Charles Taylor Book Award Honorable Mention 2024: Asad L. Asad, for Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life
Honorable Mention: Asad L. Asad (Stanford University) for Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life (Princeton University Press, 2023)
In Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life (Princeton University Press, 2023), Asad L. Asad provides a phenomenological account of the lives of undocumented immigrants, delineating how they experience—and the meanings they ascribe to—various forms of surveillance. Drawing from in-depth interviews and ethnographic research, Asad provides a nuanced account of why the undocumented do not simply “evade” state institutions, but also, at different moments, find it advantageous to “engage” with them. The text itself is layered with ethnographic writing and insights—for example, from an immigration court—while the methodological appendix includes a thoughtful discussion of the author’s positionality vis-à-vis his interlocutors. As this well-researched and clearly argued ethnographic work usefully highlights how interpretive approaches can contribute to our understanding of complex and politically salient topics, the committee is pleased to recognize Engage and Evade with the Honorable Mention for this year's Charles Taylor book award.
Selection Committee:
Farah Godrej (chair), University of California, Riverside
Kevin Funk, Columbia University
José Ciro Martínez, University of York
