Why the World Needs Anthropologists

by Dan Podjed (Editor), Carla Guerrón Montero (Editor)

Overview

Why does the world need anthropology and anthropologists more than ever? The second edition of Why the World Needs Anthropologists brings together prominent academic, practicing, and applied anthropologists to answer this provocative question.

This new edition advocates a proactive and ethically engaged discipline that not only observes societal transformations but also contributes to solving the most pressing global issues. It proposes that anthropology must be at the front and center of the solving table. In an accessible and appealing style, each author explores anthropology’s social value and practical applications. Contributors share their career paths and how they use their anthropological skills and knowledge outside academia. They also provide specific suggestions to anthropologists and the public on how anthropology can offer powerful insights and solutions in complex and unpredictable times. Each chapter includes a list of recommendations – DOs and DON'Ts – from the authors. With such practical resources, this book is a toolkit to harness anthropology's full potential.

This one-of-a-kind volume is essential reading for fledgling and established anthropologists, social scientists, and the general public.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040395318
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/10/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	246
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Dan Podjed is a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Associate Professor at the University of Ljubljana, and Advisor to the Director at the Institute for Innovation and Development of the University of Ljubljana. Dan is the founder of the EASA Applied Anthropology Network and initiator of the symposium Why the World Needs Anthropologists.

Carla Guerrón Montero is an applied cultural anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Center for Material Culture Studies (CMCS) at the University of Delaware (Newark, United States). Carla has studied tourism and mobilities, food and nutrition, nation-building, and world anthropologies in Latin America. She is a long-serving member of the Advisory and Organising Committees of the symposium Why the World Needs Anthropologists.

Table of Contents

List of figures vii

List of contributors ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction: why does the world need anthropologists? Dan Podjed Meta Gorup 1

1 Ethnography in all the right places Thomas Hylland Eriksen 17

2 Living in and researching a diverse world Lenora Bohren 32

3 What is it like to be an anthropologist? Joana Breidenbach 42

4 Anthropology in an uncertain world Sarah Pink 56

5 Making anthropology relevant to other people's problems Steffen Jöhncke 71

6 Searching for variation and complexity Tanja Winther 85

7 An anthropologist's journey from the rainforest to solar fields Sophie Bouly de Lesdain 99

8 Anthropologists make sense, provide insight and co-create change Rikke Ulk 110

9 Open up the treasure of anthropology to the world Jitske Kramer 123

10 The practitioner's role of facilitating change Anna Kirah 136

11 Do we really need more anthropologists? Riall W. Nolan 150

Conclusion: back to the future of applied anthropology Pavel Borecky Carla Guerrón Montero 165

Index 178