Fieldwork Under Fire is a path-breaking collection of essays written by anthropologists who have experienced the unpredictability and trauma of political violence firsthand. These essays combine theoretical, ethnographic, and methodological points of view to illuminate the processes and solutions that characterize life in dangerous places. They describe the first, often harrowing, experience of violence, the personal and professional problems that arise as troubles escalate, and the often surprising creative strategies people use to survive. In "writing violence," the authors give voice to all those affected by the conditions of violence: perpetrators as well as victims, civilians and specialists, black marketeers and heroes, jackals and researchers. Focusing on everyday experiences, these essays bring to light the puzzling contradictions of lives disturbed by violence: the simultaneous existence of laughter and suffering, of fear and hope. By doing so, they challenge the narrow conceptualization that associates violence with death and war, arguing that instead it must be considered a dimension of living.

A Different Kind of War Story takes us to the frontlines of one of the most brutal wars in recent history. The setting is Mozambique during the fifteen-year war of terror that took a million lives-mostly civilian-and completely destroyed homes, crops, hospitals, schools, and even access to water. The characters are the soldiers who fought it, the thieves and opportunists who profited from it, and the ordinary people whose lives were shattered by it and from whose ranks emerged the heroes and healers who created peace. Combining contemporary theory and innovative methodology, Nordstrom explores the nature and culture of terror warfare and raises thought-provoking questions about state power, civilian resistance, and the politics of identity. She compares the conflict in Mozambique with similar conflicts and offers a new way of looking at political violence, showing that just as violence is learned, it can be unlearned.

"The Paths to Terror" offers a new and refreshing perspective on sociopolitical violence: one that highlights the human experience of domination, resistance, and terror as they are woven into the fabric of everyday life. These innovative essays take the reader from the Americas, through Europe and the Middle East, and to Asia to capture the cultural construction of sociopolitical violence. The authors expand our view of the ethnographic reality, revealing the complex interplay among local, national, and international actors in the perpetuation of violence and terror. The organization of the essays along a continuum from domination, through the emergence of resistance, to the development of cultures of conflict and terror underlines the value of understanding the growth and resolution of violence as cultural dynamics.

"This should be made into a movie!"--Katia Lund, Co-director of "City of God

"Carolyn Nordstrom destroys the categories through which we normally look at war. This is a major achievement. Her eyewitness reporting, when contrasted with the official histories later compiled of the same events, is a revelation. The amount of 'extra-state' activity surrounding any war is vast, and Nordstrom evokes and analyzes it so fully, so deftly, that no one who reads this book will look at war news quite the same way again. Meanwhile, the extra-state itself, typified by Al Qaeda, has begun to drive world politics and generate wars with terrifying success."--William Finnegan, author of "A Complicated War: The Harrowing of Mozambique

"A gripping account of what the author calls 'research into the shadows' -- the often dangerous world of the powerful and wealthy who inhabit global extra-governmental organizations. It is also about the dehumanizing effects of war and violence on the victims. Nordstrom says: 'It is the only way I know how to write about war: being there.' This book provides a rare opportunity of 'being there' with a courageous and highly observant anthropologist. I recommend it highly."--Richard Goldstone, Former Chief Prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

"Carolyn Nordstrom, a pioneer in warzone ethnography, gives us an up-close view of the shadowy worlds of wartime economics. Money laundering, blood diamonds, gun running -- Nordstrom puts faces on each of these. Seeing the faces makes the moral dilemmas of war not simpler, but more realistic. This is an innovative and important book."--Cynthia Enloe, author of Maneuvers: TheInternational Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives

"Nordstrom is a compassionate scholar who simply and doggedly uses ethnography to follow the question. This approach takes Nordstrom from the spectacular violence of armed conflict--the flames and mobs and murder--to the even more destructive but hidden structural violence--the 'shadows' that few seek to understand. This is engaged, urgent scholarship at its best."--Paul Farmer, M.D., author of "Pathologies of Power"

"A deeply insightful book that connects the dots of the hidden systems that have subverted democracy and caused the type of desperation and anger that result in a 9/11. A book that opens our awareness."--John Perkins, author of The New York Times bestseller "Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man"
"Anyone interested in global economic crime should read this book."--Charmian Gooch, a founding director of Global Witness
""Global Outlaws" is a revealing book about a global trend whose importance is still far from being fully recognized."--Moises Naim, Editor in Chief of "Foreign Policy Magazine" and author of "Illicit: How Smugglers Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy"
"Carolyn Nordstrom's important new book takes us on a dark journey through war-torn landscapes riddled with corruption, violence, and gross inequalities. It is a compelling study--one guided by the norms of scholarly research but also written out of deeply felt experience. A book infused by anger, compassion, but also hope."--Andrew Mack, University of British Columbia
"This is a fascinating, insightful, and important ethnographic study of the intersection of crime, finance, and power in the illegal, 'informal', or underground economy. I have read all of Carolyn Nordstrom's books, and this is the best one yet."--Jeff Sluka, Massey University
"Carolyn Nordstrom's "Global Outlaws" is a rare and remarkable fusion of economic anthropology and travel writing. The prose is highly engaging without being sensationalistic. This is a timely and fascinating read for anyone looking for an on-the-ground account of the clandestine underside of globalization."--Peter Andreas, co-author of "Policing theGlobe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations"
"Carolyn Nordstrom is the best fieldworker in anthropology, bar none. Yet again she has pioneered new fieldsites and new forms of ethnography in this book, as well as presented a new framework for viewing economics and economic power. This is undoubtedly a highly important work that sets new frontiers for anthropology."--Monique Skidmore, Australian National University