In defense of the heart: An Amazonian politics of respect
In defense of the heart: An Amazonian politics of respect The concept of defense-respect is elaborated here as a cornerstone of Urarina ethics and politics and an alternative to the…
Living in a world of others: A politics of grace and favors in a Romanian mahala
Living in a world of others: A politics of grace and favors in a Romanian mahala The phrase “Roma politics” has come to designate several topics, such as the movement…
Not “multiple ontologies” but ontic capaciousness: Radical alterity after the ontological turn
Not “multiple ontologies” but ontic capaciousness: Radical alterity after the ontological turn This essay articulates a framework for understanding radical alterity in the aftermath of the abandonment of strong claims…
Amazonia by steam: Vicissitudes of a geometric revolution
Amazonia by steam: Vicissitudes of a geometric revolution In the 1890s, at the height of the rubber boom, steamboats dominate the rivers of Bolivian Amazonia. The technophile discourse of the…
Beyond vernacular and metropolitan concepts: Good governance, translation and word coinage in Thailand
Beyond vernacular and metropolitan concepts: Good governance, translation and word coinage in Thailand This article explores the emergence and transformation of the concept of good governance in contemporary Thailand after…
From reasons of state to individual interest: Morality, power and the political category
From reasons of state to individual interest: Morality, power and the political category This article argues that political anthropology has never had a version of the substantivist/formalist debate that shaped…
Northwest African perspectives on the concept of the state
Northwest African perspectives on the concept of the state The state of most current political anthropology tends to be the modern nation-state, and relatively few works address questions posed by…
Dó ăyèi! Dó ăyèi! Reclaiming political agency in Burma’s democracy era
Dó ăyèi! Dó ăyèi! Reclaiming political agency in Burma’s democracy era People marching in the streets in Burma in 1988, infuriated by twenty-six years of military dictatorship, demanded the return…
From parasitic feudalism to responsible hierarchy: The emergence of a “political” vocabulary among the Sora of Tribal India
From parasitic feudalism to responsible hierarchy: The emergence of a “political” vocabulary among the Sora of Tribal India The Sora language reveals a sharp division between the vocabulary of command…
The clash of sovereignties: The Latvian subject and its Russian imperialism
The clash of sovereignties: The Latvian subject and its Russian imperialism Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is occupying the minds of pundits, scholars, and politicians worldwide and across the political spectrum.…
From “limited sovereignty” to decolonization in Ukraine
From “limited sovereignty” to decolonization in Ukraine This article takes up the loaded topic of “Russia in the world of Ukraine.” Now an object of official Russia’s aggressive attention, contemporary…
The utility of ethnography for understanding (the Russo-Ukrainian) war
The utility of ethnography for understanding (the Russo-Ukrainian) war The Russo-Ukrainian war raises the question about the utility of ethnography in understanding interstate war. As anthropology and sociology have historically…
Imperialist ideology or depoliticization? Why Russian citizens support the invasion of Ukraine
Imperialist ideology or depoliticization? Why Russian citizens support the invasion of Ukraine What explains the wide support for the invasion of Ukraine in Russia in the first months after it…
Towards a critical ethnography of political concepts
Towards a critical ethnography of political concepts This special section approaches “politics” from a specifically ethnographic point of view. It does this by privileging ethnographically derived political concepts rather than…
A treasury of ideas
A treasury of ideas Go to Source
The re-starting of history: Life in changing Russian spheres of influence
The re-starting of history: Life in changing Russian spheres of influence The essays in this collection look into daily life in changing Russian spheres of influence, including Ukraine, Latvia, Kazakhstan,…
Surreal events, “TV zombies,” and social media in postsocialist Kazakhstan: Reflecting on violence in Russia’s sphere of influence
Surreal events, “TV zombies,” and social media in postsocialist Kazakhstan: Reflecting on violence in Russia’s sphere of influence Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which came on the heels of violent domestic…
Losing the plot: On method and meaning in traumatizing ethnographic work
Losing the plot: On method and meaning in traumatizing ethnographic work This article takes up the question of “Russia’s influence in the world” by focusing on the impact of Russian…
Sovereignty triangles: Emotions and transactions in Central African relations with Russia
Sovereignty triangles: Emotions and transactions in Central African relations with Russia Increasingly over the past five years, the Russian government has been expanding its spheres of influence in Africa, chiefly…
“SHE CAN GET A VISA”: How Nationality and Class Shape Decision Making at a Kenyan NGO
“SHE CAN GET A VISA”: How Nationality and Class Shape Decision Making at a Kenyan NGO Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Ahead of Print. Prior studies show how race, class, and…