Epistemology, Fieldwork, and Anthropology

Author Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan: Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan is Professor of Anthropology (Directeur d études) at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France and Emeritus Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France. Translated by Antoinette Tidjani Alou: Antoinette Tidjani Alou is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niger.

1. Introduction: Empirical Adequacy, Theory, Anthropology 2. The Policy of Fieldwork. Data Production in Anthropology And Qualitative Approaches 3. Emic and the Actors' Point Of View 4. From Observation To Description 5. The Methodological 'I': Implication and Explicitation in Fieldwork 6. Methodological Populism and Ideological Populism in Anthropology 7. The Violence Done To Data: On A Few Figures of Over-Interpretation 8. Common Sense and Scholarly Sense. Conclusion Postface: Researcher And Citizen: Science And Ideology