2018 02 12 American Ethnologist - Vol 45 No 1 - Lilith Mahmud

Magazine Overview

This issue of *American Ethnologist*, Volume 45, Number 1, published in February 2018, features a comprehensive "Book Reviews" section. The journal is published by the American Anthropological Association and focuses on ethnological studies.

Book Reviews

Image Brokers: Visualizing World News in the Age of Digital Circulation by Zeynep Devrim Gürsel

Reviewed by Danny Hoffman of the University of Washington, this book is an ethnography of the emergent world of digital visual journalism. Gürsel examines the complex linkages between professional reportage and other image-making practices, arguing that the period between the war in Bosnia and the US invasion of Iraq marked a transformation rather than the end of photojournalism. The book explores the "world making through images" by analyzing the roles of photo editors, marketers, executives, prize jurors, and teachers. Hoffman notes Gürsel's access to key institutions like Global Views Inc. and Agence France-Presse, and her attention to the micro-dynamics of the visual economy. The review highlights Gürsel's narrative skill and the book's division into two parts: institutions that broker images (agencies, wire services, magazines) and how photojournalism itself is brokered (workshops, competitions, festivals). A critique is raised regarding the book's limited number of illustrations, which Gürsel defends by citing the need to protect anonymity, though Hoffman suggests work-arounds could have been employed. The reviewer praises the book as a satisfying and important work for scholars of media, photography, and global institutions, with potential for undergraduate use.

Reporting for China: How Chinese Correspondents Work with the World by Pál Nyíri

Reviewed by Louisa Schein of Rutgers University, this study examines Chinese correspondents working abroad. Nyíri's research follows journalists as they mediate overseas news for Chinese audiences, exploring the tension between universal journalistic professionalism and the belief that media is part of politics. The book is based on interviews with over seventy Chinese correspondents, stringers, and foreign desk editors across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Schein describes Nyíri's "itinerant ethnography" approach, focusing on the subjects' mobilities. The review highlights Nyíri's finding that diverse journalistic missions are not contradictory, challenging the view of Chinese journalism as solely a state project. It emphasizes the agency and pragmatism of the journalists, who are described as "agentive and pragmatic, committed and passionate, discerning and strategic." The concept of the "China peg"—the idea that Chinese audiences are interested only in stories with a direct connection to China—is discussed as a key element distinguishing their work. A limitation noted is that the book might have benefited from a more extensive defamiliarization of the entire profession of international journalism.

The Resonance of Unseen Things: Poetics, Power, Captivity, and UFOs in the American Uncanny by Susan Lepselter

Reviewed by Lilith Mahmud of the University of California, Irvine, this book is described as an extraordinary ethnography that explores the "American uncanny." Lepselter focuses on a "poetic" or "structure of feeling" that constitutes a nationalist American sensibility, using narratives of UFO sightings, alien abductions, conspiracy theories, and historical myths. The review notes Lepselter's tracing of tropes like freedom and captivity across various narratives, revealing tensions and ambiguities stemming from American nationalism. Mahmud praises the book as a "breathtaking experiment in humanistic anthropology" and highlights its contribution to understanding the residues of genocide and settler colonialism. The reviewer also commends Lepselter's groundbreaking methodology and compassionate ethics, noting how the book opens up interpretive space beyond the suspension of disbelief, viewing apophenia as a critical epistemological resource.

Real Pigs: Shifting Values in the Field of Local Pork by Brad Weiss

Reviewed by Ashley Stinnett of Western Kentucky University, this book is a multisited, multiyear ethnography of the cultural production of authenticity in the small-scale, pasture-raised pork industry in North Carolina's Piedmont region. Weiss engages with farmers, butchers, chefs, and pork connoisseurs, exploring contemporary debates about food systems. The book's goal is to "describe and analyze the ways that many people's commitments to the reinvention of food are realized and contested." Stinnett notes the book's six chapters, each infused with ethnographic accounts and profiles. Key themes include authenticity, materiality, embodiment, circulation, symbolism, and practice. The review mentions Weiss's historical overview of hog production and his examination of place and terroir in relation to taste. The concept of "pigness" and authenticity are discussed, with Weiss urging readers to envision more inclusive food systems. Stinnett appreciates the inclusion of photographs throughout the text and finds the book well-organized, well-written, and compelling, relevant to researchers of food systems and those interested in the local food movement.

