“Public Anthropology” in Its Second Decade: Robert Borofsky’s Center for a Public Anthropology

摘要

For more than a decade, Robert Borofsky has encouraged anthropologists to pursue a “public anthropology.” In this time, he has played a key role in a larger movement that has seen increasing numbers of anthropologists attempting to engage with and serve the needs of public audiences outside academia. In this review essay, I review Borofsky’s work through his Center for a Public Anthropology, including the center’s website and its four major projects: The Anthropology Journal Archive; the Community Action Website Project; the California Series in Public Anthropology; and the Public Outreach Assessment of anthropology doctoral programs. I discuss the results and significance of the center’s projects, identifying important innovations that Borofsky has achieved in anthropological teaching, scholarship, academic publishing, and the structure of academic anthropology. The review also offers constructive criticism of Borofsky’s efforts and suggestions for advancing the center’s projects and his vision for a public anthropology.