labels are not good substitutes for Indeed, “[h]ow much more engaged can an
content. Why not hear the Indians first hand? anthropologist be in renouncing not only the
It seems that many ideas generated in uni- status of ethnographic authority, but also the
versity offices do not travel well to the fields of decades-long role of nursing the wounds of
research. Intellectual efforts notwithstanding, subjugated indigenous people?” (Ramos 2008,
we still find the old ethnographic division of p. 481). Other roles await the committed
labor between those who know (the ethnogra- anthropologist, such as that of supporting
phers) and those who let themselves be known actor in political arenas and responsive peer in
(the natives). This matter is much too complex intellectual endeavors.
to be resolved only with theoretical aspira- If perspectivism is an indigenous anthro-
tions. Indigenous intellectuals in Brazil begin pology, it is so only vicariously, through the
to follow on the steps of their counterparts ethnographers’ writings. This sort of ventril-
around the world (Alfred 2009, Churchill 1997, oquism [a concept Viveiros de Castro (2004,
Deloria Jr. 1988 [1969], Dı́az 2007, Fixico p. 12) evokes with a different key]—perhaps an
2003, Kowii 2007, Mamani Ramı́rez 2005, inevitable feature of theory building—assures
Mihesuan & Wilson 2004, Sampaio 2010, Sioui that the voice we hear is not indigenous, but an
1992, Smith 1999, and many more). A new po- alien verbalization, an ersatz native, a sort of hy-
litical scenario has brought out new challenges perreal Indian (Ramos 1994) that is much easier
to anthropology. One such challenge has to do to absorb than the real native. More appropri-
with the indigenous rebellion against academic ate in the new Brazilian context of widespread
hegemony in ethnographic research. Luciano, indigenous higher education would be to extin-
a Baniwa Indian from the Uaupés region in guish the ventriloquist and make room for the
Northwest Amazon who recently received his voices of the Indians themselves, thus reducing
490 Ramos
intermediacy and transforming the puppet into The wisdom of seasoned scholars leads us
a cothinker and “symmetrical” interlocutor. to forecast the future of perspectivism as an all-
encompassing Amerindian theory. Overgrown
and oversaturated notions with this degree of
CODA generality are destined to either burst out into
oblivion or slim down to a proper size and
Once more, philosopher Langer, to whom
realistic dimension. Once the current enthusi-
Geertz (1973, p. 3) resorted in his critique of
asm for “multinatural perspectivism” recedes,
grand ideas in anthropology, can help us eval-
it will probably enter the array of concepts that
uate the just dimension of perspectivism as a
are helpful in certain contexts. It will likely
theory. Overgrown concepts that seem om-
come to designate that which most, if not all,
nipresent, all-encompassing, and even manda-
ethnographers of indigenous life have known
tory while in their prime pass through the sieve
for a long time, namely, the constant and, in
of time with greater or less success, greater or
various degrees, intimate intercourse, both

less durability. In Langer’s lucid assessment, it
symbolic and practical, between humans and
“is the most natural and appropriate thing in the
nonhumans. The vast majority of indigenous
world for a new problem or a new terminology
ethnographies are brimming with examples
to have a vogue that crowds out everything else
of transformations, assimilations, associations,

