Anthropologists have long engaged communities and topics that are central to contemporary debates. Through ethnographic research, they aim to understand how people’s everyday lives are shaped by and in turn shape larger structural forces. However, although cultural and social anthropology have produced many insights to help us understand the world in which we live, anthropologists have at times turned their conceptual and therefore ethical gaze inward. Public Anthropologist, an international, peer-reviewed journal, opens the possibility for dialogue and debates that are timely and socially and politically challenging. The journal examines the issues of our time in a way that both encourages and scrutinizes a diverse range of shifts outwards from the purely academic realm toward wider publics and counter-publics engaged in cultural and political exchanges and collective collaborations for change. This approach implicitly interrogates the implications and expectations of anthropology’s public presence.
Public Anthropologist boldly and candidly engages with conditions of violence, inequality, and injustice and explores ways in which anthropology might generate public awareness and have an impact beyond academia.
In its journey into the dilemmas and challenges of the contemporary world, Public Anthropologist avoids standardizing intellectual efforts into specifically formatted articles. Rather, it welcomes diversity and creative writing. Articles published in the journal should be accessible yet authoritative, appealing yet not sensationalist. A submission must be the work of a specialist, but without jargon; methodologically rigorous, and yet politically engaging.
The editors invite articles and special issues on topics related to war, rights, poverty, security, access to resources, new technologies, freedom, human exploitation, health, humanitarianism, violence, racism, migration and diaspora, crime, social class, hegemony, environmental challenges, social movements, and activism. We encourage both ethnographic and more theoretical submissions. Although the journal mainly focuses on contemporary issues, we also welcome submissions that adopt a historical perspective. The journal also publishes reviews of books, films, and documentaries that deal with relevant challenges and opportunities of our time and encourages reviews of both scholarly works and fictional literature as well as the work of activists, journalists, and artists. Reviews of non-English materials may be submitted.
Public Anthropologist addresses a broad readership of social and cultural anthropologists, sociologists, ethnographers, political scientists, social and cultural historians, political historians, political actors, policy makers, activists, journalists, and artists.
Articles should be between 6000 and 9000 words in length. Reviews should comprise between 1000 and 2000 words.
Visit the Public Anthropologist blog for lively conversations, original posts, comments on work published in the journal, previews of Tables of Contents, and more!
For editorial queries and proposals, or for review queries, please contact the editor-in-chief, Antonio De Lauri.
Public Anthropologist Award (PUAN-A)
PUAN-A is awarded to a social and cultural anthropologist who has published an outstanding contribution that addresses – in innovative, engaging and compelling ways – key societal issues related to one or more of the following topics: violence, war, poverty, social movements, freedom, aid, rights, injustice, inequality, social exclusion, racism, health, and environmental challenges. For more information, visit the PUAN-A web page linked above.
Editor-in-Chief
Antonio De Lauri, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Associate Editors
Mara Benadusi, University of Catania (Italy)
Saumya Pandey, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Alicia Sliwinski, Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada)
Andrea Steinke, Centre for Humanitarian Action (Germany)
Ekatherina Zhukova, Lund University (Sweden)
Advisory Board
Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University (USA)
Irfan Ahmad, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Germany)
Ruben Andersson, University of Oxford (UK)
Sindre Bangstad, KIFO - Institute for Church, Religion, and Worldview Research (Norway)
Synnøve Bendixsen, University of Bergen (Norway)
Marie-Benedicte Dembour, Ghent University (Belgium)
Robert Borofsky, Hawaii Pacific University (USA)
Gisela Elvira Canepa Koch, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru)
Sealing Cheng, Chinese University of Hong Kong (China)
Manuela Ivone Cunha, Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia/University of Minho (Portugal)
Jason De León, UCLA (USA)
Olga Demetriou, Durham University (UK)
Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, Indiana University Bloomington (USA)
Didier Fassin, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton (USA)
Ilana Feldman, George Washington University (USA)
Friederike Fleischer, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Divine Fuh, University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Alex Golub, University of Hawaiʽi at Mānoa (USA)
Linda Green, University of Arizona (USA)
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, University of Oslo (Norway)
Barak Kalir, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Sohini Kar, London School of Economics (UK)
Tobias Kelly, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Nichola Khan, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Catherine Lutz, Brown University (USA)
Thomas McIlraith, University of Guelph (Canada)
John-Andrew McNeish, Norwegian University of Life Sciences - NMBU (Norway)
Sally Engle Merry (†), New York University (USA)
Henrietta Moore, University College London (UK)
Mariella Pandolfi, University of Montréal (Canada)
Shalini Randeria, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Austria)
Madeleine Reeves, University of Manchester (UK)
Lisa Ann Richey, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
Katharina Schramm, University of Bayreuth (Germany)
Rachel Sieder, Center for Research and Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) (Mexico)
Gunnar Sørbø, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Ann Stoler, The New School for Social Research (USA)
Inge Tvedten, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Olaf Zenker, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
“Sighted” Peer Review
The editors of Public Anthropologist are aware of both the advantages and the limits of blind peer review. In order to promote dynamic exchanges among authors and reviewers, the journal offers “sighted” peer review as an option alongside double-blind peer review. Sighted peer review asks scholars to engage in an open, scientific dialogue. The overall aim is to transform the review process into an open exchange similar to that of a seminar.
