FOR EN OPLØSNING AF ALLE SELVFØLGELIGHEDER: Et teoretisk bidrag til den kritiske analyse

Resumé

The article suggests new theoretical and

methodical ways of carrying out critical

anthropology. The objective is an attempt

to integrate a historical awareness in

anthropological studies of symbol systems

that often are perceived as standig outside

history, such as love, morality or even the

economic system. The point of departure

is a fresh reading of Michel Foucault’s

later works, where the concept dispositif is

being highlighted. Dispositif is a theoretical

metaphor for a socially established heterogeneous

morality which binds people

together by creating dispositions for actions.

Michel Foucault’s thoughts are used in

analysis of political processes in Northeast

Brazil, where participatory processes are

changing the position of local community

leaders in poor urban neighbourhoods.

Through a dispositional analysis of the

concept of participation, the article suggests

new ways of understanding conventional

truisms. Consequently, empirical data are

perceived through an altered analytical lense.