ABSTRACT
Has cultural anthropology progressed in recent years, or is it self-destructing? Is ethnography being rejuvenated or destroyed? Given recent expansions in cultural theory and ethnographic writing, it seems as important as it is difficult to step back and view the positions that inform these questions. The task itself is undercut by self-doubt. What view can authenticate and justify such stock-taking—as if the author pretends to climb higher than others or to look down omnisciently on the landscape?