The decision to have a submission undergo sighted peer review will be contingent on the explicitly expressed and unqualified willingness of both the author and the reviewers. Absent consent from both sides, double-blind peer review will be the default review model for the journal.
The sighted peer review process works as follows:
Articles will be initially reviewed by members of the editorial team for intrinsic quality, coherence with the aims of the journal, and original contribution to anthropological debates and the advancement of the field. Some submissions will be rejected outright or will be returned with comments and with the recommendation to revise and resubmit. Articles that receive mostly favourable reviews by editorial team members will be reviewed by specialists on the subject. Reviewers will know the names of the authors and will be asked to provide comments and suggestions for minor or more extensive revisions. In turn, authors will know the names of reviewers and will have the opportunity to reply. All exchanges will be monitored and moderated by members of the editorial team. If the editorial team considers comments or responses to be affected by bias or to be expressed in an inappropriate manner, they will request that they be amended or will not forward them. This open review mechanism is based on responsibility, right (to dissent or agree), and awareness.
“Sighted” Peer Review
The editors of Public Anthropologist are aware of both the advantages and the limits of blind peer review. In order to promote dynamic exchanges among authors and reviewers, the journal offers “sighted” peer review as an option alongside double-blind peer review. Sighted peer review asks scholars to engage in an open, scientific dialogue. The overall aim is to transform the review process into an open exchange similar to that of a seminar.
The decision to have a submission undergo sighted peer review will be contingent on the explicitly expressed and unqualified willingness of both the author and the reviewers. Absent consent from both sides, double-blind peer review will be the default review model for the journal.
The sighted peer review process works as follows:
Articles will be initially reviewed by members of the editorial team for intrinsic quality, coherence with the aims of the journal, and original contribution to anthropological debates and the advancement of the field. Some submissions will be rejected outright or will be returned with comments and with the recommendation to revise and resubmit. Articles that receive mostly favourable reviews by editorial team members will be reviewed by specialists on the subject. Reviewers will know the names of the authors and will be asked to provide comments and suggestions for minor or more extensive revisions. In turn, authors will know the names of reviewers and will have the opportunity to reply. All exchanges will be monitored and moderated by members of the editorial team. If the editorial team considers comments or responses to be affected by bias or to be expressed in an inappropriate manner, they will request that they be amended or will not forward them. This open review mechanism is based on responsibility, right (to dissent or agree), and awareness.
