The Eleventh Thesis: Applied Anthropology as Praxis

This paper examines key implications of praxis theory for applied anthropology. I am concerned with applied anthropology as a communicative and collaborative process and with a critical understanding of the anthropologist's role as consultant, practitioner, and analyst in processes of planned change. The use of praxis as a central analytic leitmotif places "practical" activity, informed by theory, at the center of applied research. The analysis is illustrated through a description of a multi-disciplinary, community-based health research and planning project in seven native communities in Ontario. I examine how practical knowledge and action constrains and transforms academic models of community based development.