Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones – World War I and the Cultural Sciences in Europe

Monique Scheer author Reinhard Johler author Monique Scheer editor Reinhard Johler editor Christian Marchetti editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Transcript Verlag

Published:8th Dec '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones – World War I and the Cultural Sciences in Europe cover

World War I marks a well-known turning point in anthropology, and this volume is the first to examine the variety of forms it took in Europe. Distinct national traditions emerged and institutes were founded, partly due to collaborations with the military. Researchers in the cultural sciences used war zones to gain access to »informants«: prisoner-of-war and refugee camps, occupied territories, even the front lines. Anthropologists tailored their inquiries to aid the war effort, contributed to interpretations of the war as a »struggle« between »races«, and assessed the »warlike« nature of the Balkan region, whose crises were key to the outbreak of the Great War.

»Der thematisch konzentrierte, aber räumlich weit ausgreifende Sammelband vermittelt einen anschaulichen und differenzierten Überblick über die Bedeutung, die der Erste Weltkrieg für die Herausbildung der Disziplinen Volks-/Völkerkunde (Anthropology) hatte.«

* Silke Göttsch-Elten, H-Soz-u-Kult, 18.02.2011 *

»The publication of this scholarly and well-edited volume is commendable. For those who are already familiar with the history of anthropology, this volume will advance their knowledge of anthropology in wartimes and war zones; for those who do not, it will awaken great interest.«

* Marius Turda, European Association of Social Anthropologists, (2011) *

»[The] combination of carefully developed specific points of research and thorough reexamination of paradigmatic theoretical models should make this volume an indispensable reading and an important point of reference for years to come.«

* Aleksandar Boskovic, Anthropos, 107 (2012) *

Reviewed in:

European Association of Social Anthropologists, (2011), Marius Turda

Kwartalnik Historyczny, 2 (2013), Aleksandra Rodziska-Chojnowska

Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins, 161/122 (2013), Rainer Brüning


»Der vorgelegte Sammelband unternimmt nichts weniger, als einen bis dahin größtenteils blinden Fleck der Anthropologie näher zu untersuchen.«

* Rainer Brüning, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins, 161/122 (2013) *

»[The] combination of carefully developed specific points of research and thorough reexamination of paradigmatic theoretical models should make this volume an indispensable reading and an important point of reference for years to come.«

* Aleksandar Boskovic, Anthropos, 107 (2012) *

Reviewed in:

European Association of Social Anthropologists, (2011), Marius Turda


»The publication of this scholarly and well-edited volume is commendable. For those who are already familiar with the history of anthropology, this volume will advance their knowledge of anthropology in wartimes and war zones; for those who do not, it will awaken great interest.«

* Marius Turda, European Association of Social Anthropologists, (201

ISBN: 9783837614220

Dimensions: 226mm x 135mm x 15mm

Weight: 1250g

392 pages