Editor-in-Chief
Antonio De Lauri, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Associate Editors
Mara Benadusi, University of Catania (Italy)
Saumya Pandey, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Alicia Sliwinski, Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada)
Andrea Steinke, Centre for Humanitarian Action (Germany)
Ekatherina Zhukova, Lund University (Sweden)
Advisory Board
Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University (USA)
Irfan Ahmad, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Germany)
Ruben Andersson, University of Oxford (UK)
Sindre Bangstad, KIFO - Institute for Church, Religion, and Worldview Research (Norway)
Synnøve Bendixsen, University of Bergen (Norway)
Marie-Benedicte Dembour, Ghent University (Belgium)
Robert Borofsky, Hawaii Pacific University (USA)
Gisela Elvira Canepa Koch, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru)
Sealing Cheng, Chinese University of Hong Kong (China)
Manuela Ivone Cunha, Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia/University of Minho (Portugal)
Jason De León, UCLA (USA)
Olga Demetriou, Durham University (UK)
Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, Indiana University Bloomington (USA)
Didier Fassin, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton (USA)
Ilana Feldman, George Washington University (USA)
Friederike Fleischer, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Divine Fuh, University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Alex Golub, University of Hawaiʽi at Mānoa (USA)
Linda Green, University of Arizona (USA)
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, University of Oslo (Norway)
Barak Kalir, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Sohini Kar, London School of Economics (UK)
Tobias Kelly, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Nichola Khan, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Catherine Lutz, Brown University (USA)
Thomas McIlraith, University of Guelph (Canada)
John-Andrew McNeish, Norwegian University of Life Sciences - NMBU (Norway)
Sally Engle Merry (†), New York University (USA)
Henrietta Moore, University College London (UK)
Mariella Pandolfi, University of Montréal (Canada)
Shalini Randeria, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Austria)
Madeleine Reeves, University of Manchester (UK)
Lisa Ann Richey, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
Katharina Schramm, University of Bayreuth (Germany)
Rachel Sieder, Center for Research and Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) (Mexico)
Gunnar Sørbø, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Ann Stoler, The New School for Social Research (USA)
Inge Tvedten, Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway)
Olaf Zenker, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
Anthropologists have long engaged communities and topics that are central to contemporary debates. Through ethnographic research, they aim to understand how people’s everyday lives are shaped by and in turn shape larger structural forces. However, although cultural and social anthropology have produced many insights to help us understand the world in which we live, anthropologists have at times turned their conceptual and therefore ethical gaze inward. Public Anthropologist, an international, peer-reviewed journal, opens the possibility for dialogue and debates that are timely and socially and politically challenging. The journal examines the issues of our time in a way that both encourages and scrutinizes a diverse range of shifts outwards from the purely academic realm toward wider publics and counter-publics engaged in cultural and political exchanges and collective collaborations for change. This approach implicitly interrogates the implications and expectations of anthropology’s public presence.
Public Anthropologist boldly and candidly engages with conditions of violence, inequality, and injustice and explores ways in which anthropology might generate public awareness and have an impact beyond academia.
In its journey into the dilemmas and challenges of the contemporary world, Public Anthropologist avoids standardizing intellectual efforts into specifically formatted articles. Rather, it welcomes diversity and creative writing. Articles published in the journal should be accessible yet authoritative, appealing yet not sensationalist. A submission must be the work of a specialist, but without jargon; methodologically rigorous, and yet politically engaging.
The editors invite articles and special issues on topics related to war, rights, poverty, security, access to resources, new technologies, freedom, human exploitation, health, humanitarianism, violence, racism, migration and diaspora, crime, social class, hegemony, environmental challenges, social movements, and activism. We encourage both ethnographic and more theoretical submissions. Although the journal mainly focuses on contemporary issues, we also welcome submissions that adopt a historical perspective. The journal also publishes reviews of books, films, and documentaries that deal with relevant challenges and opportunities of our time and encourages reviews of both scholarly works and fictional literature as well as the work of activists, journalists, and artists. Reviews of non-English materials may be submitted.
Public Anthropologist addresses a broad readership of social and cultural anthropologists, sociologists, ethnographers, political scientists, social and cultural historians, political historians, political actors, policy makers, activists, journalists, and artists.
Articles should be between 6000 and 9000 words in length. Reviews should comprise between 1000 and 2000 words.
Visit the Public Anthropologist blog for lively conversations, original posts, comments on work published in the journal, previews of Tables of Contents, and more!
For editorial queries and proposals, or for review queries, please contact the editor-in-chief, Antonio De Lauri.
Public Anthropologist Award (PUAN-A)
PUAN-A is awarded to a social and cultural anthropologist who has published an outstanding contribution that addresses – in innovative, engaging and compelling ways – key societal issues related to one or more of the following topics: violence, war, poverty, social movements, freedom, aid, rights, injustice, inequality, social exclusion, racism, health, and environmental challenges. For more information, visit the PUAN-A web page linked above.
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