Publicness and Confrontation
Guest Author: Thijl Sunier In the early 1990s I was involved in the formulation of a research project on the Kurdish issue in Turkey and in Europe. In the 1960s and 1970s along with many other migrant laborers many people from Turkey of Kurdish origin came to Europe to find work. Many of these migrants … Continue reading
Publicity begins at home
Guest Author: John Postill The digital world is exhilarating and frustrating in equal measure. On the one hand, the possibilities for socialising with like-minded others, meeting new people, honing old crafts, making digital things, sharing contents and co-producing knowledge are virtually endless. On the other hand, digital technologies can be slow, unreliable, unstable, disorientating and, … Continue reading
“Sorry, I don’t speak anthropologist”
Guest Author: Daan Beekers As unquestionable specialists in the making (and breaking) of culture, anthropologists are in a position to provide invaluable insights on such burning issues as the perceived crisis of multiculturalism in Europe, the public presence of religion and persistent ethnic and religious violence around the world. Why, then, do these insights so … Continue reading
Public Anthropology: Some notes, hopes and wishes
Guest Author: Lorenz Khazaleh How can anthropologists better contribute to the public debate? Questions about how to make anthropology more public have been debated over and over again. I’m not sure if anthropological knowledge really is underexposed and that there is no willingness to share knowledge. First, we are not alone in this world. Lots … Continue reading
Public Anthropology: The Example of the Culture of Poverty
Guest Author: Daniel Lende Graffiti and garbage. That phrase in the recent New York Times article, ‘Culture of Poverty’ Makes a Comeback, captured why I had to respond to the renewal of ideas linking culture and pathology. When people see graffiti and garbage, do they find it acceptable or see serious disorder? I woke up … Continue reading
Bourdieu vs. “The Total Intellectual”
Guest Author: Kerim Friedman The culture that Europe needs, for itself and the world, and particularly the world’s third estate, will not emerge from the negotiations of experts or the discussions of technocrats. The question is to make the rigorous use of reason, and thus of language, a political virtue, indeed the first of all … Continue reading
Updated Program Anthropology and/in Publicity
“Anthropology and/in Publicity” Soeterbeeck, Ravenstein, The Netherlands, November 5, 2010 The focus of this meeting will be the dissemination of anthropological knowledge to relevant groups in the societies to which anthropologist belong and the societies where they conduct their research. The participants will reflect on the reasons for the underexposure of anthropological knowledge and explore … Continue reading
Publishing in the GAY-KRANT (‘gay journal’)
Peter Geschiere contacted the Gaykrant (a middle of the road gay magazine) to draw their attention to the position of gays in Africa (in particular Cameroon) and at the same time to help a friend. This has led him to reflect upon the relation between research and social relevance, arguing that it actually works the other way around as anthropologists would like it. Click on the title to read
Introducing Anthropology and Publicity
Although anthropology is by definition ‘public’, the relationship between its practitioners and society, its social relevance and its connections with the wider audience, have always been controversial and complex. This will be the general theme of the meeting on 5 November 2010 at Ravenstein. To be sure, it is a vast and multifaceted topic.
Anthropology & Publicity 