Bio

Sylvia Yanagisako is the Edward Clark Crossett Professor of Humanistic Studies and Professor of Anthropology, Emerita. From 2023-2026 she will be Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. Her research and publications have focused on the cultural dynamics of kinship, gender, work and capitalism. She has also written about the orthodox configuration of the discipline of anthropology in the U.S.

Professor Yanagisako’s latest book, Fabricating Transnational Capitalism: a Collaborative Ethnography of Italian-Chinese Global Fashion (Duke University Press, 2019), co-authored with Lisa Rofel, analyzes the transnational business relations forged by Italian and Chinese textile and garment manufacturers . This book builds on her monograph (Producing Culture and Capital (Princeton University Press), which examines the cultural processes through which a technologically-advanced, Italian manufacturing industry was produced. Professor Yanagisako is currently conducting research on sea level rise, seashore management and family legacies in Hawai’i.

Academic Appointments

  • Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council, Anthropology

Administrative Appointments

  • Chair, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (2013 - 2016)
  • Chair, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University (2002 - 2003)
  • Chair, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University (1998 - 2001)
  • Chair, Program in Feminist Studies, Stanford University (1988 - 1991)

Honors & Awards

  • Centennial Professor, London School of Economics (2023-2026)
  • Eilert Sundt Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo (2018-2022)
  • Jack Goody Lecture, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (2018)
  • David M. Schneider Lecture, Society for Cultural Anthropology (2014)
  • Annette B. Weiner Memorial Lecture, New York University (2012)
  • Ellen Andrews Wright Faculty Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center (2011-2012)
  • Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture, University of Rochester (2010)
  • Collaborative research grant, National Science Foundation (2007-2009)
  • Individual Research Grant, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (2006)
  • Distinguished scholar Senior Fellowship, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park (2001)
  • Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University (1993)
  • Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1991-1992)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Bing Overseas Studies Faculty Oversight Committee, 2015 –, Stanford University (2015 - Present)
  • Director: Difficult Dialogues: an interdisciplinary panel on Changing Families in the U.S., Institute for Research on Women and Gender (2002 - 2004)
  • Selection Committee, DARE (Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence) doctoral fellowship program (2011 - 2018)
  • President, Society for Cultural Anthropology (1997 - 1999)
  • Elected Board Member, Society for Cultural Anthropology (1993 - 1998)
  • Member, Editorial Board, American Anthropologist (1997 - 2001)
  • Member, Executive Board, American Anthropological Association (1997 - 1999)
  • Member, Fellowship Selection Committee, School of American Research (1998 - 1998)
  • Member, External Review Committee, Review of the Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz (1994 - 1994)
  • Member, Selection Committee, Staley Prize, School of American Research (1995 - 1995)
  • Member, Advisory Board, National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health (1993 - 1998)
  • Member, Editorial Advisory Board, SIGNS: A Journal of Woman, Culture, and Society (1985 - 1988)
  • Member, Editorial Advisory Board, SIGNS: A Journal of Woman, Culture, and Society. (1991 - 1995)
  • Member, Editorial Advisory Board, SIGNS: A Journal of Woman, Culture, and Society. (1995 - 1998)
  • Member, Editorial Committee, Cultural Anthropology, journal of the Society for Cultural Anthropology (1991 - 1995)
  • Member, Editorial Committee, Positions : east asia cultural critique (1992 - Present)
  • Member, American Anthropological Association
  • Member, Association of Feminist Anthropologists
  • Member, Society for Cultural Anthropology
  • Member, American Ethnological Society
  • Member, Society for the Anthropology of Europe
  • Member, Committee on Graduate Studies, Stanford University (2003 - Present)
  • Member, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Policy Board, Stanford University (1996 - 1998)
  • Member, Curriculum Committee: Asian American Studies, Stanford Unviersity (1995 - 1997)
  • Member, Dean's Committee on Asian American Studies, Stanford University (1994 - 1995)
  • Member, Selection Committee, West and Camp Lecturers, Stanford University (1994 - 1994)
  • Member, Committee on Committees, Faculty Senate, Stanford University (1993 - 1994)
  • Member, Overseas Studies Program Committee, Stanford University (1993 - 1994)
  • Member, Florence Panel, Overseas Studies, Stanford University (1992 - 1994)
  • Chair, Florence Panel, Overseas Studies, Stanford University (1993 - 1994)
  • Elected Representative to the Faculty Senate, Stanford University (1976 - 1977)
  • Elected Representative to the Faculty Senate, Stanford University (1989 - 1991)
  • Elected Representative to the Faculty Senate, Stanford University (1993 - 1994)
  • Elected Representative to the Humanities and Sciences Faculty Council, Stanford University (1993 - 1994)
  • Member, Provost's Committee to Select the Dean of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University (1993 - 1993)
  • Member, Dean's Committee to Restructure The Modern Foreign Literature Departments, Stanford University (1992 - 1992)
  • Member, Provost's Advisory Council on Faculty Retention and Recruitment, Stanford University (1989 - 1991)
  • Member, Committee on Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University (1989 - 1991)
  • Chair, Search Committee for a scholar in Asian American Studies, Stanford University (1989 - 1990)
  • Member, Subcommittee on Undergraduate Distribution Requirements, Stanford University (1989 - 1989)
  • Member, Subcommittee on Graduate Affirmative Action, Stanford University (1989 - 1989)

