Journal Blog
Anthropology has an asshole problem. If the recent revelations about misconduct at the journal HAU have made one thing clear, it’s that there is a culture of mistreatment and bullying in the discipline. There is a pervasive elitism that enables some people – those at elite institutions or in structural positions of power – to …
“I think that the anthropology of morality and the morality of anthropologists are two interrelated subjects that cannot really be separated. In this sense, I think that someone who does not have a moral stand is not in a very good position to explore and understand the morality of others. We need a moral compass. …
In an attempt to reflect on some lectures I have delivered on humanitarianism in Lebanese, Turkish, and Italian universities over the last three years, I would like to advance a few reflections on the “public afterlife” of my experience of teaching, the language I used in those classes, and the response I received from different …
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Guai ai poveri: La faccia triste dell’America [“Woe to the poor: The sad face of America”, Gruppo Abele) by Elisabetta Grande, a professor of comparative law at the University of Eastern Piedmont (Italy), is a fresh take on America’s “War on the Poor”. Engaging, well written and suitable for a non–expert audience, the book is …
The account of the history and current position/role of anthropology has effectively been co-opted by academics, at the expense of the many anthropologists who “choose instead to practise anthropology along career paths outside of academia: for example, in public service, NGOs or commercial organisations” (MacClansey 2017). One of the main employment arenas of anthropologists and …
In the past two years at the University of Guelph, I have led a graduate seminar course titled “Public Issues Anthropology” within our Master of Arts program. A pressing question, and one we frequently return to in classroom conversations, is “who is our public?” For the students, this question motivates discussions related to writing for …
When I met Margaret Mead in the 1970s I felt like I was in the presence of a superstar. Here was an anthropologist with an international reputation who was willing to put her career on the line by criticizing the war in Vietnam, supporting the campus protests of university students, and promoting the rights of …
Continue reading “Public Anthropology: Engaging Social Issues in the Modern World”
Table of Contents: Introduction: Confronting Silencing, Antonio De Lauri Unravelling the Politics of Silencing, Laura Nader It Wasn’t a Tenure Case: A Personal Testimony, with Reflections, David Graeber The Sounds of Anthropological Silence, David Price Having Company: An Antidote to the “Politics of Silencing”, Susan Wright ——————————————————————————————— Introduction: Confronting Silencing, Antonio De Lauri The featured image …
An experience involving Fredrik Barth (who established the anthropology department at the University of Bergen in 1963) was for several years seen as indicative of the official attitude to anthropology in Norway, according to Signe Howell (2010). When the Norwegian government embarked on their first aid project in 1952 through a fisheries project in Kerala, …
Continue reading “Applying Anthropology: Glimpses from Bergen. Past and Current Relevance”
“And then you will give recommendations to our government, no?” I had just explained the scope of my study to the person sitting next to me on the bus going to Kano. He had stared perplexed at this white lady in Nigerian clothing whilst entering the bus and it did not take him long before …