The Need for Anthropology in the Postcolonial Era

Abstract

This article seeks to shed light on the issue of retaining anthropology after many colonies gained their independence. Anthropology had been presented as a colonial science due to the historical circumstances of its emergence. For this reason, some voices called for a rupture with anthropological knowledge as a form of colonial knowledge. However, this view faced strong reservations, particularly from specialists who believed that anthropology is merely an epistemological tool used to uncover reality in any place and time. Moreover, the knowledge produced during the colonial era retains its positive function from a historical perspective. Accordingly, this article, drawing on the analytical method that allows for examining the available corpus of knowledge related to colonial anthropology and postcolonial anthropology, attempts to highlight the debate surrounding the exclusion of anthropology after independence on the grounds that it was a colonial science. The article concludes that anthropology remains highly significant for social development by addressing new topics that differ from those emphasized by colonial researchers, in addition to the theoretical importance of the anthropological knowledge produced during the colonial period.