Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Psychological Anthropology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Anthropology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Psychological Anthropology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- 1 Psychological Anthropology in its Second Century
- Part I Theoretical Foundations
- Part II Methodological Innovations
- Part III Lifespan Development in Diverse Sociocultural Contexts
- Part IV Body, Emotion, Self, and Experience
- 16 Steps toward an Interdisciplinary Anthropology of Mind and Emotion
- 17 Biological Systems and Embodiment of the Social World
- 18 Neuroanthropology
- 19 Emotion and Affect
- 20 Psychological Anthropology and the Moral/Ethical Turn
- 21 Self and Experience
- Part V Postcolonial and Political–Economic Interventions
- Index
- References
21 - Self and Experience
from Part IV - Body, Emotion, Self, and Experience
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 October 2025
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Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Psychological Anthropology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Anthropology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Psychological Anthropology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- 1 Psychological Anthropology in its Second Century
- Part I Theoretical Foundations
- Part II Methodological Innovations
- Part III Lifespan Development in Diverse Sociocultural Contexts
- Part IV Body, Emotion, Self, and Experience
- 16 Steps toward an Interdisciplinary Anthropology of Mind and Emotion
- 17 Biological Systems and Embodiment of the Social World
- 18 Neuroanthropology
- 19 Emotion and Affect
- 20 Psychological Anthropology and the Moral/Ethical Turn
- 21 Self and Experience
- Part V Postcolonial and Political–Economic Interventions
- Index
- References
Summary
Unlike the individualist strains of much social science, psychological anthropologists take for granted the proposition that individuality is socially constructed. But at the same time, the discipline has rejected a determinism that understands the individual as a mere reflection of culture, a notion that is the simple inversion of individualist ideology.Experience is usefully conceptualized as the realm within which human subjects can take shape, becoming selves in a socially construable way. Ideally this relationship between culture and self takes shape as a familiar landscape through which the human subject can pass with some sense of purpose and meaning.However, both at the level of society or the individual, this harmony is not guaranteed. The concepts of self and experience – especially when considered together – provide a stronger theoretical foundation for an anthropology that avoids the reification of persons and culture and attends more closely to the processes whereby subjects pursue and follow filaments of meaning in their lives.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Psychological Anthropology , pp. 505 - 528Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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