for a little while.” She continues, stating
communion and exchange of substances, and
antagonisms between human beings, animals,
we try it in every connection, for every pur- and supranatural entities, in short, the great
pose, experiment with possible stretches of reservoir of “facts” that has fed the perspectivist
its strict meaning, with generalizations and imagination. This plethora of data, however,
derivatives. When we become familiar with does not lend itself automatically to theoretical
the new idea our expectations do not outrun experiments, let alone scholarly subtleties of
its actual uses quite so far, and then its unbal- vocabulary that can be misappropriated and
anced popularity is over. (Langer 1951, p. 31) misused, thereby putting the intellectual in-
tegrity and cultural security of specific peoples
Eventually, the grande idée “no longer has the at risk. It is hard to overstate the demand
grandiose, all-promising scope, the infinite ver- that, regardless of one’s theoretical persuasion,
satility of apparent application, it once had” anthropologists must not renounce their role
(Geertz 1973, p. 4). as responsible political actors.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The author is not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holding that might
be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply grateful to my colleagues Wilson Trajano Filho and Luis Cayón for their invaluable
comments.
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AN41-FrontMatter ARI 23 August 2012 12:10
Annual Review of
Anthropology
Contents Volume 41, 2012
Prefatory Chapter
Ancient Mesopotamian Urbanism and Blurred Disciplinary Boundaries
Robert McC. Adams p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 1
Archaeology
The Archaeology of Emotion and Affect

Sarah Tarlow p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 169
The Archaeology of Money
Colin Haselgrove and Stefan Krmnicek p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 235
Phenomenological Approaches in Landscape Archaeology
Matthew H. Johnson p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 269
Paleolithic Archaeology in China
Ofer Bar-Yosef and Youping Wang p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 319
Archaeological Contributions to Climate Change Research:
The Archaeological Record as a Paleoclimatic
and Paleoenvironmental Archive
Daniel H. Sandweiss and Alice R. Kelley p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 371
Colonialism and Migration in the Ancient Mediterranean
Peter van Dommelen p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 393
Archaeometallurgy: The Study of Preindustrial Mining and Metallurgy
David Killick and Thomas Fenn p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 559
Rescue Archaeology: A European View
Jean-Paul Demoule p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 611
Biological Anthropology
Energetics, Locomotion, and Female Reproduction:
Implications for Human Evolution
Cara M. Wall-Scheffler p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p71
vii
Ethnoprimatology and the Anthropology of the

Human-Primate Interface
Agustin Fuentes p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 101
Human Evolution and the Chimpanzee Referential Doctrine
Ken Sayers, Mary Ann Raghanti, and C. Owen Lovejoy p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 119
Chimpanzees and the Behavior of Ardipithecus ramidus
Craig B. Stanford p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 139
Evolution and Environmental Change in Early Human Prehistory
Richard Potts p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 151
Primate Feeding and Foraging: Integrating Studies
of Behavior and Morphology

W. Scott McGraw and David J. Daegling p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 203
Madagascar: A History of Arrivals, What Happened,
and Will Happen Next

Robert E. Dewar and Alison F. Richard p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 495
Maternal Prenatal Nutrition and Health in Grandchildren
and Subsequent Generations
E. Susser, J.B. Kirkbride, B.T. Heijmans, J.K. Kresovich, L.H. Lumey,
and A.D. Stein p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 577
Linguistics and Communicative Practices

Media and Religious Diversity
Patrick Eisenlohr p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p37
Three Waves of Variation Study: The Emergence of Meaning
in the Study of Sociolinguistic Variation
Penelope Eckert p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p87
Documents and Bureaucracy
Matthew S. Hull p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 251
The Semiotics of Collective Memories
Brigittine M. French p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 337
Language and Materiality in Global Capitalism
Shalini Shankar and Jillian R. Cavanaugh p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 355
Anthropology in and of the Archives: Possible Futures
and Contingent Pasts. Archives as Anthropological Surrogates
David Zeitlyn p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 461
Music, Language, and Texts: Sound and Semiotic Ethnography
Paja Faudree p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 519
viii Contents
International Anthropology and Regional Studies

Contemporary Anthropologies of Indigenous Australia
Tess Lea p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 187
The Politics of Perspectivism
Alcida Rita Ramos p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 481
Anthropologies of Arab-Majority Societies
Lara Deeb and Jessica Winegar p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 537
Sociocultural Anthropology
Lives With Others: Climate Change and Human-Animal Relations
Rebecca Cassidy p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p21
The Politics of the Anthropogenic

Nathan F. Sayre p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p57
Objects of Affect: Photography Beyond the Image

