“[F]ascinating. . . . Collectively, the essays, most of which are written by senior scholars with long records of publication in their areas of expertise, insightfully reveal the ways in which anthropological subjects have been discursively produced in the writings of colonial administrators and ethnographers and how those representations have so profoundly effected for identity formation, political mobilization, and nation-state formation during and after colonialism.” — Garth L. Green , Anthropological Quarterly
"[A]n impressive collection of essays by leading scholars in the area of historical anthropology." — Anna Cole , Critique of Anthropology
"In this highly readable and informative collection of essays, Brian Axel has brought together a group of prominent scholars to reexamine the dilemma of 'interdisciplinarity' in the study of history and anthropology to facilitate a 'critical exchange' between two 'sister disciplines.' . . . . [T]his volume represents an important contribution to world history as well as to our understanding of historical anthropology as a critical and analytical field that can transcend or bridge the discrete conventions and disciplinary boundaries." — Theodore Jun Yoo , Journal of World History
“There is a great deal of talk in academia about the promise of interdisciplinary work, but the dialogue between anthropology and history is one of the few cases that already exhibits a substantial payoff. This volume corroborates that dialogue as vital, fruitful, and very much a site of innovation. From the Margins, thankfully, does not represent yet another ‘normal’ discipline.” — Dan Segal, Pitzer College
"From the Margins exemplifies the best of current thinking in anthropology. It cuts through a haze of recent theoretical developments in the discipline and opens the way for new syntheses. With this exemplary piece of intellectual history, Brian Axel and the authors he has assembled also provide the conditions for a renewal in the dialogue between anthropology and other discursive fields." — Achille Mbembe, author of On the Postcolony