RETHINKING THE POLITICS OF ANTHROPOLOGY - THE CASE OF THE ANDES

This essay rethinks the politics of anthropology in the Andean region of South America, arguing that the partly self-fashioned image of Ande anists as the ''good outsiders'' has glossed over a series of ambiguit ies and contradictions in the enterprise and then examining the possib ilities for an expanded contribution by anthropologists to constructiv e change. There can be no escape from the dissonances and paradoxes of the colonial past and the postcolonial present of anthropology in the Andes, including the limited impact of the entire endeavor. In the en d, however, this essay identifies viable visions of more emancipatory politics for the discipline and underscores the urgency of efforts to develop our capacity to contribute to struggles for equality and justi ce.