On Hope and False Hope in Grey Times: Anthropology, History and Why We Write
Book talk by Dr. Lori Allen
Decolonise Anthropology Cambridge speaks with Dr Lori Allen (SOAS).
"In this somewhat informal and personal talk, I want to think with you about what’s at stake in doing interdisciplinary scholarship, through a discussion of my recent book. A History of False Hope: Investigative Commissions in Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2021) is part history, part anthropology, part international legal history, as well as an intervention in political theory and discussions of liberalism. Through a study of six key investigative commissions that have gone to Palestine between 1919 and today, it offers a critical analysis of international law as it has shaped Palestinian politics, and a critique of the liberal ideology on which international law is based. It was only by bringing an anthropological attitude and subaltern studies approach to my largely archivally based and ethnographic study of one-hundred years of Palestinian history that I could develop this (perhaps pessimistic, but) I think necessary appraisal of how investigative commissions have shaped and staged international debate about Palestine, influencing dynamics between Palestinians and Western powers. I hope that this talk spurs a conversation about how our disciplinary training—whether anthropological or otherwise—can be both a boon and maybe sometimes a hindrance in how we understand social and political life along different margins."
To register please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-hope-and-false-hope-in-grey-times-anthropology-history-why-we-write-tickets-249963155527