Writing Anthropology: Essays on Craft and Commitment

by Carole McGranahan (Editor), Stuart McLean (Contributor)

In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and commitment. These short essays cover a wide range of territory, from ethnography, genre, and the politics of writing to affect, storytelling, authorship, and scholarly responsibility. Anthropological writing is more than just communicating findings: anthropologists write to tell stories that matter, to be accountable to the communities in which they do their research, and to share new insights about the world in ways that might change it for the better. The contributors offer insights into the beauty and the function of language and the joys and pains of writing while giving encouragement to stay at it—to keep writing as the most important way to not only improve one’s writing but to also honor the stories and lessons learned through research. Throughout, they share new thoughts, prompts, and agitations for writing that will stimulate conversations that cut across the humanities.

Contributors. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Jane Eva Baxter, Ruth Behar, Adia Benton, Lauren Berlant, Robin M. Bernstein, Sarah Besky, Catherine Besteman, Yarimar Bonilla, Kevin Carrico, C. Anne Claus, Sienna R. Craig, Zoë Crossland, Lara Deeb, K. Drybread, Jessica Marie Falcone, Kim Fortun, Kristen R. Ghodsee, Daniel M. Goldstein, Donna M. Goldstein, Sara L. Gonzalez, Ghassan Hage, Carla Jones, Ieva Jusionyte, Alan Kaiser, Barak Kalir, Michael Lambek, Carole McGranahan, Stuart McLean, Lisa Sang Mi Min, Mary Murrell, Kirin Narayan, Chelsi West Ohueri, Anand Pandian, Uzma Z. Rizvi, Noel B. Salazar, Bhrigupati Singh, Matt Sponheimer, Kathleen Stewart, Ann Laura Stoler, Paul Stoller, Nomi Stone, Paul Tapsell, Katerina Teaiwa, Marnie Jane Thomson, Gina Athena Ulysse, Roxanne Varzi, Sita Venkateswar, Maria D. Vesperi, Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Bianca C. Williams, Jessica Winegar
 

Genres: Anthropology

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

Carole McGranahan is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a co-editor of Imperial Formations.

Reviews

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am a writer even when the words escape me"

"why ethnography? For the discipline of paying attention, for learning from others, for becoming more responsibly aware of inequalities, for better understanding the social forces causing suffering and how people might somehow find hope, and most generally for being perpetually pulled beyond the horizons of one's own taken-for-granted world"

[daniel dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of these short pieces appeared a few years back in the "Savage Minds" blog, but I find it very useful and provocative to have this collection as a book sitting on a shelf over my writing space. I have taken to reading a piece or two whenever I need to pause, especially if I'm feeling stuck, and the results have been encouraging.

[Ciel Rombouts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of essays on ethnographic writing! Highy recommend!