Program Affiliations

  • Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., University of Washington, Socio-Cultural Anthropology (1975)
  • M.A., University of Washington, Socio-Cultural Anthropology (1969)
  • B.A., University of Washington, Anthropology (1967)

Contact

  • Academic
    syanag@stanford.edu
    University - Emeritus faculty Department: Anthropology Position: Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council (650) 725-0605 (fax)

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 2034

Links

2023-24 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Generating dependence: New configurations of gender, kinship, and labor Battlegrounds of dependence Reconfi guring labor, kinship and relational obligation FOCAAL-JOURNAL OF GLOBAL AND HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Martin, K., Wig, S., Yanagisako, S. 2021: 1-10

    View details for DOI 10.3167/fcl.2021.900101

    View details for Web of Science ID 000654995100001

  • Situating ascriptions of independence and dependence in Italian family capitalism SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY Yanagisako, S. 2020; 28 (3): 700–713

    View details for DOI 10.1111/1469-8676.12920

    View details for Web of Science ID 000573693600012

  • States of dependence: Introduction SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY Martin, K., Yanagisako, S. 2020; 28 (3): 646–56

    View details for DOI 10.1111/1469-8676.12919

    View details for Web of Science ID 000573693600008

  • Fabricating Transnational Capitalism: A Collaborative Ethnography of Italian- Chinese Global Fashion. Co-author, Lisa Rofel. Lewis Henry Morgan series. Duke University Press . Yanagisako, S., Rofel, L. 2019
  • Accumulating Family Values. Yanagisako, S. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. 2019 ; Jack Goody Lectures
  • Reconfiguring labour value and the capital/labour relation in Italian global fashion JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE Yanagisako, S. 2018; 24: 47–60

    View details for Web of Science ID 000430110600003

  • Family Firms International Encyclopedia of Social Anthropology Yanagisako, S. Wiley-Blackwell. 2018
  • Kinship: Still At the Core Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory Yanagisako, S. 2015; 5 (1): 489-494
  • Households in Anthropology International Encyclopedia of Social Anthropology Yanagisako, S. Elsevier. 2015; 2nd: 228–232
  • Households International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Smelser, N. J., Bales, P. B. Oxford, England: Elsevier Science.. 2002
  • Asian Exclusion Acts Learning Places: The Afterlives of Area Studies Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Miyoshi, M., Harootunian, H. D. Duke University Press. 2002: 175–189
  • Producing Culture and Capital: Family Firms in Italy Yanagisako, S. J. Princeton University Press. 2002
  • Fur eine gemeinsame Analyse von Geschlect und Verwandtschaft (German translation of Toward a Unified Analysis of Gender and Kinship) Korper, Religion und Macht Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Davis-Sulikowski, U. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag. 2001: 31–74
  • Genere sessuale e parentela: verso una analisi unificata L’antropologia culturale oggi Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. edited by Borofsky, R. Rome: Meltemi.. 2000: 236–246
  • Patriarchal Desire: Law and Sentiments of Succession among Italian Capitalist Families Succession and Leadership among Elites Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Cabral, J. d., de Lima, A. P. London: Berg. 1999
  • Women-Centered Kin Networks in Urban Bilateral Kinship Asian American Women and Gender Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Ng, F. Hamden, CT: Garland Publishing. 1999
  • Is There a Family? New Anthropological Views The Gender/Sexuality Reader: Culture, History, Political Economy Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J., Rosaldo, M. edited by Lancaster, R. N., Leonardo, M. d. New York: Routledge. 1997
  • Sexuality and Gender and Other Intersections Das Dreifache Dilemma der Differenz Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Strasser, S. Vienna: Wiener Frauenverlag. 1997
  • Comments on `until death do us part' American Ethnologist Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. 1996; 23 (2): 21-22
  • Transforming Orientalism: Gender, nationality, and class in Asian American studies Symposium on Naturalizing Power - Conversations with David Schneider, at the 1992 American-Anthropological-Association Meeting Yanagisako, S. ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL INC. 1995: 275–298

