Today I’m thrilled to announce the release of Where Systems Touch the Ground: Applied Anthropology Essays on Culture, Power, and the Fragile Machinery of Everyday Life. This collection brings together some of the most compelling, field‑sharpened writing on how systems shape the lived experiences of real people. Edited by Jeffrey Iverson, the book explores the subtle, often invisible points where institutions, technologies, and policies meet the rhythms of everyday life — and what happens when those systems falter, collide, or transform.
These essays move across workplaces, digital platforms, public services, governance structures, and community life, revealing how culture and power operate in the smallest interactions. Rather than treating systems as distant abstractions, the book shows how they are felt in the body, negotiated in relationships, and interpreted through cultural meaning. It’s a volume for readers who want to understand not only how systems work, but how they feel — and how applied anthropology can help us imagine more humane futures.