May 1-2, 2015

7th Annual “Anthropology in Transit” conference series
Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine 
Keynote Speaker: James Ferguson, Susan S and William H Hindle Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University.

Anthropological narratives are often framed in terms of connections, engagements, and transcending the boundaries between ‘self’ and ‘other’. Yet as ethnographers we often encounter contingency and contradictions, not only in the processes and practices we study but also in the course of fieldwork itself. James Ferguson’s work has been essential in helping us grapple with the contradictions latent in narratives of modernity, development, and neoliberalism, highlighting the importance of leaving space for creative reinterpretation. Taking inspiration from his scholarship, this year we reflect on the politics of contemporary ethnography, and the theoretical and methodological approaches that may help us account for the messiness of ethnographic worlds.

Please contact the UC Irvine Anthropology in Transit Steering Committee at anthropologyintransit@gmail.com with any questions.