Peter Pels
Professor of Anthropology and Sociology of Africa
- Name
- Prof.dr. P.J. Pels
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 3458
- pels@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-6504-6649
Peter Pels (1958) is Professor in the Anthropology of Africa at the University of Leiden since 2003. He graduated from the University of Amsterdam in 1993 on a study of interactions between missionaries and Africans in late colonial Tanganyika, and has since continued to work on the construction of differences of culture and power in human relationships. He was the editor of Social Anthropology between 2002 and 2007. He just published The Spirit of Matter, a book on material culture, religion and the power of objects. Peter coordinates research into modern conceptions of the future, museums, and heritage.
More information about Peter Pels
News
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Peter Pels in Andere Tijden about fathers of the Holy Spirit and Africa Museum -
Leiden research projects awarded NWO Open Competition grants -
Research Gold Matters in Volkskrant report on Burkina Faso -
Social Science Matters: The (non)sense of conspiracy theories -
Cultural Anthropologist Peter Pels part of research team into colonial collections -
Social Science Matters: Open Science -
Research Seminars & Workshops Spring 2016
Blogs
Publications
Research
Peter Pels is a specialist in the study of religion and politics in situations of colonial contact, material culture studies, the history of anthropology, the anthropology of magic, and social science ethics. He supervised PhD research on African religion, global cyberculture, modern constructions of the future, colonial photography and cinematic representation, water conservation and natural heritage. He edited Social Anthropology between 2003 and 2008, and was an advisor on religion and materiality to the Çatalhöyük Research Project, led by archaeologist Ian Hodder between 2007 and 2015. He is currently working on heritage and colonial collections in the Netherlands and abroad, with a special emphasis on collections of African art.
His book The Spirit of Matter. Modernity, Religion, and the Power of Objects will appear with Berghahn Books in 2023, as will Museum Temporalities. Time, History, and the Future of the (Ethnographic) Museum (Routledge; co-edited and introduced with Wayne Modest). His current research and PhD supervision focuses on the methodology of critical studies of race and heritage, in transatlantic Africa and Europe in particular.
Autobiography of an anthropological career on film
- Peter Pels. Film 1: How I became an anthropologist
- Peter Pels. Film 2: A study of how life a mountain people in Tanzania was affected by a global influence: contacts and colonialism
- Peter Pels. Film 3: Anthropology in a historical perspective, missionaries and Indigenous politics
- Peter Pels. Film 4: Fetishism, magic and modernity in Africa and elsewhere: breaking the division between us and others
- Peter Pels. Film 5: Ethics about Anthropology today and collaborative research in Çatalhöyük
- Peter Pels. Film 6: The Çatalhöyük experience: religion, material culture and temporality
- Peter Pels. Film 7: Anthropology of modern times: global religions, technology and science fiction
Publications
List of Publications Peter Pels (2022)
Open-access articles:
- Peter Pels, 'After objectivity: An historical approach to the intersubjective in ethnography', HAU 4 (1): 211–236.
- Pels, P. (2022). Classification revisited: On time, methodology and position in decolonizing anthropology. Anthropological Theory, 22(1), 78–101.
PhD candidates
- Willem van Wijk, “Museums of diversity and their audiences” (co-supervision with Dr. Jasmijn Rana; At Home Otherwise project, NWO funding, 2023-2028).
- Simay Çetin, “Everyday home-making as heritage: allotment gardens and diversity” (co-supervision with Dr. Jasmijn Rana; At Home Otherwise project, NWO funding, 2023-2028).
- Esther van de Camp, “Transformations and sustainability in Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining in Busia (Uganda)” (Gold Matters project, NORFACE and Belmont Forum funded, co-supervision with Dr. Sabine Luning, 2019-2023)
- Nina Adriaanse, “Het verborgen leven van labels. De werking van classificaties op de onderwijsloopbaan van studenten aan de lerarenopleiding maatschappijleer” (NWO Promotiebeurs leraren, 2018-2023).
