Timothy Ingold (born 1 November 1948
[INGOLD, Prof. Timothy](_blank)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014) is a British anthropologist, and Chair of
Social Anthropology
Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
at the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
.
Background
Ingold was educated at
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...
in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, and his father was the
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...
Cecil Terence Ingold.
He attended
Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...
, initially studying natural sciences but shifting to anthropology (BA in Social Anthropology 1970, PhD 1976).
His doctoral work was conducted with the
Skolt Sámi
Skolt Sámi (, , ; or , , ) is a Sámi languages, Sámi language that is spoken by the Skolts, with approximately 300 speakers in Finland, mainly in Sevettijärvi and approximately 20–30 speakers of the (Notozero) dialect in an area surround ...
of northeastern Finland, studying their ecological adaptations, social organisation and ethnic politics. His field work was primarily in the village of
Sevettijärvi and in 2024 he donated his field diaries documenting Skolt life in the area in the early 1970s to the community. Ingold taught at the
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...
(1973–74) and then the
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, becoming Professor in 1990 and
Max Gluckman
Herman Max Gluckman (; 26 January 1911 – 13 April 1975) was a South African and British social anthropologist. He is best known as the founder of the Manchester School of anthropology.
Biography and major works
Gluckman was born in Joha ...
Professor in 1995. In 1999, he moved to the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
. In 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from
Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Germany). He has four children.
Contributions
His interests are wide-ranging and his scholarly approach is individualistic. They include environmental perception, language, technology and skilled practice, art and architecture, creativity, theories of evolution in anthropology,
human-animal relations
Anthrozoology, also known as human–animal studies (HAS), is the subset of ethnobiology that deals with biological interaction, interactions between humans and other animals. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with other disciplin ...
, and ecological approaches in anthropology.
Early concern was with northern circumpolar peoples, looking comparatively at
hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
,
pastoralism
Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...
and
ranching
A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...
as alternative ways in which such peoples have based a livelihood on
reindeer
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...
or
caribou
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...
.
In his recent work, he links the themes of environmental perception and skilled practice, replacing traditional models of genetic and cultural transmission, founded upon the alliance of neo-
Darwinian
''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sele ...
biology and cognitive science, with a relational approach focusing on the growth of embodied skills of perception and action within social and environmental contexts of human development. This has taken him to examining the use of lines in culture, and the relationship between anthropology, architecture, art and design. He discusses his entire career in ''From science to art and back again: The pendulum of an anthropologist'' (2016).
Writing within the anthropological realm of
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...
, Ingold explores the human as an organism which 'feels' its way through the world that "is itself in motion"; constantly creating and being changed by spaces and places as they are encountered.
Honours and awards
Ingold was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in the
2022 Birthday Honours
The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...
for services to anthropology.
*
Rivers Memorial Medal
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
,
RAI (1989)
* Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
(1997)
* Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...
(2000)
*
Huxley Memorial Medal recipient —established in 1900 in memory of
Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stor ...
— for services to anthropology by the Council of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
, the highest honour of the RAI (2014)
* Honorary doctorate of the Leuphana University of Lüneburg (2015)
Bibliography
* Ingold, T. (2021). ''Correspondences''. Polity, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2018). ''Anthropology: Why it matters''. Polity, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2017). ''Anthropology and/as education''. Routledge, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2015). ''The Life of Lines''. Routledge, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2013). ''Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture''. Routledge, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. & Palsson, G. (eds.) (2013). ''Biosocial Becomings: Integrating Social and Biological Anthropology''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MS.
* Janowski, M. & Ingold, T. (eds.) (2012). ''Imagining Landscapes: Past, Present and Future''. Ashgate, Abingdon, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2011). ''Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description''. Routledge, London, UK.
* Ingold, T. (2011). ''Redrawing Anthropology: Materials, movements, lines''. Ashgate, Aldershot.
* Ingold, T. & Vergunst, J. (eds.) (2008). ''Ways of Walking: Ethnography and Practice on Foot''. Ashgate, Aldershot.
* Ingold, T. (2007). ''Lines: A Brief History''. Routledge, Oxon, UK.
* Hallam, E. & Ingold, T. (2007). ''Creativity and Cultural Improvisation''. A.S.A. Monographs, vol. 44, Berg Publishers, Oxford.
* Ingold, T. (2000). ''The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill''. London: Routledge.
* Ingold, T. (1996). ''Key Debates In Anthropology''
* Ingold, T. (1986). ''Evolution and social life''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Ingold, T. (1986). ''The appropriation of nature: essays on human ecology and social relations''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
* Ingold T. (1980). ''Hunters, pastoralists and ranchers: reindeer economies and their transformations'' . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Ingold T. (1976). ''The Skolt Lapps today''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
See also
*
New materialism
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingold, Tim
British social anthropologists
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
1948 births
Living people
Environmental social scientists
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire