This document provides a summary of the book "Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology" by Mwende Ntarangwi. The book details Ntarangwi's experience as a Kenyan anthropologist studying in the US, where he conducted an impromptu ethnography observing his American classmates and the field of American anthropology. Some of his key observations included issues of lack of input in group projects, discomfort with reversing typical power dynamics between Westerners and others, neglect of discussing race, and fixation on ideas of "otherness." Ntarangwi attended American Anthropological Association conferences to further observe phenomena like corporate sponsorship and large number of concurrent talks influencing attendees' experiences. The

1. 2010. Mwende, Ntarangwi.
Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology. University of Illinois Press. Chicago, Illinois.
United States.
Vincent Velasquez
410 Monograph
MwendaNtarangwi– Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American
Anthropology
MwendaNtarangwi, a Kenyan-born Anthropologist who, after earning his bachelor degree
studying the music of a well-known artist and it’s social implications, moved to the United States
to pursue a higher degree in Cultural Anthropology. While earning his degree in the states,
Mwenda began to make careful observations of his fellow classmates and American
Anthropologists as a whole. These observations coalesced into an impromptu ethnography that
analyzed not just American Anthropology as a whole, but looks at the “Western” gaze that
permeates throughout much of the social sciences, but Anthropology in particular.
For Mwenda, it was a series of assignments and events that eventually lead him to the focus of
this impromptu ethnography. Originally coming to the United States to pursue a Doctor of
Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in Anthropology, Mwenda first starts to have questions about various
processes and viewpoints in anthropology, simply out of curiosity. Working on an ethnographic
project with other graduate students, Mwenda notices issues arising within his group; from lack
of input to others who attempt to run the entire project on their own, isolating other members. As
members begin to exit the group, Mwenda and the remaining members are left to pick up the
pieces of an already fractured project when it is revealed that one of Mwenda’s group mates
believes Mwenda may be struggling to understand “Western Culture” and how it is a case of an
“outsider looking in”. Mwenda this is a keen observation and likens it to a Ugandan
anthropologist by the name of Christine Obbo who noted in her fieldwork that when a reversal of
power relations was experienced, discomfort was felt both among “Westerns and others”
(Ntarangwi, Loc 1016). Along with this, Mwenda notices the way Race is treated in the
discipline; from his group mates desire to not engage with those of other races to a lack of
discussion on the topic of Race.
Another topic discussed by Mwenda is the idea of alterity and symbolic interpretation. Mwenda
states that whatever field of study, Anthropology as a whole is fixated on this idea of “otherness”
(Ntarangwi, Loc 1214). This returns to the idea of power relations and how knowledge is
distributed and understood. In order to expand further on his understanding of American
Anthropology, Mwenda attends the American Anthropological Associations (AAA) annual
meeting in order to observe this phenomenon. Mwenda alludes to differences that are seen at
several different conferences that he personally has attended. While many conferences have
attendees come at their own expense, he notes that there are several smaller conferences that are
generally funded by one or several sponsors and provide a modicum of items that are given away
in “conference bags”. Yet at the AAA annual meetings, he notices how several prominent
publishing companies have provided funding for the annual event, as well as many of the

2. 2010. Mwende, Ntarangwi.
Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology. University of Illinois Press. Chicago, Illinois.
United States.
takeaway gifts that conference goers receive, showing a difference in socioeconomic levels
(Ntarangwi, Loc 2346). Another differentiation in power is showing in the mass amounts of talks
and lectures that are going at any one time (Mwenda notes 10 or more per hour), forcing
attendees to make political decisions in who to see speak, relying mainly on relation to the
speaker and/or relatedness to one’s own research or interest.
Attempting to cover a subject matter such as the observation of Western Anthropology is no
small task (a task which he also discusses in Chapter 3 about students who can speak at long
lengths about a subject matter without ever doing course assigned readings), and especially
difficult to fit into a 176 page book. Yet, Mwenda manages to cover several key issues that any
anthropologist should seriously look at and take into considerations. While Mwenda does ask
several times whether or not his color (Race) may have played a part in obtaining some of his
data, his book serves as a reminder and a piece that should ground any anthropologist as to what
role they play in their research and how the ability to influence outcome can come from several
places.