Hau Books is the book-publishing wing of the Society for Ethnographic Theory (SET), a learned society that also publishes the triannual Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, founded in 2011 by Giovanni da Col. Hau Books, founded in 2015 by Giovanni da Col, is committed to publishing the most distinguished texts in classic and contemporary ethnographic theory. Its aim is to situate ethnography as the central heuristic of anthropology and to return it to the forefront of conceptual developments in the discipline.
Our print and ebook editions are produced, distributed, and marketed by the University of Chicago Press. Open-access editions are made available through Knowledge Unlatched and can be downloaded from our catalogue and the Open Research Library.
Convinced that traditional publishers have been neglecting works by anthropologists writing outside the Anglophone world, Hau Books has published a larger proportion of its titles in translation than any other publisher in anthropology. To extend this commitment, in 2026 we have developed A Framework for Hybrid Translation.
Director of Hau Books
Frédéric Keck, CNRS-Collège de France, Paris
Editorial Collective of Hau Books
Matthew Carey, University of Copenhagen
Deborah Durham, College of the Holy Cross
Casey High, University of Edinburgh
Gonçalo D. Santos, University of Coimbra
Nora Scott, Editor and Translator
Hylton White, University of the Witwatersrand
Commissioning Editors
Steph Grohmann
Jens Kreinath, Wichita State University
Anton Nikolotov, Laboratoire d’anthropologie sociale
Editorial Staff
Hannah Roberson, Managing Editor
Editorial Advisory Board
Nancy Levine, University of California, Los Angeles
Adam Kuper, London School of Economics
Former Editors
Catherine V. Howard
Vita Peacock
Erik Bähre
Giovanni da Col
Executive Publishing Board
The EPB takes decisions on editors recommendations, makes calls on funding allocation, and works on fundraising. This board include directors and two SET members acting as editorial advisors. It is distinguished from the Scientific Editorial Board which is consulted to receive an exclusively scientific opinion by both editors and the EPB.
Commitment to Open Access
Hau Books is committed to making anthropological scholarship freely available. Titles are published in paperback and ebook formats, and wherever possible we also release open-access editions under Creative Commons licences(CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND).
Open-access publication is supported primarily through library pledges coordinated by Knowledge Unlatched. Current and past pledging libraries include MIT, Princeton University, NYU, Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Manchester, and many others. Libraries that pledge support for 2026–2028 will receive a complimentary paperback copy of each title published during that period; to arrange delivery, please contact our editorial office.
For details on how to pledge, see the Knowledge Unlatched brochure or write to info@knowledgeunlatched.org.
For titles not covered by Knowledge Unlatched, authors may secure open-access funding through research grants, institutional support, or national funding schemes. Some reprinted or translated works may not be available as open access due to pre-existing copyright restrictions.
Translation Policy
Authors are responsible for securing translation funding, with administrative support available from Hau. Authors without dedicated funding may also explore our Framework for Hybrid Translation, which outlines a coproduction model combining AI-assisted drafts with expert revision.
SET Directors and Members
Scientific Editorial Board for Hau Books and Hau Journal
SET Bylaws
SET Privacy Policy
Newsletter
Subscribe to Hau’s Newsletter, and check out our achive of Newsletters and Announcements.