Orin Starn

Orin Starn is a prominent American anthropologist known for his work on Latin America, particularly in Peru and Chile. He has conducted extensive research on indigenous peoples, social movements, and human rights issues, often in collaboration with scholars like June Nash and Gerald Sider. Starn's academic background is rooted in institutions such as Harvard University and University of Michigan, where he studied under renowned anthropologists like Clifford Geertz and Sherry Ortner. His work is also influenced by the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault.

● Early Life and Education

Orin Starn was born to a family of intellectuals and activists, with his parents being involved in the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960s. He grew up in an environment that valued social justice and cultural diversity, which later shaped his academic interests in anthropology and sociology. Starn pursued his undergraduate degree at University of California, Berkeley, where he was exposed to the works of C. Wright Mills and Herbert Marcuse. He then moved to Harvard University for his graduate studies, working under the supervision of David Maybury-Lewis and Nancy Scheper-Hughes.

● Career

Starn's academic career spans over three decades, with appointments at Duke University, New York University, and University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has taught a range of courses on anthropological theory, ethnography, and cultural studies, often incorporating the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim into his curriculum. Starn has also been involved in various research projects, collaborating with scholars from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Australian National University. His research has been supported by grants from organizations like the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Social Science Research Council.

● Research and Publications

Starn's research focuses on the intersection of politics, culture, and history in Latin America. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in journals like American Anthropologist, Current Anthropology, and Journal of Latin American Anthropology. His book, Nightwatch: The Politics of Protest in the Andes, explores the social movements and protest politics in Peru and Bolivia. Starn has also edited volumes like Between Resistance and Revolution: Cultural Politics and Social Protest and The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics, which feature contributions from scholars like Steve Stern and Brooke Larson. His work is often compared to that of Eric Wolf, Sidney Mintz, and Michael Taussig.

● Awards and Honors

Starn has received several awards for his research and teaching, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Scholarship, and National Endowment for the Humanities grant. He has been recognized for his contributions to the field of anthropology by organizations like the American Anthropological Association and Latin American Studies Association. Starn has also been awarded the Duke University Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

● Public Engagement and Controversies

Starn has been an active public intellectual, engaging in debates on social justice, human rights, and cultural politics. He has written op-eds for newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian, and has appeared on radio shows like NPR and BBC. Starn's work has been criticized by some for its perceived left-wing bias and its challenges to dominant neoliberal ideologies. However, his research has also been praised for its nuance and depth, and for its ability to problematize complex issues like globalization and imperialism. Starn's public engagement is often compared to that of Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Arundhati Roy. Category:American anthropologists