A new publication by Dr Amy Penfield seeks to extend the enduring focus on the body and bodily substance in Amazonia, which have historically eclipsed other forms of relatedness and ethical practices.

Abstract

Among the Venezuelan Sanema, morality is enacted predominantly through manufactured items rather than solely corporeal expressions of relatedness. While artefacts of all forms are receiving increased recognition in the region, they are often explored within a non-dualist frame that foregrounds inalienability, ownership and subjectification. Yet, the Sanema ethnography reveals that dissolving dualisms in this way suppresses the existence of important categories such as objects.

Focusing on how ethical practices are enacted through partible beads and diesel-powered generators, this paper reveals how alienable goods among the Sanema are valued precisely for their ‘objectness’ rather than their personified qualities.