Anarchie auf den Andamanen?

Ethnographische Reflexionen zum Spannungsfeld von autoritärer Staatlichkeit und Strategien der Herrschaftsvermeidung im indischen Ozean

Abstract

This article discusses theoretical, empirical and methodological entanglements between the discipline of social and cultural anthropology and the political theory of anarchism. It argues that anthropological studies investigating socio-political relations between the state and non-state societies should pay more attention to how key anarchist ideas about individualism, equality, decentralization, mutuality, collaboration and consensual decision-making are central to self-contained and autonomous communities living in the margins of the state. Contributing to the emerging sub-discipline of the anthropology of anarchy, I draw on ethnographic examples from the Andaman Islands in order to critically examine conflicting interpretations of marginality by both state actors and migrated as well as indigenous communities. The paper seeks to refute hegemonic misrepresentations of marginal groups as epitome of backwardness by reading active and conscious (self-)marginalization as an anarchic strategy to escape state dominance.