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Accepted Paper:
Fin de siècle method and culture in Arctic anthropology and geography
Richard Powell
(University of Cambridge)
Paper short abstract:
This paper reviews shared concepts and methods in late nineteenth- and early twentieth- century geography and anthropology through the lens of the Arctic.
Paper long abstract:
Arctic anthropology and Arctic geography have had a contested, and at times uncomfortable, history. This has derived from competing institutional practices of canonicity and pedagogy. However, a number of fin de siècle Arctic anthropologists were initially trained as geographers, such as Franz Boas and Kaj Birkett-Smith, and derived many common field practices and methods. This paper examines the reasons for this situation and draws out some of the consequences for the enduring conceptualisation of the northern circumpolar region, particularly around concepts of 'culture'.