One Hundred Years of Argonauts: Malinowski, Ethnography and Economic Anthropology(13 Max Planck Studies in Anthropology and Economy)

Malinowski’s Argonauts of the Western Pacific was a major contribution to anthropological theory and method, while simultaneously establishing the sub-field of economic anthropology. Even a century after its publication, Malinowski’s pioneering work remains critical for anthropology in a postcolonial age. This volume uses ethnographic studies from around the world to contextualize the work politically and intellectually, examining its gestation and influence from multiple perspectives. It critically explores the meaning of “economy” for Malinowski from his formation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to his path-breaking fieldwork in Melanesia and ensuing career in London.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Introduction: Argonauts Revisited Chris Hann and Deborah James Part I: Bronislaw Malinowski and his Argonauts in Context Chapter 1. Cultural Capital and Economic Stringency: Reality and Myth in Bronisław Malinowski’s Socio-Economic Background Grażyna Kubica Chapter 2. Tenerife 1921: The Writing of Argonauts Michael W. Young Chapter 3. Malinowski’s New Paradigm Adam Kuper Chapter 4. Malinowski and the Politics of Economic Anthropology: Between Imperial Trusteeship and Colonial Trade Freddy Foks Part II: Economy, Economics, and Epistemics Chapter 5. Compulsion to Work? Malinowski and the Labour Question Rachel E. Smith Chapter 6. On Tribal and Other Economies Richard Staley Chapter 7. Malinowski’s Place in the History of Economic Thought Chris Gregory Chapter 8. Can Economic Anthropology Escape from Primitive Economics? Thinking Ethnographically from the Oikos Benoît de L’Estoile Part III: Cosmology, History, and Social Organization Chapter 9. Baloma: The Spirits of the Kula in the Trobriand Islands Mark S. Mosko *This chapter is available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) with support from Mark Mosko. Chapter 10. The Archaeology of the Kula and Malinowski’s Notion of Economy Hans Steinmüller Chapter 11. Using Laozi to Interpret the Kula Ring: Rethinking the Dual Chieftainship in Kiriwina Yongjia Liang Part IV: Adaptations in Space and Time Chapter 12. Passing On, Passing Around, and Passing Through: Urban Inheritance in South Africa as Circulation Maxim Bolt Chapter 13. The Anthropological Turn in the Sociology of Money Ariel Wilkis Chapter 14. The Digital Argonauts of the Western Pacific: From Kula Ring to Bush Internet Geoffrey Hobbis and Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis Afterword Rebecca Empson Index

About the Author :
Chris Hann is Emeritus Director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (Halle/Saale). His publications include Repatriating Polanyi: Market Society in the Visegrád States (Budapest 2019) and Work, Society, and the Ethical Self: Chimeras of Freedom in the Neoliberal Era (New York/Oxford 2021).

Review :
“This book is remarkably interesting and useful in its composition; it takes us into completely new theoretical territory while tethering conversation back to the moment when Malinowski radically altered the aims of anthropological investigation.” • Huon Wardle, St. Andrews University “This book revisits old themes in innovative and creative ways, and provides new understandings of Malinowski’s contributions to anthropology generally and economic anthropology specifically. The co-editors should be applauded for bringing together a very impressive group of scholars, many of whom have published major works on the history and contributions of Malinowski.” • Peter D. Little, Emory University