Beschreibung
This book brings together fifteen essays investigating
aspects of interculturality. Like its author, it operates at
the borderline between social anthropology and intercultural
philosophy. It seeks to make a contribution to intercultural
philosophy, by formulating with great precision and painful
honesty the lessons deriving from extensive intercultural
experiences as an anthropologist. Its culminating section
presents an intercultural philosophy revolving on the tenet
`cultures do not exist’. The kaleidoscopic nature of
intercultural experiences is reflected in the diversity of
these texts. Many belong to a field that could be described
as “meta-anthropology”, others are more clearly
philosophical; occasionally they spill over into belles
lettres, ancient history, and comparative cultural and
religious studies. The ethnographic specifics supporting the
arguments are diverse, deriving from various African
situations in which the author has conducted participatory
field research (Tunisia, Zambia, Botswana, and South
Africa).
Wim van Binsbergen is professor of
Foundations of Intercultural Philosophy, Philosophical
Faculty, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and chair of the
theme group on globalisation, African Studies Centre,
Leiden.
