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ANDREW SANCHEZ
Anthropologist
ABOUT
Andrew Sanchez is Associate Professor in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He is a specialist on the anthropology of class, labour and corruption. He also writes about race and decolonisation.
Andrew has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in urban India among industrial workers, trade unionists and entrepreneurs. He is the co-founder of the Cambridge-Max Planck Exchange for Economic Life (CaMP), and was formerly the editor of The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology, the Economics editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology, and a member of the University Council, the principal executive and policy-making body of the University of Cambridge. He currently sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Anthropology of Work Review, Ethnos Brasil, and the Cambridge Journal of Anthropology.
Andrew´s first book ‘Criminal Capital: Violence, Corruption and Class in Industrial India’ was published by Routledge in 2016. Andrew is currently writing an ethnographic study of the Indian scrap metal industry, which addresses key conceptual debates in the anthropology of value and exchange. He is also preparing a major new collection about ‘Mixed Race Thought’.
Andrew earned his doctorate in anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2009. Prior to joining the University of Cambridge as Lecturer in Social Anthropology in 2016, he taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2009 to 2012, was Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology from 2012 to 2014, and Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Kent from 2014 to 2016.
Image Credit: Robert Pepperell, XXVII, 2006, Oil on panel, 29 x 20 cm.
TEACHING AND SUPERVISION
Teaching
Andrew teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the anthropology of economy; anthropology of politics; anthropology of crime and corruption; anthropology of cities; anthropology of violence; anthropology of south asia; ethnographic methods.
Supervision
Andrew supervises doctoral students working on a range of projects related to questions of economy and capitalism, work and labour, criminality, and urban anthropology.
Prospective doctoral students should send him a research proposal of 1-2 sides of text that addresses three things:
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Why are your interests best served through an investigation of the fieldsite(s) you have chosen? Explain why a study of it is timely and important, and say what the research itself will look like.
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How will your project build upon recent or major work in anthropology that you are interested in? Look to the relevant literature and ask what is lacking in it. Then consider how you would address these gaps through your project.
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Convey what you hope is the broader anthropological significance of your project, and what it will teach the discipline.
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
2016. CRIMINAL CAPITAL: VIOLENCE, CORRUPTION AND CLASS IN INDUSTRIAL INDIA, ROUTLEDGE
ARTICLES
2025 (FORTHCOMING) 'A MIXED-RACE IMAGINATION' CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
2023. ‘KILL YOUR ANCESTORS: THE WARS OF DECOLONIZATION’ AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST 50(3): 439-445
