Steven Carlisle

Steven Carlisle is an anthropologist by training, and his academic interests include economic anthropology, organizational anthropology, psychological anthropology, and the anthropology of religion. After graduating from Haverford College, he joined Teach For America and ultimately earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of California, San Diego in 2003. His research was funded in part by the Hayman Dissertation Fellowship and the Stoller Memorial Award.  His dissertation (The Self Divided: Obligation and Solitude in Contemporary Thailand) explored the relationship between the emerging middle classes in Thailand and Thai Buddhism.  His work investigated the conflict between religion and capitalism.  In 2020, Palgrave Macmillan published his book, Narrative Practice and Cultural Change: Building Worlds with Karma, Ghosts, and Capitalist Invaders in Thailand.  He is currently finishing his second book entitled The History of Happiness—which involves affect, markets, and organizations.  He gives numerous talks at conferences hosted by the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Psychological Anthropology.