“Whether an anthropologist, a student of immigration law or security studies, or a policy maker, Wikan’s essays will provide readers with a striking yet compassionate framework for understanding how people across time and place deal with global contemporary concerns.”

Jia Hui Lee | LSE Review of Books

“Frankly, some of these pieces are hard to put down.” 

O. Pi-Sunyer | Choice

“Unni Wikan has spent more time in sustained fieldwork in more societies than any other anthropologist whom I know, and these essays are the connective tissue among her most substantial work. They demonstrate her theoretical acuity in defining an approach that always places human experience first. As a result, she develops attractive, balanced, pragmatic views of culture, relativism, and the tendency in cultural anthropology, at least, to emphasize difference over the coherence of human experience in whichever culture and society it is engaged. They are exemplars and a test, as well, of just that approach which understands that common humanity is to be found anywhere, though complicated by distinctive cultural orientations to the expression of personhood.”

George Marcus, University of California, Irvine

“Resonance charts a compelling theoretical trajectory and a singular and engaging life in anthropology. It is a crisp contribution to discussions about methodology, and it provides a wealth of information about a wide range of people in very different cultural contexts. Written in a style that will appeal to both professional anthropologists and students who are just beginning to learn about anthropology, it addresses issues—such as empathy and ethical engagement, shame, gender, immigration, and the limits of understanding—that are vital and timely. I feel enlightened and invigorated to have read it.”

Don Kulick, University of Chicago