Black, Pregnant, and Always Vigilant
A former National Health Service doctor and multidisciplinary scholar explores how Black women in the U.K. manage reproductive risks and anxieties. ✽ I sit at my laptop, debating…
A former National Health Service doctor and multidisciplinary scholar explores how Black women in the U.K. manage reproductive risks and anxieties. ✽ I sit at my laptop, debating…
A Venezuelan anthropologist reflects on distrust he felt from residents of informal settlements in Santiago, Chile—and how his experiences track global trends of fearing outsiders. ✽ I knocked…
In a personal essay, an anthropologist reflects on her family’s dual Syrian and French heritage. ✽ Throughout my early childhood, I did not hear my mother’s accent. Other…
An anthropologist unpacks how colonial histories and racial and class hierarchies shape who is allowed to desire and accumulate gold today. ✽ In July 2018, my fiancé and…
In many parts of Africa, investments and migration from China have sparked tensions with local residents—but some Chinese migrants are finding a welcoming community in Mandarin-speaking Zambian Witnes…
A linguistic anthropologist explores the queer Ballroom scene in San Juan—and how performers are incorporating critiques of colonialism into the art form. “READING” ABOUT HER FASHION I look…
How much of our identity is shaped by genetics, and how much by society? In Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins, Shoumita Dasgupta examines how genetic science can…
An anthropologist reflects on the racist undertones of some U.S. efforts to eradicate the spotted lanternfly, an insect from Asia deemed invasive. ✽ A bright red flash whips…
This article provides a brief look into the ways identity can be constrained with regard to biometric technology. It discusses technological limitations where biometric identification systems may fai…
A group of forensic anthropologists argues their field must reject the myth of pure objectivity and challenge systemic inequities through advocacy and activism. ✽ WHEN A PERSON DIES,…
A poet moves through rituals of silence and erasure that permeate the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. “An Order for My Backpack” and “Three Stages of…
Decades ago, anthropologists dispelled the myth of biological race. Lagging behind in scientific understandings of human diversity, the medical profession is failing its oath to “do no harm.”…
Critical scholars recognize humanitarianism as a racializing project rooted in colonial and imperial relations, in which classifications of aid workers as ‘international’, ‘expat’, ‘national’ and ‘loc…
Researchers refute a popular idea that black-furred squirrels behave more aggressively than gray ones—and suggest the myth stems from some people’s racist attitudes. SQUIRREL CHATTER A few years…
Humanitarian action is marked by a striking disjunction between the universalising humanist vocabulary that undergirds its ethical commitments, and the taxonomies of racialised difference that govern …
As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community…
In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors. ✽ Who should I be today? I ask myself this question in the mirror…
Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program, has proliferated in California’s carceral system. An anthropologist investigates the program, which sees criminality as a chronic addic…
An anthropologist discusses her film that honors and grieves the loss of Kime, a friend who passed away after experiencing physical and state violence. Content Warning: This article…
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence imagines a wordless conversation with a troubled figure from the past and considers legacies of marginalization during the figure’s life and in archives. The Visit…
Meet Anuli Akanegbu, the host of the BLK IRL podcast and a doctoral candidate researching Black creatives who are contract workers in Atlanta, Georgia. Anuli Akanegbu is the…
Public health officials say opioid use and related deaths have reached a crisis point in the U.S. An interview with anthropologist and psychiatrist Helena Hansen unpacks the racial…
East African runners wearing “super shoes” have outpaced global marathon records. But the shoe fervor—alongside older stereotypes about African runners’ “natural” abilities—means athletes’ hard work o…
The title that opens this reflection is a statement by computer scientist Sandra Avila, who is also a co-author of the lines that will flow here. Her account…