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In 2000, the world of anthropology was rocked by a high-profile debate over the fieldwork performed by two prominent anthropologists, Napoleon Chagnon and James V. Neel, among the Yanamamo tribe of South America. The controversy was fueled by the publication of Patrick Tierney's incendiary Darkness ...

In 2000, the world of anthropology was rocked by a high-profile debate over the fieldwork performed by two prominent anthropologists, Napoleon Chagnon and James V. Neel, among the Yanamamo tribe of South America. The controversy was fueled by the publication of Patrick Tierney's incendiary Darkness in El Dorado which accused Chagnon of not only misinterpreting but actually inciting some of the violence he perceived among these "fierce people". Tierney also pointed thefinger at Neel as the unwitting agent of a deadly measles outbreak.Attracting a firestorm of attention, Tierney's book went straight to the heart of anthropology's most pressing questions: What are the right ways to study a tribal people? How can scientists avoid unduly influencing those among whom they live? What guidelines should govern the interactions - economic, social, medical, and sexual - between a scientist in the field and the people being studied?This volume represents anthropology's thoughtful, measured reply to the issues raised by this heated controversy. Placing the dispute within the context of ongoing debates over the ethics of biomedical research among human populations, the contributors to this volume discuss how the interaction between investigators and their subjects can most sensibly be governed. They consider the responsibility of the media in disseminating anti-scientific and pseudo-scientific views, and how scientistsmight best educate journalists to enable them to effectively educate others.In the wake of what was widely construed as a major scientific scandal, this landmark volume lays out in detail the principles and ground rules of anthropological and scientific fieldwork.

Since the inception of their discipline, anthropologists have studied virtually every conceivable aspect of other peoples' morality - religion, social control, sin, virtue, evil, duty, purity and pollution. But what of the examination of anthropology itself, and of its agendas, epistemes, theories ...

Since the inception of their discipline, anthropologists have studied virtually every conceivable aspect of other peoples' morality - religion, social control, sin, virtue, evil, duty, purity and pollution. But what of the examination of anthropology itself, and of its agendas, epistemes, theories and praxes? In 1991, Raymond Firth spoke of social anthropology as an essentially moral discipline. Is such a view outmoded in a postmodern era? Do anthropological ethics have to be re-thought each generation as the conditions of the discipline change, and as choices collide with moral alternatives? The Ethics of Anthropology looks at some of these crucial issues as they reflect on researcher relations, privacy, authority, secrecy and ownership of knowledge. The book combines theoretical papers and case studies from eminent scholars including Lisette Josephides, Steven Nugent, Marilyn Silverman, Andrew Spiegel and Veronica Strang. Showing how the topic of ethics goes to the heart of anthropology, it raises the controversial question of why - and for whom - the anthropological discipline functions.

""Genetic Nature/Culture presents an engaging, intelligent, and, above all, necessary conversation within and beyond anthropology. These essays, diverse yet always mutually engaged, move past often-assumed intellectual boundaries in innovative and principled ways. They simultaneously shape, map, and ...

""Genetic Nature/Culture presents an engaging, intelligent, and, above all, necessary conversation within and beyond anthropology. These essays, diverse yet always mutually engaged, move past often-assumed intellectual boundaries in innovative and principled ways. They simultaneously shape, map, and challenge our understandings of the complex common ground on which genetics, culture, and history intersect--and, in so doing, help point toward a critical role for anthropology, now and in the future."--Don Brenneis, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

"The editors have carefully and coherently organized the book to shed light on the complex interplay of biology, culture, ideology and myth--on the 'tangled politics' of nature and culture in the increasingly contentious age of genetics."--Dorothy Nelkin, author (with Suzanne Anker) of "The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age