1st Edition
Engaging Anthropology The Case for a Public Presence
By Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Copyright 2005
160 Pages
by
Routledge
160 Pages
by
Routledge
160 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Anthropology ought to have changed the world. What went wrong? Engaging Anthropology takes an unflinching look at why the discipline has not gained the popularity and respect it deserves in the twenty-first century. From identity to multicultural society, new technologies to work, globalization to marginalization, anthropology has a vital contribution to make.While showcasing the intellectual... Read more
1. A short History of Engagement 2. What went Wrong? 3. Complexity and Simplicity4. Fast and Slow Media 5. Narrative and Analysis 6. Altercentric Writing 7. Why Anthropology Matters
Biography
Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo and the Free University of Amsterdam.
"Anthropologists should be at the forefront of public debates on questions ranging from human rights, multiculturalism and migration to development, education and health. Why are our voices so seldom heard? Thomas Hylland Eriksen demonstrates that the fault is partly our own, and his lively and insightful essay will help us to raise our game. - Adam Kuper A magnificent primer on how anthropologists might engage a wider public and why they generally fail to do so. The proof of the message is in the quality of the writing itself - Keith Hart Anthropology will engage with public issues, or it will wither. This is the central message of Thomas Eriksen's stimulating polemic. As he warns, 'Anthropologists must stop fidgeting, and get on with it'. His provocative essay is easy to read and full of key reasons why anthropologists today more than ever need to face the world and not just one another. We have no option but to put our message across, yet do so at our own peril. - j"
