Paper short abstract:

Juxtaposing the history of applied anthropology in the UK during the 1980s with recent research into the 'careers' of anthropology PhDs now working outside the discipline, we explore the implications for research 'training', communicating anthropology and disciplinary autonomy.

Paper long abstract:

<b>Co-author: Anne Jepson</b></br>

In this article we explore the changing profile of applied social research in the UK, using the case of social anthropology. With the dramatic growth in PhD production within the social sciences, more anthropologists are working outside their 'home' disciplines and in non-university settings, and the mixture of qualitative research methods adopted in these multidisciplinary situations are changing the public profile of the discipline.

Juxtaposing the history of applied anthropology in the UK during the 1980s with our recent research into the training and 'careers' of anthropology PhDs now working outside the discipline, we argue that these changes mark a whole new stage in the debate about the application of social anthropology. They have profound implications for training social anthropologists, for communicating anthropological ideas, and for understandings of disciplinary autonomy.