- Fang-I Chu, “Tales of the haunting victims: The commemoration of traumatized memories and religious belief about negative heritage in Taiwan’s offshore islands” (Taiwan Ministry of Education grant, 2018-2022)
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Zane Kripe, “Emerging futurities in Muslim Southeast Asia: Science fantasy, digital development and the urge for moral technology” (NWO “Cultural Dynamics” grant, 2010-2015)
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Johannes Ullrich Merz, “Semiotics and Materiality of Christian Films in Benin” (funded by Summer Institute of Linguistics, Benin, 2010-2014)
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Marlous van den Akker, “Facing Mount Kenya: The Global Debate about Natural “World Heritage” (Research profile “Global Interactions”, University of Leiden; 2010-2014)
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Andrea Cerda Pereira, “Branding Chile. Advertising the Nation in a Global World” (Chilean Government Grant, 2009-2013)
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Christoph Rippe, “Repatriating Photographs? Towards a Social Analysis of the Re-presentation of a Collection of South African Missionary Photographs” (NWO/MaGW grant, 2009-2013)
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Richard Fraser, “Eco-tourism, Sustainable Development, and Survival Skills Amongst the Darkhad of Northwest Mongolia” (NWO Toptalent grant, 2008-2012)
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Maarten Onneweer, “The Social Life of Springs: Researching a Landscape of Spirits and Development in Kitui District, Kenya” (CNWS research project, 2006-2011)
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Metje Postma, “Representing the Rashaayda” (CA/OS Research project, 2006-2010)
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Lotte Pelckmans, “Remembering Slavery: Travelling Hierarchies of Fulbe Societies in Mali and France” (with Prof. Dr. M. de Bruijn; NWO/WOTRO grant, 2005-2009; degree granted 22 Sep. 2011)
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Dorien Zandbergen, “Silicon Valley New Age” (NWO grant, 2004-2008, degree granted 25 May 2011)
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Tryfon Bampilis, “Greek Whisky: The Localisation of a Global Commodity” (IKY [Greek National Research Fund] grant, 2004-2008, degree granted 10 February 2010)
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Martijn Wienia, “Ominous Calm: Autochthony and Sovereignty in Nanumba-Konkomba Peace and Violence, Ghana” (CNWS research project, 2004-2008; degree granted 15 December 2009)
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Robert Akoko, “Ask and you shall be given. Pentecostalism and economic crisis in Cameroon” (with Prof. P.L. Geschiere; degree granted 26 June 2007)
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Ibrahim Mouiche, “Autorités traditionelles et processus de démocratisation au Cameroun » (with Prof. P.L. Geschiere; degree granted 2 November 2005)
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Philip Havik, “Silences and Soundbytes. The gendered dynamics of trade and brokerage in the pre-colonial Guinea Bissau region” (with Prof. P.L. Geschiere; degree granted 10 June 2004)
Professor of Anthropology and Sociology of Africa
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Culturele Antropologie/ Ontw. Sociologie
- Pels P.J. (2023), The spirit of matter: modernity, religion and the power of objects no. 45. New York/Oxford: Berghahn.
- Pels P.J. (2023), Provincializing the universal. In: Salemink O., Correa A.S., Sejrup J. & Nielsen V. (Eds.), Global art in local art worlds : changing hierarchies of value. Abindgon/New York: Routlegde. 145-50.
- Pels P.J. (2023), The 'X' in Alex Haley: reflections on 'roots', race, and kinship, Etnofoor 35(2): 17-34 (3).
- Pels P.J. (2021), Classification revisited: on time, methodology and position in decolonizing anthropology, Anthropological Theory 22(1): 78-101.
- Pels P.J. (2020), Your GUTS tell(s) you it’s time: how an anthropology of the future may look at stress, Etnofoor 32(1): 93-108.
- Koning M. de, Moors A., Meyer B. & Pels P. (2019), Guidelines for anthropological research: Data management, ethics, and integrity, Ethnography 20(2): 170-174.
- Dilger H., Pels P. & Sleeboom-Faulkner M. (2019), Guidelines for data management and scientific integrity in ethnography, Ethnography 20(1): 3-7.
- Pels P.J. (2018), Anthropology as Science Fiction, or How Print Capitalism Enchanted Victorian Science. In: Moeran B. & Waal Malefijt T. de (Eds.), Magical Capitalism: Enchantment, Spells and Occult Practices in Contemporary Economies. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 239-268.
- Pels P. (2018), Anthropology Should Never Be Fully Decolonized .., Etnofoor 30(2): 71-76.
- Pels P. (2018), Ethnography, Intersubjective. In: , The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. London: John Wiley & Sons.
