w 18 | rofile cnrsI InternatIonal magazIne P Portrait TheanthropologistPhilippeDescolawasawardedthe2012CNRSGold Medal,France’smostprestigiousscientificdistinction. Philippe Descola Human Natures BY stÉPHanIe arc AN iNNovAtive visioN living in small scattered groups, with Philippe Descola, 2012c,1 rs goldmedal recipient philosophy at the École Normale wife Anne-Christine Taylor,3 herself anWith funding from CNRS, he and hisno leader, no apparent history, andalways at war.”anthropologist, went to do fieldwork“I knew at a rather young age that Iwanted to become an anthropologist,but I didn’t really know how to make ithappen,” Descola recalls. While studying-had braced himself for theNsand director of the LAwhirlwind of media attention that inevitably accompanies any distinction of this caliber. As he welcomes us into his office, his calm and professional demeanor is unshaken. Supérieure of Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in among the Achuar people of Ecuador Now in his sixties, with a trim white beard and sparkling the late 1960s, Descola developed a keen between 1976 and 1978. “Understanding blue eyes, this specialist in the native tribes of the Amazon interest in Rousseau, and in Maurice these peoples’ relationship with ‘nature’ surveys a collection of photographs retracing his career: “In this Godelier’s classes on economic anthro- was what mattered most to me,” the one, taken at the Collège de France, you can see Claude Lévi- pology. A brilliant student, he decided researcher adds. Strauss, in my opinion the preeminent thinker in the social to pursue a double major, earning a sciences of the 20th century. Here’s another one with Maurice degree in ethnology (1972) as well as a AmoNg tHe AcHuAr Godelier, the man who made me realize that I could make teaching certificate in philosophy (1974). Descola undertook a systematic study of anthropology my profession.” He then submitted a thesis project the techniques and representations Seventeen years after winning the CNRS Silver Medal, on the Amazon region to... Claude through which the Achuar made them- Descola is surprised to have joined his two illustrious mentors, Lévi-Strauss. selves part of their environment. His who were awarded the CNRS Gold Medal in 1967 and 2001 “Unlike the African societies, which conclusions contradicted the prevailing respectively.2 “I didn’t expect to see anthropology honored like were already well understood, the viewpoints of the time, especially in the this yet again. On the other hand, it’s a discipline that studies Amazon Basin populations attracted me US, which held that these cultures were human beings from every angle—cultural, moral, mental and for their mystery,” Descola explains. “It solely determined by environmental fac- physical—and addresses our society’s uncertainties about the was impossible to comprehend what tors, such as the quantity and distribution future of humanity.” constituted society for these Amerindians, of game animals. “After observing the Achuars’ hunt- ing practices, I had to conclude the opposite,” he explains. “They consider animals to be non-blood relatives and, conversely, see cultivated plants as blood relatives to be pampered. The Achuar believe that plants and animals are im- bued with a soul, and converse with them Five keY DAtes in dreams or through incantations. Far from the traditional Western standpoint 1949 Born in Paris of seeing nature and culture as opposites, 1976 travels to theamazon the Achuar see them as a continuity.” Basin to study theachuar Enriched by his travels and on-loca- Jivaro people tion experience, the anthropologist re- 1983 PhD insocial anthropology e turned to France where he was hired as a 2001 named director of thelas lecturer at the EHESS4 in 1984. “WorkingNCaR e (socialanthropology G in the field transforms you,” he says.De laboratory) ollè “Experiencing such different ways of liv- C 2012 awarded thecnrsgold q Philippe Descola (left) greets his mentorclaudelévi-strauss. Between ing and of perceiving the human condi-© medal them is Françoise Héritier, another eminent anthropologist at the tion gives you critical perspective. It’s like collège de France. being suspended between two worlds.”
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