Difficult Folk?: A Political History of Social Anthropology (Methodology & History in Anthropology Book 19)

This book examines how to write histories of academic disciplines by restoring attention to the political and institutional factors that shape knowledge production, often overlooked in accounts focused solely on intellectual debates. Using archival sources and oral histories, it presents a narrative account of the personal and administrative relationships that structure scholarly communities. The study focuses on social anthropology in twentieth-century Britain, documenting individual, departmental, and institutional rivalries over funding and influence. It traces the efforts of scholars including Bronislaw Malinowski, Edward Evans-Pritchard, and Max Gluckman to advance their competing visions for the discipline. Key questions addressed include whether social anthropology should align with the humanities or social sciences, and whether it should prioritize addressing social problems or developing scholarly independence. The book situates the discipline's development within the post-war expansion of British universities and the institutional changes following the end of Empire.