    View details for Web of Science ID A1995BF09D00012

  • Transforming Orientalism: Gender, Class, and Nation in Asian American Studies Naturalizing Power Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Yanagisako, S. J., Delaney, C. 1995: 275–298
  • Naturalizing Power: Essays in Feminist Cultural Analysis edited by Yanagisako, S. J., Delaney, C. Routledge. 1995
  • Naturalizing Power Naturalizing Power Yanagisako, S. J., Delaney, C. edited by Yanagisako, S. J., Delaney, C. 1995: 1–22
  • Naturalizing power Symposium on Naturalizing Power - Conversations with David Schneider, at the 1992 American-Anthropological-Association Meeting Yanagisako, S., Delaney, C. ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL INC. 1995: 1–22

    View details for Web of Science ID A1995BF09D00001

  • Gender and Kinship Reconsidered: Toward a Unified Analysis Assessing Cultural Anthropology Yangisako, S. J., Collier, J. edited by Borofsky, R. Mc-Graw Hill.. 1994
  • Transforming the Past: Tradition and Kinship among Japanese Americans Yanagisako, S. J. Stanford University Press. 1992
  • Capital and Gendered Interest in Italian Family Firms The Italian Family from Antiquity to the Present Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Kertzer, D., Sallers, R. Yale University Press.. 1991
  • The Mode of Reproduction in Anthropology Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. edited by Rhode, D. Yale University Press. 1990
  • THE HOUSE THAT GIACOMO BUILT - PITKIN,DS (Book Review) AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST Book Review Authored by: YANAGISAKO, S. J. 1989; 16 (1): 181-182

    View details for Web of Science ID A1989T406200029

  • Theory in Anthropology Since Feminist Practice Critique of Anthropology Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. 1989
  • Theory in Anthropology Since Feminist Practice Transformations; Comparative Study of Social Transformations Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. edited by Ortner, S. B. University of Michigan. 1989: 15–21
  • Mixed Metaphors: Native and Anthropological Models of Gender and Kinship Gender and Kinship Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. Stanford University Press. 1987
  • Gender and Kinship: Essays Toward a Unified Analysis edited by Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. F. Stanford University Press. 1987
  • Toward a Unified Analysis of Gender and Kinship Gender and Kinship Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. edited by Collier, J., Yanagisako, S. J. Stanford University Press. 1987
  • Transforming the Past: Tradition and Kinship among Japanese Americans Yanagisako, S. J. Stanford University Press. 1985
  • Explicating Residence: A Cultural Analysis of Changing Households among Japanese Americans Households: Comparative and Historical Perspectives Yanagisako, S. J. edited by Netting, R. M., Wilk, R. R. Berkeley, California: University of California Press,. 1984: 330–352
  • KINSHIP AT THE CORE - AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF ELMDON, A VILLAGE IN NORTHWEST ESSEX IN THE 1960S - STRATHERN,M (Book Review) AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST Book Review Authored by: Yanagisako, S. 1983; 10 (4): 799-801

    View details for Web of Science ID A1983RR06900020

  • FEMINISM AND KINSHIP THEORY CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY TSING, A. L., YANAGISAKO, S. J. 1983; 24 (4): 511-516

    View details for Web of Science ID A1983RK70700007

  • Is there a Family? New Anthropological Views Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions Yanagisako, S. J., Collier, J. F., Rosaldo, M. Z. edited by Thorne, B. New York: Longman. 1981: 25–39
  • FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD - ANALYSIS OF DOMESTIC GROUPS ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY YANAGISAKO, S. J. 1979; 8: 161-205

    View details for Web of Science ID A1979HQ86800008

  • "Introduction." (to a special section on the Cultural Analysis of American Kinship). American Ethnologist Yanagisako, S. J. 1979; 5: 1-3
  • Family and Household: The Analysis of Domestic Groups Annual Review of Anthropology Yanagisako, S. J. 1979; 8: 161-205
  • Variance in American Kinship: Implications for Cultural Analysis American Ethnologist Yanagisako, S. J. 1978; 5: 15-29
  • Women-centered Kin Networks in Urban Bilateral Kinship American Ethnologist Yanagisako, S. J. 1977; 4: 207-226
  • 2 PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN JAPANESE-AMERICAN KINSHIP JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH YANAGISAKO, S. J. 1975; 31 (3): 196-224

    View details for Web of Science ID A1975BS99600002