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The repugnant cultural other speaks back

Christian identity as ethnographic `standpoint'

Wheaton College, USA, Brian.M.Howell{at}wheaton.edu

Looking at Christian identity in terms of standpoint theory, this article takes up the argument introduced by Susan Friend Harding more than 10 years ago that Christianity and Christians are stigmatized within anthropology as a `repugnant cultural other'. Drawing from my own fieldwork in the Philippines and other recent work on Christianity, I argue that Christianity is a subject position analogous to other committed subject positions outside androcentric, enlightenment modernity (e.g. feminism). As such, the Christian voice should be welcomed and encouraged in the academy as a valuable ethnographic perspective.

Key Words: Christianity • epistemology • ethnography • native ethnography • positionality • standpoint theory • subjectivity

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Anthropological Theory, Vol. 7, No. 4, 371-391 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1463499607083426


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Howell, B. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?