Ian Fairweather
Lecturer in Social Anthropology
School of Social Sciences
Tel: +44(0)161 275 3996
Fax: +44(0)161 275 3970
E-mail: ian.s.fairweather@manchester.ac.uk
Full Profile
Research Profile
My main area of expertise is in museum anthropology and the study of religion and ritual, I have been involved with a number of collaborative projects with the Manchester museum, and I have taught the core course 'anthropology of religion'.
My regional specialization is in Southern Africa and I have conducted eighteen months of field research at a local community museum housed in the premises of the first mission station in North-central Namibia. My thesis explores the way that contemporary postcolonial identity strategies are articulated performatively at the museum by combining static displays with dynamic heritage reconstructions to effect a transformation in the politics of culture. My interest in museums and heritage has also led me to become involved with colleagues working in Museology and Museums Studies, particularly in the two workshops I have organized on postcolonial museums. These workshops have explored not only museums located in the post-colonies themselves but also the role of the former colonial museums in a postcolonial world. I have developed my interest in the trans-local aspects of modernity by turning my attention to African diasporic communities in the UK.
Research Projects
- Identity Politics and the Heritage Industry in North-Central Namibia
- Community Experience of the Culture of Museums
Supervision Areas
Ian is interested in supervising students in areas relating to:
- Identity and representation in Southern Africa.
- Museums and the tourism and heritage industries.
- Religious belief and expression.
- Memory and memorialisation in Southern Africa.
Publications
Authored Book
- Fairweather, I. (Forthcoming) This is Our Tradition: Nation Building and the Production of Locality through the Performance of 'Heritage' in North-Central Namibia
Chapter In Book
- Fairweather, I. (2006) 'Heritage and the production of locality in Namibia', Cultural Heritages As Reflexive Traditions , Palgrave Macmillan
- Fairweather, I. (2005) 'The Performance of Heritage in a Reconstructed Post-apartheid Museum in Namibia', Science, Magic and Religion: The Musuem as a Ritual Site , Berghahn Books
- Fairweather, I. (2002) 'Without Culture there is no Future - the Performance of Heritage in post-apartheid Namibia.', Challenges for Anthropology in the 'African Renaissance' , Windhoek, University of Namibia Press.
- Fairweather, I. (2002) 'Without Culture there is no Future - the Performance of Heritage in post-apartheid Namibia', Challenges for Anthropology in the 'African Renaissance' , University of Namibia Press, Windhoek
Journal Article
- Fairweather, I. (2006) 'Heritage, Identity and Youth in Postcolonial Namibia', Journal of Southern African Studies , 719-736.
- Fairweather, I. (2004) 'Missionaries and Colonialism in a Postcolonial Museum , or How a Finnish Peasant can become an African Folk Hero', Social Analysis , Vol.48(1)
- Fairweather, I. (2003) 'Changing Masters: Spirit Possession and Identity Construction Among Slave Descendants in Sudan (Book Review)', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
- Fairweather, I. (2003) 'Preserving what is Valued: Museums, Conservation and First Nations (Book Review)', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
- Fairweather, I. (2003) 'Showing Off - Nostalgia and Heritage in North-Central Namibia', Journal of Southern African Studies , Vol.29(1).
- Fairweather, I. (2002) 'Anthropology and the Museum in the Postcolonial Era', Social Analysis (Spring 2004), Vol.48 (1)
- Fairweather, I. (2001) 'A History of the Church in Africa (Book Review)', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol.7, no.2, 382
Conference Contribution
- Fairweather, I. (2002) 'We all speak with one voice: heritage and the production of locality in Namibia', Heritages of Conflict: History, Identity and the Future of Divided Societies.