My Life with Things: The Consumer Diaries by Elizabeth Chin

Reviewed by Carrie M. Lane of California State University, Fullerton, this book is an exploration of the author's relationship with things and her tension between a love of consumer goods and anticapitalist politics. Chin organizes the book into four parts, including an introduction, diary entries, a chapter on ethnographic writing, and a final section titled "This Never Happened." Lane highlights Chin's honest portrayal of her conflicted position as a privileged academic who feels perpetually deprived, and her candid discussion of personal experiences, including a miscarriage. The review notes Chin's critique of anthropology's racism and her commitment to autoethnographic accounts from marginalized others. A point of critique is that Chin's focus on her personal relationship to things, while insightful, sometimes overshadows the "still-unseen people" behind the goods. Despite this, Lane finds the book thought-provoking and a significant contribution for its ability to prod readers to consider their own relationships with material possessions.

Emergent Ecologies by Eben Kirksey

Reviewed by Virginia D. Nazarea of the University of Georgia, this book asks how to love cohabitants in the age of the Anthropocene, challenging disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological monocultures. Kirksey argues that historical accidents and spontaneous liaisons shape ecosystems, offering a basis for hope. The book reframes our relationship to the world, emphasizing constant movement and reformulation. Nazarea notes Kirksey's dispute of directionality and pristine notions in landscape ecology and his questioning of the separation of humans from nature. The review highlights Kirksey's use of a "bricolage" of multisited and multispecies ethnography to challenge equilibrium-based models. Kirksey finds betrayal and exploitation but also "organic thinkers and tinkerers" engaged in caring for wild things, suggesting that conservation need not be solely intentional or expert-driven. The concept of "ontological amphibians"—flexible entities that morph and adapt—is central. A critique is raised regarding the elision of evolutionary principles of natural selection and the potential for teleological readings. Nazarea suggests that Kirksey's work, while advocating for subjective spaces for regenerative cobeing, could have given more credit to intellectual predecessors in ethnobiology and ethnoecology.

Animate Planet: Making Visceral Sense of Living in a High-Tech Ecologically Damaged World by Kath Weston

Reviewed by Teresa Lloro-Bidart of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, this book explores "ecological intimacies" between people and ecosystems, mediated by technologies that have damaged the environment. Weston focuses on compositional intimacies, where living and nonliving entities coconstitute each other. The review outlines the book's chapters, including "Food: Biosecurity and Surveillance in the Food Chain," which examines RFID tags for tracking farm animals; "Energy: The Unwanted Intimacy of Radiation Exposure in Japan," detailing the impact of the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown and the concept of "radiation divorce"; and "Climate Change, Slippery on the Skin," which challenges climate skepticism through embodied empiricism. The chapter "Water: The Greatest Show on Parched Earth" explores how a water-themed shopping complex in New Delhi creates new intimacies with water. The reviewer notes Weston's emphasis on the actual conditions of food production and her challenge to climate skeptics to engage with embodied empiricism. The book is seen as nudging political ecology toward a greater exploration of embodied and affective ties binding humans and technologies.

Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond by Stefan Helmreich

Reviewed by Andrea Ballestero of Rice University, this collection of 14 revised essays explores the relationship between the abstract, empirical, formal, and material, focusing on life, water, and sound. Helmreich's work is characterized by a refusal to reduce science to a single worldview, instead treating it as a material and abstract field action. The review highlights Helmreich's emphasis on the continuous making and transgressing of boundaries in scientific practice, cautioning against foundationalist desires. The book is described as sounding out the processes by which orders acquire different forms across various fields of inquiry, experimentation, and artistic exploration, showing how material and conceptual relations transform. Ballestero notes Helmreich's attention to racialized, gendered, and classed stakes in techno-scientific worlds. The reviewer suggests starting with the epilogue for a condensed explanation of the essays' central contributions, such as "reverberation as a distinct temporality of analysis." The collection is recommended for classes on the anthropology of science, environmental issues, and research methods. Ballestero praises the book as a "thoughtful, stimulating voyage" that challenges assumptions about knowledge and matter, form and content.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue of *American Ethnologist* showcases a strong commitment to rigorous ethnographic research across a wide range of contemporary anthropological topics. The book reviews highlight a recurring interest in the intersection of technology and society, the complexities of globalized systems (food, media, environment), and the nuanced ways individuals and communities navigate cultural and political landscapes. The journal consistently engages with critical theoretical frameworks, including posthumanism, poststructuralism, and critiques of colonialism and racism. The editorial stance appears to favor interdisciplinary approaches, innovative methodologies, and a deep engagement with the lived experiences of diverse populations, often challenging conventional assumptions and offering new perspectives on familiar phenomena. The reviews themselves demonstrate a sophisticated engagement with the reviewed works, offering both praise and constructive criticism.

This issue of *American Ethnologist*, Volume 45, Number 1, dated February 2018, presents a collection of book reviews from the field of anthropology. The publication is a peer-reviewed journal.

Book Reviews

Culturing Bioscience: A Case Study in the Anthropology of Science by Udo Krautwurst

Reviewed by Warren M. Hern, this book examines a modern university research center engaged in bioscience. Krautwurst adopts a participant-observer role, which includes learning to use sophisticated technical instruments and understanding the basic science and social climate of the research. Hern critiques Krautwurst's tendency to invent new terminology, referring to it as a "dreadful trend" that hinders clear communication. He suggests the book serves as a warning for graduate students studying bioscience or medicine from an anthropological perspective.

Dispossession and the Environment: Rhetoric and Inequality in Papua New Guinea by Paige West

Reviewed by Jamon Halvaksz, West's book argues that accumulation by dispossession is facilitated by representational strategies of international capital. Using ethnographic data from Papua New Guinea, she documents how external narratives of the primitive inform colonial and postcolonial exploitation and undermine indigenous sovereignty. The book highlights the potential for indigenous philosophies to reframe development and place local knowledge at the center of understanding, advocating for a decolonized approach to anthropology. West's work contrasts Western scientific epistemologies with those of the Gimi people, who view humans and nonhumans as mutually creating each other, challenging Western notions of discovery and ownership.

Rebuilding Shattered Worlds: Creating Community by Voicing the Past by Andrea L. Smith and Anna Eisenstein

Reviewed by Alex K. Ruuska, this ethnography explores the interplay of social memory, place, segregation, and language in Easton, Pennsylvania. The authors examine how urban renewal projects, spurred by the U.S. Housing Act of 1949, dramatically altered physical landscapes and cultures of practice. They argue that places and people coconstitute each other through ongoing emergent processes. The book is aimed at academics and students and augments literature on collective remembering. It critically considers the dialectic of social, historical, and material dimensions of neighborhood eradication, focusing on themes like place loss, the language of blight, narrative diversity, and the material of memory. The review notes the unexpected communitas among former residents, who described the neighborhood as "close-knit" and a "happy family" where ethnic and racial distinctions were less significant.

Rebranding Islam: Piety, Prosperity, and a Self-Help Guru by James Bourk Hoesterey

Reviewed by Suzanne Brenner, this study examines how Islam has increasingly infused consumer practices and everyday lifestyles globally, using Indonesia as a case study. Hoesterey documents the rise and fall of charismatic Muslim television preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar (Aa Gym), who combined Sufi-inspired Islamic guidance, popular psychology, and business strategies to appeal to millions. The book explores how religion intersects with capitalism, politics, and transnational understandings of expertise. Brenner highlights Hoesterey's argument that the distinction between "authentic" Islam and commodified versions is blurred, as believers absorb Islamic ethics through media and products. Aa Gym's downfall, linked to a personal secret, illustrates the fickleness of consumers and the changing nature of religious authority.

