Engaging Anthropology The Case for a Public Presence

"Anthropologists should be at the forefront of public debates on questions ranging from human rights, multiculturalism and migration to development, education and health. Why are our voices so seldom heard? Thomas Hylland Eriksen demonstrates that the fault is partly our own, and his lively and insightful essay will help us to raise our game. - Adam Kuper

A magnificent primer on how anthropologists might engage a wider public and why they generally fail to do so. The proof of the message is in the quality of the writing itself - Keith Hart

Anthropology will engage with public issues, or it will wither. This is the central message of Thomas Eriksen's stimulating polemic. As he warns, 'Anthropologists must stop fidgeting, and get on with it'. His provocative essay is easy to read and full of key reasons why anthropologists today more than ever need to face the world and not just one another. We have no option but to put our message across, yet do so at our own peril. - j"