People_
Dr Michael Edwards
BA (Sydney), MSc (Oxford), PhD (LSE)
Lecturer in Anthropology
Address
A02 - Social Sciences Building
The University of Sydney
Details
Member of Sydney Southeast Asia Centre
Member of The Vere Gordon Childe Centre
Michael joined the University of Sydney as a Lecturer in Anthropology in 2024. An anthropologist of religious life, media ecology, and political change, he received his PhD from the London School of Economics and was a Smuts Research Fellow in South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge.
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Religion; politics; media; solidarity; salvation; translation; time; diaspora; South and Southeast Asia (esp. Myanmar); Australia; US; history of anthropology
- Introduction to Anthropology (ANTH1001)
- Capitalism, Crisis and Care (ANTH3653)
- States, People and Power (ANTH2624)
If you’re a prospective Honours, Masters, or PhD student interested in any of the above research topics, feel free to get in touch.
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Climate change and growing urbanisation: Increasing water insecurity amongst the urban poor of Dhaka, Bangladesh. | Misty MISTY |
| An Ethnography on the Lived Experiences of Myanmar Women Migrants in Malaysia. | Marcus Phillip PAUL |
Publications
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Book Chapters
- Edwards, M. (2023). An equivocal position: Anthropology, Evans-Pritchard, and the spirit of translation. In Hephzibah Israel (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Religion. Oxford: Routledge.
- Edwards, M. (2023). Reading Graeber, Leach, and a revolution in Myanmar. In Holly High and Joshua O. Reno (Eds.), As If Already Free: Anthropology and Activism After David Graeber. London: Pluto Press.
Journals
- Edwards, M. (2025). Wheels Turning: Anthropological Solidarity, Engaged Buddhism, and a Return to the 1990s. American Anthropologist, Forthcoming.
- Edwards, M. (2025). Why Sad? Buddhist-Christian Entanglements in Asia. The Journal of Asian Studies, 84(1), 295-299. [More Information]
- Edwards, M. (2025). “The world is an amazing place”: Anthropology and the 1990s. History of Anthropology Review, 49.
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Edited Journals
- Edwards, M., Simpson, N., Cooper, T. (2024). Back to the present. American Ethnologist, Website. [More Information]
- Edwards, M., McIvor, M. (2022). Always something extra: Ethnographies of grace. Cambridge Journal of Anthropology, 40(1).
Magazine / Newspaper Articles
- Edwards, M., High, H., Reno, J., Tuari Stewart, G., Maurer, B., Peebles, G. (2025). Forum: David Graeber’s Lasting Influence on Anthropology and Activism. Sapiens. [More Information]
- Edwards, M., Simpson, N., Cooper, T. (2024). Introduction: Back/s to the present. American Ethnologist, Website. [More Information]
- Edwards, M. (2023). Revolution in Sagaing. Mekong Review. [More Information]
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2025
- Edwards, M., High, H., Reno, J., Tuari Stewart, G., Maurer, B., Peebles, G. (2025). Forum: David Graeber’s Lasting Influence on Anthropology and Activism. Sapiens. [More Information]
- Edwards, M. (2025). Wheels Turning: Anthropological Solidarity, Engaged Buddhism, and a Return to the 1990s. American Anthropologist, Forthcoming.
- Edwards, M. (2025). Why Sad? Buddhist-Christian Entanglements in Asia. The Journal of Asian Studies, 84(1), 295-299. [More Information]
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2024
- Edwards, M., Simpson, N., Cooper, T. (2024). Back to the present. American Ethnologist, Website. [More Information]
- Edwards, M., Simpson, N., Cooper, T. (2024). Introduction: Back/s to the present. American Ethnologist, Website. [More Information]
2023
- Edwards, M. (2023). An equivocal position: Anthropology, Evans-Pritchard, and the spirit of translation. In Hephzibah Israel (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Religion. Oxford: Routledge.
- Edwards, M. (2023). Reading Graeber, Leach, and a revolution in Myanmar. In Holly High and Joshua O. Reno (Eds.), As If Already Free: Anthropology and Activism After David Graeber. London: Pluto Press.
- Edwards, M. (2023). Revolution in Sagaing. Mekong Review. [More Information]
2022
- Edwards, M., McIvor, M. (2022). Always something extra: Ethnographies of grace. Cambridge Journal of Anthropology, 40(1).
- Edwards, M. (2022). Circulating in difference: performances of publicity on and beyond a Yangon train. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 28(2), 451-476. [More Information]
- Edwards, M. (2022). Graeber, Leach and the revolution in Myanmar. Focaal Blog. [More Information]
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2021
- Edwards, M. (2021). Drowning in context: Translating salvation in Myanmar. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 41(2), 175-184. [More Information]
- Edwards, M. (2021). People are obsessed with religion: The definitional dissonance of evangelical encounters in Myanmar. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 52(1), 49-66. [More Information]
2020
- Edwards, M. (2020). Maps to another nation’, The Christian Nation Project. (Republished at Tea Circle: New Perspectives on Burma/Myanmar, April 2020). [More Information]
2019
- Edwards, M. (2019). Circulating publicness and public circulation. The Immanent Frame: Secularism, Religion, and the Public Sphere. [More Information]