Toward Engaged Anthropology

Sam Beck is Senior Lecturer in the College of Human Ecology and Director of the Urban Semester Program of Cornell University. His publications include Ethnicity and Nationalism in Southeastern Europe (1981, ed with John W. Cole) and Manny Almeida’s Ringside Lounge: The Cape Verdean Struggle for their Neighborhood (1992).

• Introduction:  Public AnthropologySam Beck and Carl A. MaidaChapter 1. Expert and Lay Knowledge in Pacoima:  Public Anthropology and Essential Tension in Community-based Participatory Action ResearchCarl A. MaidaChapter 2. Norwegian Anthropologists Study Minorities at Home: Political and Academic AgendasThomas Hylland-EriksenChapter 3. Dow Chemical’s Knowledge Factories: Action Anthropology against Michigan’s Company Town CultureBrian McKennaChapter 4.Producing Knowledge for Public Use: New Challenges in the U.S. AcademyJudith GoodeChapter 5. Notes on a Dialogical AnthropologyUdi Mandel ButlerChapter 6. Mapping Solidarity: How Public Anthropology Provides Guidelines for Advocacy NetworksRaul AcostaChapter 7. Lessons from VicosBillie Jean Isbell

“Toward Engaged Anthropology critically exposes the power relationships and asymmetries that constrain a legitimately engaged scholarship and that disconnect academics not only from the broader outside communities but from the core principles of the discipline… an excellent book, recommended for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and professionals working not only in anthropology but in all types of community research.” · Collaborative Anthropologies“This is a very rich collection with a variety of different perspectives highlighted. Anthropology has always been engaged, but not necessarily with the right co-respondents. As the ‘ontological turn’ takes hold, it is this sort of anthropology that is at the cutting edge in the exploration of new paradigms.” · Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale“The book does not shy away from variations in the experience of engaged anthropology. This avoids any attempts at a homogenous definition for engagement, and instead emphasises the discipline’s flexibility and the importance of context in informing the form research and engagement should take. The texts are relevant to seasoned researchers and accessible to students and activists preparing their first field research. As such, this is a valuable contribution to the debate on the role of the researcher in society.” · Anthropological Notebooks