Comments on: Using The Force /2008/02/18/using-the-force/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology Fri, 08 Dec 2017 18:00:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.1 By: Rex /2008/02/18/using-the-force/comment-page-1/#comment-219328 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:57:58 +0000 /2008/02/18/using-the-force/#comment-219328 John: Thanks!

Adam: I think you’ve hit it right on the head. I wouldn’t say “using the force” is a _bad_ book, but what I am describing here could be glossed as the difference between a good book and a great book, not between cultural studies and anthropology. I blogged about this in regards to PA some time ago….

I guess it brings up another issue, which I’d call the “Tolstoy Question” perhaps each discipline has work that is bad in its disciplinarily-specific way, but all good work is similar, regardless of the discipline :?)

]]> By: Adam /2008/02/18/using-the-force/comment-page-1/#comment-219143 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:20:52 +0000 /2008/02/18/using-the-force/#comment-219143 Certainly a good criticism, Rex. What I’m not sure about is whether it serves to elaborate on the distinction between cultural studies and anthropology, and not just the distinction between a good book and a really good book. Do we as anthropologists do a better job of articulating the theoretical/generalizable than those in cultural studies? I’m not saying we don’t, of course, but we should note that many see an insistence on particularities to the neglect of generalizable theory as a hallmark of anthropology.

Somebody who is not me should do a lit review here. In this cultstuds/anthro discussion, we need a comprehensive survey of contemporary works in both fields that can evaluate both on their empiricism and their ‘working the seam.’

]]> By: John McCreery /2008/02/18/using-the-force/comment-page-1/#comment-218169 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:54:38 +0000 /2008/02/18/using-the-force/#comment-218169 _I am, in fact, an anthropologist and what this meant was not necessarily demanding less theory and more fact, but trying to work the seam between them both._

Precise, elegant, almost beautiful. (Drop the “both” at the end, and this becomes a statement that sings.)

]]>