Eric Wolf
A prominent historical anthropologist known for his work on power, political economy, and the historical connections between different societies.
Quotes by Eric Wolf
Power is not just about coercion; it is also about consent.
The 'modernization' project is not a neutral path to progress, but a specific historical trajectory.
Anthropology must be interdisciplinary.
The 'global' is not a uniform space; it is differentiated by power relations.
Ideologies are not just about what people think; they are about what people do.
The 'indigenous' are not relics of the past; they are active participants in the present.
The study of religion is central to understanding human meaning-making.
The 'individual' is not a pre-social entity; it is shaped by social relations.
Power is not just about institutions; it is also about everyday interactions.
The 'postcolonial' is not an end to colonialism, but a continuation of its effects.
The world of humankind constitutes a manifold, a totality of interconnected processes, and inquiries that disassemble this totality into bits and then fail to reassemble it falsify reality.
Anthropology is about the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences.
History is the story of the powerful, but anthropology gives voice to the powerless.
Capitalism did not begin with the rise of the bourgeoisie, but with the expansion of Europe.
We cannot understand societies without understanding their connections to the world system.
The peasant is not a relic of the past but a product of the modern world.
Power is not just held; it is exercised through networks of kinship, economy, and ideology.
In the end, all anthropology is political.
The study of culture is the study of power relations.
Europe's history is inseparable from the histories it disrupted.