Shi'i Cosmopolitanisms in Africa: Lebanese Migration and Religious Conversion in Senegal by Mara A. Leichtman

Reviewed by Michelle C. Johnson, this book offers a counter-narrative to popular portrayals of Islam, focusing on Shi'ism in Senegal. Leichtman examines the interactions between Shi'i migrants from Lebanon and Senegalese converts to Shi'ism, as well as with Senegalese Sufis. The research, spanning 13 years across four continents, provides in-depth historical and ethnographic understandings of the two populations. Lebanese in Senegal, who have been there for generations, are often viewed as outsiders and blamed for the country's problems, leading them to unite as an ethnic and religious group. Senegalese Shi'i converts are typically educated, affluent men who see Shi'ism as a cosmopolitan, intellectual project offering a more "active Islam." Leichtman challenges binary understandings of cosmopolitanism and conversion, arguing that Shi'i cosmopolitanisms incorporate local and global traditions and are universalizing yet rooted in local cultures.

For Love of the Prophet: An Ethnography of Sudan's Islamic State by Noah Salomon

Reviewed by Sondra Hale, this monograph examines Sudan's Islamic state, presenting Islamic politics as a central discourse emerging from Sudan's social and cultural conditions, rather than solely a reaction to the West. Salomon challenges distinctions between Islamic and secular states and the state and public sphere. He argues that the current regime is a continuation of British colonialism, not a break from the past. The review notes that the book relies heavily on Sudanese intellectuals rather than the general populace and has a near absence of women's perspectives. Despite these criticisms, the book is praised for its insights into Sufism and Salafism and its contribution to discussions on the nature of the Islamic state.

Sovereignty in Exile: A Saharan Liberation Movement Governs by Alice Wilson

Reviewed by Kristin D. Phillips, this book explores the Western Sahara's ongoing battle for sovereignty, focusing on the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and its political project in refugee camps. Wilson conceptualizes sovereignty as a set of social relations, examining how the SADR attempts to establish state power while navigating existing tribal structures. The book details the rise and fall of "innovated taxation" and efforts to regulate prestations and wedding celebrations for social egalitarianism. Wilson argues that tribal loyalties and social differentiation reemerge through markets, which have ambivalent effects. The review highlights Wilson's humanization of life in exile and her emphasis on a moral contract of revolution enduring among Sahrawi refugees.

Everyday Piety: Islam and Economy in Jordan by Sarah A. Tobin

Reviewed by Mahir Saul, this book examines the intersection of Islam and economy in Jordan, focusing on Amman. Tobin spent two years conducting fieldwork, gaining insights into Islamic banking, the growing incidence of women wearing headscarves, and the assertiveness of public piety. The review notes that the book reveals discourses surrounding Islamic banking and explores motives ranging from compliance to ethical considerations. Tobin's discussion of Islamic banking is brief, focusing more on the discourses and actors involved. The review suggests the book could benefit from more sustained ideological profiles and a clearer use of language regarding "sharia."

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue of *American Ethnologist* showcases a commitment to rigorous ethnographic research across a wide range of global contexts. The reviews collectively highlight the complexities of contemporary issues such as political ecology, the impact of globalization on local cultures, the evolving nature of religious identity and practice, and the challenges of state formation and sovereignty in diverse settings. The journal appears to encourage critical engagement with established theories and methodologies, pushing for nuanced understandings of human societies and their interactions with environmental, economic, and political forces. There is a consistent emphasis on the importance of local knowledge and indigenous perspectives, often in dialogue with or in critique of dominant global narratives. The reviews also reflect a concern with the clarity and accessibility of anthropological writing, with some critiques pointing to the use of jargon or overly complex theoretical frameworks.

