political economy – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

‘Race,’ ‘Diversity,’ and the University

If this was a good time for Canadian academia, you would not be able to tell from the blanket of almost absolute silence that has been pulled over universities. There is no euphoria, no celebratory mood, no applause for the changes that are happening. There is, however, a degree of infighting, mutual suspicion, recrimination, and […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Publicity or Marginality? On the Question of Academic “Silencing” in Anthropology

Abstract What is “silencing” and is it out of place in the contemporary North American university? How do “silencing” and “public anthropology” intersect? What are the roles of academic power and academic capital? Readers are invited to explore the proposition that “silencing” is really about the political economy of value—the destruction or creation of value, […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Political Economy of the Bullet in Afghanistan

“Tactics or Strategy?“ is an article by Francis J. “Bing” West (referred to me by a correspondent in Twitter — apologies for not noting the name for the appropriate thanks). In that piece, West makes a series of critical points that deserve wider, and focused, attention. The first point he makes is that there is […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Economics Blogs in a Time of Crisis: Policy, Development, Globalization, and Transformation

Almost desperate for blogs that cover dimensions of the economic crisis in relatively brief posts that are accessible to non-economists, I was forced to take a journey lasting a few days into the economics blogscape. Longstanding interests of mine have been political economy, globalization, and world-systems analysis, and my early reason for entering anthropology was […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Political Economy of Academia

Anthropology News, the newsletter of the American Anthropological Association, has issued a call for papers (the deadline has passed) for a special issue on the political economy of academia. The outline for this is very interesting: Where are current economic and cultural trends in higher learning taking us? With a changing economy, the number of […]