The Routledge Handbook of Applied Anthropology is a 2026 Routledge volume edited by Christina Wasson, Edward B. Liebow, Karine L. Narahara, Hsain Ilahiane, and Alaka Wali. It offers a comprehensive global portrait of applied anthropology, mapping the methods, materials, and problem sets anthropologists bring to business, government, and non-governmental settings.
Matt Artz contributes the chapter AI Anthropology: The Future of Applied Anthropological Practice, which introduces AI Anthropology as an emerging subfield of applied work. His chapter argues for a three-dimensional engagement with artificial intelligence: examining AI as a cultural artifact, leveraging AI-driven computational methods for research, and embedding anthropological insights into AI design. It positions AI Anthropology as a practical framework for maintaining disciplinary relevance amid academic precarity and reshaping how anthropologists engage with emerging technologies.
The Handbook’s 702 pages bring together leading scholars and practitioners from across the globe, with contributions spanning Peru, Morocco, China, Australia, and North America. Topics range from climate disruption and health inequities to cultural loss, forced migration, and technological transformation. The volume centers collaboration, reciprocity, and social impact, and dismantles the outdated divide between “academic” and “applied” work in favor of a decolonial, globally-situated perspective.
Available in print and ebook from Routledge, and in Open Access (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) via Taylor & Francis.