WHY BRANDS NEED TO DO MORE THAN LISTEN
Listening to consumers in order to ‘get closer’ and understand their needs is a common term that I hear within the worlds of branding, marketing and innovation. This…
“The way to do fieldwork is never to come up for air until it is all over.”
“The way to do fieldwork is never to come up for air until it is all over.” – Margaret Mead (via literary-ethnography)
Exemplary: The case of the farmer and the turpentine by Annemarie Mol
This post is part of our new series, The Ethnographic Case. In 1976, when I was eighteen and he was eighty-four, my grandfather told me the case of the…
anthro in the news 6/8/15
Porn-driven female genital esthetics The Globe and Mail reported on growing industry in women’s genital esthetics, illustrating its point with some details about genital-area waxing and skin t…
Around the Web Digest: Week of May 31
It’s unofficially archaeology week here at the headquarters of the Around the Web Digest… Send me anything I need to feature on here at rebecca.nelson.jacobs@gmail.com. Past Horizons: Adve…
‘Mellencamp’s classroom tape’
John Mellencamp is one of my favorite rock singers. I find it fascinating how he depicts urban life. It is well-known that in his songs he delivers sharp…
People with Albinism and Humanitarian NGOs in Tanzania: Identities between Local and Global Worlds
Giorgio Brocco This photo essay discusses the interactions between international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental organizations on the one hand, and local pop…
Ask A Mind: Is Studying Witchcraft `Useful’ for Development?
Can anthropologists combine research on witchcraft with research on development? Why are some topics considered more relevant to understanding development issues than others? This post is a response…
Did Hosni Mubarak Play the US?
Was Hosni Mubarak a savvy politician who played the Bush administration? A new analysis says “yes.” Whatever one wants to say about Hosni Mubarak, one has to acknowledge…
The new prophets of capital (book review)
I enjoyed reading Nicole Aschoff’s The new Prophets of Capital on a recent journey between two of Sweden’s largest cities. Her book, which is actually a very accessible,…
How the Ocean Cleanup Array Fundamentally Misunderstands Marine Plastics and Causes Harm
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The Ocean Cleanup array, designed to clean plastics from the ocean like a baleen whale, is one of these…
Anthropology Blogging 101: Anthropology Attacks!
by Dick Powis This post is part of the Anthropology Blogging 101 series. Before I joined Savage Minds (SM), I had a blog called “Anthropology Attacks!” (AA; complete…
A Story of Wood
Wood has played an important role in the history of civilization. Humans have used it for fuel, building materials, furniture, paper, tools, weapons, and more. And demand for…
Anthropology Works: Practicing Anthropology in Design and Business
Follow this link to an article I wrote for the American Anthropological Association’s Anthropology News website. In it, I talk about how I apply my anthropology training to…
Social Anthropology meets “the cognitive challenge”
Social Anthropology devotes an exciting special issue to “taking up the cognitive challenge”, edited by Rita Astuti and Denis Regnier, with contributions by (among others) Tamara Hale, Charles…
It’s A Revolution! The Resurgence of Vinyl and Being Present
I was raised on great music. Music we listened to in our “den” – usually on vinyl or cassette (once my older brother became a teenager and got…
3rd Cascadia Seminar, “Ethnographic Adventures in Medical Anthropology”: Conference Brief by Nadine Levin
On Friday, April 24, more than 50 attendees gathered to hear the keynote—and kick off a weekend of stimulating talks and discussion—for the 3rd Cascadia Seminar, “Ethnographic Adventures…
“The art of observation (during travel, etc.) consists in this: the seeing of great things in little…”
“The art of observation (during travel, etc.) consists in this: the seeing of great things in little things, the whole in the part — even the infinitesimal part.”…
Citizenship Versus Denizenship
What is the difference between people who live in a nation state as members with rights and responsibilities, and those who live there without accepting such rights and…
Things are never going to be the same again? Burkina Faso after the brush-up, by Cristiano Lanzano
Plus rien ne sera comme avant (things are never going to be the same again)! The slogan cried by protesters in the streets of Ouagadougou and other cities…
If we are all cultural Darwinians what’s the fuss about? Clarifying recent disagreements in the field of cultural evolution
Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci discussed this article in The Trouble with Cultural Evolution, Footnotes to Plato.
Kevin O’Neill, “Secure the Soul: Christian Piety and Gang Prevention in Guatemala”
Kevin O’Neill‘s fascinating book Secure the Soul: Christian Piety and Gang Prevention in Guatemala (University of California Press, 2015) traces the efforts of multi-million dollar programs aimed at s……
“Anthropology will continue to get a bad rap as long as we anthropologists think and write about the…”
“Anthropology will continue to get a bad rap as long as we anthropologists think and write about the human condition in obtuse ways. When I talk about my…