- Pels P., Boog I., Florusbosch H.J., Kripe Z., Minter T., Postma M., Sleeboom‐Faulkner M., Simpson B., Dilger H., Schönhuth M., Poser A., Castillo R.C., Lederman R. & Richards‐Rissetto H. (2018), Data management in anthropology: The next phase in ethics governance?, Social Anthropology 26(3): 391-413.
- Pels P.J. (2017), Enchanted reason: science fiction, print capitalism and the magic of anthropology, Anthropology Today 33(2): 10-14.
- Dietz A.J. & Pels P.J. (2017), Africa's urbanity as heritage. In: Folkers A. & Perzyna I. (Eds.), The Beeker Method : planning and working on the redevelopment of the African City : retrospective glances into the future. ASCL occasional publications no. 27. Leiden: African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). 151-160.
- Pels P. (2015), Modern Times: Seven Steps toward and Anthropology of the Future, Current Anthropology 56(6): 779-796.
- Pels P. (2015), The Future is NOW: The Global Sixties and its Fragments. In: Shatanawi M. & Modest W. (Eds.), The Sixties: A Worldwide Happening. Amsterdam: Lecturis & Tropenmuseum. 110-121.
- Pels P. (2015), Magic. In: Brent Plate S. (Ed.), Key Terms in Material Religion. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 117-122.
- Pels P. (2015) The Raw and the Overcooked. Review of: Palmié S. (2013), Cooking of History. Chicago. Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft 10: 219-225.
- Van Weerd M., Taggueg J., Kok R.J., Pels P., Masipiguena M., Gatan-Balbas M. & Persoon G.A. (2014), International Course on Water and Water Management in the Philippines 2014. Leiden, Netherlands and Cabagan, Philippines. [lecture].
- Pels P.J. (2014), Magic. In: Kelly M. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Aesthetics: Oxford University Press. 233-237.
- Hodder I. (2014), Using "Magic" to think from the material: Tracing distributed agency, revelation and concealment at Catalhöyük [Religion at Work in a Neolithic Society] (translation: Nakamura C.M. & Pels P.). In: Hodder I. (Ed.), Religion at Work in a Neolithic Society. New York: Cambridge University Press. 187-225.
- Pels P.J. (2014), After objectivity: An historical approach to the intersubjective in ethnography, Hau Journal of Ethnographic Theory 4(1): 211-236.
- Baud M., Legêne S. & Pels P. (2013), Draaien om de werkelijkheid. Rapport over het antropologisch werk van prof. em. M.M.G. Bax.
- Pels P. (12 November 2013), Ethnographic fieldwork in the 21st century. Leiden Anthropology Blog. [blog entry].
- Pels P.J. (2013) A "Black Hole" of imperial amnesia. Review of: Chatterjee Partha (2012), The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Current Anthropology 54(5): 650-653.
- Pels P.J. (2012), Amazing Stories. How Science Fiction Sacralizes the Secular. In: Stolow J. (Ed.), Deus in Machina. Religion, Technology, and the Things in Between.. New York: Fordham University Press. 213-238.
- Pels P.J. (2012), The Modern Fear of Matter: Reflections on the Protestantism of Victorian Science. In: Meyer B. & Houtman D. (Eds.), Things: Material Religion and the Topography of Divine Spaces. New York: Fordham University Press. 27-39.
- Pels P.J. (2011), Global 'experts' and African 'minds': Tanganyika anthropology as public and secret service, 1925-61, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 17: 788-810.
- Pels P.J. (13 November 2010), De Gammacanon (46) Antropologie Taboe. De Volkskrant.
- Hodder I. & Pels P.J. (2010), History houses: A new interpretation of architectural eleboration at Çatalhöyük. In: Hodder I. (Ed.), Religion in the emergence of civilization: Çatalhöyük as a case study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 163-186.
- Pels P.J. (2010), Temporalities of "religion" at Çatalhöyük. In: Hodder I. (Ed.), Religion in the emergence of civilization: Çatalhöyük as a case study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 220-267.
- Pels P.J. (2010), Magical things: on fetishes, commodities, and computers. In: Hicks D. & Beaudry M.C. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of material culture studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 613-633.
- Pels P.J. (2010), The extended case for method. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2009), Missionaries. In: Iriye A. & Saunier P-Y. (Eds.), Dictionary of Transnational History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Pels P.J., Meyer B. & Geschiere P.L. (2009), Introduction. In: Geschiere P.L., Meyer B. & Pels P. (Eds.), Readings in modernity in Africa. Oxford/Bloomington: James Currey/Indiana University Press. 1-7.
