Praxis

Abstract

Aspiring to the idea that praxis opens up possibilities for transformation, this commentary reflects on the work of contributing authors to consider interrelationships between pedagogy, research, and praxis of community-engaged work to create change through the academic enterprise without losing sight of goals to support often-underserved communities and populations that anthropologists study. This treatment situates the accounts of community-engaged research in the context of the NIH investment in clinical translational research and explores the notion of engaging the community beyond clinical trial accrual while recognizing the vexed subject position of anthropologists in the employ of academic medical centers. The commentary then reflects on key terms from the contributors, questioning the objective of getting back to normal, the lived experience of intersectionality, and the challenge of centering root causes as we work to remedy disparities/inequities. Acknowledging the power of NIH as a sociocultural driver of academic medicine, the commentary positions anthropology as a disciplinary vehicle for moving between the individual and the social registers, ending with a reflection on critique as a form of praxis.