Richard Baxstrom

Richard Baxstrom is Professor of Anthropology and the Humanities at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. His research bridges cinema, urban anthropology, and philosophical inquiry, with a focus on Malaysia and small-town neoliberalism in the American Southwest. Key themes include the interplay between ethics, governance, and the limits of human/nature concepts.

• Education: PhD in Anthropology (Johns Hopkins University, 2006); MA in Anthropology (New School for Social Research, 1998).

His work explores how cinematic and urban environments articulate violence, belief, and neoliberal subjectivity. Books like Violence’s Fabled Experiment and Realizing the Witch analyze films by Herzog and Oppenheimer, interrogating the invisible in cultural and scientific discourse. Articles span Southeast Asian urbanism, witchcraft, and the affective dimensions of cinema.

Current projects examine entrepreneurship in U.S. Southwest communities and the history of naturalism in anthropology. He co-edits the Visual Culture in Britain journal and has held administrative roles including Deputy Head of School. Collaborations include the 2013 Edinburgh International Ethnographic Film Festival.