- Pels P.J. (2009), The Pidginization of Luguru politics. Administrative ethnography and the paradoxes of indirect rule. In: Geschiere P., Meyer B. & Pels P. (Eds.), Readings in modernity in Africa. Oxford/Bloomington: James Currey/Indiana University Press. 57-71.
- Pels P.J., Geschiere P.L. & Meyer B. (Eds.) (2009), Readings in modernity in Africa. Oxford/Bloomington: James Currey/Indiana University Press.
- Barnard A., Pels P.J. & Spencer J. (2009), Functie bij : Encyclopedia of Cultural and Social Anthopologiy. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2009), In difficult order: Anthropology, history, politics, discipline (review essay), Current Anthropology 50(5): 742-743.
- Pels P.J. (2008), What has anthropology learned from the anthropology of colonialism?, Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale (journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists) 16(3): 280-299.
- Pels P.J., Aupers S. & Houtman D. (2008), Cybergnosis. Technology, religion and the secular. In: Vries H. de (Ed.), Religion. Beyond a Concept. New York: Fordham University Press. 687-703.
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2008), Associate editor bij : Encyclopedia of cultural and social anthropology (ed. A. Barnard & J. Spencer). London: Routledge.
- Pels P.J. (2008), The modern fear of matter: Reflections on the protestantism of Victorian Science, Material Religion 4/3: 264-283.
- Pels P.J. (2007), Imagining elections: Modernity, mediation and the secret ballot in late colonial Tanganyika. In: Bertrand R., Pels P.J. & Briquet J.-L. (Eds.), Cultures of voting. The hidden history of the secret ballot. London/Bloomington: Hurst & Co./Indiana University Press. 100-113.
- Bertrand R., Pels P.J. & Briquet J.-L. (2007), Introduction: Towards a historical ethnography of voting. In: Bertrand R., Pels P.J. & Briquet J.-L. (Eds.), Cultures of voting. The hidden history of the secret ballot. London/Bloomington: Hurst & CO./Indiana University Press. 1-15.
- Pels P.J. (2007), Afterword: Writing in the margins of a marginal discipline. In: Hulme P. & McDougall R. (Eds.), Writing, travel and empire: On the margins of anthropology. London/New York: I.B. Tauris. 221-235.
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2007), . Encyclopedia of Cultural and Social Anthropology.
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2007), . El Taller de la Historia.
- Bertrand R., Pels P.J. & Briquet J.-L. (Eds.) (2007), Cultures of voting. The hidden history of the secret ballot. London/Bloomington: Hurst & Co./Indiana University Press.
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2007), . Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale (journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists).
- Pels P.J. (2006), Response to Matt Bradshaw. In: , LATISS (Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences) 207-210.
- Pels P.J. (2006), Wo's keine zehn Gebote gibt. Eine Revision des Verständnisses von Ethik anlässlich des Darkness-in-El-Dorado-Skandals. In: Hornbacher A. (Ed.), Ethik, ethos, ethnos. Aspekte und probleme interkultureller Ethik. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. 37-73.
- Pels P.J. (2006), Functie bij : NWO/MaGW. [other].
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2006), . Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale (journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists).
- Pels P.J. (2006), Functie bij : European Association of Social Anthropologists; member of EASA Publication Committee. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2006), Organisatie Jubilieumconferentie CA/OS. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2006), Transformation and reconstitution of Khoe-San Identities. A.A.S. le Fleur I, Griqua Identities and Post-Apartheid Khoe-San Revivalism (1894-2004)dentites. Leiden: Universiteit Leiden. [other].
- Meskell L.M.M. & Pels P.J. (2005), Introduction: Embedding ethics. In: Meskell J.M.M. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Embedding ethics. New York/London: Berg Publishers. 1-26.
- Pels P.J. (2005), Where there aren't no ten commandments: Redefining ethics during the El Dorado scandal. In: Meskell L.M.M. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Embedding ethics. New York/London: Berg Publishers. 69-99.
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2005), . Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale (journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists).
- Meskell L.M.M. & Pels P.J. (Eds.) (2005), Embedding ethics. New York/Oxford: Berg Publishers.
