Conversations with Tim Ingold

Conversations with Tim Ingold offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the work of Tim Ingold, one of the leading anthropologists of our time. Presented as a series of interviews conducted by three anthropologists from the University of Glasgow over a period of two years, the book explores Ingold’s key contributions to anthropology and other disciplines. In his responses, Ingold describes the significant influences shaping his life and career, and addresses some of the criticisms that have been made of his ideas.

Following an introductory chapter, the book consists of five edited and annotated interviews, each focusing on a specific theme: ‘Life and Career,’ ‘Anthropology, Ethnography, Education and the University,’ ‘Environment, Perception and Skill,’ ‘Animals, Lines and Imagination,’ and ‘Looking Back and Forward.’ Each chapter ends with a ‘Further Reading’ section, referencing Ingold’s work and that of other scholars, to assist readers who want to follow up particular issues and debates. It concludes with an ‘Afterword’ authored by Ingold himself.

“This book has given me the rare opportunity to not only share my own vulnerabilities and insecurities but also to reflect on the process of how my ideas have evolved. For the curious and empathetic reader, I hope it provides valuable insights into the highs and lows of my journey through anthropology.” Tim Ingold

Reviews of Conversations with Tim Ingold

"Ingold is a prolific writer and an influential iconoclast, and one does not need to be familiar with his work to gain a strong sense from these conversations about some of the key intellectual debates in the field of anthropology over the past four or five decades. These conversations are rich in Ingold's intellectual development journey."
– Ed Liebow, Affiliate Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington, and retired Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association

"'In this timely book, the editors engage with Ingold through a series of conversations which tease out some of the key ideas that have emerged from his attempts to loosen the straitjacket imposed by received analytic distinctions. We encounter his trademark irreverence, his refreshing willingness to be publicly self-critical, and a determination to be forever moving on to something new. Here is a personal voyage of intellectual discovery."
– Roy Ellen FBA, Past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute