Haunting, dutching, and interference: provocations for the anthropology of time

I consider three ways of thinking about time, especially the future, that are new to anthropology. The concepts of interference and haunting illuminate how pasts and futures interact so that consideration of “historicity” needs to be complemented by “futuricity.” Discussion of promissory notes and Dutch betting (hedging bets) prompts reassessment of forward planning, including prophecy and prediction. Scenario planning is viewed as a way of “dutching the future.” Anthropologists need to acknowledge that their analytical vocabularies are metaphor laden to enable more finely nuanced reflection a... Mehr ...