About

Since 2002, Prickly Paradigm Press has published nearly 60 pamphlets on topics ranging from anarchism to artificial intelligence. We’re dedicated to unconventional approaches drawn from across the scholarly disciplines, and under new leadership in 2026, we’re deepening our commitment to informed historically informed thinking, drawing on scholarship from across the disciplines to bring depth and perspective to questions of broader public concern. Dispatches, our editorial supplement, gives editors, authors, and invited contributors a space to amplify and respond to the printed word.

History

The roots of Prickly Paradigm Press trace back to 1993, when anthropologists Keith Hart (1943-2025) and Anna Grimshaw started Prickly Pear, a small press designed to revitalize the pamphlet tradition and break down the barriers surrounding academic writing. Publishing ten pamphlets — including works by Simon Schaffer and Marilyn Strathern — they sought, in their own words, “to reinvent anthropology as a means of engaging with society.”

Anthropologist Matthew Engelke took over Prickly Pear in 1998, which in 2002 became Prickly Paradigm Press under the direction of Marshall Sahlins (1930-2021). The press went on to publish nearly 50 pamphlets drawing from anthropology, critical theory, politics, and beyond, including works by David Graeber, Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, and Sahlins himself. Engelke became executive publisher in 2021, overseeing the establishment of Ode Books, an imprint produced in collaboration with the Chicago Seminary Bookstore, celebrating book spaces, reading, and the book industry, with founding works by Paul Yamazaki and Donna Seaman.

In 2026, historian Peter Sahlins and philosopher Ramona Naddaff took over as executive publishers, bringing a renewed focus on historically informed perspectives from across the scholarly disciplines. Their aim is to expand both the authors and audiences Prickly Paradigm reaches, and to experiment with digital platforms that extend and enhance the printed word — carrying the pamphlet tradition into the Digital Age.

Prickly Paradigm Press is independently owned and managed; our books are distributed by The University of Chicago Press.

Publishers
Peter Sahlins
Ramona Naddaff

Senior Editor
Colin Groundwater

Associate Editor
Connor Martini

Assistant Editor
Chloé Faux

Editorial Board
Matthew Engelke
Linda Kinstler
Madeleine Schwartz
Adam Shatz
Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins
Tamara Straus
Nadia Tazi
Patrick Weil

Book Design
Daniel Murphy

Web Design
Lucy Andersen

Support
Open Society Foundations