Overview

Social anthropology was at the forefront of debates about culture, society, and economic development in the British Empire. This book explores the discipline's rise in the interwar period, crisis amid decolonization, and ironic reemergence in the postwar metropole. Across the humanities and social sciences, activists and scholars used anthropological concepts forged in empire to rethink British society at midcentury. Participant Observers shows how colonial anthropology helped define the social imagination of postimperial Britain. Part institutional history of the discipline's formation, part cultural history of its impact, this is the first account of social anthropology's pivotal role in Britain's intellectual culture.

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9780520390324

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Reviews

 “Fascinating and very readable.” * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *

 “Fascinating and very readable.” * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute * ""Foks has produced an important work that refocuses our understanding of social anthropology during this fundamentally important period in world history.""   * H-Net Reviews * ""This is a sophisticated and polished work, one that displays Foks’ owndeeply impressive expertise on the inner workings of texts, scholars, and institutions.""   * Journal of British Studies * ""Recommended."" * CHOICE *

Author Information

Freddy Foks is Simon Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. He is a historian of modern Britain and its empire.

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