
Series
Volume 44
Methodology & History in Anthropology
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Chicanery
Senior Academic Appointments in Antipodean Anthropology, 1920–1960
Geoffrey Gray, Doug Munro and Christine Winter
260 pages, bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-80073-970-3 $135.00/£104.00 / Hb / Published (May 2023)
eISBN 978-1-80073-971-0 eBook
Reviews
“This is an erudite eye-opening account of key appointments which shaped Antipodean anthropology. Three prominent Pacific historians scour the academic undergrowth to illuminate the politics of electing Chairs. It makes extensive (indeed, mind-boggling) use of primary sources in public and private archives, as well as interviews to bring clarity to the politics of senior appointments within a nuanced appreciation of context.” • Robert Gordon, University of Vermont
Description
Academic appointments can bring forth unexpected and unforeseen contests and tensions, cause humiliation and embarrassment for unsuccessful applicants and reveal unexpected allies and enemies. It is also a time when harsh assessments can be made about colleagues’ intellectual abilities and their capacity as a scholar and fieldworker. The assessors’ reports were often disturbingly personal, laying bare their likes and dislikes that could determine the futures of peers and colleagues. Chicanery deals with how the founding Chairs at Sydney, the Australian National University, Auckland and Western Australia dealt with this process, and includes accounts of the appointments of influential anthropologists such as Raymond Firth and Alexander Ratcliffe-Brown.
Geoffrey Gray is Adjunct Professor at the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland.
Doug Munro is Adjunct Professor at the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland.
Christine Winter is Associate Professor at the College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University (Adelaide). Their most recent co-authored book is Scholars at War (ANU Press, 2012).
Subject: Anthropology (General)History: 20th Century to PresentTheory and Methodology
Area: Asia-Pacific
Contents
Download ToC (PDF)