2020. ‘TRANSFORMATION AND THE SATISFACTION OF WORK’ SOCIAL ANALYSIS 64 (3): 68-94
2019. 'UNDERSTANDING LABOUR POLITICS IN AN AGE OF PRECARITY' (WITH SIAN LAZAR) DIALECTICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 43(1): 3-14
2019. 'EVERYDAY BARRICADES: BUREAUCRACY AND THE AFFECT OF STRUGGLE IN TRADE UNIONS' (WITH EEVA KESKÜLA) DIALECTICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 43(1): 109-125
2018.‘CANON FIRE: DECOLONIZING THE CURRICULUM’ THE CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY36 (2): 1-6
2017. ‘THE NOVELTY OF THE GIFT: A BRITISH ANTHROPOLOGIST & THE TRENDS OF ETHNOGRAPHY’ HISTORY AND ANTHROPOLOGY 28 (5): 553-559
2016. ‘PROFANE RELATIONS: THE IRONY OF OFFENSIVE JOKES IN INDIA’ HISTORY AND ANTHROPOLOGY 27 (3): 296-312
2014. ‘ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON INDIA’S WORKING CLASSES’ (WITH CHRISTIAN STRÜMPELL) MODERN ASIAN STUDIES 48(5): 1233-1241
2014. ‘SONS OF SOIL, SONS OF STEEL: AUTOCHTHONY DESCENT AND THE CLASS CONCEPT IN INDUSTRIAL INDIA’ (WITH CHRISTIAN STRÜMPELL) MODERN ASIAN STUDIES 48(5): 1276-1301
2012. ‘DEADWOOD AND PATERNALISM: RATIONALISING CASUAL LABOUR IN AN INDIAN COMPANY TOWN’ JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE18 (4): 808-827
2012. ‘QUESTIONING SUCCESS: DISPOSSESSION AND THE CRIMINAL ENTREPRENEUR IN URBAN INDIA’ CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY 32 (4): 435-457
2010. ‘CAPITALISM, VIOLENCE AND THE STATE: CRIME, CORRUPTION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AN INDIAN COMPANY TOWN’ JOURNAL OF LEGAL ANTHROPOLOGY,1 (2):165-188
EDITED WORKS
2025 (FORTHCOMING) 'MIXED-RACE THOUGHT' CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
2019 . ’LABOUR POLITICS IN AN AGE OF PRECARITY’ (CO-EDITED WITH SIAN LAZAR) DIALECTICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 43(1)
2019. INDETERMINACY: WASTE, VALUE AND THE IMAGINATION. BERGHAHN. (CO-EDITED WITH CATHERINE ALEXANDER)
2018. ‘CANON FIRE: DECOLONIZING THE CURRICULUM’ THE CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY 36(2)
2017. ‘THE INDIAN GIFT: A CRITICAL DEBATE’. HISTORY AND ANTHROPOLOGY 28 (5): 553-583
2014. ‘CLASS MATTERS: NEW ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE POLITICS OF INDIAN LABOUR’ (CO-EDITED WITH CHRISTIAN STRÜMPELL) MODERN ASIAN STUDIES 48(5)
CHAPTERS IN EDITED COLLECTIONS
2024. 'THE ALCHEMY OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY.' CIRCULAR ECONOMIES IN AN UNEQUAL WORLD: WASTE, RENEWAL AND THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CIRCULARITY. O’HARE, P AND RAMS, D. (EDS). BLOOMSBURY. PP. 215-224
2022. 'TECHNOLOGIES OF TRANSFORMATION.' ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF LABOR. GILL, L AND KASMIR, S (EDS). ROUTLEDGE. PP.361-371
2022. 'MAUSS AND THE GIFT.' A HANDBOOK OF ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY (3RD EDITION). CARRIER, JG. (ED). EDWARD ELGAR. PP. 35-44
2021. ‘THE COLOUR OF ANTHROPOLOGY’. READING AGAINST RACISM: A BERGHAHN COLLECTION
2019. ‘SYSTEMIC CRIMINALITY, WORK AND THE POLITICS OF LABOUR’. THE HANDBOOK OF ORGANISED CRIME AND POLITICS. GILMOUR, S & ALLUM, F. (EDS). EDWARD ELGAR PP.374-388
2019. ‘THE VALUES OF INDETERMINACY’ (WITH CATHERINE ALEXANDER) INDETERMINACY: WASTE, VALUE AND THE IMAGINATION. ALEXANDER, C & SANCHEZ, A (EDS.) BERGHAHN. PP. 1-30
2018. ‘THE FALL AND RISE OF CLASS’. THE HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. WYDRA, H & THOMASSEN, B. (EDS.) EDWARD ELGAR. PP. 410-422
