California Series in Public Anthropology

The California Series in Public Anthropology is a groundbreaking collection of books that share a common goal: to emphasize the anthropologist’s role as an engaged intellectual. Books in the series affirm anthropology’s commitment to bearing ethnographic witness, to describing, through stories, how life is lived beyond the borders of many readers’ experiences. But it also adds a commitment through ethnography to reframing the terms of public debate—transforming received, accepted understandings of social issues with new insights and frameworks. Launched in 2001 by Robert Borofsky, the series includes seminal books by anthropologists Paul Farmer, Philippe Bourgois, Aihwa Ong, Arthur Kleinman, Margaret Lock, Seth Holmes, Carolyn Nordstrom, Didier Fassin, Jason De León, and David Vine. 

In 2019, Ieva Jusionyte assumed leadership of the series as editor. To submit a proposal, please contact Ieva Jusionyte or UC Press anthropology editor Kate Marshall. UC Press book proposal guidelines are available here. 

For more information about the history of the series, please visit The Center for Public Anthropology.

Editors:

Ieva Jusionyte, Editor, Brown University

Robert Borofsky, Founding Editor, Center for a Public Anthropology, Hawai'i Pacific University

Advisory Board: 

Catherine Besteman, Colby College

Philippe Bourgois, UCLA

Jason De León, UCLA

Laurence Ralph, Princeton University

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, UC Berkeley