This exciting and original book explores a previously untouched dimension of the ethnographic encounter. It reveals myriad dimensions of significance that anthropologists have long-experienced but neglected to discuss. Buy it. - Paul Rabinow, The University of California, Berkeley, USA

A topic of great concern a century ago, crowds have returned to claim their place in our collective imaginations. They have done so in a radically new socio-technological milieu, but continue to inspire both fear and sometimes hope. This wonderful volume invites us to think beyond familiar figures of the crowd haunting liberal modernity, instead focusing on varied experiences of crowding to develop new conceptualizations more adequate to our age. - Francis Cody, University of Toronto, Canada

This important collection of ethnographic encounters demonstrates how we can position ourselves phenomenologically to understand a fixture of the early twenty-first century-crowds. The studies break new ground in locating the crowd as a medium and object of ethnographic inquiry. Expertly introduced by Steffen, providing a broad range of experiences, and featuring a guide for further reading, this volume is a must-read for anyone thinking reflexively in an ever-crowded world. - Matthew S. Erie, University of Oxford, UK

Megan Steffen is an Independent Scholar, and received her PhD in Anthropology from Princeton University, USA.

FiguresContributorsForeword - John Borneman, Series EditorAcknowledgements0. Introduction - Megan Steffen, User Experience Researcher, Mountain View, CA, USA1. The Syrian Revolution: Crowds, the Political Field, the Political Subject - John Borneman, Princeton University, USA2. The Disappearance of the Crowd and the Rise of Dissent in Thailand - Tyrell Haberkorn, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA3. Spectacles of Piety: Prayer and the Politics of Mass Arousal in Democratic Nigeria - Ebenezer Obadare, University of Kansas, USA 4. Crowds and Transformations: On the Pious Crowds of the Hajj - Abdellah Hammoudi, Princeton University, USA5. Too Many People: Crowds and Cliques in Contemporary China - Megan Steffen, User Experience Researcher, Mountain View, CA, USA6. Regarding Others: Metro Crowds, Metro Publics, Metro Mobs - Rashmi Sadana, George Mason University, USA7. Emotional Entrainment in Crowds and Other Social Formations - Douglas Hollan, UCLA, USA8. Enduring Crowds: The Ritual Molding of the Anthropos in the Prolonging of Political Protest - Bjorn Thomassen, Roskilde University, Denmark9. The Ethics of the Digital: Crowds and Popular Justice in Bangladesh Nusrat - Sabina Chowdhury, Amherst College, USA10. Death on the Bund: Crowd Control and the Chinese Dream in Shanghai - Scott Moskowitz, Princeton University, USAGuide to Further Reading - Megan Steffen, User Experience Researcher, Mountain View, CA, USASelected BibliographyNotes