[URBANTH-L]2005 Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology

[Angela Jancius]

From: Robert Rotenberg <RROTENBE at depaul.edu>

As chair of the Leeds Prize Committee I am very please to announce that
*Total Confinement* by Lorna Rhodes has been selected for the 2005
Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology. In awarding this prize, the
committee cited the book as follows:

"Combining a close reading of contemporary theory in anthropology and
extraordinary ethnography of a population hidden in plain sight, Rhodes'
sensitive portrait of maximum security confinement in the contemporary
United States goes well beyond Foucault in its exploration of society's
capacity to punish. *Total Confinement* offers a model ethnography of a
complex institution. The work is exceptionally well written, combining
insightful analysis with carefully selected conversations that allow us
to listen in on inmates, guards and wardens.  *Total Confinement*
emerges from seasoned, hard-earned, and long-term engagement. Raising
the bar on institutional ethnography, Rhodes has fresh things to say
about the promise and prospects of reform from within. We learn that
that even in modern-day penal colonies there are agents on the inside
working against gratuitous harm. Lorna Rhodes has not only won the
respect of these agents but repaid it in kind."

Dr. Rhodes will receive her prize at the 2006 SUNTA business meeting in
San Jose. 

The committee cites two additional books as Anthony Leeds Honor Books
for 2006. 

The first is * Jews and Queers: Symptoms of Modernity in Late-Twentieth
Century Vienna.* by Matti Bunzl of the University of
Illinois/Champaign-Urbana (University of California Press). In honoring
this book, the committee notes: 

"In his careful comparative unearthing of the historical journey of two
hidden populations in Vienna, Bunzl shows how stigma can turn to
affirmation within but decades. Bunzl deftly reveals the distinct
political and cultural strategies of the Gay and Jewish communities
after the Holocaust. It is difficult enough to explore the history of
even one closeted group. By detailing the experiences of both groups,
Bunzl analyses the parallel and divergent experiences of the members of
these groups as they move inexorably toward public acceptance. As an
essay on the later day fate of urban modernism, the study makes an
important contribution to urban ethnography." 

The second is *Peruvian Street Lives: Culture Power and Economy among
Market Women in Cuzco (U Illinois Press)* by Linda J. Seligmann of
George Mason University. 

"Drawing on physically and socially challenging fieldwork among a muted
and barely visible group, Seligman has authored a remarkable ethnography
of the female street vendors of Cuzco. This narrative is the culmination
of Seligman's over twenty years of living and traveling these vendors'
uncomfortable and dangerous lives. The monograph stands as a model of
ethnographic analysis of the informal networks underlying the
organization and functioning of the market. Seligman documents
powerfully how it is that these women are stigmatized within their
social world for destabilizing their families and undermining public
order. Combining analysis of gender, the local operation of globalized
economic forces, and complex social organization and informal economies
in urban settings, Peruvian Street Lives offers a model of analytical
finesse and sophistication."

Dr. Bunzl and Dr. Seligman will also receive their prizes at the 2006
SUNTA business meeting in San Jose. 

This year's field of entries was particularly strong. All of the
anthropologists who submitted books for the prize should know that each
was given a carefully reading by the committee. 

The Leeds Prize is awarded each year by the Society for
Urban/National/Transnational/Global Anthropology (formerly known as the
Society for Urban Anthropology) for the outstanding book in urban,
national and/or transnational anthropology. The prize is named in honor
of the late Anthony Leeds, a distinguished pioneer in urban
anthropology. The Prize Committee is chaired by Robert Rotenberg and
includes Kim Hopper (winner of the 2003 Leeds Prize for his book
"Reckoning with Homelessness" (Cornell University Press), Nancy Abelmann
(winner of the 2004 prize for her book "The Melodrama of Mobility:
Women, Talk, and Class in Contemporary South Korea" (University of
Hawaii) and now, Lorna Rhodes, the winner of the 2005 prize.  This
year's deadline for submission is June 30, 2006. No books received after
that date will be considered for the 2006 prize. A letter of nomination
(from an author, a colleague, or a publisher) and *four* copies of the
book should be sent to:

Robert Rotenberg
Leeds Prize Committee
c/o Department of Anthropology
DePaul University
2343 N. Racine Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614-3107

Please be sure that books are clearly marked "Leeds Prize Committee."

To be eligible for consideration a book must be relevant to the field of
urban, national or transnational anthropology. The book must have a
publication year of 2005. Textbooks and anthologies will not be
considered, but books of original scholarship by more than one author
may be submitted.

Authors must to be willing to serve on the prize selection committee for
three years if their book is chosen. Authors must be willing to have
their prize acceptance remarks published in *City and Society*, SUNTA's
journal. Please address all questions concerning the prize to Robert
Rotenberg.