Regimes of Ignorance

Roy Dilley is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. His books include Islamic and Caste Knowledge Practices among Haalpulaaren (2004), Nearly Native, Barely Civilized: Henri Gaden's Journey Across Colonial French West Africa (2014) and Rencontres photographiques: Henri Gaden, photographe, en Afrique Occidentale, with the Archives nationales d'outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence.

“…the book offers an ethnographically-informed thought exercise that brings home the idea that ignorance and knowledge are interconnected….[It] succeeds in an effective portrayal of the subjects and regimes, which, far from being the eager epistemophilics that modern thought envisions, choose purposeful ignorance instead.” · Anthropological Notebooks“What Kirsch and all the contributors to the volume illustrate is that, although anthropology is a latecomer to the topic of agnotology, the discipline has much to offer, especially in expanding the range of the study beyond Western science and corporations and in identifying the constructive processes and effective outcomes of ignorance-making.” · Anthropology Review Database“...first-rate scholarship from beginning to end. [The book] reads very nicely and has been properly organized and edited. Another strong aspect of the volume is the diverse range of geographical locations, thereby making the anthropological — i.e. general and possibly universal — argument much more convincing. . . Overall, I think the volume makes a significant and original contribution to scholarship in anthropology.” · Mark Harris, University of St Andrews

• Introduction: Regimes of Ignorance: An IntroductionThomas G. Kirsch and Roy DilleyChapter 1. Mind the Gap: On the Other Side of KnowingCarlo CaduffChapter 2. Ignoring Native Ignorance: Epidemiological Enclosures of Not-Knowing Plague in Inner AsiaChristos LynterisChapter 3. Managing Pleasurable Pursuits: Utopic Horizons and the Arts of Ignoring and ‘Not Knowing’ among Fine WoodworkersTrevor H. J. MarchandChapter 4. Ignorant Bodies and the Dangers of Knowledge in AmazoniaCasey HighChapter 5. What Do Child Sex Offenders Know?John BornemanChapter 6. Problematic Reproductions: Children, Slavery and Not-Knowing in Colonial French West AfricaRoy DilleyChapter 7. Power and Ignorance in British India: The Native Fetish of the CrownLeo ColemanChapter 8. Secrecy and the Epistemophilic OtherThomas G. KirschNotes on Contributors