Title: American Ethnologist
Issue: Volume 45, Number 1
Date: February 2018
Publisher: American Ethnologist
Country: United States
Language: English

This issue of American Ethnologist features a collection of book reviews covering a diverse range of anthropological topics.

Book Reviews

Siege of the Spirits: Community and Polity in Bangkok by Michael Herzfeld

Reviewed by Eric Haanstad, this book is an ethnography of the Pom Mahakan neighborhood in Bangkok, Thailand. Herzfeld juxtaposes local forms of community building with state schemes of order making, exploring how urban transformations make neighborhoods amenable to tourism and global markets. The community of Pom Mahakan, facing eviction due to cultural gentrification, is presented as a microcosm of broader tensions in Thai politics and governance. The review highlights Herzfeld's documentation of the community's resilient resistance and activism, which garnered unexpected support from the middle class. The book is noted for its complexity, offering cross-regional comparisons of local community activism against corporate state encroachment and weaving a narrative of Siam's cosmological polity with Thailand's nation-state. A chapter on 'Time, Sound, and Rhythm' is singled out for its analysis of temporal malleability in local soundscapes. The review praises Herzfeld's integration of subversive persistence with community performances and his personal advocacy for the community.

Faith and Charity: Religion and Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa edited by Marie Nathalie LeBlanc and Louis Audet Gosselin

Reviewed by Micah M. Trapp, this collection of case studies from Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire examines the relationship between neoliberal ideology and religious activists' use of neoliberal language to achieve social and religious change. The collection predominantly features Islamic faith-based NGOs, with some discussion of evangelical Christianity and Catholicism. The authors, a mix of professors, researchers, and students, bring extensive expertise. The review notes the volume's methodology, largely derived from a collective research project, which gives it qualities of both an edited collection and a monograph. The introduction provides context on Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, emphasizing their intertwined histories. The book is divided into two parts: one offering a broad perspective on faith-based development, and the second exploring how religious and national contexts influence social action. The case studies focus on NGO leaders and their motivations. The review points out that while the volume is meticulously researched, it can be encyclopedic, potentially missing opportunities for conceptual development. It suggests a need for a stronger conceptual foundation for unpacking religious pluralism's role in economic development and notes that the authors might assume too much prior knowledge of Islamic doctrine. Despite these points, the review concludes that the book offers a refreshing perspective on neoliberal politics and contributes significantly to the literature on faith-based NGOs, development, and humanitarianism.

Affective Circuits: African Migrations to Europe and the Pursuit of Social Regeneration edited by Jennifer Cole and Christian Groes

Reviewed by Dianna Shandy, this collection conceptualizes migration pathways as 'affective circuits,' useful for understanding African migration to Europe and the social regeneration that results from these processes. The framework highlights the exchange of goods, ideas, people, and emotions, and the discontinuous nature of these social flows. The book comprises 11 chapters, each offering a multisited ethnographic case study. The review commends the volume for maintaining a strong connection to African literature, avoiding the common tilt towards European destinations. The European settings primarily focus on former colonial metropoles. A key strength is the focus on intimacy and the authors' deep knowledge of the populations they study, allowing for articulation of complex social relations within families. The review notes that while the volume is cohesive, it could benefit from more explicit discussion of how findings align or contrast between chapters. Overall, it is considered an important and welcome addition to ethnographic literature on migration, Africa, and kinship.

Impulse to Act: A New Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice edited by Othon Alexandrakis

Reviewed by James Phillips, this volume evaluates social action, affect, and agency through case studies of collective protest and popular resistance. It is divided into two sections: one focusing on affect and the other on agency. The review highlights Jessica Greenberg's study of resistance in Serbia, Eirini Avramopoulou's work on transgender identity in Istanbul, and Irene Peano's analysis of rural farmworkers in Italy. Other contributions explore the role of the body, the concept of crisis, and the ethical complexities of researching social justice movements. The review notes that while the book offers a wide variety of perspectives, it can sometimes be repetitive or too narrowly focused, particularly in its discussion of crisis. However, it is valued for providing a deeper understanding of affect and agency in resistance and social justice.

