Engaging anthropology

"While showcasing the intellectual power of anthropology Thomas Hylland, Eriksen takes the anthropological community to task for its unwillingness to engage more proactively with the media in a wide range of current debates. If anthropology matters as a key tool with which to understand modern society beyond the ivory towers of academia, why are so few anthropologists willing to come forward in times of national or global crisis? Eriksen argues that anthropology needs to rediscover the art of narrative and abandon and analysis and, more provocatively, anthropologists need to lose their fear of plunging into the vexed issues modern societies present." "Engaging Anthropology makes an impassioned plea for positioning anthropology as the universal intellectual discipline. Eriksen has provided the wake-up call we were all awaiting."--Jacket.