Elizabeth Edwards p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 221
Sea Change: Island Communities and Climate Change
Heather Lazrus p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 285
Enculturating Cells: The Anthropology, Substance, and Science
of Stem Cells
Aditya Bharadwaj p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 303
Diabetes and Culture
Steve Ferzacca p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 411
Toward an Ecology of Materials
Tim Ingold p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 427
Sport, Modernity, and the Body
Niko Besnier and Susan Brownell p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 443
Theme I: Materiality
Objects of Affect: Photography Beyond the Image
Elizabeth Edwards p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 221
The Archaeology of Money
Colin Haselgrove and Stefan Krmnicek p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 235
Documents and Bureaucracy
Matthew S. Hull p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 251
Phenomenological Approaches in Landscape Archaeology
Matthew H. Johnson p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 269
Contents ix
Language and Materiality in Global Capitalism

Shalini Shankar and Jillian R. Cavanaugh p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 355
Toward an Ecology of Materials
Tim Ingold p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 427
Anthropology in and of the Archives: Possible Futures and Contingent
Pasts. Archives as Anthropological Surrogates
David Zeitlyn p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 461
Theme II: Climate Change

Lives With Others: Climate Change and Human-Animal Relations
Rebecca Cassidy p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p21
The Politics of the Anthropogenic

Nathan F. Sayre p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p57
Ethnoprimatology and the Anthropology of the

Human-Primate Interface
Agustin Fuentes p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 101
Evolution and Environmental Change in Early Human Prehistory
Richard Potts p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 151
Sea Change: Island Communities and Climate Change
Heather Lazrus p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 285
Archaeological Contributions to Climate Change Research:
The Archaeological Record as a Paleoclimatic and
Paleoenvironmental Archive
Daniel H. Sandweiss and Alice R. Kelley p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 371
Madagascar: A History of Arrivals, What Happened,
and Will Happen Next
Robert E. Dewar and Alison F. Richard p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 495
Indexes
Cumulative Index of Contributing Authors, Volumes 32–41 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 627

Cumulative Index of Chapter Titles, Volumes 32–41 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 631
Errata
An online log of corrections to Annual Review of Anthropology articles may be found at

http://anthro.annualreviews.org/errata.shtml
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AN41CH29-Ramos ARI 16 August 2012 19:43

• Our comprehensive search

Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2012. 41:481–94 Keywords

INTRODUCTION: in Brazil and abroad, inﬂuenced a growing

that Amerindian philosophy—or ontology, as monographic works on Amazonian Indians has

PERSPECTIVISM IN A 2009) without the latter’s ambitious quest to

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labeled as myths. (Borofsky 2005). An array of abusive reports in

www.annualreviews.org • The Politics of Perspectivism 485

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THE LIMITS OF generations, are reduced to a gluttonous gaping

it virtually refuses to acknowledge indigenous

of ethnographic research as a means to arrive

www.annualreviews.org • The Politics of Perspectivism 489

of perspectivist products have yet to show

various degrees, intimate intercourse, both

of transformations, assimilations, associations,

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Difusão Eur. Livro. 143 pp.

www.annualreviews.org • The Politics of Perspectivism 493

Viveiros de Castro E. 2011. “Transformação” na antropologia, transformação na “antropologia.” Sopro Panﬂeto

Contents Volume 41, 2012

Robert McC. Adams p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 1

The Archaeology of Emotion and Affect

Ethnoprimatology and the Anthropology of the

of Behavior and Morphology

and Will Happen Next

Linguistics and Communicative Practices

International Anthropology and Regional Studies

The Politics of the Anthropogenic

Objects of Affect: Photography Beyond the Image

Language and Materiality in Global Capitalism

Theme II: Climate Change

The Politics of the Anthropogenic

Ethnoprimatology and the Anthropology of the

Cumulative Index of Contributing Authors, Volumes 32–41 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 627

An online log of corrections to Annual Review of Anthropology articles may be found at

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