HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory

According to Giovanni da Col and 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] Ethnographic theory differs from theoretical approaches where situations are bracketed out, described in vague or misleading terms, and occasional or ritual statements are erected to “cosmologies” and couched in the idiom of reported belief, and we are never told who said what, when, and in which context a certain statement is generative of a wider cultural insight.[9] HAU has attempted to return to what it considered to be anthropology’s strongest intellectual suit: its ability to take up the fruits of ethnography and value this participant observation in other people’s lives to enrich the sense of what being human means. It wanted to ask again the big questions that once animated that manifold branch of knowledge called anthropology.

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 June 2018, the former and founding Editor-at-large, David Graeber posted an apology expressing regret at not having previously publicly denounced a work environment considered to be abusive by a group of staff and volunteers.[12] Immediately thereafter, two anonymous letters by possibly up to 11 former voluntary interns and staff were released containing allegations against then Editor-in-Chief, Giovanni da Col, of habitual acts of bullying, financial mismanagement, assault and sexual harassment.[13] Shortly thereafter a report was leaked from the former HAU Executive Council describing an earlier "close investigation of recent complaints against HAU and its editor", that had considered the now publicly aired complaints. The report concluded that there was no evidence of bullying, sexual harassment, nor of financial misconduct.

Carole McGranahan, the Chair of the executive council then oversaw the correspondence of the Editor-in-Chief for six months, and judged the problem of any potentially abusive communication to have been solved. The former Executive Council concluded their investigations, and said the allegations of bullying had shown "the disturbing extent to which these complaints are shaped by negative gossip, hearsay, and personal animosities." The report added that the Executive Council of the journal had considered taking legal action against the allegations which they considered defamatory, but chose not to pursue the case.[14][15]

On Twitter #hautalk quickly gained a following. A number of members of the editorial board resigned their posts. On June 29, 2018, the Board of Trustees of the Society for Ethnographic Theory (which had replaced the External Advisory Board) published a statement announcing that to restore public confidence in the journal the editor was suspended, the terms of his resignation were being negotiated.[16] Further there were external calls for a new investigation to be launched into the allegations of financial and personal misconduct. The Chair of the Executive Council who investigated the case in December 2017 and January 2018 reported that "there appears to have been a concerted effort from individuals outside of this Board, but associated (currently or formerly) with HAU’s editorial team" to demand the editor's "resignation under threat of public scandal" and that HAU had hired a new treasurer in late 2017 who found "no evidence of any financial improprieties. Other allegations are either new to me or are ones for which I have yet to learn of any evidence or have already received counter-evidence, and thus appear to be based in rumor, exaggeration, and possible fabrication."[17]

The collective critique of HAU generated on #hautalk precipitated a wider-spread discussion and the acknowledgement across the discipline of the precarity of junior scholars who work in volunteer positions, as did those on staff at HAU. Well-attended roundtable discussions held at professional meetings (AAA 18 November 2018, San Jose; 14 August EASA, Stockholm[18]) considered the claims by HAU staff to be important as examples of an 'industry-wide' problem. The controversy sparked statements of concern over labor practices in the discipline of anthropology, and practices of open access by several groups of scholars,.[19][20][21][22] A public statement called for the suspension of HAU's EiC and an external inquiry into the allegations, the publication of the new constitution and details of governance of both HAU and Society for Ethnographic Theory (SET) to allow for wider membership, as well as the full reconsideration of the limits of the newest version of the Open Access policy. The statement was signed by more than 600 scholars, including a large number of doctoral candidates.[23]

In a statement dated 25 October 2018, the Interim Board of Trustees unsuspended the Editor-in-Chief and responded to the allegations by stating that "a) HAU never had a physical office, members of the editorial staff were scattered across the globe, and almost all interactions were (and are) virtual. Hence, former staff were asked by email to submit complaints and documentation of misconduct. The EAB found no evidence of financial wrongdoing or sexual harassment. Those who had been hired on an honorarium basis were financially compensated. What remained were complaints about the quality of the EiC’s interactions with staff, which have subsequently been addressed". The Board added that, following the allegations, the former Chair of the Board of Trustees, Carlo Severi, sent emails to all current employees of HAU and asked if they had any concerns with regard to work environment issues. No employee came forward with any complaint.[24]

On November 14, the Board of Directors announced a number of important changes to the organisation, including the introduction of a radical separation of the editorial from the executive domain; the elimination of the position of the Editor-in-Chief and the introduction of editorial collectives, the appointment of an Ombudsman, the introduction of a whistleblower policy and the elimination of any volunteer unpaid work.[25] The statement also aimed to clarify a number of falsities circulating on social media by disclosing the articles of the original constitution of the old HAU unincorporated association, approved by the External Advisory Board. According to the Constitution, the External Advisory Board had the power to remove and sanction any editor or to refuse the renewal of the Editor-in-Chief's mandate every three years. The statement added that the Editor-in-Chief was resigning both as editor and director of the company and offered to remain a member of the editorial collective for a transitional period.[25]

By late 2018 two different boards, claimed to have reviewed all the gathered evidence and testimony and decided to exonerate da Col. On 14 December 2018 the Board of Directors issued a final statement clarifying that da Col was fully reinstated as Editor-in-Chief on November 11.[26] Da Col has resigned from his position in March 2019 and his final editorial was published in Issue 1/2019.[27]

A Māori scholar and other scholars of Māori culture were original members of the HAU editorial board and another Māori scholar is a current member of The Society for Ethnographic Theory (Manuka Henare). 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.[32] 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.[33]

• Original website
• The University of Chicago Press - journal website