Reddit reviews Direct Action: An Ethnography

/u/nagCopaleen does a great job answering this but I thought I would add some additional insight. I have a personal theory that science-oriented anthropologists feel threatened when some of their colleagues begin to present work in more humanities or arts-based delivery systems. I feel that Taussig falls in this latter category. I personally love the guy but I can also see how anthropologists who are far more scientific in how they publish would be soured by how he presents his research.

Personally, I have run into some Old Guard anthropologists who feel that Visual Anthropology is "nonsense" and that without published ethnographic tomes, you are not a true anthropologist. This isn't to say that I'm against writing (because I'm not); I just don't think that it is the only way to present anthropological research. Much like Taussig's writing style, film and photography seem to hold non-academics attention a lot more than traditional ethnography. As was already said, I think that ethnography is sometimes pursued as a strictly scientific endeavor which is a sentiment I whole-heartedly disagree with.

In terms of gonzo anthropology (a term I love since I am also a big fan of HST), you should check out this article: Towards Gonzo Anthropology: Ethnography as Cultural Performance. I think you'll dig it.

I'm not sure if you've heard of David Graeber but you should definitely check out his work. He takes a very gonzo approach to his research. Forgive me if you are already familiar with him but you should check out Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and Direct Action: An Ethnography. Those two publications really influenced me as an undergraduate.

http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Action-Ethnography-David-Graeber/dp/1904859798/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323468158&sr=8-1