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Paper short abstract

The paper highlights the problems of different values that enter into anthropological research, and highlight some of the consequences of misunderstanding of these values. One of the more famous examples is Said's reading of W. R. Smith, but there are other, more contemporary examples.

Paper long abstract

The paper highlights the problems of different values that enter into anthropological research, and highlight some of the consequences of misunderstanding of these values. One of the more famous examples is Edward Said's reading of William Robertson Smith, but there are also other examples. Furthermore, the paper will provide illustrations of the important shifts in the patterns that privilege certain types of discourses, and then impose them on a global community. Anthropology has played an important role in shaping and formulating of different values, and this can be seen on the examples from the former Yugoslavia, for example (with the construction of nationhood and the role that different scholars, including Cvijić, Županič and Gavazzi, played during the 20th century in Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia). This is an important reminder about the power and importance of words, for what we write and what we say can have unintended consequences. Finally, some contemporary debates and dealings with the political issues will also be mentioned.