Józef Obrębski i antropologia Karaibów
Jozef Obrebski and Anthropology of the Caribbean

Summary/Abstract: The task of the article is to reconstruct the context of Jozef Obrebski's research in Jamaica in the 1940s and evaluate his final results as well as his methodological approach. Obrebski, an experienced field anthropologist and sociologist, was sent to Jamaica by the London School of Economics. He was a member of the research team working for the project know as West Indian Social Survey, sponsored by the British colonial administration. The main object of investigation was the Jamaican peasant family and socio-economic conditions of Afro-American village communities. During his stay in Jamaica (1947-1948) Obrebski, an adherent of the functional approach in social anthropology, concentrated himself not only on particular cases, but also tried to explain the specificity of this complex colonial society, formed on the background of African roots, slavery system and British administration. Obrebski's manuscripts, thus far unpublished, reflect a very interesting interpretation of Jamaican people on the eve of the island's independence. It is also worth to note that his studies were conducted during the first stage of the serious anthropological research in Jamaica and therefore present a great value for all interested in Caribbean cultures.

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