Anthropology and Cultural Diversity

The Emergence of Anthropology

• Anthropology emerged to explain global social diversity and rationalize it in universal, scientific terms.
• Theorists like Joseph de Maistre argued that social diversity was evidence of cultural degeneration, with non-European societies being uncivilized and European societies being civilized.
• Against this view, social evolutionists like Morgan and Tylor argued that all human societies follow the same path of cultural evolution, and that non-European societies were not degenerate, but rather at a different stage of societal evolution.

Social Evolutionist Theory

• All human societies evolve.
• All human societies follow a unilinear path of social development, passing through the same stages in the same order.
• Non-European societies are not primitive, but rather at an earlier stage of social evolution.

The Enlightenment and Magic

• The Enlightenment worldview saw the universe as made up of particles of matter that obeyed universal physical laws.
• Magic was viewed as irrational and delusional, as it did not obey universal laws of physics and did not operate in the same way in all times and places.
• The presence of magical traditions in non-European societies was seen as a challenge to European hegemony and cognitive supremacy.

Colonialism and the Doctrine of Reason

• The doctrine of Reason was repurposed in the service of empire, with European powers believing that exposing non-European societies to the blessings of Reason and Science would accelerate global societal evolution.
• The superiority of European society justified the supremacy of European nations over non-European, non-modern, and irrational peoples.

Stage Magic and Colonialism

• The field of stage magic developed alongside anthropology, with stage magicians inspired by the same Enlightenment project.
• Stage magicians saw themselves as anti-magicians, distinguishing themselves from fortune-tellers and cardsharps, and offering a "purified" form of magic.
• Stage magic was used to debunk "primitive" magic and demonstrate European superiority, as seen in Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin's performances in Algeria.

Robert-Houdin and the Marabouts

• Robert-Houdin saw the marabouts as "intriguers" who claimed inspiration from the Prophet and incited revolts in Algeria.
• He believed that his stage magic performances could lead the Arabs to understand that the marabouts' tricks were simple and childish, and that European magic was superior.
• His performances were designed to demonstrate European superiority and undermine the influence of the marabouts.