Do we really need yet another handbook?

Reflections on the choices we make in academic publishing

Roundtable with:
Maja Hojer Bruun, Ayo Wahlberg, Dorthe Brogård Kristensen, Brit Ross Winthereik, and Rachel Douglas-Jones

interviewed by Anja MB Jensen and Klaus Høyer

Priorities in academic publishing is often subject to doubts: What should we prioritize? Who are we writing for? What does ‘accessible’ mean and who should it be ‘accessible’ for? How do we balance
the time we spend on reaching different audiences? And can writing serve other purposes than being read – such as community building?

Using the experience of editing a handbook with 39 chapters, The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology, we will interview the editors about the doubts they had, how the book compared to other publishing projects, what they see as a good publishing strategy, and then invite the audience to also share their thoughts, questions, and experiences. The aim is to turn individual doubts into shared resources.

The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology has had a record-breaking 120,000 downloads in the first one and half year since publishing, and this book serves as the starting point for these reflections on publication strategies, not least because when initiating the project, editors asked themselves with a genuine sense of doubt: “Do we really need yet another handbook?” What are their thoughts today?

Thursday January 23, 2025, at 15:30-16:30, in room 5.0.22 at CSS, Øster Farimagsgade 5A, building 5

Everybody is welcome!