Robert Borofsky is an American anthropologist specializing in public anthropology and the Pacific.àA number of his works continue to be read in college curricula today.àBefore retiring in 2020, Borofsky concentrated on undergraduate education as a Professor of Anthropology at Hawaii Pacific University. In 2001, he initiated the California Series in Public Anthropology, successfully editing the series for over a decade. Two presidents (Mikhail Gorbachev and Bill Clinton) as well as three Nobel Laureates (Amartya Sen, Jody Williams, and Mikhail Gorbachev) have contributed to the Series either through books or forwards. Now retired, he directs the Center for a Public Anthropology focusing on the CenterâÂÂs Public Anthropology Project which annually involves thousands of introductory anthropology students from across Canada and the United States.
Robert Borofsky received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaiûi at MÃÂnoa.àAlong with his wife and a daughter, he spent 41 months â from 1977-81 â on the coral atoll of Pukapuka carrying out field research for his doctoral dissertation examining Pukapukan and anthropological conceptions of the past which, in revised form, was published as Making History: Pukapukan and Anthropological Conceptions of Knowledge (1987).
In addition, Borofsky is the author or editor of a number of other books including, Remembrance of Pacific Pasts: An Invitation to Remake History (2000, open access 2020), Yanomami: The Fierce Controversy and What We Can Learn From It (2005), Why a Public Anthropology (2011), An Anthropology of Anthropology: Is it Time to Shift Paradigms (open access 2019) and Revitalizing Anthropology: LetâÂÂs Focus the Field on Benefiting Others.
A sense of these booksâ impact can be seen in the praise they have garnered from prominent intellectual figures. In respect to Remembrance of Pacific Pasts, Claude Lévi-Strauss writes:<blockquote>"History is always interpretation. àThe French Revolution as told by an aristocrat and by a sansculotte are not the same. àThe problem is how to bring these different views together in a way that makes sense of the whole. àRob Borofsky wonderfully succeeds at this difficult task. He turns widely different points of view into an asset. àThe narrative ceases being linear. We have instead a multidimensional history that the reader must approach from several angles and the meaning of which, like that of a musical piece, is apprehended globally. àRemembrance of Pacific Pasts is a very impressive and important work."</blockquote>Natalie Zemon-Davis states the book âÂÂis brimming over with new ideas about how history can be found, rethought, understood, and told . . . Rob BorofskyâÂÂs edited volume is multicentered, dialogic history at its best.âÂÂ
Paul Farmer views Why a Public Anthropology? as âÂÂa gem of a resource for anyone interested in anthropology . . . BorofskyâÂÂs final message is one of transformation: he calls on those both within the discipline and without to practice anthropology in service of the publicâÂÂto not simply âÂÂdo no harm,â but to do good.â Noam Chomsky writes âÂÂThis provocative study sets ambitious goals for what might be achieved by a public anthropology and offers ways to carry forward a project that could be far-reaching in its consequences.âÂÂ
In respect to An Anthropology of Anthropology, David Graeber writes âÂÂAnthropologists have written almost nothing about conditions of work, patronage, funding, institutional hierarchy in the academyâÂÂthat is, the power relations under which anthropological writing is actually produced. Rob Borofsky is one of the few whoâÂÂs had the requisite courage to do so.âÂÂàNancy Scheper-Hughes asserts, âÂÂBorofskyâÂÂs book is brimming with ideas for redefining anthropology. He shows close up through case studies how the institutional structures of the academy have controlled and restricted anthropology as an intellectual discipline. He asks tough questions about individual accountability, ethics, and self-interests. . . . I recommend this incisive and valuable book to anyone who cares about the future of our field. Once you read it, you will see why.âÂÂ
George Marcus considers Revitalizing Anthropology:<blockquote>"an extraordinary and seminal intervention/contribution in Rob BorofskyâÂÂs career-long insistence on making anthropology literally beneficial to others. He taps into the spirit and motivating impulses of current graduate student projects in several locations globally. In so doing, he provides a much-needed resource for teaching introductory graduate program seminars, especially in the leading departments of the classic metropole.âÂÂ</blockquote>Robert Borofsky coined the now widely cited term public anthropology, first for the University of California book series he edited and then for the field itself.àIn 2018, Borofsky suggested four strategies that collectively emphasized public anthropologyâÂÂs paradigm-shifting intent.
In line with these strategies, Borofsky played a significant role during the Yanomami Blood Controversy â a controversy that attracted world-wide attention (see Borofsky 2005:3) â in getting American universities to return the Yanomami blood samples they held in cold storage.à<blockquote>For a signed note of appreciation by the key Yanomami spokesperson and shaman, DAVI KOPENAWA YANOMAMI, to Bruce Albert and Rob Borofsky for their help in this successful campaign, please click here.</blockquote>With Shawn Rodriguez, he produced a set of online introductory anthropology lectures that Vimeo indicates have been viewed more than 57,000 times. àFor several years, Borofsky has worked with Altmetrics.com, highlighting anthropologists whose publications attract the broader publicâÂÂs attention â particularly in news outlets and policy documents from around the world (see and especially ). In a rare move for an anthropologist, in 2024 he published his fieldnotes â numbering over 12,000 pages â on the internet for Pukapukans and others to read and comment on.