HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory

According to the journal's first foreword or manifesto, "The Return of Ethnographic Theory", written by Giovanni da Col together with David Graeber, ethnographic theory entails "the destruction of any firm sense of place that can only be resolved by the imaginative formulation of novel worldviews".[8] The mission of the journal was motivated by the need to reinstate ethnographic theorization in contemporary anthropology as a potent alternative to paradigms derived from largely European philosophical arguments, which had resulted in a loss of the discipline's distinctive theoretical nerve.[9]

The journal was founded with a commitment to open dissemination of anthropology "...HAU is committed to becoming an Open Access alternative to commercial publishing in anthropology by taking advantage of the lower costs of production that internet distribution allows".[10] The open access publishing model, called HAU-NET, relied on income from key supporters to meet publication costs—mainly anthropology departments and libraries, totalling about 40 by 2017.[11] It was reported in 2017 that this had not gone well in several respects with some core funding diminishing. The shift to a large university non-profit publisher and a sustainable hybrid model which could offer both free access after each issue release and gold open access to each issue's key articles was the outcome of the HAU Advisory Board deliberations.[11] In a turnaround, commitment to OA publishing then took second place to the intellectual project: "Even if the current funding could allow open access to the journal and the book series for another one or two years, the difficulties of ensuring long-term sustainability encountered by other open journals and projects ... do not offer much hope at this historical conjuncture."[11]

In 2018 a collective of New Zealand and Māori scholars published a statement criticizing the journal's choice of name, since hau is a Māori religious concept.[12] Arguing that this Maori concept has become anthropologist's common parlance and the journal had stated the original inspiration came from Marcel Mauss's usage of the term, the board of trustees responded with a statement apologizing for not running it by the Mahi Tahi collective for a consultation. They also clarified that a Māori scholar, Paul Tapsell, was invited to join the journal's first editorial board and endorsed the project.[13]

In 2018, allegations of workplace abuse were raised by David Graeber and in two anonymous open letters written by former HAU staff members.[14][15] Known by the hashtag #hautalk[16] the discussion spread to the wider anthropology community,[14] and was compared to the #MeToo movement.[15] HAU critics felt that the incident reflected systemic power imbalances within anthropology as an academic discipline.[16]^: 9 Da Col resigned as HAU editor-in-chief in 2019 and stayed on as an editor of HAU Books until 2020.

• Original website
• University of Chicago Press journal website