Why the World Needs Anthropologists, Paperback

Why does the world need anthropology and anthropologists? This collection of essays written by prominent academic, practising and applied anthropologists aims to answer this provocative question.

In an accessible and appealing style, each author in this volume inquires about the social value and practical application of the discipline of anthropology. Contributors note that the problems the world faces at a global scale are both new and old, unique and universal, and that solving them requires the use of long-proven tools as well as innovative approaches. They highlight that using anthropology in relevant ways outside academia contributes to the development of a new paradigm in anthropology, one where the ability to collaborate across disciplinary and professional boundaries becomes both central and legitimate. Contributors provide specific suggestions to anthropologists and the public at large on practical ways to use anthropology to change the world for the better.

This one-of-a-kind volume will be of interest to fledgling and established anthropologists, social scientists and the general public.

About author(s):

Dan Podjed is Research Fellow at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Assistant Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Meta Gorup is PhD Candidate at Ghent University, Belgium.

Pavel Borecký is PhD Candidate at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Convenor of the EASA Applied Anthropology Network.

Carla Guerrón Montero is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Delaware, USA.