Why I quit and why I stay

The world of editing is deeply relational. There's the relationship between the author and the text, between the editor and the editorial team, and the relationship with the discipline. Building, testing, and strengthening these relationships is the fundamental responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief, and it is these relationships that allow the work to grow, feeding not just our careers, but also our hearts. Running this journal has allowed me to build a team of extraordinarily dedicated associate editors, who have taught me a great deal about generosity, rigorous thoughtfulness, and the possibilities of the discipline. Together we have revamped the journal's editorial guidelines, delved into the mysterious and often frustrating inner workings of ScholarOne (I have learned, much to my surprise, that I am a system nerd), and, most importantly, we have worked with so many people whose submissions have moved through the review process and on to publication. It is especially gratifying to see the work of early-career scholars come into its own. The support and counsel of the associate editors have been crucially important to the work we do, and they have modeled care with a commitment that is unequaled. Kris Peterson, Valerie Olson, and Damien Sojoyner, associate editors of cultural anthropology, had a sizzling team synergy, and are now succeeded by Girish Daswani, Maurice Rafael Magaña, Laurian Bowles, and Rumya Putcha. At Deborah Thomas's recommendation, the associate editors for biological anthropology remained in place when the editorship changed over. Mary Shenk and Adam Van Arsdale offered continuity and invaluable advice. They have also moved on to other things, with Sean Tallman ably taking the helm. Ira Bashkow, associate editor for obituaries, has also remained in place, and his unique skill is simply irreplaceable. Andrew Brandel is the newest associate editor, taking on book reviews from James Blair, Maya Stovall, and Claudia García-Des Lauriers, who worked their magic day after day. Kisha Supernant and Uzma Rizvi, associate editors of archaeology, have consistently worked with the kind of conviction I can only hope to emulate. They're sticking with it. In public anthropology, Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein and Linda Callejas sought out new voices. Jena continues, now joined by Maura Finklestein. Anar Parikh, who finished her dissertation while associate editing and podcasting, has been a shining light, once wisely telling me, “The first punch hurts the most.” In world anthropology, Penelope Papailias and Pamila Gupta kept me grounded even as multiple floods and fires threatened Penelope's home. Penelope introduced me to Grigoris Gougousis, who continues to work magic on Facebook. The incoming world anthropologies associate editors are Jing Xu and Yang Zhan, whose article, “Can Anthropologists Get Humor?” 2024) asked such sharp questions I knew I needed them on the team. Sherina Feliciano-Santos and Barbra Meek generously took on both linguistic anthropology and Indigenous topics; Kristina Wirtz follows on their heels. As associate editors of multimodal anthropology, Gabriel Dattatreyan, Patricia Alvarez Astacio, and Arjun Shankar wrangled numerous formats and layouts and have established a strong base for thinking about multimodal publication within and beyond the constraints of a journal article. We are working on identifying their successors. When I began, Sean Mallin was my right hand as Managing Editor of the journal. He has since been promoted to Director of Publishing at the association, much to all of our benefit. Julian Gantt, the current Managing Editor, has been an extraordinarily quick study, and any fears I might have had about getting a new right hand have dissolved into nothingness. When I started to write this essay, I wanted to begin by explaining why I left my academic job earlier this year. Yes, I quit my job! What I have known for a long time is that running the journal has given me what my previous job never could: being surrounded by relationships generated in work that I believe in, and doing work where meaningful change actually happens. So, while I no longer have an academic job per se, I'm more involved with academic work than ever. (For those noticing the pesky details, my current academic title is visiting researcher at the CUNY Graduate Center.) The ability to work toward change, in step with others, is why I went into anthropology in the first place, and that is the ambition that fuels the work I continue to do with the journal. The relationships that weave the foundation of this work—relationships with authors, reviewers (oh, so many of them!), AAA staff, and with associate editors—are what make the journal possible, and what push the possibilities of what the journal can do. Every single day I find myself being grateful for these relationships, whether they are being tightened, tested, rewoven, or springing into action. I'm grateful to be here and grateful to be here together with so many whose work makes the discipline's tantalizing possibilities reachable and real.