The Anthropology of Ambiguity

Mahnaz Alimardanian, Timothy Heffernan

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English

Manchester University Press
01 June 2024

Social theory; Social & cultural anthropology

This volume puts ambiguity and its generative power at the centre of analytical attention. Rather than being cast negatively as a source of confusion, bewilderment or as a dangerous portent, ambiguity is held as the source of the dynamic between knowledge and experience and of certainty amid uncertainty. It positions human life between the realms of mystery and mastery where ambiguity is understood as the experience and expression of life and part of navigating the human condition. In turn, the tension between the tradition in anthropology of examining cultural certitudes through ethnographic description and efforts to challenge dominant expressions of incertitude are explored. Each chapter presents ethnographic accounts of how people engage individually and collectively with the self, the other, human-made institutions and the more-than-human to navigate ambiguity in a world affected by viral contagion, climate change, economic instability, labour precarity and (geo)political tension.

Edited by: Mahnaz Alimardanian, Timothy Heffernan
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781526173843
ISBN 10: 1526173840
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 01 June 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Further / Higher Education , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Mahnaz Alimardanian is an adjunct research fellow at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, and a consultant anthropologist providing community-based research services in Australia, PiiR Consulting Timothy Heffernan is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, and a visiting fellow (2022-24) at the School of Psychology and Medicine, Australian National University

Reviews for The Anthropology of Ambiguity

“In unsettling times such as these, The Anthropology of ambiguity provides a critical resource for thinking through the ambient flux of ambiguous experiences that increasingly constitute our contemporary condition. Ambitious theoretically and attuned to the intricacies of lived experienced, the volume significantly contributes to anthropological efforts to understand our complexly situated worldly existence as humans.” C. Jason Throop, Professor & Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles -- .