Anastasia Piliavsky (University of Oxford)

Anastasia Piliavsky
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
University of Oxford
Wolfson College
Oxford OX2 6UD
United Kingdom

phones: 44/7769-553179 (mobile)
email: anastasia.piliavsky@anthro.ox.ac.uk
url: http://www.piliavskyart.com

Description of work:
My research is based in Rajasthan and my current project is revolving 
around a community of petty thieves with a focus on local structures of 
support of their activities.  Broader questions that keep me occupied 
include ideas of gossip, secrecy and deviance, as can be approached from 
historical and ethnographic perspectives.

Topics and themes: 
Kanjars, Rajasthan, Mewar, Chittorgarh, Chambal River gangs, thugs, 
banditry, social functions of gossip, secrecy, and criminality; history 
and anthropology of shadow economies and extra-legal networks in 
Northern India.