- Pels P.J. (2005), The Construction of Ethnographic Occasions in Late Colonial Uluguru, History and Anthropology : 321-351.
- Meskell L.M. & Pels P.J. (2005), Introduction: Embedding ethics. In: Meskell L.M. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Embedding Ethics. Embedding ethics. Oxford: Berg. 1-26.
- Pels P.J. (2005), The Spirit of Matter: On Fetish, Rarity, Fact and Fancy, Border Fetishisms. Material Objects in Unstable Spaces : 91-121.
- Pels P.J. (2005), Magic and technology. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), Hackers & Utopia (three public lectures). [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), Performing Anthropology. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), Exceptionalising Africa: Towards an Anthropology of the global political imagination. [other].
- Onneweer M. & Pels P.J. (2005), Executive Committee meeting. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), NWO "Cyberspace Salvations" research project. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), Modern gnosis, computer and music. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2005), What has anthropology learned from the anthropology of colonialism?. [other].
- Pels P.J. (Ed.) (2004), . European Association of Social Anthropologists.
- Pels P.J. (2004), The public position of anthropology. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2004), Journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2004), Meeting of Anthropology journals editors in Europe. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2004), Magic and Technology. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2004), Cyberspace Salvations. Computer technology, simulation and modern gnosis. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2004), Editorial: Anthropology after Darwin, Social Anthropology 12(2): 173-175.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Introduction: Magic and modernity. In: Meyer B. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Magic and Modernity. Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Stanford, USA: Stanford University Press. 1-38.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Spirits of modernity: Alfred Wallace, Edward Tylor, and the visual politics of fact. In: Meyer B. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Magic and Modernity. Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Stanford, USA: Stanford University Press. 241-271.
- Meyer B. & Pels P.J. (Eds.) (2003), Magic and modernity. Stanford, USA: Stanford University Press.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Spirits of Modernity: Alfred Wallace, Edward Tylor and the Visual Politics of Facts. Magic and Modernity. Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Introduction: Magic and Modernity. In: Meyer B. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Magic and Modernity. Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Magic and Modernity. Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. vii + 390.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Manuscript reviewer for American Anthropologist, and Current Anthropology. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), The politics of scandal. Paris: ASSR/CERI. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), Review of: Spear T. & Kimabo I.N. (1999), East African expressions no. 4. Oxford/Athens. Ohio: James Currey/Ohio University Press. Africa Today 40: 150-152.
- Pels P.J. (2003), Chieftaincy and indirect rule. Reflections on sovereignty and secrecy in late colonial Tanganyika. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), The peasant's professional: A brief history of Tanganyikan anthropology, 1925-1960. Program of Agrarian Studies, Yale University. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale, journal of the European Association of Social Anthropologists. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), Magic and technology. Nederlands Godsdienst Genootschap. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), Cities and globalization. Yale University. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2003), 'Where there aren't no ten commandments': The emergent ethics of the El Dorado scandal. Paris: ASSR/CERI. [other].
- Pels P.J. (2002), How Anthropology Dissolves Its Object: The Critical History of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, Tales from Academia: History of Anthropology in the Netherlands, part 1 : 365-391.
- Pels P.J. (2002), Creolisation in secret: The birth of nationalism in late colonial Uluguru, Tanzania, Africa 72(1): 1-28.
- Pels P.J. (2001), Imaginer les élections. Modernité, médiation et vote secret au Tanganyika à la fin de la période coloniale, Politique Africaine 83: 135-150.
- Pels P.J. (2001), Review of: Tierney P. (2001), Darkness in El Dorado: How scientists and journalists devastated the Amazon no. 2. New York: W.W. Norton. Current Anthropology 42: 268-269.
- Pels P.J. (2001) Religion, consumerism and the modernity of the new age. Review of: Heelas P. (2001), The new age movement: The celebration of the self and the sacralization of modernity no. 3. Oxford: Blackwell. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford 29: 263-272.
- Pels P.J. (2001), Imaginer les élections. Modernité, mediation et vote secret au Tanganyika à la fin de la période coloniale, Politique Africaine (83): 135-150.
- Pels P.J. (2000), The Trickster's Dilemma. Anthropological ethics and method as liberal technologies of self. In: Strathern M. (Ed.), Audit Cultures. Anthopological studies in accountability, ethics and the academy. London/New York: Routledge. 135-172.
