Why the World Needs Anthropologists Why does the world need anthropology and anthropologists more than ever? The second edition of Why the World Needs Anthropologists brings together prominent academic, practicing, and applied anthropol...

New Publication. The Uses of Digital Anthropology in Podjed. D. and Montero, C. Why The World Needs Anthropologists.
www.routledge.com/Why-the-Worl...

My work email just told me it is full. But when I checked, there were only 221,000 emails there.

Claiming kinship through ‘filial heart’: migrant care workers in ageing Shanghai Drawing on the ethnography of migrant care workers in eldercare in Shanghai, this article reveals the evolving landscape of caregiving and kinship practices in contemporary China. The ethnography pre....

New paper in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute on the struggles of migrant care workers in elderly care in China. By Xinyuan Wang, currently working with me on a project concerned with care, surveillance and fairness in London and Shanghai.
rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Enjoyed End of the Road for Self-Esteem, Hayden Pedigo, Broadside Hacks playing the Incredible String Band, Vieux Farka Toure, Roje, Ustaad Noor Bakhsh and Muireann Bradley (missed Anna Erhad).

The title of the Chinese version of the book I am editing with Wang Xinyuan on digital anthropology in China, is now `Smoke and Fire in the Everyday World 2:0.' I imagine it sounds even better in Chinese.

Why on earth are governments still delaying the full recognition of a Palestinian state, specifically including Gaza?
Now is surely the exact time when this must be proclaimed and defended.
If Jews can have a state, then so must Palestinians and vice versa.

Sad to report the death of my colleague Michael Rowlands. Above all else, Mike was an intellectual. The embodiment of centuries during which universities were the places where humanity might achieve a deeper and broader understanding of itself and the world in which we live.

The Anthropology of Retirement: Life Beyond Work | Berghahn Books Independent Publishing since 1994

Delighted to announce The Anthropology of Retirement. Ed with Pauline Garvey
With growing life expectancy, retirement is becoming equal to our entire working lives. It is not just an event but decades of change. In this book, we consider the consequences.
www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Miller...

Just finished The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. It is a masterpiece and worthy of her Nobel Prize. But given my fondness for A Suitable Boy and The Dream of the Red Chamber, maybe I just like really really long books.

ASSA: Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing The Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing was a multi-sited research project based at UCL Anthropology, primarily funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizo...

We have updated the webpages for the ASSA (Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing) project so you can see our films, cartoons, publications and general findings. We need this emphasis on the ubiquitous smartphone, instead of just social media.
www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology...

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Currently, I am proofreading the book I have edited with Pauline Garvey on The Anthropology of Retirement. This will be coming out with Berghahn, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

Very sad to hear of the death of Amadou Bagayoko. I saw Amadou and Mariam live on several occasions as they were one of my favourite bands.

Centre for Digital Anthropology The Centre for Digital Anthropology is a leading research hub for the understanding of digital technologies in the rich context of human society and culture.

Just to let you know that we have done an update to our website for the Centre for Digital Anthropology at UCL
www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology...

am a supporter of the Labour Party and will vote for them in the forthcoming local election (for fear of worse), but I also must support Annaliese Dodds in resigning over this disgraceful proposed cut to overseas aid.

Just sent in the manuscript for our book Understanding China through Digital Anthropology, Edited by Daniel Miller and Xinyuan Wang. To be published by UCL Press. Very happy with the amazing contributions that I think really challenge the meaning of the word digital.

Went to an excellent talk last night by Paula Bialski about her book Middle Tech which I strongly recommend—an Ethnographic study of software engineers.

Many congratulations to Haichao Wang for her excellent PhD on the impact of digital technologies on the Muslim Hui population of Xi'An China. Delighted also that Haichao is currently a lecturer in our department.

Cooking for our monthly drop in for refugees and asylum seekers reminded me of Marianne Faithfull's powerful song Broken English. If you don't know it, give it a listen, in memory of her.

My student showed me yesterday that DeepSeek is rather more complimentary about me and my work than ChatGPT. You are welcome to draw whatever conclusion you like from that.

All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict

At last, there are some scientists prepared to speak out against all the rubbish that is constantly published about the impact of social media.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The film A Real Pain shows just why it is so important to ponder and seek direction, especially for those questions that are ultimately unanswerable. And it's fun.

Really enjoying the new album from Fontaines D.C. One of the band (Grian) comes from "Cuan", of course.

Here are some tips for the year:-
Film - My Favourite Cake.
Music - St Vincent, Todos Nacen Gritando.
Non-fiction - William Dalrymple, The Golden Road.
Fiction - Olga Tokarczuk, Drive your plough over the bones of the dead.

What just happened? Ethnography as audit By the time the results of an ethnography are published it almost inevitably becomes an audit of What Just Happened. The papers in this special issue reveal three insights that follow from this. An...

My latest publication - What Just Happened? Ethnography as Audit
A conclusion to a special issue of Anthropology and Medicine called Digital Technologies and the Future of Health: Aspirations, Care and Data. Ed. Claudia Lang
It can be found at
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

So very sad to learn of the death of Thomas Hylland Eriksen, a friend and one of the finest anthropologists of his generation. Small Places Large Issues was by far the discipline's best textbook, and there were many other important ethnographic studies. I will really miss him.

BBC Radio 4 - Appetite for Distraction, Medium and Metaphor Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.

BBC Radio 4 just broadcast a 5-minute interview with me defending the smartphone as being more than just a distraction. I am the second half of the broadcast which you can find at -
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Directory of Digital Anthropologists June 2023 Directory of Digital Anthropologists June 2024 As a joint initiative, the Departments of Anthropology at Goldsmiths, Manchester and UCL hosted an informal day for anthropologists in May 2023 and agai...

If you are interested in #digitalanthropology you might want to check out this directory of academics working on digital anthropology in the UK, it has been updated to June 2024.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Strongly recommend William Dalyrmple's latest The Golden Road. An alternative and convincing history of the old world from an India-centric perspective.