Essentializing Effervescence—Introduction

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                                   Essentially, this is a discussion of...
                                   In essence, the tribe was made up of...

Do those words cloy, offend, and clutter—creating waves of revulsion and frustration in your tender psyche at the same time? Do they create images of neat museum collections meant to portray, "just so," the life of a native community? Does it call to mind analytical works (yes, Hegel, I'm talking to you) that sum up the "essence" of complex civilizations in tidy packages?

If so, I shall call you "philosopher" or "anthropologist" (post-1995). (If not, I shall call you "economist," but that is a discussion for another day).

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