Life is confusing like that, or maybe it’s me. One day, I hate anthropology, and the next, I am back in love with anthropology. Maybe, it’s just getting back into reading a subject I am interested in. Who knows? I still have not had a class yet, my first one was supposed to be today but will start to next week instead. So I had a free day to start some of my reading for the semester ahead.
You may be wondering what changed between Friday and today when I haven’t even had one class yet. It’s simple. I selected and started reading for courses I am excited about. I have settled on Economic Anthropology and the required course, Material Culture.
What I read today
Non-Places by Marc Augé
(Jesse called this the most anthropology sounding book he has ever heard of)
Non-Places is about understandings of place and space, which probably sounds boring. But it is conceptually fascinating to think about how we relate to and understand the spaces and places–and non-places around us. I am interested in considering them in terms of the meaning we attach to them and why—if any at all.
An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang’s finances by Steven Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
The article, if you could not guess from the title deals with the finances of a drug-selling gang. It explores the economic incentive for people to join gangs. Despite the risk, physical and legal, the possibility of moving up in ranks and making about minimum wage without education and professional skill development is higher than in more legitimate work. Also a fascinating subject.
All it takes is a book and an article?
It seems like it does not take much to change my mind. Sometimes it does. My reading today reminded me why I got into anthropology in the first place.
- I want the world to be better—meaning based on what I consider to be an improvement—than it is today. I am sure we all want that in our own way. I want to address structural inequalities.
- I also want to broaden my world by learning about and from the 7.8 billion people living in it, especially those who have views that differ from my own.
Anthropology gives me the framework and the space to do that. Getting back into reading, and I guess the excitement of a new semester, has reminded me of that. Does that mean I have to love it unconditionally every day? Of course not. I don’t, and I won’t. But loving it 90% of the days is more than enough. It is more than most people get.
And besides, I only have a few more months guaranteed with it. I will let myself be in love with anthropology for as long as I can before I have to take another week off (maybe for easter or the summer) to explore another interest before coming back to it.