Jackie was also the series editor of New Directions in Anthropology (Berghahn Books) and co-series editor of IGS (Berg Publishers) for the CCCRW. Her publications included Insider and Outsiders (1996), Tourists and Tourism (co-edited with S Abram and D MacLeod, 1997), Anthropological Perspectives on Local Development (co-edited with S  Abram, 1997), and Learning from the Children: Childhood, Culture and Identity in a Changing World (co-edited with Ignacy-Marek Kaminski, 2012).

‘Jackie was an age-less source of energy in a lively and determined group of feminist-activist-scholars in Queen Elizabeth House’, writes former ODID Head of Department Barbara Harriss-White of Jackie’s role at CCCRW/IGS.

‘What a wonderful life of vitality, creativity, bonhomie, deep kindness, and inclusiveness towards others Jackie Waldren led’, writes Deborah Bryceson, a former member of IGS. ‘Jackie’s participation in CCCRW/IGS for several decades was foundational to the communal soul of the group and its unfolding evolution’.

‘Jackie's gregarious yet pragmatic approach to life led her always to be unobtrusively in the forefront of getting things done during IGS events. She was wonderful with students, providing them with tailor-made tutorials and inspiring lectures. She and Janette Davies [a medical anthropologist] hatched all sorts of fascinating seminar themes, then followed through with all the time-consuming efforts required to find and contact prospective seminar speakers, albeit helped by their extensive networks of interesting academics working on intriguing topics.

‘As an accomplished academic, who encouraged collaborative work, Jackie published excellent scholarly books and edited collections. Working actively with Berg and then Berghahn publishers on book series connected with IGS, [CCCRW co-founder] Shirley Ardener and Jackie facilitated the publication of a massive number of anthropological books, which encompassed a global array of accomplished anthropologists as well as affording many younger scholars their first chance to publish.’ 

Barbara and Deborah evoke the life-force that was Jackie so well. A marvellous combination of intellectual intensity, attentive receptivity, bohemian exuberance, and capacity for the most genuine emotional warmth. When I received, belatedly, news of Jackie’s passing, she immediately, irrepressibly sprang into life for me. Jackie’s respectful treatment and sensitive encouragement of researchers at an early stage of their careers brought out the best in others, inspiring the most tentative young scholars to persevere with their quest for knowledge that they hoped would come to matter. She left a legacy of considerable worth, not only through her writing, mentoring, and teaching.

In an article published on news of her death, the Majorca Daily Bulletin wrote that Jackie and her husband ‘helped to transform Deya into the cultural epicentre of Mallorca’. The museum and research centre they founded became a space where archaeologists, researchers, and students were able to pursue the varied pleasures of discovery and mutual learning, engage in debates and share findings, but also indulge in the pleasures of good food and stimulating company. And reigning over it all was Jackie, combining a considerable intellectual presence with an ever elegant and splendidly accessorised appearance.

Maria Jaschok (IGS director 2000-18)

9 March 2022