Abstract

Organisational Anthropology is a pioneering analysis of doing ethnographic fieldwork in different types of complex organisations, focusing on the process of initiating contact, establishing rapport and gaining the trust of an organisation's members.

The thirteen contributors work from the premise that doing fieldwork in an organisation shares essential characteristics with fieldwork in more 'classical' anthropological environments, but that it also poses some particular challenges to the ethnographer, with barriers including the ideological or financial interests of the organisations, protection of resources and competition between organisations.

A number of organisational contexts - including corporations, EU policy arenas, think tanks and the public sector - are explored in case studies from the UK, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Mexico and the USA.
'This excellent and timely book shows that the anthropological gaze continues to shed light on all things human in surprising ways'
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo
'This vital and vibrant collection is sure to appeal to graduate students in anthropology and sociology as well as those in organizational psychology. Highly Recommended.'
CHOICE
'Lively first hand accounts of carrying out ethnographic fieldwork in contemporary organisational settings - from convenience stores to high tech firms, from think tanks to advertising companies. This is a work that will appeal not only to anthropologists but also to all those with a scholarly or practical interest in culture and organisation'
John Van Maanen, Erwin Schell Professor of Organization Studies at MIT, author of Tales of the Field
'The engagement between organisation studies and anthropology is both long standing and rapidly developing. In this fascinating volume some of the leading exponents of organisational anthropology reflect on its history and future directions; its potentials and pitfalls'
Christopher Grey, Professor of Organization Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London.
'An indispensable summary of contemporary organisational anthropology, presenting methodological challenges, theoretical discussion and insight into what it is like to embark on research in this area'
Rachel Jane Wile, UCL Institute of Education (London)