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Shelton Davis And "Applied Anthropology", Allan F. Burns

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This essay celebrates Shelton Davis’ rich and diverse career as an advocate of indigenous peoples’ rights and a major critic of mainline development models being implemented in the Third World. As an applied anthropologist, Davis rejected any division between knowledge and action in relation to indigenous and other populations directly affected by large-scale development. Through his writing and actions, he showed it was possible to maintain both objectivity and advocacy in dramatic situations such as those of the Guatemalan Mayan peoples. His contributions to community service, in founding at least two international NGOs, and his work at the World Bank, …