If Truth Be Told

"Didier Fassin, known for his elegant writings on the possibilities of a contemporary 'public anthropology,' has brought together a collection of fascinating, diverse, and well-written accounts of anthropologists whose research either unexpectedly reached the public's gaze or had ambitions for making a public impact. This volume dramatically and effectively exposes the critical edges and binds of the uses of ethnography in a variety of public circumstances. In so doing it makes a major advance." - George E. Marcus, coauthor of Designs for an Anthropology of the Contemporary

"This excellent and important collection sensitizes its readers to the highly varied contexts of the practice of public ethnography, taking a step toward making it more fully integrated into comparative anthropology. The essays go beyond the mere approval of public ethnography as a matter of principle while showing that its concrete practice can be a difficult and sometimes frustrating one." - Ulf Hannerz, author of Anthropology's World: Life in a Twenty-First-Century Discipline

"[A] must-read for every student of anthropology, policy maker and administrator trying to understand the complexities of the social world we inhabit."  - Sarbani Sharma, Anthropology Book Forum

"A stimulating collection of articles that illustrates, examines, and generates important questions about the project of public ethnography, and about public social science more generally. It deserves to be widely read." - Martyn Hammersley, Canadian Journal of Sociology

"Recommended to all students and scholars who conduct ethnographic research—the questions related to the utilization of ethnographic knowledge and researchers’ responsibilities to wider society and to the people they study and work with concern all." - Pilvi Hämeenaho, Sosiologia

“Fassin’s collection shows that anthropology and ethnography matters. Public responses may at time be frustrating, painful, gratifying or inspiring; however, the fact that people respond to ethnography demonstrates that anthropology need not be marginal as a discipline and that studying public responses to ethnography is a worthwhile endeavor.” - Karen Mogendorff, Journal of Science Communication

"If Truth Be Told offers thoughtful, reflexive accounts of the public afterlife of ethnography that will surely spark a range of productive exchanges among scholars invested in the public reach of social science research." - Colin Hastings, Leigha Comer, & Eric Mykhalovskiy, Forum: Qualitative Social Research

"In presenting some of the possibilities and challenges that 'going public' entails, this volume is essential reading for researchers embarking on public ethnography, and for departments and funders who encourage engagement beyond academia. If Truth Be Told is equally important for those who do not see their work as being particularly public-facing; any published work can take on a public afterlife beyond the author’s intentions." - Laura Haapio-Kirk, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

"In this important new collection,Didier Fassin and his colleagues stake a powerful and innovative claim on the diverse landscape of anthropology’s history of public engagement." - Alyshia Galvez, American Ethnologist

"[This] book is a wonderful contribution that further helps to reflect upon the role of ethnography, and the constant challenges it must face when trying to go beyond academia and engage with wider audiences." - Sebastian Rojas Navarro, Sociological Research Online