Welcome to HAU Books! We’re excited to consider your work for publication. Here’s what we need to review your book proposal: 1. Cover Letter (max 3 paragraphs) – Introduce yourself – Explain your book’s purpose and key arguments – Explain why HAU Books is the right home for your work – State if you are …
“In this excellent ethnography, Sylvia Tidey interrogates the widely prevalent assumption in global discourse about the state and development that corruption is always inimical to the “good,” thereby challenging dominant conceptions of good governance. Based on long-term research in Indonesia, she argues—and convincingly demonstrates—that corruption can, in practice, be deeply intertwined with care. More …
Émile Benveniste (1902–1976) was a French linguist and semiotician who taught at the Collège de France until 1969. He is the author of many works on language, including Dictionary of Indo-European Concepts and Society, also published by HAU Books. With Claude Lévi-Strauss and Pierre Gourou, he cofounded the anthropological journal L’Homme. Jordan K. Skinner is …
Extracts from Reviews of the French Edition “The trail is a major one: at its end may lie the new keys to understanding how the four original integral writing systems — Mesopotamian, Chinese, Maya, and Egyptian — capable of representing discourse, were invented.” — Le Magazine Littéraire. “Inventer l’écriture forcefully argues against vague categories like ‘pictography’ …
“Gribaldo’s vividly enlightening study of language in domestic violence hearings reveals an unresolved gap between women’s words and the law; between a victim’s speech and the law’s expectations. This is a central issue in current debates on trauma, violence, and testimony, and Gribaldo helps the reader to think on women’s hesitations not just as an …
“This book is an embarrassment of riches both ethnographic and theoretical. The depth and scope of Mimica’s ambition are rare. His inimitable writing style carries the reader forward headlong, at times breathlessly. His choice and treatment of topics–Christianity, shamanism, mind, personhood, and subjectivity—are very much of the moment. The presentation and analysis of Yagwoia men’s dreams demonstrates …
“Based on her encounters with migrants in São Paulo, Toji narrates the singularities and surprises of their livelihoods and life-journeys. Allowing each object to shape her approach to it, she puts emphasis on the fact that each field encounter summons its own methods, ways of thinking, and forms of writing.” — Maria José de Abreu, …
“At a time of bewildering economic transformations, what a gift it is to read The Real Economy. Two brilliant scholars, Jane Guyer and Federico Neiburg, have assembled an international dream team of experts guiding us into new understandings of economic life. Mixing theoretical insight with fascinating ethnographic evidence, the essays take us along a memorable tour of the …
“Blending history and ethnography, this book offers a long-term monographic vision of one of Papua New Guinea’s last communities to enter modernity. Contextualized in this way and coupled with a broad comparative perspective, Mitchell’s presentation of forms of ‘magical’ aggression among the Lujere of the Upper Sepik constitutes a masterly contribution to the anthropology …
“This book is brimming with ideas and original turns. The author sets out to follow the work (hence Mafia-craft) required to answer the impossible question of what the Mafia is. Her intimate account of anti-Mafia activities helps to bring out the Mafia’s everyday realities for Sicilians. Yet Puccio-Den’s ambition also reaches out much further. Revisiting …
