Anthropology in Norway

Synnøve K.N. Bendixsen (Editor & Contributor) is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen.Edvard Hviding (Editor & Contributor) is Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen.Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Contributor) is Professor of social anthropology, University of Oslo.Signe Howell (Contributor) is Professor (emerita) of social anthropology, University of Oslo.Olaf H. Smedal(Contributor) is Professor of social anthropology, University of Bergen.Marilyn Strathern (Contributor) is Professor (emerita) of social anthropology, University of Cambridge.Gunnar M. Sørbø (Contributor) is Senior researcher (emeritus), Chr. Michelsen Institute,BergenHalvard Vike (Contributor) is Professor of social anthropology, University of South-Eastern Norway.

• Chapter 1 – Portrait of a young discipline? (Synnove K.N. Bendixsen and Edvard Hviding); Chapter 2 – Social anthropology in Norway: A historical sketch (Olaf H. Smedal); Chapter 3 –The fieldwork tradition (Signe Howell); Chapter 4 – No direction home?: Anthropology in and of Norway (Halvard Vike); Chapter 5 – Norwegian anthropology and development: New roles for a troubled future? (Gunnar M. Sorbo); Chapter 6 –The unbearable lightness of being … a public anthropologist in Norway (Thomas Hylland Eriksen); Chapter 7 – Disagreement, illumination and mystery: Towards an ethnography of anthropology in Norway (Synnove K.N. Bendixsen); Chapter 8 – Norwegian Anthropology Day Panel discussion; Chapter 9 – Norwegian anthropology: Towards the identification of an object (Marilyn Strathern); Contributors; Index.

This is a striking book and a wonderful read. The contributors are so direct, honest and penetrating in their understanding of Norwegian Anthropology’s historical development, which was very rapid indeed, compared to other countries. The breadth of this particular anthropology, from the classical actor-oriented ethnography made famous by Frederik Barth, to the study of development, local community studies in Norway, to its scientific engagement in issues of immigration, multiculturalism, structures of power, not least between the sexes, are all remarkable achievements. It is also abundantly clear, that the anthropological public sphere has been exceptional in its openness to different interpretations of reality and the willingness to enter into debate. We should all be thankful for the Norwegian presence in Anthropology. Jonathan Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, University of California San Diego and Directeur D’études, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales; A recurrent theme of this fascinating collection is the attention given to centre/periphery relations. Norwegian anthropology is characterized by the editors as in a ‘betwixt and between’ position, neither at the centre nor at the periphery. The contributors draw attention to a sense of ambiguous global positioning and an intellectual commitment both to collaborative, international scholarship and to engagement in national public debate. In the process they produce an important reflection on the elasticity of ‘national’ framings, and the shifting configurations of centres and peripheries as they emerge and transform over time. Penny Harvey, Professor of Anthropology, University of Manchester. Penny Harvey, Professor of Anthropology, University of Manchester.