Helen B. Schwartzman is a psychological anthropologist who specializes in the study of childhood development and play and the anthropology of work and organizations. As an Americanist she is drawn to the study of everyday activities that have been neglected by researchers and taken for granted by participants. This has led to studies examining how children construct play worlds for themselves, the role of meetings in organizations and communities, storytelling in work settings, and, most recently, moral panics about the introduction of new media (specifically the internet) to children in the United States. Her publications include Transformations: The Anthropology of Children's Play (University of Chicago Folklore Prize, Second Prize), The Meeting: Gatherings in Organizations and Communities, Ethnography in Organizations (now in its 6th printing), and Children and Anthropology: Perspectives for the 21st Century. She has served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology (2000-2003) and is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Helen Schwartzman is the recipient of grants/fellowships from the Spencer Foundation, National Research Council, Ford Foundation, National Institute for Mental Health (Institutional Training Grant), NU Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research and the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She has served as Editor of the Special Publications-Professional Series of the American Anthropological Association, Deputy Editor for Anthropology for the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography and as a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Play and Culture. She is currently on the Editorial Board for the journal Culture and Organizations. Her most recent project is a “reflection” on the ways that anthropologists use the imagery of “the mirror” to portray the goals of the discipline as well as to theorize about specific aspects of society and culture.
In this volume, Schwartzman evaluates the range of ethnographic research that has been conducted on organizations. She also examines such important topics as: the roles and methods utilized by organizational ethnographers; the problems and prospects for conducting fieldwork in organizations; and the role that everyday but often overlooked routines - like meetings and story telling - play in the production and reproduction of organizations, institutions and society.
