Colonial Encounters in Postcolonial Contexts

Abstract

■ The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) has raised some sig nificant ethical and methodological issues for anthropologists, particularly in light of the recent patenting of a cell-line from a Papua New Guinea man. Through a discussion of the HGDP, this article explores the 'locatedness' of the anthropologist in light of two significant trends: the globalization of the economy (particularly in the areas of intellectual property rights and biotechnology patents) and the creation of a new global context for political activism. The article concludes by discussing the concept of 'collaboration' as a politically- embedded practice that has become critical to the pursuit of contemporary anthropological knowledge.