This chapter shows how, ironically, racism has often been combated on the basis of speciesist assumptions, in particular in the humanist post-WW2 United Nations discourse on human rights. It traces... Show moreThis chapter shows how, ironically, racism has often been combated on the basis of speciesist assumptions, in particular in the humanist post-WW2 United Nations discourse on human rights. It traces those assumptions to various roots - in biological and anthropological thinking of the period, European metaphysics, middle class cultural attitudes, and, ultimately, evolution. The subsequent Great Ape Project, which claimed moral respectability for all great apes, ran into a similar problem. The paperalso makes some observations on the ritual, performative character of various declarations of the rights of human and nonhuman beings. Show less
Over levenswetenschappen in de 18de en 19de eeuw als een niet alleen cognitief maar ook politiek project in de context van onder meer dierentuinen, botanische tuinen en musea.
Ethnologists inevitably come to their subjects with a certain philosophical baggage which is part of their own, North Atlantic universe of cosmological and moral meaning, and influences the way... Show moreEthnologists inevitably come to their subjects with a certain philosophical baggage which is part of their own, North Atlantic universe of cosmological and moral meaning, and influences the way they gather and interpret their data. This chapter examines one particular, widespread assumption informing Maussian and structuralist theorising on gifts and reciprocity: the idea of violence as a basic tendency of human nature. While most other contributions to this volume focus on detailed archaeological and ethnographic data pertaining to conflict and violence more directly, the present one looks at historical and epistemological backgrounds of one particular, quite influential way of handling such data theoretically and conceptually. Show less
The pacification of a primordial, violent natural state of humankind by a social contract based on reciprocal exchange is a widespread preconception, from Thomas Hobbes and Enlightenment social... Show moreThe pacification of a primordial, violent natural state of humankind by a social contract based on reciprocal exchange is a widespread preconception, from Thomas Hobbes and Enlightenment social thought to Marcel Mauss and Claude Lévi-Strauss. In this contribution, the structure, historical backgrounds, and current roles of this assumption in several lines of research are analysed. Subsequently, it is argued that socioecological theories of conflict and cooperation can elegantly supplement Durkheimian approaches, and help to avoid a too dualistic, homo duplex view of culture. Show less
Archaeologists have approached the study of art from several directions, drawing their inspiration variously from evolutionary biology, anthropology, and art history.We examine the strengths and... Show moreArchaeologists have approached the study of art from several directions, drawing their inspiration variously from evolutionary biology, anthropology, and art history.We examine the strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches and demonstrate the unique opportunities open to archaeology in the study of art, from its origins to the recent past. Show less
