Dr. William L. Alexander, Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology

University of North Carolina Wilmington

I am a cultural anthropologist with a regional specialization in Latin America. I have conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork in rural Chile. My research interests include: economic and environmental anthropology, political ecology, medical anthropology and migration. I am currently studying migrant farmworker health issues in North Carolina.

Office Hours Tues. & Thur. 3:30-4:30, Wed. 10-12, or by appointment in SB 100F (inside the archaeology lab)

CLASSES I teach the cultural & linguistic anthropology core courses, our senior capstone class on history and theory, and other classes in my research areas.

ANT 206 Cultural Anthropology                       ANT 208   Language and Culture (FALL 2013)
ANT 309 Environmental Anthropology          ANT 317 Social Issues in Latin America
ANT 327 Globalization and Culture Change   ANT 329   Environmental Justice Ethnography (FALL 2013)
ANT 330   The Immigrant Experience              ANT 346 Medical Anthropology
ANT 450 History of Anthropological Theory

BOOKS I have published two books on Chile: my ethnography of an agricultural community in the semi-arid north and an edited volume of research on the social and environmental consequences of neoliberal economic policies. I am co-editor of a book on neoliberalism and commodity production in Mexico.

Lost in the Long Transition: Struggles for Social Justice in Neoliberal Chile (editor) (Lexington Books, 2009)
    Chapter 1 "Introduction: Enduring Contradictions of the Neoliberal State in Chile"
    Chapter 7 "Cultural History Written in the Margins: Political Ecology of Copper and Community in the Little        North"

Resiliency in Hostile Environments: A Comunidad Agrícola in Chile's Norte Chico (Lehigh University Press, 2008)



Neoliberalism and Commodity Production in Mexico , co-edited with Thomas Weaver, James B. Greenberg, and Anne Browning-Aiken (University Press of Colorado, 2012) co-author with Rebecca H. Carter Chapter 4 "Tracing the Trail of the Table Grapes: The Effects of Neoliberal Policies in Sonora, Mexico"

JOURNAL ARTICLES

"Cowboys and Indians and Comuneros: Policy-Positioned Ascriptions of Ethnicity, Identity, and History in Chile" Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation, and Culture 12(2): 139-165 (2006)

"Clandestine Artisans or Integrated Producers?: Standardization of Rural Livelihood in Chile's Norte Chico" Culture & Agriculturere 26(1-2): 38-51 (2004)

"Organization and Advocacy in Rural Chile: Peasant-Worker Consciousness in the Transition to Democracy" Anthropology of Work Review 23(3-4): 25-30 (2002)

BOOK REVIEWS

Review of Intimate Migrations: Gender, Family, and Illegality Among Transnational Mexicans by Deborah A. Boehm, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (forthcoming)

Review of Linkages of Sustainability edited by Thomas E. Graedel and Ester van der Voet, Human Ecology 40(1):161-163 (2012)

Review of Capitalizing on Catastrophe: Neoliberal Strategies in Disaster Reconstruction edited by Nandini Gunewardena and Mark Schuller, Human Ecology 38(2): 313-316 (2010)

Review of Stories of Globalization: Transnational Corporations, Resistance, and the State by Alessandro Bonanno and Douglas H. Constance, Culture & Agriculture 32(2): 103-104 (2009)

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Co-organizer & Co-chair: "Migrant Risks, Vulnerabilities, and Coping Strategies: Perspectives from Critically Applied Medical Anthropology and Political Ecology" session at the SfAA annual meeting, Denver, March 21, 2013 (Paper: "Impacts of Immigration Law and Detention Policies on Medical Care for Farmworkers")

Paper: "Medical Risk in a Privatized Immigration Detention System: Questions of Abuse and Accountability" co-author Thomas Weaver, Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) annual meeting, Baltimore, March 31, 2012 (Session Chair: "Immigration Risks and Roles")

Paper: "After 'Shock': Disaster Capitalism Discourse and Counter-Discourse Following the 2010 Earthquakes in Chile and Haiti" American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Montreal, Nov. 20, 2011 (Session Chair: "Local Voices and Enduring Legacies Within Chile's Neoliberal State")

Paper: "A Bi-national Study of TB among Migrant Workers in Arizona and Sonora" Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting, Seattle, March 30, 2011 (Session: "TB among Migrants in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands")

Paper: "A Bi-National Assessment of the Disease Burden of Tuberculosis in Migrant Communities in Arizona and Sonora" American Anthropological Association annual meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 21, 2010 (Session: "Methods and Motives for Collaborative Research: Reflections from the Field")

Paper: "From Taking Credit to Owning Up: Considering the Crisis in Chile" AAA annual meeting, Philadelphia, Dec. 2, 2009 (Session: "Engaging the State: Ethnographic Perspectives from Latin America")

Paper: "Environmental Justice Ethnography in the Classroom" Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting, Santa Fe NM, March 21, 2009 (Session: "Environmental Justice and Community Responses")

Discussant: "Local Identity, Neoliberalism, and the Regulation of Natural Resources in Chile" session, AAA annual meeting, San Francisco CA, November 21, 2008

Paper: "Immigration Trends and Issues in North Carolina" Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting, < Memphis TN, March 27, 2008 (Session: "The Face of Neoliberalism in America")

Paper: "Reflections on Ethnographic Fieldwork and Ecological Resilience" AAA annual meeting, Washington DC, Dec. 1, 2007 (Chair: "Comparative Case Studies in Ecological Consciousness, Class Inequality, and Reflections on Resilience" session)

Paper: "Revolution, Repression, and Remembrance in Chile: The Films of Patricio Guzman and What They Offer Cultural Anthropology", AAA annual meeting, San Jose CA, Nov. 17, 2006 (Session: "Information Wars: Propaganda, Conflict, and Hegemonic Struggle")

Co-organizer & Co-chair: "Origins and Expressions of Neoliberalism in Latin America: A Comparative Approach" session at the SfAA annual meeting, Vancouver BC, March 29, 2006 (Paper: " 'Lost In Transition' In Chile: Matters of Growth With(out) Equity from Pinochet to 'The Third Way' ")

Organizer & Chair: "Neoliberalism in Place, Identities in Places: Political Economy of Space and Culture in Chile" session at the AAA annual meeting, Washington DC, Dec. 4, 2005 (Paper: "Cultural History 'Written in the Margins': Spatialized Identity in Development Discourse")

Organizer & Chair: "Chile in Transition: Social Change, Critical Questions" session at the SfAA annual meeting, Santa Fe NM, April 9, 2005 (Paper: "The Diligence of 'La Guerra Bruta ' and the Persistence of Memory: Continuity of the State and Discontinuities of Development in Rural Chile")

Curriculum Vitae

Contact me at:
(910) 962-2227
alexanderw@uncw.edu

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