Mortuary Dialogues: Death Ritual and the Reproduction of Moral Community in Pacific Modernities edited by David Lipset and Eric K. Silverman

Reviewed by Sergei Kan, this volume challenges Robert Hertz's claim that mortuary rituals solely restore social order, arguing instead that Pacific mortuary rituals deliver historically contingent messages and are ambiguous. The editors and contributors apply Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of discourse to analyze official and unofficial voices in mortuary debates concerning Christianity, capitalism, and the state. The book is divided into 'Tenacious Voices' and 'Equivocal Voices.' The review notes that while some chapters effectively apply the 'mortuary dialogues' concept, others, like Che Wilson and Karen Sinclair's piece on Māori mortuary rites, apply it loosely. David Lipset's chapter on the Murik Lakes people and Nicholas Bainton and Martha Macintyre's chapter on mining wealth's impact on Lihir and Misima Islanders are highlighted. The 'Equivocal Voices' section, focusing on rural Papua New Guinea, reveals mourners' feelings of uncertainty and loss of power. The review concludes that despite some shortcomings, the book is theoretically innovative, ethnographically rich, and thought-provoking.

Fragile Elite: The Dilemmas of China's Top University Students by Susanne Bregnbæk

Reviewed by John Osburg, this book examines the contradictions faced by students who achieve academic success in China. Bregnbæk links the context of post-Mao China to universal psychological dilemmas, particularly the 'oedipal' need for separation from parental and state will. The book is based on interviews with students from Tsinghua and Beijing Universities. It explores the tension between pursuing self-realization and fulfilling familial duties, and the challenges posed by China's intensely competitive job market. The review notes that the book addresses the issue of suicide among elite students, which universities are reluctant to discuss. Bregnbæk argues that success can make students 'acutely irreconcilable' and highlights the contradictions inherent in self-actualization and national progress. The review suggests the book's existential framing allows it to resonate with students facing similar dilemmas and would be valuable for courses on contemporary China and the anthropology of education.

The Social Life of Materials: Studies in Material and Society edited by Adam Drazin and Susanne Küchler

Reviewed by Elana Resnick, this volume engages with the 'materials revolution,' challenging readers to consider the role of material properties beyond the category of the object. The book presents 13 case studies divided into four categories: 'On Materials Innovation,' 'From Substance to Form,' 'The Subversion of Form by Substance,' and 'Ecologies of Materials' Social Lives.' The review highlights the focus on the sociality that emerges from interactions with materials, moving beyond a simplistic notion of raw materials. It notes that the volume is successful as an inclusive set of compelling and interdisciplinary case studies, though some terminological fuzziness and abstract moments are present. The review suggests that while the breadth of the volume is a contribution, the brevity of individual chapters might limit analytical depth. Overall, it is seen as a valuable showcase of how materials can serve as bases for transdisciplinary conversations.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue of American Ethnologist showcases a strong commitment to interdisciplinary research, with a focus on ethnographic depth and critical analysis of contemporary social issues. The reviews cover a wide range of topics including urbanism, religion, migration, social justice, death rituals, education, and materiality. A recurring theme is the tension between individual agency and broader social, political, and economic forces, as well as the complexities of cultural change in a globalized world. The journal consistently engages with theoretical debates within anthropology while grounding its analyses in rich empirical data from diverse global contexts. The editorial stance appears to favor nuanced, critical scholarship that challenges simplistic binaries and explores the complexities of human experience and social organization.

Title: American Ethnologist
Issue: Volume 45, Number 1
Date: February 2018
Publisher: American Ethnological Society
Country: United States
ISSN: 0094-0782
Price: $35.00

This issue of the American Ethnologist features a review of Megan Moodie's book, "We Were Adivasis: Aspiration in an Indian Scheduled Tribe." The review, written by Lucinda Ramberg of Cornell University, delves into Moodie's ethnographic work with the Dhanka community in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Book Review: "We Were Adivasis: Aspiration in an Indian Scheduled Tribe" by Megan Moodie

Lucinda Ramberg reviews Megan Moodie's 2015 book, which examines the Dhanka, an urban community of former tribal people in northern India. The ethnography focuses on their transition between an "era of service" and an "era of contract," exploring themes of social belonging, hierarchy, and upward mobility.

