Routledge Handbook of Applied Anthropology

The Routledge Handbook of Applied Anthropology provides a comprehensive overview of applied anthropology, offering a global portrait of key problem sets, methods, and materials that anthropologists use when working in business, government, and non-governmental organizational settings.

Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from across the globe, this innovative Handbook maps the full breadth of applied anthropology - its diverse conceptualizations, its deep roots in community engagement, and its vital role in addressing today’s most urgent challenges. Spanning places from Peru and Morocco to China, Australia, and North America, the Handbook highlights how anthropologists everywhere blend theory and practice to confront climate disruption, health inequities, cultural loss, forced migration, technological transformation, and more. It offers a rare global, decolonial perspective, dismantling the outdated divide between “academic” and “applied” work, and centers collaboration, reciprocity, and social impact.

This is a landmark volume that redefines what it means to put anthropology to work in a rapidly changing world. Designed for students, educators, practitioners, and organizational partners, the handbook illuminates wide-ranging career pathways in nonprofits, business, government, and community-based contexts. It prepares the next generation for meaningful futures in a world where anthropological insight is urgently needed.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Christina Wasson is Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Texas, USA.

Edward B. Liebow is recently retired Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association, USA.

Karine L. Narahara is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Texas, USA.

Hsain Ilahiane is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, USA.

Alaka Wali is curator emerita of North American Anthropology in the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum, USA.