The Objects of Evidence

Part of The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Special Issue Book Series, the contributors to this volume share the conviction that anthropology can no longer afford to ignore the importance of the concept of evidence, either for the ways in which anthropologists carry out their work (methodology) or present and justify their findings (epistemology).

• Demonstrates that evidence is something that all anthropologists must possess
• Shows how the collection of evidence in the field is still, without doubt, one of the main ingredients of what Bronislaw Malinowski once referred to as 'the ethnographer’s magic'
• Reveals how the concept of evidence has received little sustained attention in print – especially when compared to related concepts, such as 'fieldwork', 'truth', 'facts', and 'knowledge'
• Argued from a variety of theoretical perspectives and a rarity in its ability to orchestrate some many different – and vibrant – paradigms and points of view

Notes on editor and contributors vii

Foreword ix

Preface xi

1 Matthew Engelke The objects of evidence 1

2 Maurice Bloch Truth and sight: generalizing without universalizing 21

3 Christopher Pinney The prosthetic eye: photography as cure and poison 31

4 Anthony Good Cultural evidence in courts of law 44

5 Sharad Chari The antinomies of political evidence in post-Apartheid Durban, South Africa 58

6 Stefan Ecks Three propositions for an evidence-based medical anthropology 74

7 Martin Holbraad Definitive evidence, from Cuban gods 89

8 Webb Keane The evidence of the senses and the materiality of religion 105

9 Charles Stafford Linguistic and cultural variables in the psychology of numeracy 122

10 Nicola Knight & Rita Astuti Some problems with property ascription 135

Index 151

"This volume is successful is in transforming the problem of evidence into a productive inquiry." (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, January 2011)

Matthew Engelke is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. Evidence is something that all anthropologists must possess, and the collection of evidence in the field is still one of the main ingredients of what Bronislaw Malinowski once referred to as ‘the ethnographer’s magic’. And yet, despite this, the concept of evidence has received little sustained attention in print − especially when compared to related concepts, such as ‘fieldwork’, ‘truth’, ‘facts’, and ‘knowledge’. All anthropologists use evidence, but precious few reflect on what it is − or isn’t. This volume goes some way to correcting this state of affairs.

The volume’s contributors share the conviction that anthropology can no longer afford to ignore the importance of the concept of evidence, either for the ways in which anthropologists carry out their work (methodology) or present and justify their findings (epistemology). But the real strength of the volume comes from the ways in which the contributors argue the case from a variety of theoretical perspectives. This volume is a first when it comes to the care with which it treats such an important subject, and a rarity in its ability to orchestrate so many different paradigms and points of view.

‘A satisfyingly complex and lucid collection, these essays are ordered to create a ripple effect of themes and arguments that emerge as related, overlapping and contingent to one another - a nice reflection on the substance of the authors' concerns with evidence. Compulsive, not just imperative, reading for anyone engaged with the analysis of field materials.'
Marilyn Strathern, Girton College, University of Cambridge

'Objects of Evidence provides signal advances to thinking about two topics of fundamental importance, namely the anthropology of epistemology - how people make claims to knowledge - and the epistemology of anthropology - the claims on which anthropological knowledge rests.'
Michael Lambek, University of Toronto