Prickly Paradigm Press

Prickly Paradigm Press
Founded1993
Country of origin United States
Headquarters locationChicago, Illinois
DistributionChicago Distribution Center[1]
Publication typesPamphlets
Official websiteprickly-paradigm.com

Prickly Paradigm Press is an independent publisher dedicated to reviving the pamphlet. The press has published more than 60 short-form works that engage anthropology, critical theory and history to engage contemporary questions of urgent concern.[2] Notable pamphlets include David Graeber's Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and Donna Haraway's Companion Species Manifesto.

The press was founded as Prickly Pear Pamphlets in 1993 by anthropologists Keith Hart and Anna Grimshaw.[3] Based in Cambridge, England, they published ten pamphlets on topics in anthropology, the history of science, and ethnographic film. In 1998, Mark Harris and Matthew Engelke took over the press, expanding its operations in the world market and adding a select few titles to its list.

In 2001, University of Chicago anthropologist Marshall Sahlins took over the press, renamed it Prickly Paradigm,[4] re-publishing his own pamphlet (Waiting for Foucault), as well as a text by Richard Rorty.[5] In 2004, Justin Shaffner scanned the original Prickly Pear pamphlets into a PDF format and made them freely available for distribution on the Internet.[6]

In 2026, historian Peter Sahlins and philosopher Ramona Naddaff took over as executive publishers.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Contact
  2. ↑ "Prickly Paradigm Press". Prickly Paradigm Press. 2026-10-06. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  3. ↑ "Prickly Pear Pamphlets", The Memory Bank, 25 May 2009.
  4. ↑ Russell Jacoby, "Books; The Three P's: Publishing Perishable Prose", The New York Times, August 1, 2004.
  5. ↑ Against Bosses, Against Oligarchies: A Conversation with Richard Rorty, Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago.
  6. ↑ "AAA Welcomes Justin Shaffner as Book Review Editor for Digital Book Review Process", American Anthropological Association.
  7. ↑ "About & History". Prickly Paradigm Press. Retrieved 2026-08-21.

Further reading