The Anthropology of Ambiguity

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Description

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.

Reviews

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 experience, 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

"Narrated through captivating ethnography and thought-provoking analyses, this volume brilliantly showcases nuanced ways in which reading ambiguity can help us understand the crises of our times."
Yasmine Musharbash, Associate Professor, Australian National University

'Grounded in ethnographic rigor, the contributors collectively emphasize the productive potential of ambiguity, challenging its conventional framing as a mere obstacle to clarity. Instead, ambiguity is celebrated as a dynamic force that underpins knowledge production, societal negotiation, and meaning-making across cultural contexts.'
Intan Rosita et al., Reviews in Anthropology

Author Bio

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