"There are precious few works that take up this question of activism in anthropology and show what it can substantively be, beyond a longing and desire. Well, that is what this volume achieves -it is full of energy and substance and demonstrates what a vital younger generation of anthropologists are doing in focusing their scholarship on American society."
-George E. Marcus, Rice University
Activism is alive and well in the United States, according to Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman. It exists on large and small scales and thrives in unexpected places. Finding activism in backyards, art classes, and urban areas branded as "ghettos," these anthropologists explore the many routes people take to work toward social change.
Ten absorbing studies present activist groups across the country -from transgender activists in New York City, to South Asian teenagers in Silicon Valley, to evangelical Christians and Palestinian Americans. Each one examines a social change effort as it unfolds on the ground. Through their anthropological approach these portraits of American society suggest the inherent possibilities in identity-based organizing and offer crucial in-depth perspectives on such hotly debated topics as multiculturalism and the culture wars, the environment, racism, public education, Native American rights, and the Christian right.
Moving far beyond the walls of academia, the contributors address the complex issues that arise when researchers have stakes in the subjects they study. Scholars can play multiple roles in the activist struggles they recount, and these essays illustrate how ethnographic research itself can become a tool for activism.
Contributors: Kate Spilde, Kennedy School, Harvard · David Valentine, Sarah Lawrence · Tanya Erzen, Barnard · Omri Elisha, Shalini Shankar, SUNY Binghamton " Eleana Kim, Rabab Abdulhadi, New York University · Henry Goldschmidt, University of California, Santa Cruz
Contents:
Foreword Faye Ginsburg
Acknowledgments
Introduction Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman
Treading Murky Waters: Day-To-Day Dilemmas in the Construction of a Pluralistic U.S. Environmental Movement Melissa Checker
Creating Art, Creating Citizens: Arts Education as Cultural Activism Maggie Fishman
Creating a Political Space for American Indian Economic Development: Indian Gaming and American Indian Activism Kate Spilde
"The Calculus of Pain": Violence, Anthropological Ethics, and the Category Transgender David Valentine
We Shall Overcome? Changing Politics and Changing Sexuality in the Ex-Gay Movement Tanya Erzen
Sins of Our Soccer Moms: Servant Evangelism and the Spiritual Injuries of Class Omri Elisha
Food Fights: Contesting "Cultural Diversity" in Crown Heights Henry Goldschmidt
FOBby or Tight? "Multicultural Day" and Other Struggles in Two Silicon Valley High Schools Shalini Shankar
Gathering "Roots" and Making History in the Korean Adoptee Community Eleana Kim
Activism and Exile: Palestinianness and the Politics of Solidarity Rabab Abdulhadi
-George E. Marcus, Rice University
Activism is alive and well in the United States, according to Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman. It exists on large and small scales and thrives in unexpected places. Finding activism in backyards, art classes, and urban areas branded as "ghettos," these anthropologists explore the many routes people take to work toward social change.
Ten absorbing studies present activist groups across the country -from transgender activists in New York City, to South Asian teenagers in Silicon Valley, to evangelical Christians and Palestinian Americans. Each one examines a social change effort as it unfolds on the ground. Through their anthropological approach these portraits of American society suggest the inherent possibilities in identity-based organizing and offer crucial in-depth perspectives on such hotly debated topics as multiculturalism and the culture wars, the environment, racism, public education, Native American rights, and the Christian right.
Moving far beyond the walls of academia, the contributors address the complex issues that arise when researchers have stakes in the subjects they study. Scholars can play multiple roles in the activist struggles they recount, and these essays illustrate how ethnographic research itself can become a tool for activism.
Contributors: Kate Spilde, Kennedy School, Harvard · David Valentine, Sarah Lawrence · Tanya Erzen, Barnard · Omri Elisha, Shalini Shankar, SUNY Binghamton " Eleana Kim, Rabab Abdulhadi, New York University · Henry Goldschmidt, University of California, Santa Cruz
Contents:
Foreword Faye Ginsburg
Acknowledgments
Introduction Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman
Treading Murky Waters: Day-To-Day Dilemmas in the Construction of a Pluralistic U.S. Environmental Movement Melissa Checker
Creating Art, Creating Citizens: Arts Education as Cultural Activism Maggie Fishman
Creating a Political Space for American Indian Economic Development: Indian Gaming and American Indian Activism Kate Spilde
"The Calculus of Pain": Violence, Anthropological Ethics, and the Category Transgender David Valentine
We Shall Overcome? Changing Politics and Changing Sexuality in the Ex-Gay Movement Tanya Erzen
Sins of Our Soccer Moms: Servant Evangelism and the Spiritual Injuries of Class Omri Elisha
Food Fights: Contesting "Cultural Diversity" in Crown Heights Henry Goldschmidt
FOBby or Tight? "Multicultural Day" and Other Struggles in Two Silicon Valley High Schools Shalini Shankar
Gathering "Roots" and Making History in the Korean Adoptee Community Eleana Kim
Activism and Exile: Palestinianness and the Politics of Solidarity Rabab Abdulhadi