Bram Büscher

Very sad news. Jim Ferguson was a brilliant scholar, a leading light in Anthropology, development studies and the social sciences and an allround amazing intellectual. He profoundly influenced my thinking and that of countless others.

I remember vividly reading his famous book ‘The Anti-Politics Machine’. I was in Lesotho doing fieldwork for my PhD and had a copy of the book with me. It was one of the absolute ‘must-reads’ in my field of development studies, and I knew I couldn’t be working in Lesotho and not having read it. It was an incredible experience: both the book itself, the way that Jim built his argument and the erudite way in which he combined astute ethnography and theoretical insights, as well as being in the context the book dealt with – the beautiful country of Lesotho.

It instantly changed my thinking. Given that I also studied a world bank intervention, the parallels between Ferguson’s book and my research were evident. But there were also important differences, and it took me time to work through them, empirically and theoretically. It ultimately led to a paper on ‘anti-politics as political strategy’ (https://lnkd.in/e4wdNrtg) that was a real turning point for me professionally, which would simply never have been possible without Ferguson’s work.

Later works, especially his books ‘expectations of modernity’, and ‘global shadows’ were equally influential. Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal world Order, showed Anthropologists – and many others – that through ethnographical sensibilities, one can say something about bigger categories, including ‘Africa’ in the world order. Indeed, Jim urged as to do so, so as not to leave macro analyses to economists. As a political scientist-turned anthropologist/geographer, this resonated with me tremendously.

I was also very lucky to have interacted with him several times when he was visiting professor at Anthropology VU Amsterdam, where I did my PhD. Indeed, he even joined my PhD committee, which gave me a tremendous boost. We differed on several issues, especially in relation to the influence and structural force of capitalism, but debating Jim was always an incredible honour and pleasure. I always felt I was in the room with a ‘bigger’ person: never arrogant or domineering, but someone who simply thinks on some higher level I wanted to aspire to. Thomas Hansen’s description of Jim is spot on: “He wore his erudition and brilliance lightly”.

Jim Ferguson will be sorely missed. I am truly saddened by his passing, but also grateful for his work and incredible legacy. In the maddening times we are in, it is more important than ever to remember people like Jim Ferguson and the personal and intellectual example he set.