Michael Jackson (anthropology)
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Michael D. Jackson (born 1940) is a New Zealand poet and
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...
who has taught in anthropology departments at
Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural o ...
, the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
,
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest c ...
, and the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
. He is currently distinguished professor of world religions at
Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
.


Career

Jackson is the founder of existential anthropology, a non-traditional sub-field of anthropology using
ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
methods and drawing on traditions of
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
,
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...
, and
critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from s ...
, as well as American
pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...
, in exploring the human condition from the perspectives of both lifeworlds and worldviews, histories and biographies, collective representations and individual realities. The struggle for being involves a struggle to reconcile shared and singular experiences, acting and being acted upon, being for others and being for oneself. But rather than polarise subject and object, Jackson emphasises the intersubjective negotiations at the heart of all relationships – whether between persons, persons and things, persons and language – and shows that being-in-the-world consists of endless dilemmas and constant oscillations in consciousness that admit of only temporary, imagined, narrative or ritualised resolutions. Insofar as anthropological understanding is attained through conversations and events in which the ethnographer's prejudices, ontological assumptions, and emotional dispositions are at play, the ethnographer cannot pretend to be an impartial observer, producing objective knowledge. Jackson's published work fully discloses the contexts in which understandings are negotiated, arrived at, or, in some instances, unattainable. Jackson's recent books have explored diverse topics such as well-being in one of the world's poorest societies (''Life Within Limits''), the relation between religious experience and limit situations (''The Palm at the End of the Mind''), the interplay between egocentric and sociocentric modes of being (''Between One and One Another''), and writing as a technology for creating connections that transcend the limits of ordinary communication (''The Other Shore'').


Fieldwork

He has conducted fieldwork among the Kuranko of
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
from 1969, among the Warlpiri people, Warlpiri of Australia's
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
between 1989 and 1991, and among the
Kuku Yalangi Kuku may refer to: People * Emir-Usein Kuku (born 1976), Crimean Tatar human rights defender * Kuku people, an ethnic group in South Sudan * Kuku Yulanji, an Aboriginal people of the Daintree region in North Queensland, Australia Places *K ...
of
Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
in 1993 and 1994. His poetry has appeared in ''Poetry NZ''. and in the
Poetry Archive The Poetry Archive is a free, web-based library formed to hold recordings of English language poets reading their own work. The Archive holds over 20000 poems and keeps the recordings safe and accessible so that current and future visitors can ...
(UK). One critic wrote: In ''Dead Reckoning'', Jackson deploys "a navigator’s term for estimating one’s location based upon extrapolations of distance and direction from one’s last-known position. The eponymous poem cements the metaphor’s connection to personal identity..." In ''Being of Two Minds'' (2012), Jackson explores the existential quandaries of being torn between seemingly irreconcilable affections, identifications, and places of personal anchorage. The critic Vincent O'Sullivan writes, "What one hears in his readings is the modest, confidant, international voice that drives his poems, the conversing of a man who, as ever, is on one road to find another."


Education

Jackson holds a Bachelor of Arts from
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kn ...
, a Master of Arts (postgraduate) from the
University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
, and a Doctor of Philosophy from
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.


Awards

* 1981
New Zealand Book Award for Poetry The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry is an award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, presented annually to the winner of the poetry category. The winner receives a 10,000 prize. History The New Zealand Book Awards were set up by the New ...
for ''Wall'' * 1982
Katherine Mansfield Fellowship The Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, formerly known as the New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize and the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship, is one of New Zealand's foremost literary awards. Named after Katherin ...
* 1995
Montana New Zealand Book Award The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...
for ''Pieces of Music''


Bibliography

* ''Latitudes of Exile: Poems 1965–1975'' (1976) * '' The Kuranko: Dimensions of Social Reality in a West African Society'' (1977) * ''Wall: Poems 1976–1979'' (1980) * ''Allegories of the Wilderness: Ethics and Ambiguity in Kuranko Narratives'' (1982) * ''Going On'' (1985) * ''Barawa, and the Ways Birds Fly in the Sky'' (1986) * ''Rainshadow'' (1988) * ''Paths Towards a Clearing'' (1989) * ''Duty Free: Selected Poems 1965–1988'' (1989) * ''Personhood and Agency: The Experience of Self and Other in African Cultures'' (1990) * ''Pieces of Music'' (1994) * ''At Home in the World'' (1995) * ''Things As They Are: New Directions in Phenomenological Anthropology'' (1996) * ''The Blind Impress'' (1997) * ''Antipodes'' (1997) * ''Minima Ethnographica'' (1998) Review
/small> * ''The Politics of Storytelling: Violence, Transgression, and Intersubjectivity'' (2002) * ''In Sierra Leone'' (2004) * ''Existential Anthropology'' (2005) Review
/small> * ''Dead Reckoning'' (2006) * ''The Accidental Anthropologist: a Memoir'' (2006) * ''Excursions'' (2007) * ''The Palm at the End of the Mind: Relatedness, Religiosity, and the Real'' (2009) * ''Life Within Limits: Well-being in a World of Want'' (2011) * ''Between One and One Another'' (2013) * ''Road Markings: An Anthropologist in the Antipodes'' (2012) * ''The Other Shore: Essays on Writers and Writing'' (2013) * ''Being of Two Minds'' (2012) * ''Lifeworlds: Essays in Existential Anthropology'' (2013) * ''Midwinter at Walden Pond'' (2013) * ''The Wherewithal of Life: Ethics, Migration and the Question of Wellbeing'' (2013) * ''Harmattan: A Philosophical Fiction'' (2015) * ''Critique of Identity Thinking'' (2019) * ''Dowsing'' (2021)


See also

*
Philosophical anthropology Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person. History Ancient Christian writers: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ...


References


External links

* Many pages online accessible. See also
short annotation

"Michael Jackson", ''New Zealand Literature File'', University of Auckland
*
Harvard Divinity School Faculty Page

Michael D. Jackson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Michael 1940 births New Zealand anthropologists Living people Indiana University faculty Harvard Divinity School faculty University of Auckland alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge