Page 93 - Cultural Studies Volume 11

ONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES 87

such as Asia—at least according to papers and ideas represented in Italy—there
is more of a connection to the humanities and so studies appear more concerned
with texts than with social processes.
PDM: In terms of investigating these processes, how important has
ethnographic enquiry become?
NGC: Ethnography has been important in various ways. For me, it has been a
necessary component in supporting the development of theory. My concerns are
for the most part theoretical. My background is in philosophy, which comprised
the centre of all my studies through my doctoral work, but I have always fed my
understanding of philosophy through other intellectual territories. In my
dissertation, which I developed with Paul Ricoeur—whom I would characterize
as a philosopher with a multidisciplinary approach—I focused on epistemological
concerns of the social sciences. In Argentina, I worked on questions related to
the sociology of art, and later my focus shifted to anthropology and literature
until my arrival to Mexico. So, as you can see, my focus was mainly on texts.
However, since arriving in Mexico I began to get involved in much more field
work, first in Michoacán, later in Mexico City, Tijuana and other places. For me,
there should be a constant dialogue between the two dimensions. Now, I am not
an ethnographer, but ethnography needs to charge the development of theory,
and theory should inform ethnography. My real interest in ethnography is a
means by which to nurture and adjust theory. Ethnography repositions theory in
accordance with the concrete conditions of cultural existence; processes and
negotiations inflected through cultural life can be used to confront and redirect
theory.
But, there are other concerns when assessing how theory relates to cultural
processes, and how distinct discourses develop. For instance, political questions,
which I would say are quite distinct, frame much of how discourses emerge. And
this applies to all the continents. For example, I would say that political concerns
in the United States are more focused on multiculturalism within the US society,
coupled with problems concerning citizenship (at least for now) and with the role
of minorities and intellectuals. In Latin America the focus may involve some of
these concerns—the preoccupation with citizenship has just recently been raised
by a few investigators—but overall, political discourses are still very much in
reference to national politics. There also continues to be a strong tendency on the
part of some intellectuals in Latin America to try to play a political role in respect
to national culture, through official channels, as in the case of Mexico, Brazil,
Colombia, to a certain degree Argentina but less so, and perhaps Venezuela. In
certain cases the role of some Latin American intellectuals is vindicated by the
majority party.
These tendencies are what appear to me to be what situates the distinct
discourses of cultural studies. For example, during the past few years I’ve been
working in the theme of multiculturalism in Latin America, but not in the
tradition of US scholarship. Clearly, in Latin America there are other ways to
address the problems of multiculturalism. It is an old theme considering the work