One year after the elections: a deceptive calm in Burundi? by Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs
Burundian soldiers patrolling the streets of Bujumbura. Photo by the author The car stops and the driver turns off the ignition and leans back in the seat. Before…
Tag: politics
How To Support Blacademics & Be an Ally
If you are working in academia, this post is for you. Ellie Adekur has created this important resource on How To Support Blacademics: For Non-Black Faculty and Grad…
Waking up to #Brexit
On the morning of 24th June I had what I have since learnt to be a common experience. I lay in bed in conscious abeyance; Schrodinger’s Brexit: ‘If…
Brexit Will Not Solve Anything
In June, decades of long-simmering tensions erupted when a majority of the British electorate voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. Now what? Diamond Geezer/Flickr…
Style, bad prose, and Corey Robin’s theory of public intellectuals
Ten years ago, before I started doing research in France, I wrote my MA thesis about the politics of “bad writing” in the American humanities. Empirically, my major…
Is #Slow Academia Conservative?
In this post, Heather Mendick argues that some calls for slowing down scholarship mask a conservative politics. Last July I blogged about how, despite my love for online communication,…
Marx Trot Sunday August 14, 2016 #Marx #walkingtourlondon
This year the Marx Trot is planned for August 14, 2016 Meet 1pm Archway Tube. bring enthusiasm, vox pop speechifying, money for drinks, drinks, sunscreen (we hope we…
Social Media and Brexit
One of the common claims made about social media is that it has facilitated a new form of political intervention aligned with the practices and inclinations of the…
Mass Violence and Teachable Moments
This past weekend, Orlando, Florida witnessed the worst mass shooting in America’s recent history. This violent, planned attack in a public place is tragic, and our hearts go out…
American Anthropological Association Votes Against Resolution to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions
Elizabeth Redden reported today about the American Anthropological Association’s close vote against a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. She writes:A total of 2,423 AAA members voted …
Amitav Ghosh – The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
This new title from Amitav Ghosh, one the world’s finest literary minds looks very interesting. More at U Chicago Press here. I’ve put a series of four lectures…
Valuing Aboriginal cultural knowledge in Western science
The relationship between Western science (scientists, government officials, etc.) and Aboriginal knowledge has often been rocky, with Westerners often only acknowledging the value of local indigenous …
Web Roundup: Data, Safety, and Bias by Lily Shapiro
Many people probably saw the news that Facebook allegedly privileges left-leaning stories in its trending news section, a story broken by Gizmodo at the beginning of this month.…
Affiliation is power (without irony)
As many of my readers probably know, the big controversy in my field this year (in American cultural anthropology) has been about a proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions, essentially…
Who’s Playing the ‘Nazi Card’ in Anthropology?: Rhetorical Spectres of Anti-Semitism in the BDS Debate by David Rosen
Two recent articles by BDS leaders in anthropology have accused boycott opponents of debasing the debate in anthropology, either by playing the “Nazi card” or by introducing the…
Rethinking Political Agency in the Middle East | Workshop Abstracts
Over the next two days, Allegra will be busy reporting on the international workshop Rethinking political agency in the Middle East: Engaging political anthropology which is taking place…
Europe’s Destructive Spirals of Distrust
On February 6, 2016, thousands of people protested the immigration of Muslims, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and other cities across Europe. Peter Dejong/AP Photo Controversies around minori…
Anthropology Boycott: Supporting BDS but Voting Against
After a long time thinking about it, I’ve decided that I support the BDS Movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. But I plan to vote against…
Anthropology Boycott: Supporting BDS, Voting Against AAA proposal
After a long time thinking about it, I’ve decided that I support the BDS Movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. But I plan to vote against…
Graduate Student Response to “When It’s Time to Vote, Don’t Boycott Academics–Cut the Purse Strings” by Emma Shaw Crane
As graduate students and new members of the American Association of Anthropologists, we approach the academic boycott resolution vote with hope. We write today in response to “When…
Seminar: Indigenous Media 2016
Again, I have the pleasure to teach the Seminar “Indigenous Media” for the MA Program in Visual and Media Anthropology at the Free University Berlin. Find below a…
On the Brazilian crisis, Pentecostalism and thinking out of the bubble
Pentecostal service in the Brazilian field site. Photo by: Juliano Spyer Brazil is in the midst of a heated national debate between people in favour of, and those contrary…
Disciplinary Peace Above All Else? by Nadia Abu El-Haj
“When It’s Time to Vote, Don’t Boycott Academics – Cut the Purse-strings” raises important questions about the power of economic divestment in the struggle for Palestinian rights. In…
When It’s Time to Vote, Don’t Boycott Academics – Cut the Purse-strings by Jennifer S. Hirsch
Editor’s note: We received this letter, signed by the authors listed above and by nine anonymous authors, as a reply to our earlier Debate Forum. After far too…