The Public Value of Anthropology: Engaging Critical Social Issues Through Ethnography

In recent years, many anthropological conferences, workshops and seminars havernbeen dedicated to the idea of engaging anthropology in the public sphere. It seems thatrnliving in an anxious times fuels the need among many anthropologists to speak out andrncomment various public fears and concerns. Having participated in few such conferencesrnand workshops, I must admit that most of them focus chiefly on the recollectionrnof engaged works of our predecessors (e.g., Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, or evenrnClaude Lévi-Strauss) and end with the standard call to act more. For that reason, I hadrnrather high hopes when I stumbled upon The Public Value of Anthropology: EngagingrnCritical Social Issues Through Ethnography edited by Elisabeth Tauber and DorothyrnZinn. After all, the book seems to be an interesting attempt at turning the often longwindedrnidea of anthropological engagement into the practice.rnThe book offers a series of well thought chapters that cover a wide range of social,rncultural and political issues, which are contemporary relevant and loom large in publicrndiscourse. Importantly, each chapter is ethnographically grounded what makes thernbook even more interesting and significant. In the introduction, Elisabeth Tauber andrnDorothy Zinn attempt to clarify the principles of anthropological perspective as well asrnbriefly outline the ongoing and rather complex debate about engagement in anthropologicalrnscholarship. It is a well-written and balanced effort to explain to non-anthropologicalrnreaders the short history of anthropological research themes, ethnographic approachrnand the pervasive, yet often too tendentious and narrow-minded, distinctionrnbetween academic and engaged anthropology. The introduction serves as a soundedrnpoint of departure for the subsequent chapters, which explore various issues in a criticalrnway «with implications for globalised social reality» (Tauber, Zinn 2015: 18). In herrnchapter on complex policies and procedures involved in the asylum system, BarbararnSorgoni scrutinises institutional levels of power and their consequences for the asylumrnseekers in Italy. Her ethnographic research carried out among local decision makers,rnsocial workers reveals the misconceptions, which often are inscribed in the existingrnasylum systems. In the next chapter, Sabine Klocke-Daffa deals with a rather difficult collaboration between anthropologists (academics) and curators (practitioners) planningrntogether a museum exhibition in Germany. In a detailed, almost step-by-step account,rnshe presents not only the predicaments of such collaboration, but also wellknownrndifficulties of communicating anthropological knowledge to the outside world.rnCătălina Tesăr, on the other hand, in her most interesting in-depth ethnographic fieldworkrnamong Romanian Roma in Italy, problematises the common assumptions aboutrnbegging. According to Tesăr, begging should not be simply combined with charity, butrnrather approached and understood in terms of work and agency. Following her fieldrncollaborators, Tesăr explores the most intimate aspects of begging and sheds a newrnlight on often taken for granted ideas. Next chapter, written by Jane Henrici, concernsrnthe relationships between craft production, fair trade and tourism in Peru. Henrici describesrnthe consumption practices, which are driven by tourism and examines the existingrn«conditions of disparity». As she argues, in order to explore the complex intersectionsrnbetween tourism and fair trade, one needs to contextualise them in the lines ofrnrace and gender relations. The volume ends with the chapter written by Monika Wiessensteinerrnin which she analyses the meanings and functions of the practices related tornthe idea of «global fight against torture». Therefore, she scrutinises the context of medical,rnpsychological and legal procedures imposed on asylum seekers in Europe. Interestinglyrn(and justifiably), Wiessensteiner approaches the issue of procedural application asrnsocial practice of knowledge production, which has particular consequences for victims-rnsurvivors.rnAll of the ethnographic case studies included in the volume present a high qualityrnresearch conduct, which is contextualized and problematized with intentions to enhancernknowledge and raise the awareness. The social issues engaged through ethnographicrnmethod reveal the most important fields of inquiries in contemporary anthropology,rnsuch as the intersections between political and everyday life discourses and practices,rncultural translation and the processes of othering or neoliberal capitalism and its consequencesrnfor our lives. The juxtaposition of formal (political, bureaucratic) and informalrn(daily life) strategies and practices in different chapters reveal the often concealedrncontext of power relations and struggles between different social actors. By exploringrnagency at work, the authors show complexities and entanglements of the neoliberalrnworld, what in my opinion makes their arguments even more convincing. Thernvolume offers also a detailed problematisation of taken for granted assumptions, whichrnwidely pervade the public sphere. It is precisely what anthropology is about; thernstrength of anthropological perspective lies in the ability to make the familiar exoticrnand the exotic familiar. Importantly, such approach to communicating anthropologicalrnfindings makes them more accessible also for non-anthropologists.rnAlthough, the book is definitely an interesting contribution to the ongoing debatesrnon engaging anthropology, it also raises one main concern. The title The Public Valuernof Anthropology is somehow misleading since it indicates that the book’s main targetrnreaders will be not academics, but rather public audience. However, as the editors state in the introduction, the volume aims to «make anthropological thinking and the constructionrnof knowledge from ethnography accessible to other disciplines» (Tauber, Zinnrn2015: 2) as well as students of social work, education and communication studies. Obviously,rnpopularising anthropology among other scholars is important; however, onernshould not neglect the idea of reaching out beyond university milieu. Otherwise, it mayrnbe argued that focusing merely on academic readership reproduces the well-knownrnproblem of “ivory tower” and does not reveal the true public value of anthropology.rnMoreover, it is precisely the internal logic of academia that hinders engagement andrnany attempts to communicate knowledge with the “outside world”. Although scholarsrnshould have a sense of accountability towards general public and engage more in transferringrnknowledge to the “outsiders”, many choose (or are somehow obliged) to writernmerely for academic colleagues and milieu. After all, only by following the logic ofrnacademia one can pursuit academic career; thereby, for many scholars to write for popularrnreaders is rather of a secondary importance.rnNevertheless, The Public Value of Anthropology: Engaging Critical Social IssuesrnThrough Ethnography is a crucial reading for those, who are genuinely interested in anthropologicalrnapproaches to the contemporary world. Unfortunately, the authors limitrntheir scope of readership by aiming to engage only academics and thus neglecting thernpopular audience. As a result, the public value of anthropology remains valuable forrnacademia itself. Pawlak, Marek. ANUAC 5.1 (2016): 357-359.