The possibility of life
The possibility of life In a 2012 critique of John D. Barrow’s The artful universe, I explored the problems inherent in attempting to predict what can andcannothappen—what is and is…
Revisiting “the repugnant other” in the era of Trump
Revisiting “the repugnant other” in the era of Trump Anthropology has long challenged etic characterizations of the contradictory other, highlighting the logics of putatively back- ward subjects. Recent punditry on…
Food-for-words: Sacrificial counterpoint and oracular articulacy in Cuba
Food-for-words: Sacrificial counterpoint and oracular articulacy in Cuba By critically engaging with anthropological theories on sacrifice and religious “mediation,” this article offers a doubly indigenous ethnographic theory of sacrifice and…
Irrationality and speculation in finance
Irrationality and speculation in finance Go to Source
Popfinance: From the economic man to the Swabian housewife
Popfinance: From the economic man to the Swabian housewife This article is based on my field work on finance seminars and consultancies in Germany, which are part of the financial…
The semi-social mountain: Metapersonhood and political ontology in the Andes
The semi-social mountain: Metapersonhood and political ontology in the Andes This paper debates how Andean mountains become persons with political ontology, a post-humanist orientation that has recently highlighted this phenomenon.…
Therapy of desire
Therapy of desire Go to Source
Without impunity
Without impunity Go to Source
Slinging hash: Can activists and scholars play “rough music” on a one-string violin?
Slinging hash: Can activists and scholars play “rough music” on a one-string violin? Go to Source
#MeToo is nowhere near enough
#MeToo is nowhere near enough Go to Source
#MeToo is little more than mob rule // vs // #MeToo is a legitimate form of social justice
#MeToo is little more than mob rule // vs // #MeToo is a legitimate form of social justice This Shortcuts section engages the debate on whether the #MeToo movement is…
The problem of affinity in Amazonia
The problem of affinity in Amazonia Go to Source
Oedipus and Job in West African religion: The 1956 Frazer Lecture
Oedipus and Job in West African religion: The 1956 Frazer Lecture Go to Source
Destiny in hindsight: Impotentiality and intentional action in contemporary Yemen
Destiny in hindsight: Impotentiality and intentional action in contemporary Yemen Zaydis are a Shiite sect, widespread in Highland Yemen, that upholds a doctrine of free will and human accountability. However,…
For an anthropology of destiny
For an anthropology of destiny This preface develops an argument for a comparative anthropology that takes the concept of destiny as a fertile laboratory for anthropological thought. The articles in…
Destiny as a relationship
Destiny as a relationship This afterword takes a closer look at relationships of power involved in destiny, taking inspiration from questions and answers offered in this special section on anthropologies…
Caught in the language of fate: The quality of destiny in Taiwan
Caught in the language of fate: The quality of destiny in Taiwan In Taiwan, fate (mingyun) powerfully emerges and circulates in and through language. I focus on three core genres…
Corporal destinies: Faith, ethno-nationalism, and raw talent in Fijian professional rugby aspirations
Corporal destinies: Faith, ethno-nationalism, and raw talent in Fijian professional rugby aspirations Many young itaukei (indigenous) Fijian men train daily in the hope of becoming professional rugby athletes, despite the…
The politics of the real economy
The politics of the real economy In this special section of Hau (part II), we present four texts that allow us to go further with the objective to provoke the…
Soybean, bricks, dollars, and the reality of money: Multiple monies during currency exchange restrictions in Argentina (2011–15)
Soybean, bricks, dollars, and the reality of money: Multiple monies during currency exchange restrictions in Argentina (2011–15) This article aims to show that the properties of money are temporally and…