Musa: an essay (or experiment) in the anthropology of the individual by Jan Patrick Heiss (review)

How to open up anthropology to the study of the individual? How to make the individual a subject in its own right of anthropological engagement? What would an anthropology that focuses on the individual and not on the society and its culture look like? Can we avoid diluting the individual in generalizations that are primarily concerned with the society? These basic questions, both methodological and epistemological, are at the core of Heiss's monograph, Musa: an essay (or experiment) in the anthropology of the individual. Musa is written to illustrate how a focus on the individual can supplement traditional anthropological approaches, and make explicit what often remains implicit. Through a thick description of Musa, a Hausa peasant in a remote part of South Central Niger who has been slightly anonymized to protect his privacy, Heiss tries to persuade the reader that anthropology can only benefit from making room for the individual. From the outset, I have to say that, as an intellectual project, Musa is charming; as an experiment, it does well; and as an essay, it is equally well articulated. And if we have ever wondered whether anthropology could shift effectively onto the individual, Heiss gives us a resounding 'yes' in this monograph.

After the Introduction, Chapter A introduces the setting of the study, stressing the social organization of Musa's village, Kimoram, its geographical, economic and ecological features, and the structure of local governance. It gives a useful background to the whole monograph. Chapter B is devoted to the methodological approaches and the theoretical context of the study. Methodologically, Heiss's approach consists in participant observation and in shadowing, i.e. following, Musa. Not only did Heiss shadow Musa in his home town of Kimoram, but he also followed him to Nimari, Nigeria, where Musa lived as a labour migrant. Beyond the normal expectations and challenges of fieldwork, Heiss also reflects on the implications of writing a monograph on an individual. Chapter C offers Musa's life history and describes his daily household routines and field activities in Kimoram. Chapter D shifts to a detailed account of Musa's relations, interactions, and social and family obligations. Being Musa is not just about being a Hausa male peasant who works on a field; it is also, and primarily, about being a father, son, husband or ex-husband, uncle, nephew, friend, etc. to different people. This chapter, the most substantial of the monograph, zooms into Musa's connections and presents us with a thick description of his interactions with his family members and other people in Kimoram and Nimari. Being in Nigeria adds significantly to Musa's life and certainly opens another window onto the ways in which Musa perceives himself, negotiates his being in the world and navigates his web of relations. Chapter E attempts to offer an answer to the question of who Musa, the individual, is. As a person in a web of relationships, he is a being with desires, emotions, hopes and aspirations, all shaped by values he holds dearly. As a Muslim seeking higher Islamic learning, Musa found in Islam a normative framework that shapes his world view and ethics. Influencing his decisions and choices, Islam has also defined the possibilities and opportunities of his life. In Chapter F, Heiss locates his book within a wider theoretical engagement with the concepts of actor, person and individual. Bringing philosophy and anthropology into conversation and relying on Michael Jackson and Albert Piette, Heiss argues for an existential anthropology that attempts to articulate a more explicit theory of the individual. Criticizing static perceptions of personhood, he contends that, as a subject, Musa is better understood in the fluidity and malleability of his existence. In Chapter G, Heiss draws on peasant studies and the influence of Islam on social and individual lives to make sense of Musa's life; but rather than drawing on a social theory of religion...