Paper short abstract:

This paper locates the notion of “peripheral anthropologies” as a historically embedded concept and critically analyzes the interactions between Swiss and Turkish anthropologies in the 1930s as more than a peripheral endeavor.

Paper long abstract:

The notion of “peripheral” anthropologies assumes a central locality in assessing the state of art in anthropological theory and praxis that sprung out from West European-based hegemonic thinking. The critical revisits by various scholars that questioned the de-limitability of the concepts of center and periphery–as significant anthropological categories—mostly remained as remedial effects to challenge the power relations inherent in and beyond these categories, rather than radically transforming them. Certainly, there might be several other strategies to challenge these shortcomings. In my paper, I offer a critical discussion on the notion of “peripheral anthropologies” based on the term's historically embedded character. To support the perspective I am arguing from, I present several interactions between Swiss and Turkish anthropologies in the 1930s as more than a peripheral anthropological endeavor. As I call attention to the historicity of anthropological knowledge, I locate the notion of “periphery” as a shifting anthropological category. To prove my points, I look at the convergences and interrelations in the anthropological scene between Switzerland and Turkey in the 1930s and scrutinize the theoretical and cultural-political developments in these “peripheral” anthropological traditions which bloomed in these decades but were not tackled due to the short-sightedness of the dominant anthropological narratives. In de-centering this narrative, the dynamic interactions between and beyond Swiss and Turkish anthropological scenes can offer critical insights. As I evaluate the historical underpinnings of these anthropological traditions—rooted in epistemic groundings and cultural-political consequences— I ignite new interpretations on the notions of world, periphery, and center.