Justin Shaffner

King's College
Cambridge CB2 1ST
United Kingdom

Email: jrshaffner@gmail.com

Introduction

I am currently a Visiting Instructor at the University of Mary Washington, and Ph.D. candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. I previously studied anthropology and philosophy at the University of Virginia (B.A. 2003).

I am also co-founder and co-Editor-in-chief of HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory.

Research interests

My research investigates the contemporary political economy of the southern lowlands of New Guinea. I conducted 18 months of fieldwork (Sept 2006 - April 2008) with Boazi and Zimakani speakers living in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. My dissertation focuses on the experiences of community leaders as they attempt to elicit and maintain productive relations across various global alliances, from regional ritual networks to relations with transnational corporations, NGOs and the state.

Teaching

Selected Papers

2012. "Nem plural, nem singular: ontologia, descrição e a Nova Etnografia Melanésia." Seção Temática: Seminário de Raposa. Ilha Revista de Antropologia. Vol 12, No 1 (2010): 103-136.

2011. "Roy Wagner's 'Chess of kinship': An opening gambit" (with Tony Crook). Themed Issue on "The G-Factor of Anthropology: Archaeologies of Kin(g)ship." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1(1): 159-164.

2011. "Capacities Diminished: The Body, Environment, and Ontological Predation in Papua New Guinea." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association (Montreal, 15th-20th of November 2011). Legacies of the Past, Promises of the Future: Capacity Building as a Practice of Contemporary Development, Intervention and Governance. Session organizers: Rachel Douglas-Jones and Justin Shaffner

2011. "Neither Singular Nor Plural: Ontology, Description, and the New Melanesian Ethnography." Paper presented at Seminario: Antropologia de raposa, pensando com Roy Wagner (Florianopolis, Brazil). Session organizer: Jose Antonio Kelly.

2011. "Becoming Sorcerer: Techniques of the Body." Paper presented at the 46th annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society (Richmond, Virginia 24th-27th of March 2011). Beauty. Session organizer: George Mentore.

2010. "Edith Turner: A Lifetime of Encountering the Other" (with Jena Leake). Special Issue on Poietics of Alterity, POIESIS: A Journal of the Arts & Communication, 12: 50-57.

2008. "The First shall be last and the last shall be frst: an obviation of Boazi and Zimakani world history." Paper presented at the conference for the European Society for Oceanists (Verona, 10th-12th of July 2008). Roy Wagner: Symbolic Anthropology and the fate of the New Melanesian Ethnography. Session organizers: Sandra Bamford, Joel Robbins, Justin Shaffner and James Weiner.

Selected Projects

Boazi Archive - A collaborative project to set up and develop a virtual archive comprising audio, film, photographs, and texts concerning Boazi and Zimakani speakers living in the Lake Murray and Middle Fly region of Papua New Guinea.

The Melanesian - Co-founded in May 2008 with Andrew Moutu, the Melanesian is an editorial news site and community of critics committed to a serious engagement with issues affecting peoples living in the Pacific such as the environment, health, politics, rule of law and human rights, and sovereignty.

OAC Press - Co-founded in October 2009 with Keith Hart, the OAC Press is the publishing arm of Open Anthropology Cooperative. We solicit a wide range of writings that in some way seek to advance anthropology by engaging with radical ideas in innovative ways.