Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging Hardback - 2017

"This book is a gem. Just as Malinowski produced ethnography of a single group that nevertheless spoke to universal problems of human existence, so too Leite's book speaks to profound contemporary problems of group identity, of how peoples with different interests conceive of others and themselves, and how they interact. Unorthodox Kin is written for scholars, but so beautifully and clearly that it will be accessible to a wide and divergent audience."--Edward Bruner, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Illinois

"Unorthodox Kin is the best ethnography I have read about how an identity category is lived subjectively while also circulating as a charged figure of judgment and desire in the eyes of other people. A beautifully written book, full of empathy and humor."-- Rupert Stasch, Fellow and Director of Studies, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University

"This engaging and lucid account of Portugal's crypto-Jews a century after their uncovering brings together anthropological perspectives on class identity in Portugal, heritage tourism, and Jewish religious practice. By focusing on histories of becoming, the author presents a truly innovative analysis not only of Judaism in Portugal but, more broadly, of how global communication and local history interact creatively in our contemporary world."--Joo de Pina-Cabral, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Kent

"An imaginative, engaging and absorbing account of Jewish kinship in the modern world; this will be a wonderful book for teaching as well as for reading."--Fenella Cannell, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, London School of Economics