Readings for Agentivity Meetings (2009):

Below is a list of readings I thought might be interesting to follow up on our earlier discussions of
agentivity/agency in linguistic anthropology. The first section includes an article and the first two
chapters of a recent book by Webb Keane, who has been particularly interested in questions of how
conceptualisations of “agency” have emerged historically in western history, philosophy and religion,
and how such ideas can be related to practices described in ethnography. His book deals with this topic
specifically, but I’ve also included one of his previous related articles since I can send it electronically.
The Mahmood book, also an influential work on agency in contemporary social and cultural
anthropology, looks critically at feminist ideas about agency in the context of Muslim women. I’ve also
included an article by Teubner, as I thought it might be useful in terms of talking about non-human
agency (a theme that seems to come up in our discussions of Amerindian cosmology). Although none
of these texts come from Americanist researchers, I thought it might be useful to have a look at some of
the broader theoretical writings on agency that have come out recently. It could be interesting to relate
these perspectives to the texts by linguistic anthropologists (such as Duranti, Kockelman, etc.) that we
discussed in past meetings. It would be great if any of you have ideas of readings that would
complement this list – in whatever language!

The second section includes a list of general theoretical work on cosmology and ontology in
anthropology, especially recent texts from within British social anthropology. The book introduction by
Henare, Holbraad and Wastell (2007) gives a good overview of the current interest in cosmology and
ontology in the UK, which is much inspired by Viveiros de Castro. It argues specifically for re-
orienting anthropology away from traditional questions of ‘identity’ and ‘representation’ and toward
questions of being. It might be interesting to read the introduction in conjunction with Viveiros de
Castro’s paper listed below (or his other key theoretical publications in Portuguese). I’ve also placed
the introduction of Michael Scott’s new book on the list, as it provides a clear example of how one
might employ a specific concept of ontology in ethnographic studies of cosmology.

The final section on the list includes recent texts specifically on Amazonia that deal with issues of
agency and cosmology. I’m sure it will be easy to build this list as we go, so send any suggestions –
including your own work. The Time and Memory book places considerable emphasis on questions of
Amerindian agency in terms of history and contemporary cosmology. The introduction has a specific
section on agency, and several of the articles are relevant to the debates I’ve mentioned above. I’ve also
included a recent article I wrote about the problems of describing a universal Amazonian ontology or
cosmology, arguing that notions of predation should be understood both historically and in terms of
broader inter-ethnic processes (including missionaries).

Note on accessibility: The only readings that I can send electronically right now are Keane (2003),
Teubner (2006), Viveiros de Castro (2003) and High (2008). The first two are in pdfs, the third is a web
link, and the last is a normal text file. Early next week I will try to send out scans of the others texts.
1) Recent work on agency in anthropology (especially in the anthropology of religion):

Keane, Webb (2007) Christian Moderns: freedom and fetish in the mission encounter. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
(Introduction: pgs 1-34)
(Chapter 1: pgs 37-58)

Keane, Webb (2003) Self-Interpretation, Agency, and the Objects of Anthropology: reflections on a
genealogy. In Comparative Studies in Society and History 45(2): pgs 222-248.

Mahmood, Saba (2005) Politics of Piety: the Islamic revival and the feminist subject. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
(Introduction: The Subject of Freedom – pgs 1-39)

Teubner, Gunther (2006) Rights of Non-humans? Electronic agents and animals as new actors in
politics and law. In Journal of Law and Society 33(4), pgs 497-521.

2) On cosmology and ontology:

Henare, Amira, M. Holbraad and S. Wastell, eds. (2007) Thinking Through Things: theorising artefacts
ethnographically. New York: Routledge.
(Introduction: Thinking Through Things - pgs 1-31)

Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo (2003) Anthropology and Science. Manchester Papers in Social
Anthropology. Most easily accessed at:
http://abaete.wikia.com/wiki/(anthropology)_AND_(science)_(E._Viveiros_de_Castro)

Scott, Michael (2007) The Severed Snake: matrilineages, making place, and a Melanesian Christianity
in Southeast Salomon Islands. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
(Introduction: Comparative Ontology – pgs 1-36)

3) Recent Amazonian research on agency and cosmology:

Fausto, Carlos and Michael Heckenburger, eds. (2008) Time and Memory in Indigenous Amazonia:
Anthropological Perspectives. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
(Introduction and other chapters)

High, Casey (2008) End of the Spear: Re-imagining Amazonian anthropology and history through film.
In L. Chua, C. High and T. Lau (eds.) How Do We Know? Evidence, ethnography, and the
making of anthropological knowledge. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Pgs 76-96.

Fiorini, Marcelo (forthcoming) Desire in Music: soul-speaking and the power of secrecy.
Walker, Harry (forthcoming) Baby Hammocks and Stone Bowls: Urarina Technologies of
Companionship and Subjection. In The Occult Life of Things: Native Amazonian Theories of
Materiality and Personhood. F. Santos Granero (ed.). Tuscon: University of Arizona Press.