Bateson anthropologue

Modern anthropology was invented in the 1930s under the influence of thinkers such as Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown and Benedict. Within this emerging theoretical field, divided between functionalism, social structuralism and culturalism, Gregory Bateson endeavored to propose a unique synthesis of these apparently divergent approaches. In Naven (1936), he undertook a major epistemological study of the social sciences. But far from being limited to synthesizing the anthropological methods of his time, Bateson opened up an original and seminal approach in the course of this work, that of an interactional - i.e., semiotic and cognitive - approach to the social sciences. In so doing, he contributed to the exploration of the as yet untapped aspects of Durkheimian sociology, while at the same time outlining the lineaments of contemporary debates on social interaction and social cognition. Bateson's work thus constitutes a decisive milestone in the recent history of anthropology and the social sciences.

By reviewing the theoretical contribution of Bateson's work, this book aims to enable readers interested in the epistemology of the social sciences to better understand not only the classic debates in anthropology, but also the contemporary issues at stake in this field.