Moodie's research, conducted between 2002 and 2012, revisits questions about how state recognition based on aboriginal identity shapes subject positions. The review highlights Moodie's analysis of the Dhanka's creativity in pursuing community uplift, particularly in light of their historical designation as a "lawless forest and hill tribes" and their subsequent inclusion as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in the Indian Constitution, a status that has fluctuated.

The review discusses the concept of "reservations" (affirmative action) secured by B. R. Ambedkar, which function as a means of social mobility. The Dhanka case illustrates the "invented character of caste and tribe in India." Moodie's work navigates the complex history of tribal designations and the strategies the Dhanka employ to occupy the "tribal role."

A central theme is the desire for a better life, balancing colonial knowledge with contemporary conventions of masculinity and feminine respectability. The Dhanka aspire to be modern, Rajasthani, and tribal, identifying with their past while seeking to move beyond it. Moodie's account of subaltern citizenship and community progress through reservations reveals how aspiration is collectively pursued but unevenly distributed.

Young women, in particular, must often forgo education or life choices beyond domesticity. Moodie critiques the emulation model of upward mobility, noting that while ideals of respectability are shaped by hegemonic norms, the Dhanka's configurations are "repetitions with a difference." The annual collective marriage rite (samuhik vivaha) is presented as an example of how the Dhanka craft themselves as a distinct community, positioning themselves as "extribal" and more modern than other groups like the Rajputs.

Moodie argues that the work women do to achieve respectable modern sexual personhood is both necessary and disabling. The review notes Moodie's engagement with Saba Mahmood's critique of liberal feminism's tendency to overlook female agency when it does not involve overt resistance. Moodie highlights the dreams of young women for education, chosen partners, or work that allows freedom, framing these as aspirations to a life "otherwise" and evidence of their creativity within and against societal strictures.

Ramberg's review acknowledges Moodie's detailed sociological portrait but wonders about the "messiness of variegated lifeways" and the possibilities for those who deviate from collectively held aspirations. The review questions what happens to individuals who "fall away" from community goals, particularly concerning marriage and its consequences.

Respectability is presented as improvisational, an ethnographic and historical question rather than a given. The review concludes by posing the question of where the Dhanka who did not conform to community aspirations are, suggesting that the possibilities and consequences of living life "otherwise" might rest with them.

Broader Reflections on Feminist Anthropology

The introductory paragraphs of the issue touch upon the broader field of feminist anthropology. It is noted that while the field has expanded into diverse areas like linguistics, biology, and science and technology studies, it has paradoxically paid relatively little attention to the political and material contexts of the 21st-century Western university. The text questions what insights might arise from the frustrations of feminist anthropologists working within corporatized, precariously staffed universities that perpetuate gender, class, and racial hierarchies.

It is suggested that this moment, more than half a century into feminist anthropology's existence, is opportune for assessing its contributions, shortcomings, and future prospects. The core question posed is how to reconcile the dual goals of understanding the world better and making the world better, which are often in conflict. The collection reviewed is described as a valuable set of meditations on this question, urging feminist anthropologists to embrace their "vexations" and to move both projects forward by dwelling in the uncomfortable space where nuanced understanding challenges dreams of a more just world.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The issue, through its featured review and introductory remarks, emphasizes critical self-reflection within academia. It highlights the importance of ethnographic nuance in understanding complex social dynamics, particularly concerning issues of social mobility, gender, and identity in post-colonial contexts. The editorial stance appears to encourage a deeper engagement with the political and material conditions that shape both the subjects of study and the researchers themselves, advocating for a feminist anthropology that actively confronts uncomfortable truths and strives for both analytical rigor and social justice.