The anthropology of history.Memory and the social and political uses of the past. Explorations on the perpetual dance of anthropology and history

Abstract

The present text tries to establish the links and theoretical limits that exist between anthropology and history. To this end, an approach is drawn up that reveals the existing relationships between anthropology and history, their complementary tensions, the methodological contributions of one discipline to the other and the different combinations that can result from such a suggestive exercise. At the same time a review is made of the intrinsic forms between the two disciplines, the way in which they are linked together, as well as the arguments that guide towards the separation and divorce of each subject. For this purpose, a journey is made that shows how it is that the disciplinary specialization of each science is on the one hand necessary when trying to understand the phenomena that it intends to study in depth; but, on the other hand, it reveals its collateral negative effects, since it can leave aside visions, discoveries or points of view that enrich each discipline.