- Pels P.J. (2000), Occult truths: Race, conjecture and theosophy in Victorian Anthropology. In: Handler R. & Stocking G.W. (Eds.), Excluded ancestors, inventible traditions: Essays towards a more inclusive history of anthropology. Madison, USA: University of Wisconsin Press. 11-41.
- Pels P.J. (2000), Kizungu Rhythms. Luguru Christianity ass Ngoma. In: Gunderson F. & Barz G. (Eds.), Mashindano! Competitive Music Performance in East Africa. Dar es Salaam/London: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers / African Books Collective Ltd.. 101-142.
- Pels P.J. (2000), Occult Truths: Race, Conjecture and Theosophy in Victorian Anthropology, Excluded Ancestors, Inventible Traditions: Essays Towards a More Inclusive History of Anthropology (History of Anthropology vol. 9) : 11-41.
- Pels P.J. (1999), A politics of presence. Contacts between missionaries and Africans in Late Colonial Tanganyika. Switzerland/UK: Reading/Harwood Academic Publishers.
- Pels P.J. (1999), The rise and fall of the Indian Aborigines. Orientalism, anglicism and the emergence of an ethnology of India. In: Pels P. & Salemink O. (Eds.), Colonial subjects. Essays in the practical history of anthropology. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. 82-116.
- Pels P.J. & Salemink O. (1999), Introduction: Locating the colonial subjects of anthropology. In: Pels P. & Salemink O. (Eds.), Colonial subjects. Essays in the practical history of anthropology. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. 1-52.
- Pels P.J. & Salemink O. (Eds.) (1999), Colonial subjects. Essays in the practical history of anthropology. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
- Pels P.J. (1999), From Texts to Bodies: Brian Houghton Hodgson and the Emergence of Ethnology in India. In: Bremen J. van & Shimizu A. (Eds.), Anthropology and Colonialism in Asia and Oceania no. 4. Richmond: Curzon Press. 65-92.
- Pels P.J. (1999), Professions of Duplexity: A Prehistory of Ethical Codes in Anthropology, Current anthropology : a world journal of the sciences of man 40(2): 101-136.
- Pels P.J. (1999), The Rise and Fall of the Indian Aborigines. Orientalism, Anglicism and the Emergence of an Ethnology of India, Colonial Subjects. Essays in the Practical History of Anthropology : 82-116.
- Pels P.J. (1999), An ethical view from Europe, Anthropology News 40(6): 30-31.
- Pels P.J. (1999), Professions of duplexity. A prehistory of ethical codes in anthropology, Current Anthropology 40(2): 101-136.
- Pels P.J. (1998), The magic of Africa. Reflections on a western commonplace, African Studies Review 41(3): 193-209.
- Pels P.J. (1997), The Spirit of Matter: On Fetish, Rarity, Fact and Fancy. In: Spyer P. (Ed.), Border Fetishisms. Material Objects in Unstable Spaces. New York/London: Routledge. 91-120.
- Pels P.J. (1997), The anthropology of colonialism: Culture, history, and the emergence of Western governmentality, Annual Review of Anthropology : .
- Pels P.J. (1997), The Anthropology of Colonialism: Culture, History and the Emergence of Western Governmentality, Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 163-183.
- Vedder P.H., Bouwer E. & Pels P.J. (1996), Multicultural child care. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
- Dijk R.A. van & Pels P.J. (1996), Contested authorities and the politics of perception: deconstructing the study of religion in Africa. In: Werbner R. & Ranger T. (Eds.), Postcolonial identities in Africa. London: Zed Books. 245-270.
- Pels P.J. & Salemink O. (1994), Introduction: five theses on ethnography as colonial practice, History and Anthropology 8(1-4): 1-34.
- Pels P.J. (1992), Mumiani: the White Vampire. A Neo-Diffusionist Analysis of Rumour, Etnofoor 5: .
- Pels P.J. & Nencel L. (1991), Introduction: Critique and the Deconstruction of Anthropological Authority. In: Nencel L. & Pels P.J. (Eds.), Constructing Knowledge. Authority and Critique in Social Science. London: Sage Publications Ltd.. 1-21.
- Pels P.J. (1986), Defensief, teruggetrokken, veilig en voorzichtig: de stijl van de Nederlandse antropologie, Kennis en Methode : 150-168.
- member, International Advisory Board, Faculty of Social Sciences
- advies en coordinatie onderzoek