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Anthropologist Anand Pandian wins 2026 Zócalo Book prize
The award recognizes nonfiction books that deepen understanding of community, social cohesion and the forces that shape human connection.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 05, Jun 2026
- 17:56 EDT
- 40
Anand Pandian / zocalopublicsquare.org
Indian American anthropologist and author Anand Pandian was named the recipient of the 2026 Zócalo Book Prize for his book, which explores the social, political and cultural divisions shaping life in the United States.
Pandian received the award for Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down, published by Stanford University Press in 2025.
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The book examines the physical and ideological barriers that separate Americans and explores how people across communities are working to overcome those divisions.
In announcing the award, judges praised the book's examination of divisions in American society and Pandian's engagement with people across the ideological spectrum.
“Pandian examines the deep divisions shaping American life and the everyday structures–both tangible and ideological–that keep people apart,” one judge wrote.
“Traveling across the United States, he speaks with a wide range of people across the ideological spectrum–from white nationalists and militia sympathizers to activists, mutual-aid organizers, neighbors, and people simply trying to bridge divides in their daily lives.”
Another judge called the work “a staggering indictment of the chasms in our culture and the institutions that promote and maintain them, and the resulting loneliness individuals seem to feel in a culture that is constantly at war with itself.”
Pandian is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. His work focuses on how people make sense of their lives and the worlds they inhabit during periods of social and ecological change.
He is the author of several books, including A Possible Anthropology: Methods for Uneasy Times and Ayya’s Accounts: A Ledger of Hope in Modern India. Pandian also serves as president of the Society for Cultural Anthropology and is a curator of the Ecological Design Collective, a community focused on ecological imagination and collaboration.
The annual Zócalo Book Prize event will be held on June 25 in Los Angeles and streamed live on YouTube. The program will feature a lecture by Pandian followed by an interview with political strategist Mike Madrid. The event will be co-presented by The Jar, an organization that promotes connection across differences.
Zócalo Public Square awards the annual $10,000 prize to the nonfiction book that best enhances understanding of community and the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion. Pandian is the 16th recipient of the award, joining previous winners including Danielle Allen, Jonathan Haidt, Héctor Tobar and Jean-Martin Bauer.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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