New Books in Anthropology

When Only God Can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners (Pluto Press, 2024), uncovers the unique experiences of Muslim political prisoners held in Egypt and under US custody at Guantanamo Bay and other detention black sites. This groundbreaking book explores the intricate interplay between their religious beliefs, practices of ritual purity, prayer, and modes of resistance in the face of adversity. Highlighting the experiences of these prisoners, faith is revealed to be not only a personal spiritual connection to God but also a means of contestation against prison and state authorities, reflecting larger societal struggles.Written by Walaa Quisay, who has worked closely with prisoners in Egypt, and Asim Qureshi, with years of experience supporting detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the authors' deep connections with prisoner communities and their emphasis on the power of resistance shine through. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Steven Lesk, a board-certified psychiatrist with nearly four decades of experience, explores the misunderstood realm of schizophrenia in his groundbreaking book. He introduces his 'primitive organization theory,' connecting schizophrenia to our evolutionary past. Lesk emphasizes the importance of integrating evolutionary insights into psychiatry, challenges conventional views, and highlights the impact of historical figures like Paul Schreber. The discussion also covers the evolution of happiness and the complexities of mental health, advocating for a broader understanding of these issues.

Veiko Erranti, an Associate Professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Helsinki, dives into how Finnish youth engage in democratic practices. He introduces the innovative concept of 'doing society' to expand traditional views of political action. The discussion covers diverse forms of engagement, from memes and social movements to participatory budgeting. Erranti also explores the effects of individualism on youth participation and underscores the role of social media in shaping collective activism amidst contemporary societal challenges.

Audun Kjus, a folklorist and cultural historian from the Norse Volksmuseum, dives into the intriguing intersections of play and ritual. He discusses how playful experiences influence serious rituals like marriage proposals and community gatherings. Highlighting the emotional depth of seemingly trivial moments, Kjus explores the cultural significance of practices like ash scatterings and fandom celebrations. He also emphasizes the role of playfulness in museums, encouraging innovative approaches to cultural exhibitions that resonate with audiences.

In this engaging discussion, Subir Sinha, a Reader at SOAS University of London and an expert on development politics, sheds light on the rise of Hindutva as a transnational force. He identifies economic liberalization and post-9/11 Islamophobia as key catalysts for Hindu nationalism. Sinha highlights how social media amplifies Modi's authoritarian populism while fostering global connections among Hindutva supporters. However, he also points to emerging resistance through Dalit politics and a growing awareness of the contradictions between lived Hinduism and Hindutva.

The relationship between fear people experience in their lives and the government often informs key questions about the rule of law and justice. In nations where the rule of law is unevenly applied, interpreting the people involved in its enforcement allows for contextualized understanding about why that unevenness occurs and is perpetuated.Joshua Barker’s State of Fear: Policing a Postcolonial City published by Duke University Press (2024) examines policing in Bandung, the capital city of the province of West Java in Indonesia, to show how fear and violence are produced and reproduced. He makes analysis of the emergence of informal and formal forms of political order in Bandung based on ethnographic and historical evidence about neighborhood watch groups, street-level toughs, vigilantes, and people in the police, from clerks to officers. This book provides a compelling interpretive framework for understanding episodes of violence and different forms of authority in Indonesian state-society relations as it does for many other parts of the world where unresolved colonial legacies shape the production of policing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

What is the connection between fan culture and feminism? In Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr (Bloomsbury, 2023), Briony Hannell, a lecturer in sociology at the University of Manchester, explores the intersection of fandom, in a variety of forms, and feminist discourses on social media. Using an in-depth case study of Tumblr, the book charts the creation of a community of feminist fans, showing how the sense of being a feminist and belonging to a digital community are created and maintained online. The analysis also reflects on how this community includes and excludes particular social groups, showing the potential and the limits of digital spaces for feminist ideas and activities. A vital intervention at a moment where social media spaces are being transformed in various ways, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary digital world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Magnus Course, Chair of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, shares his enlightening journey with the Mapuche community of Chile, unpacking themes of failure through cultural archetypes like the witch, clown, and usurper. He explores how these figures reflect personal and disciplinary failings while revealing resilience in the face of socio-political struggles. Course also discusses identity dynamics in intercultural education and the Mapuche's relationship with dreams and knowledge, highlighting the ethical complexities within anthropology.

On the podcast today I am joined by Presidential Scholar and Professor Emerita of Anthropology at John Jay College, City University of New York, Alisse Waterston to talk about her award-winning book, My Father’s Wars: Migration, Memory, and the Violence of A Century (Routledge, 2024). The book was first published in the Innovative Ethnographies series by Routledge Books in 2014. Its acclaim has led to the Tenth Anniversary edition which has just come out in 2024.My Father’s Wars is a story about twentieth-century social history told through the vivid account of Alisse’s father as he journeys across continents, countries, cultures, languages, generations—and wars. The book is a beautifully moving account bridging family narrative and anthropological offering deeply insightful reflections on themes that remain more urgent than before, including migration, memory and violence. Captivating and powerful, the book is not only an important example of just how much ethnographic writing can show rather than tell, it is also an example of the wide terrain of how anthropologists can communicate knowledge multimedia accompaniments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived on the Caribbean Island of Guanahaní to find an Edenic scene that was soon mythologized. But behind the myth of paradise, the Caribbean and its people would come to pay the price of relentless Western exploitation and abuse. In Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis (Doubleday Books, 2025), Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe embarks on a historical journey to chart the forces that have shaped these islands: the legacy of slavery, indentured labor, and the forced toil of Chinese and enslaved Black people who mined the islands’ bounty—including guano, which, at the time, was more valuable than gold—for the benefit of European powers and at the expense of the islands’ sacred ecologies.Braiding together family history, cultural reportage, and social studies, Goffe radically transforms how we conceive of Blackness, the natural world, colonialism, and the climate crisis; and, in doing so, she deftly dismantles the many layers of entrenched imperialist thinking that shroud our established understanding of the human and environmental conditions to reveal the cause and effect of a global catastrophe. Dark Laboratory forces a reckoning with the received forms of knowledge that have led us astray.Through the lens of the Caribbean, both guide and warning of the man-made disasters that continue to plague our world, Goffe closely situates the origins of racism and climate catastrophe within a colonial context. And in redressing these twin apocalypses, Dark Laboratory becomes a record of the violence that continues to shape the Caribbean today. But it is also a declaration of hope, offering solutions toward a better future based on knowledge gleaned from island ecosystems, and an impassioned, urgent testament to the human capacity for change and renewal.Tao Leigh Goffe is a London-born, Black British award-winning writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who grew up between the UK and New York. Her research explores Black diasporic intellectual histories, political, and ecological life. She studied English literature at Princeton University before pursuing a PhD at Yale University. She lives and works in Manhattan where she is currently an Associate Professor at Hunter College, CUNY. Dr. Goffe has held academic positions and fellowships at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Princeton University in New Jersey.Reighan Gillam is Associate Professor in the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth College. Her research examines the ways in which Afro-Brazilian media producers foment anti-racist visual politics through their image creation. She is the author of Visualizing Black Lives: Ownership and Control in Afro-Brazilian Media (University of Illinois Press). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology