This course offers students an opportunity to gain an anthropological perspective on this entity we call Britain. The cultures of contemporary Europe have traditionally held little interest for the profession at large. Early British social anthropology developed in relation to colonialism and was employed to better understand the distant lifeways of the foreign and ‘exotic’ as opposed to the near and dear. Beginning in the 1950s, however, British anthropologists have gradually turned their gaze on the local cultures and social contexts in which the development of their discipline was nurtured. This readjustment of focus opens new possibilities for investigating perennial anthropological questions of subject/object, in-group/out-group, structure/agency and self/other.
In becoming acquainted with the anthropology of Britain, we cover its main historical movements, its current trends and its possible future directions. With a focus on the topics of nationalism, belonging and collective memory, we tackle the complexities of contemporary British life from an anthropological perspective. All along the way, we will continually circle back to the core anthropological themes of culture, society and identity.
Given that all participants are living in the UK if not British ourselves, we encourage one another to relate the questions and readings to our own personal identities and lived experiences in order to 'make the familiar strange', as we say in anthropology. Students will thus be guided in the design and execution of a mini-ethnographic fieldwork project in their local environment.