Focus and Scope

HAU, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, is an international peer-reviewed, open-access online journal which aims to situate ethnography as the prime heuristic of anthropology, and return it to the forefront of conceptual developments in the discipline.

The journal is motivated by the need to reinstate ethnographic theorization in contemporary anthropology as a potent alternative to its 'explanation' or 'contextualization' by philosophical arguments, moves which have resulted in a loss of the discipline's distinctive theoretical nerve. By drawing out its potential to critically engage and challenge Western cosmological assumptions and conceptual determinations, HAU aims to provide an exciting new arena for evaluating ethnography as a daring enterprise for 'worlding' alien terms and forms of life, by exploiting their potential for rethinking humanity and alterity.

HAU takes its name from Mauss' Spirit of the Gift, an anthropological concept that derives its theoretical potential precisely from the translational inadequations and equivocations involved in comparing the incomparable. Through their reversibility, such inferential misunderstandings invite us to explore how encounters with alterity occasion the resurgence and revisitation of indigenous knowledge practices. As an online journal, HAU stresses immediacy of publication, allowing for the timely publication and distribution of untimely ideas. Aiming to attract the most daring thinkers in the discipline, regardless of position or background, HAU also places no restriction on further publication of material published by the journal.

HAU welcomes submissions that strengthen ethnographic engagement with received knowledges, and revive the vibrant themes of anthropology through debate and engagement with other disciplines and explore domains held until recently to be the province of economics, philosophy and the natural sciences. Topics addressed by the journal include indigenous ontologies and systems of knowledge, forms of human engagement and relationality, cosmology and myth, magic, witchcraft and sorcery, truth and falsehood, indigenous theories of kinship and relatedness with humans and non-humans, hierarchy, materiality, perception, environment and space, time and temporality, personhood and subjectivity, alternative metaphysics of morality.

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Unedited Scholarship

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Forum

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Translations

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Reprints

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Colloquia

Editors

• Sean Dowdy

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Book Symposia

Editors

• Hau Admin
• Sean Dowdy
• Stéphane Gros

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Submissions are first evaluated by the editors. If felt to be suitable for publication, manuscripts will move into the double-blind review process. Following the advice of reviewers, the editors will decide whether the piece is appropriate to be a) published with minor or no changes; b) needs to be revised and resubmitted; or c) is to be rejected. The editors shall liaise with reviewers and authors to guarantee a swift review and publication.

The journal aims to publish online suitable manuscripts within six months from their receipt. A cover letter should include the title of the paper, abstract, keywords and all useful contact information—address, phone numbers, email address, etc. Any identifying references to the author(s) should have been removed prior to submission. The initial mode of contact should be via our online submission process.

Publication Frequency

Biannually (with supplementary issues)

Open Access Policy

The journal’s goal is to foster leading research in social and cultural anthropology by maximizing the free exchange of scholarly knowledge. HAU provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. HAU is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. The full license is available here. It broadly states that the copyright for the pieces published in HAU remain with the author, while first publication rights belong to the journal. The contents of the journal are free for any and all to use or republish as long as their source is properly attributed. Please feel free to contact the editors for further information.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...