Engaging Engagement: Critical Reflections on a Canadian Tradition

Authors

  • James B. Waldram University of Saskatchewan

Keywords:

engaged anthropology, applied anthropology, Aboriginal peoples, ethics, Canada, U.S.

Abstract

In this revised address for the 2009 Weaver-Tremblay
Award, I critically examine the notion of "engaged" anthropol?
ogy as it has emerged, especially in the United States, and I
argue that engagement has been a long-standing feature of
Canadian anthropology which predates this contemporary devel?
opment. I do so by briefly reviewing some of the major initia?
tives in Canadian anthropology, and especially applied anthro?
pology during the 1970s and 1980s, and suggest that in Canada
we did not experience the divisive debate over theoretical ver?
sus applied anthropology that characterized the U.S. and ren?
dered applied anthropology a weaker sub-discipline in the eyes
of many. I conclude by arguing for a need to celebrate how Cana?
dian anthropology has been on the leading edge of engaged
anthropology for decades.

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Published

2022-03-10

How to Cite

Waldram, J. B. (2022). Engaging Engagement: Critical Reflections on a Canadian Tradition. Anthropologica, 52(2), 225–232. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/1014

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 2 (2010): My Own Boss? Strategies of Resistance and Accommodation of Rural Producers to Neoliberal Governance

Section

Address - Weaver-Tremblay Award

License

Copyright (c) 2010 James B. Waldram

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