What happens when ethnographers go public via books, opinion papers, media interviews, court testimonies, policy recommendations, or advocacy activities? Calling for a consideration of this public moment as part and parcel of the research process, the contributors to If Truth Be Told explore the challenges, difficulties, and stakes of having ethnographic research encounter various publics, ranging from journalists, legal experts, and policymakers to activist groups, local populations, and other scholars. The experiences they analyze include Didier Fassin's interventions on police and prison, Gabriella Coleman's multiple roles as intermediary between hackers and journalists, Kelly Gillespie's and Jonathan Benthall's experiences serving as expert witnesses, the impact of Manuela Ivone Cunha's and Vincent Dubois's work on public policies, and the vociferous attacks on the work of Unni Wikan and Nadia Abu El-Haj. With case studies from five continents, this collection signals the global impact of the questions that the publicization of ethnography raises about the public sphere, the role of the academy, and the responsibilities of social scientists.
Contributors. Jonathan Benthall, Lucas Bessire, João Biehl, Gabriella Coleman, Manuela Ivone Cunha, Vincent Dubois, Nadia Abu El-Haj, Didier Fassin, Kelly Gillespie, Ghassan Hage, Sherine Hamdy, Federico Neiburg, Unni Wikan

Introduction: When Ethnography Goes Public / Didier Fassin  1
Part I. Strategies
1. Gopher, Translator, and Trickster: The Ethnographer and the Media / Gabriella Coleman  19
2. What Is a Public Intervention? Speaking Truth to the Oppressed / Ghassan Hage  47
3. Before the Commission: Ethnography as Pubic Testimony / Kelly Gillespie  69
4. Addressing Policy-Oriented Audiences: Relevance and Persuasiveness / Manuela Ivone Cunha  96
Part II. Engagements
5. Serendipitous Involvement: Making Peace in the Geto / Federico Neiburg  119
6. Tactical versus Critical: Indigenizing Public Ethnography / Lucas Bessire  138
7. Experto Crede? A Legal and Political Conundrum / Jonathan Benthall  160
8. Policy Ethnography as a Combat Sport: Analyzing the Welfare State against the Grain / Vincent Dubois  184
Part III. Tensions
9. Academic Freedom at Risk: The Occasional Worldliness of Scholarly Texts / Nadia Abu El-Haj  205
10. Perils and Prospects of Going Public: Between Academia and Real Life / Unni Wikan  228
11. Ethnography Prosecuted: Facing the Fabulation of Power / João Biehl  261
12. How Publics Shape Ethnographers: Translating across Divided Audiences / Sherine Hamdy  287
Epilogue: The Public Afterlife of Ethnography / Didier Fassin  311
Contributors  345
Index  349