James Ferguson (born June 16, 1959) is an American
anthropologist. He is known for his work on the politics and anthropology of
international development, specifically his critical stance (
development criticism
Postdevelopment theory (also post-development or anti-development or development criticism) holds that the whole concept and practice of development is a reflection of Western-Northern hegemony over the rest of the world. Postdevelopment thought ...
). He was chair of the Anthropology Department at
Stanford University.
His best-known work is his book, ''
The Anti-Politics Machine''. He delivered the most prestigious lecture in anthropology, the Morgan Lecture, in 2009, for his work on
basic income
Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
. He earned his
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in
cultural anthropology from the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
and an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
social anthropology from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
Selected publications
*2015, ''Give a Man a Fish''. Duke University Press
*2010, ''The Uses of Neoliberalism''. Antipode, volume 41, supplement 1, 2010.
*2006, ''Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order'', Duke University Press.
*1999, ''Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt'', University of California Press.
*1997, Editor, ''Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science'' (with
Akhil Gupta
Akhil Gupta (born 1959) is an Indian- American anthropologist whose research focuses on the anthropology of the state, development, as well as on postcolonialism. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angele ...
), Univ. of California Press.
*1997, Editor, ''Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology'' (with Akhil Gupta), Duke University Press.
*1990, ''
The Anti-Politics Machine: 'Development,' Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho'', Cambridge University Press. Republished in 1994 by University of Minnesota Press.
References
External links
Ferguson's faculty profile at Stanford
by 'Theory Talks'
Living people
Stanford University Department of Anthropology faculty
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
1959 births
{{US-anthropologist-stub