Paper short abstract:

How to resurrect comparative anthropology in a digital age? Drawing from my previous comparative work on 'nerd politics' and digital populism as well as from emerging research on media control in a (seemingly) out-of-control world, I argue for the beauty and utility of simple comparative techniques.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I take up the challenge posed by the panel convenors of how to resurrect comparative anthropology in a digital age. Drawing from my previous comparative work on 'nerd politics' (Postill 2018a) and digital populism (Postill 2018b) as well as from emerging research on media control in a (seemingly) out-of-control world, I argue for the beauty and utility of deceptively simple comparative techniques. To this end I make four interrelated proposals. First, that we adopt a 'flat epistemology' that doesn't privilege primary over secondary research, on-the-ground over remote fieldwork, or digital over non-digital life forms. Second, that we complement, once and for all, multi-sited with multi-timed (diachronic) research, e.g. asking simple 'before-and-after' questions of a transformed social practice or environment. Third, that we compare like with like (e.g. two analogous digital platforms, three populist campaigns) in order to ascertain their similarities and differences. Fourth, that we keep normative biases and ideological agendas (whether rightist or leftist, colonial or decolonial) out of our comparative investigations.