About

Ted Fischer is professor of anthropology and director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University. His research combines cultural anthropology and political economy with a geographical focus on highland Guatemala and Germany. His ongoing fieldwork is centered in Maya areas of Guatemala, but recently he has been studying consumer behavior, labor relations, and moral models in Germany. Fischer also founded and runs Maní+, a social enterprise that develops and produces products to combat malnutrition.

Fischer’s many publications include The Good Life: Aspiration, Dignity, and the Anthropology of Wellbeing (2014) and Broccoli and Desire: Global Connections and Maya Struggles in Postwar Guatemala (with Peter Benson, 2006), both from Stanford University Press. He holds a PhD from Tulane University.