Anne Allison



Anne Allison is a professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University in the United States, specializing in contemporary Japanese society. She wrote the book Nightwork on hostess clubs and Japanese corporate culture after having worked at a hostess club in Tokyo.

She received her BA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1986.

Duke Lacrosse Controversy
Allison was one of 88 signatories from Duke faculty in an advertisement that appeared in the Duke student newspaper shortly after the Duke lacrosse case broke, quoting anonymous individuals proclaiming sexism and racism in the community and thanking protesters for "not waiting" and "turning up the volume." Following publication, the ad became a center point of controversy. Some argued that it represented a "rush to judgment" of the players, noting that it spoke of "what happened to this young woman" rather than "what allegedly happened to this young woman." Others, including Allison, called that opinion an "intentional ... misread[ing]," arguing instead that the ad addressed "longstanding issues" of "sexism, racism, and sexual violence." The players were later declared innocent by the Attorney General Roy Cooper, and Mike Nifong was disbarred and jailed.

Books

 * Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club (1994)
 * Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan (1995)
 * "Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination" (2006)