Anthropology, Ambushed
Anthropology got in the news for a “F— You Republicans” e-mail. Can anthropology survive the ambush? On understanding conservative victimhood politics.
Anthropology – Understanding – Possibility
The “Anthropologists” category of Living Anthropologically contains blog-posts related to a specific anthropologist or anthropologists. These posts are primarily about the internal workings of anthropology and anthropological associations, unlike other sections of the site that are more focused on the external promotion of anthropology.
A very helpful book is Matthew Engelke’s How to Think Like an Anthropologist. In the UK, Think Like an Anthropologist got a good review in the Guardian as how to understand the human condition. This is indeed what anthropology strives to do! In the US, anthropologist Barbara J. King reviewed the book for NPR:
We learn to think critically about our own assumptions regarding people across the globe who may seem exotic to us. The trick, Engelke explains, is to avoid exoticizing these “others” and, at the same time, also to avoid “reducing cultural differences to the point of inconsequence.” That balance sits at the heart of good anthropology.
And King asks for more work like this to be done. “A sequel: More Ways To Think Like An Anthropologist, perhaps? In short, I believe in the project Engelke is engaged in and hope it may expand.”
This category includes posts related to work on Open Anthropology, the first public electronic journal of the American Anthropological Association. The articles curated in Open Anthropology are free to access for one year. I was co-editor for Open Anthropology and tried to incorporate it with other Anthropology Blogs.
Anthropology got in the news for a “F— You Republicans” e-mail. Can anthropology survive the ambush? On understanding conservative victimhood politics.