What Does Solidarity Mean for Today’s Anthropology?
Solidarity as practice, not posture
Winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2025
The winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2025 is Elliott Prasse-Freeman for his book Rights Refused. Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar (Stanford University Press, 2023). Elliott Prasse-Freeman is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore. Rights Refused is the result of long-term ethnographic engagement, which brought Prasse-Freeman …
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Winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2024
The winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2024 is Maria-Theres Schuler for her book Disability and Aid. An Ethnography of Logics and Practices of Distribution in a Ugandan Refugee Camp (Brill, 2023). Maria-Theres Schuler is a social anthropologist, journalist, and filmmaker with expertise in global inequality, corporate responsibility and social movements. Disability and Aid is an important book written with a …
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Dove sei, Europa?
Il 26 gennaio 2024 la Corte di Giustizia dell’Aja ha accolto la denuncia presentata dal Sudafrica e ordinato a Israele di prendere misure immediate per evitare il genocidio dei palestinesi a Gaza. Nonostante il cessate il fuoco rimanga un obiettivo complicato, è stato un momento importante perché l’ordine della Corte ha confermato quello che diversi …
How South Africa rescued humanity (and International Law) at the International Court of Justice
Since the creation of the United Nations, and in line with the civilizing mission’s rhetoric used to justify colonialism, racist arguments about the African continent as halting, obstructing, defying and subverting accountability for mass atrocities have been rehearsed in major political and academic circles in the West. In international diplomatic arenas as well as in …
The Courage of Historical Truths
With the destruction of Gaza by Israel under way and the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories worsening day by day, a recurrent question is raised in mainstream media, TV shows and many academic circles: Is Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 proportionate or not? Some say it is. Others say …
Winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2023
The winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2023 is Gwen Burnyeat for her book The Face of Peace. Government Pedagogy amid Disinformation in Colombia. Gwen Burnyeat is Junior Research Fellow in Anthropology at Merton College, University of Oxford. The Face of Peaceis an engaging journey into the complexity of Colombians’ peace efforts and challenges. Moving between different …
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Public Anthropologist Award 2023 (PUAN-A)
PUAN-A is awarded to a social and cultural anthropologist who has published an outstanding contribution that addresses – in innovative, engaging and compelling ways – key societal issues related to one or more of the following topics: violence, war, poverty, social movements, freedom, aid, rights, injustice, inequality, social exclusion, racism, health, and environmental challenges. A …
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Militarisation, Racism and Russophobia: What the War in Ukraine Produces and Reveals
After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday morning, 24 February 2022, European publics and leaders have responded urgently with nearly unanimous condemnation and rallied to support the Ukrainian state and people. Like many others, we are deeply troubled by the unfolding of war. However, as scholars studying war, …
Winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2022
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2022 is Catherine Besteman for her book Militarized Global Apartheid. Catherine Besteman is Francis F. Bartlett and Ruth K. Bartlett Professor of Anthropology at Colby College. Throughout her career, she has worked on issues related to power dynamics that produce and maintain inequality, racism and …
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Giudici e giustizia in Afghanistan
Una magistratura indipendente e competente e’ un elemento fondamentale di un apparato statale stabile e affidabile, in Afghanistan come altrove. Quando i talebani hanno ripreso in mano l’Afghanistan nell’agosto del 2021, molti giudici, in particolare giudici donne, hanno ritenuto che non ci fosse piu’ spazio per loro nel paese. Nel giugno 2020 ho intervistato la …
The Judiciary and the Evacuation: Interview with Afghan Judge Tayeba Parsa
Antonio: Would you like to share your personal trajectory and the experiences that led you to become a judge? Tayeba: On the eve of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, my parents fled to Iran, fearing what would happen if they remained, and determined to avoid my father being conscripted. My siblings and I learned tailoring …
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Winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2021
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Public Anthropologist Award 2021 is Ather Zia for her book Resisting Disappearance: Military Occupation and Women’s Activism in Kashmir, University of Washington Press (2019) and Zubaan Publishing (2020). Ather Zia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Gender Studies Program at the University of Northern Colorado …
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Public Anthropologist Conference – May 8
May 8, 2020 VENUE: BERGEN GLOBAL, JEKTEVIKSBAKKEN 31, BERGEN 12:50 Coffee and welcome 13:00 Introduction, Antonio De Lauri (CMI) 13:15 Costs of War: A Usable Model for Public Intellectual Work, Catherine Lutz (Brown University) 13:45 A Public Conscience? Peace at a War Museum, Tobias Kelly (University of Edinburgh) 14:15 Social Anthropologists and their Publics, Shalini …
Public Anthropology in Changing Times
Public anthropology, a term initially coined by Robert Borofsky for a book series at the University of California Press, became popular in the late 1990s. Ithas been both endorsed and criticized. Endorsements have emphasized the need for a shift in scholarly attitude toward society at large, while criticism has pointed out the potential overlapping with …