Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Nélia Dias is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology (ISCTE-IUL and CRIA).
Ben Dibley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Rodney Harrison is Professor of Heritage Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Ira Jacknis is Research Anthropologist at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies program at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Boas and After: Museum Anthropology and the Governance of Difference in America
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Published:January 2017
2017. "Boas and After: Museum Anthropology and the Governance of Difference in America", Collecting, Ordering, Governing: Anthropology, Museums, and Liberal Government, Tony Bennett, Fiona Cameron, Nélia Dias, Ben Dibley, Rodney Harrison, Ira Jacknis, Conal McCarthy
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This chapter deals with the fate of museum anthropology in America following Franz Boas’s move from the American Museum of Natural History to Columbia University in 1905. As a case study of the American Museum of Natural History under Boas’s successor and former student, Clark Wissler, it focuses on the substitution of the concept of relative cultures for the idea of race as an explanation for human difference. These issues are explored with regard to the museum’s collecting in both North America and the Old World, as well as the resultant classification of relative culture areas in storage, publications, and exhibition. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the survival of racial theory among Boasian anthropologists as well as the contributions of their culture theory to the understanding and governance of cultural difference in America.
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