How can anthropology develop its own investigation beyond nature and culture? Along with Latour or Descola, Tim Ingold and Gisli Palsson are dealing with this issue, proposing specific theoretical frameworks and methodologies. The aim of this review is to show that, for anthropology, the study of life can be carried out from at least two standpoints: integrating biological data in ethnographical surveys or restituting conceptions of life in non-Western societies. I also tackle some epistemological problems arising from theses approaches.
Anthropology of life; Vital process; Epigenetic; Biomedicine; Technical process