Overview

Non-knowledge should not be simply regarded as the opposite of knowledge, but as complementary to it: each derives its character and meaning from the other and from their interaction. Knowledge does not colonize the space of ignorance in the progressive march of science; rather, knowledge and ignorance are mutually shaped in social and political domains of partial, shifting, and temporal relationships. This volume’s ethnographic analyses provide a theoretical frame through which to consider the production and reproduction of ignorance, non-knowledge, and secrecy, as well as the wider implications these ideas have for anthropology and related disciplines in the social sciences and humanities.

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9781782388388

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Reviews

...first-rate scholarship from beginning to end. [The book] reads very nicely and has been properly organized and edited. Another strong aspect of the volume is the diverse range of geographical locations, thereby making the anthropological - i.e. general and possibly universal - argument much more convincing... Overall, I think the volume makes a significant and original contribution to scholarship in anthropology. * Mark Harris, University of St Andrews

Author Information

Roy Dilley is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. His books include Islamic and Caste Knowledge Practices among Haalpulaaren (2004), Nearly Native, Barely Civilized: Henri Gaden's Journey Across Colonial French West Africa (2014) and Rencontres photographiques: Henri Gaden, photographe, en Afrique Occidentale, with the Archives nationales d'outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence.

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