Conceptualizing Iranian Anthropology Past and Present Perspectives [Hardcover]

During recent years, attempts have been made to move beyond the Eurocentric perspective that characterized the social sciences, especially anthropology, for over 150 years. A debate on the anthropology of anthropology was needed, one that would consider other forms of knowledge, modalities of writing, and political and intellectual practices. This volume undertakes that challenge: it is the result of discussions held at the first organized encounter between Iranian, American, and European anthropologists since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It is considered an important first step in overcoming the dichotomy between peripheral anthropologies versus central anthropologies. The contributors examine, from a critical perspective, the historical, cultural, and political field in which anthropological research emerged in Iran at the beginning of the twentieth century and in which it continues to develop today.

Introduction
Shahnaz R. Nadjmabadi

PART I: FROM FOLKLORE TO ANTHROPOLOGY: THE PASSAGE

Chapter 1.The Contribution of Foreign Anthropologists to Iranology
Ali A. Bulookbashi

Chapter 2.Storytelling as a Constituent of Popular Culture: Folk Narrative Research in Contemporary Iran
Ulrich Marzolph

Chapter 3.Iranian Anthropology  Crossing Boundaries: Influences of Modernization, Social Transformation and Globalization
Mary Elaine Hegland

PART II: VOICES FROM WITHIN: INSTITUTIONS AND PROFESSIONS

Chapter 4.Anthropology in Post-revolutionary Iran
Nematollah Fazeli

Chapter 5.Making and Remaking an Academic Tradition: Towards an Indigenous Anthropology in Iran
Nasser Fakouhi

Chapter 6.Iranian Anthropologists Are Women
Soheila Shahshahani

PART III: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRACTICE: CONSTRAINTS AND POSSIBILITIES

Chapter 7.Applied Anthropology il£*