Book Review: Ethnographica Moralia: Experiments in Interpretive Anthropology

Ethnographica moralia: experiments in interpretive anthropology, edited by NeniPanourgia and George E. Marcus, New York, Fordham University Press, 2008, 224 pp.,£12.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-8232-2887-4

This is a set of conference papers, with a Greek theme, on different aspects of post-Geertz ethnography. The contributers are multi-discipliary, from art, music, history and classics as well as anthropology; they see themselves as exploring the cutting edge of practice and interpretation. The starting point is their awareness of the difficulty of representing cultural experience as scientific text.
This is a research text rather than a student book. For the advanced student of religion, beliefs and values, this book provides significant caveats about power relationships and their abuse, about representations of cultures, and about research as empowering dialogue. These can fundamentally inform practical research projects which include observation of practice.