Here, Asad states that in order to understand that which we study, we must examine Western power in other states and the effect Western power has on those people and states, for we need to re-examine our own notions of the "relationship between anthropology and colonialism" (Asad 322). This reminded me of Said's idea that "...Orientalism is a considerable dimension of modern political-intellectual...culture, and as such, has less to do with the Orient and more with our world" (Said 12). I believe both authors are stating that the culture and "norms" we are affiliated with have a greater influence on the product of our studies than we assume; we must be better acquainted with our culture and wha these norms are to produce a coherent case study of a culture that is foreign to us.

This line from Asad's text reminds me of the idea of "mental mapping of reality" introduced in Guest's second chapter. "Mental mapping of reality" is a tool used by humans to categorize the world into sections that we may use to better understand a topic; anthropologists use mental mapping to assist them in answering the general questions they have when conducting their studies. Asad contends that functional anthropologists were examining "the "modern" change in colonial Africa as they were reconstructing "traditional" cultures" (Asad 318). Perhaps the basic categories were changed from "primitive life and civilization" to "tribal and industrial" because these new categories helped anthropologists create a more accurate mental map of reality that helped them better understand that which they sought to answer.