2018. ‘DIVISION OF LABOUR’ INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANTHROPOLOGY. HILARY CALLAN (ED.) WILEY-BLACKWELL
2018. ‘PIECE RATES’ INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANTHROPOLOGY. HILARY CALLAN (ED.) WILEY-BLACKWELL
2018. ‘RELATIVE PRECARITY: DECLINE, HOPE AND THE POLITICS OF WORK’ INDUSTRIAL LABOR ON THE MARGINS OF CAPITALISM: PRECARITY, CLASS AND THE NEOLIBERAL SUBJECT. HANN, C & PARRY, JP. (EDS) BERGHAHN PP. 218-240
2017. ‘COERCION AND CORPORATE POWER: NOTES ON CLASS STRUGGLE IN AN INDIAN CITY’. THE CORPORATION: A CRITICAL, MULTIDISCIPLINARY HANDBOOK. GRIETJE BAARS & ANDRE SPICER (EDS.) CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. PP. 470-478
2015. ‘CRIMINAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CORRUPTION AND ORGANISED CRIME IN INDIA’ ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION. PAUL HEYWOOD (ED.) ROUTLEDGE PP. 67-76
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
2025 (FORTHCOMING) 'COMMENT: McNAMARA, T. ‘MULTI-UNIONISM, UNION BUREAUCRACY AND UNTRUTH IN COLLECTIVE ETHICAL SELF-MAKING’' CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY
2025 (FORTHCOMING) 'COMMENT: ALVI, A. & WERTH, L. ‘GENEROSITY AS ETHICS: THE DOUBLE TRANSACTION IN MARCEL MAUSS'S THE GIFT’' CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY
2024. 'WHY DO WE NEED THE GENS MANIFESTO?' BOASBLOG APRIL 16TH 2024
2023. 'DECOLONIZATION: WHAT’S THE POINT?' CUSAS MAGAZINE LENT 2023
2022. 'WORK IS COMPLICATED: THOUGHTS ON DAVID GRAEBER’S ‘BULLSHIT JOBS’'. FOCAALBLOG MARCH 4TH 2022
2016. ‘CORRUPTION IS BOTH A SYMPTOM OF THE BASIC STRUCTURES OF CAPITALISM, AND A TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORTS THEM’. LSE SOUTH ASIA. MAY 12 2016
2015. ‘FT COULD BE MORE CRITICAL OF A COMPANY TOWN’ FINANCIAL TIMES. NOVEMBER 12 2015
2012. ‘CORRUPTION IN INDIA’. INDIA: THE NEXT SUPERPOWER? LSE IDEAS SR010 MARCH 2012: 50-53
2011. ‘CRIMINAL CAPITAL’ LSE CONNECT, WINTER 2011:12-13
2011. ‘TAKING STOCK: LOOTING AND THE LEFT IN THE LONDON RIOTS’ CITY ANALYSIS
BOOK REVIEWS
2023. ‘CLASSES OF LABOUR: WORK AND LIFE IN A CENTRAL INDIAN STEEL TOWN’
BY JONATHAN PARRY. DIALECTICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 47 135-138
2022. ‘I AM THE PEOPLE: REFLECTIONS ON POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY TODAY’ BY PARTHA CHATTERJEE. ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY 95 (1) PP. 233-236
2021. ‘MAKING CARS IN THE NEW INDIA: INDUSTRY, PRECARITY AND INFORMALITY’ BY TOM BARNES. JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN DEVELOPMENT 16 (2):313-315
2017. ‘GANGSTER STATES: ORGANIZED CRIME, KLEPTOCRACY AND POLITICAL COLLAPSE’ BY KATHERINE HIRSCHFELD. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 119 (1):162–163
2016. `DREAM ZONES. ANTICIPATING CAPITALISM AND DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA´ BY JAMIE CROSS. SOUTH ASIA 39 (4): 908-909
2014. `ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE CITY:METHODOLOGY AND THEORY´ BY ITALO PARDO AND GIULIANA B. PRATO (EDS). JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE 20 (2): 379-380
2009. 'ANTHROPOLOGY, POLITICS AND THE STATE: DEMOCRACY AND VIOLENCE IN SOUTH ASIA' BY JONATHAN SPENCER. NATIONS AND NATIONALISM 15 (3): 555-556
CONTACT
Dr Andrew Sanchez
Associate Professor in Social Anthropology
Department of Social Anthropology
University of Cambridge
Free School Lane
Cambridge CB2 3RF
United Kingdom
