Assassination
Another horrifying day in the US election. My latest on Trump’s assassination threats for Globe and Mail: “By the way, and if she gets the pick – if…
Vale Elizabeth Colson
When Elizabeth Colson passed last month at the age of 99, anthropology lost one of its preeminent figures. Colson was a unique figure in many ways: She straddled…
AAA Intern Update: National Museum of African Art
This post was submitted by one of AAA’s 2016 summer interns, Chrislyn Laurore, an anthropology student at Mount Holyoke College. By now, many of us who have taken…
Morgan Pitelka, “Spectacular Accumulation: Material Culture, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Samurai Sociability” (U. of Hawaii Press, 2016)
Morgan Pitelka’s new book looks closely at the material culture of the Three Unifiers of the late sixteenth century in Japan– Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu–in……
Rio’s Olympic Festival in the Streets
In the 1980s, anthropologist John J. MacAloon argued that the real power of the Olympic Games lies in the unscripted, celebratory street festivals that erupt in public spaces.…
“Don’t Think About the Crisis, Work!”
Rage, Crisis, and the Informal Economy in Brazil The foundation of Brazilian modernity has emerged from an unresolved contradiction. The informal economy has embraced millions of low-income…
Virtual Rountable – Paul Anderson’s response #PoliticalAgency
1. To what extent does the notion of political agency help to understand political change? Michel de Certeau argued that agency comes in different shapes and sizes, according…
If Trump loses, who follows?
My latest for Quartz is a sequel of sorts to my Foreign Policy piece (see below) on the repercussions of a Trump loss, and how his campaign has…
An Update From Our Interns: NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch
This post comes from one of AAA’s 2016 summer interns, Kory Cooper, an anthropology student at Missouri State University. I can’t imagine a better place to work than…
Running Across America
It’s Not All About the Running Wake up, measure body weight, pack gear, run marathon, measure body weight, set up camp, go to sleep. Wake up, collect urine…
“As Americans, We Grieve”: Mass Shootings & Collective Trauma by Elle Nurmi
“As Americans, we grieve…”[1] Mass shootings in contemporary American society have emerged as events of profound political and cultural symbolism; indeed, the news media has often attributed to…
Paper: Reflections on media anthropology’s legacies and concerns
Budka, P. 2016. Reflections on media anthropology’s legacies and concerns (in digital times). Paper at “14th EASA Biennial Conference”, Milan: University of Milano-Bicocca, 20-23 Jul…
Virtual Roundtable – Mjriam Abu Samra’s response #PoliticalAgency
1. To what extent does the notion of political agency help to understand political change? I should emphasize here that my analysis of political agency is grounded in…
„Starting below Zero“: On the Situation of Women* in Refugee Camps in Berlin
Hide Press Release (19 Less Words) Miriam Bräu, Katharina Epstude, Ana Mara Erlenmaier, Lena Nahrwold, Maya Perusin Mysorekar, Maja Sisnowski, Laura Strott, Camila von Hein School gyms are…
Epistemologies of Equilibrium Must Fall: Thinking beyond the many turns in Anthropology
This entry is part 13 of 13 in the Decolonizing Anthropology series. By Nokuthula Hlabangane “Modernity will never again, up to the present, ask existentially or philosophically for…
Karen Sykes: The estranged citizens of Brexit
It was political 16 June 2016 I first heard the BBC Radio 4 announce the death of the Labour MP for the Spen Valley, West Yorkshire while I…
What FoodAnthropology Is Reading Now, August 8 Edition
The inter-webs are exploding with fascinating food and nutrition readings; we can hardly keep up here at FoodAnthropology. Before we get to the readings, however, we would…
Anthro in the news 8/8/16
Olympic sports vs. favela life Rio’s Rocinha favela in the foreground. Source: Wikipedia An article in The Chicago Tribune juxtaposed the lavish display of competitive sports at the…
Please Don’t Shoot the Fact-Checker
Anthropologists seeking to communicate their research to general audiences are likely to work with fact-checkers. Here’s some advice on how to handle the process if you’ve been interviewed…
In the Journals – July 2016
Welcome back to In the Journals, a monthly review of just a fraction of the most recent academic research on security, crime, policing, and the law. Summer is…
Anthropology outside Anthropology, Part 1
“I’m an anthropologist by training and I work as a medical interpreter.” When I tell this to people from anthropology backgrounds, I often receive sympathetic groans from them,…
Report: Media Anthropology Network activities at the 14th EASA Biennial Conference
Report on EASA Media Anthropology Network activities at the 14th EASA Biennial Conference, Milan, 20-23 July 2016 by Philipp Budka 1) EASA Media Anthropology Network Meeting (21 July…