Recent Changes and Trends in the Practice of Applied Anthropology

The emergent global economy of the 21st century will create an ever greater need for research‐based information and pragmatic utilization of social science skills, creating new work opportunities for applied anthropologists in a variety of settings. However, anthropologists may need to adjust their traditional roles and tasks, approaches and methods, and priorities and guidelines to practice their craft effectively. Anthropological training and education must be based in sound ethnographic techniques, using contemporary tools, participatory methods, and interdisciplinary knowledge in order to accommodate faster‐paced work environments and to disseminate their findings efficiently to a diverse audience while fulfilling the goal of empowering and enabling humans around the world to address social, economic, and health issues, along with other pressing concerns facing their communities.