Update: This very first post on “branding anthropology” is preserved here, but some of the blog-post references have (ironically?) disappeared. The second post on Popularizing Anthropology began to spell out what the blog was about back in 2011. For a more current approximation see the 2020 Purpose of Living Anthropologically.
Branding Anthropology
I can claim a tiny bit of responsibility for the discussion of “branding” anthropology that rippled through the anthropology blogosphere, starting with a post from Greg Downey, “Brand Anthropology: New and Improved with Extra Diversity!” on Neuroanthropology, followed by Rex’s Human Nature: It’s Not What You Think on Savage Minds, Keith Hart’s “Branding Anthropology” on the Open Anthropology Cooperative, and then Daniel Lende, “Building the Anthropology Brand” back on Neuroanthropology.
I still like Greg’s post the best, perhaps because I’m in it, but also because it concretely analyzes the Ulf Hannerz article Diversity Is Our Business (and also in his book Anthropology’s World), whereas others seem more to riff on Greg’s post, or just the bolded parts.
What got me onto this is the project I’ve been working on, Living Anthropologically. This is the soft launch of that experiment. It is meant to be a companion to anthropology courses, combining the best of current research to comment on contemporary issues, oriented by the moral optimism of anthropology.
To cite: Antrosio, Jason. 2011. “Branding Anthropology: The First Post.” Living Anthropologically website, https://www.livinganthropologically.com/softlaunch/. First posted 7 February 2011. Revised 29 August 2017.