The ASA

The ASA is the professional association for social anthropology. It was founded in 1946 to promote the study and teaching of anthropology and to uphold the interests and status of the discipline, primarily in the UK, but also extending to the Commonwealth, where it works collaboratively with fellow anthropology associations. The ASA’s major role is to assist its members in planning and conducting research, and to represent social anthropology and anthropologists in the academy, and in relation to policy and funding.

The ASA maintains a searchable directory of members, which is in effect a register of professional social anthropologists. It publishes the annual ASA monograph; the peer-reviewed open access journal ASAonline and the FIrth lectures. It supports the communication of social anthropology in various social media.

For more details about the ASA’s activities, past and present, please click here.

ASA18 Sociality, matter, and the imagination: re-creating Anthropology at the University of Oxford 18th-21st September 2018

ASA18 - the ASA annual conference will take place at the University of Oxford 18th-21st September 2018. The aim is that this will be a joint ‘pan-anthropology’ conference, as the Committee is taking forward efforts to forge closer collaborative links with other Anthropology/related organisations in the UK, with a view to (a) composing more strategic and effective liaison between our disciplinary areas and key policy and decision makers and (b) enabling a fuller exchange of ideas with our sister disciplines (read more about the pan-anthropology initiative here). Please visit the conference pages and find out more about the conference theme and the planned keynote and plenaries!

ASA18 panel times are displayed on the panel pages, the overall daily timetable on the timetable page. Register now to reserve your place, your accommodation in an Oxford college, and your ticket for the conference dinner.

Informed consent, participant-observation and the new GDPR - a joint response

On 25 May 2018 a new EU ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR) will come into force and there is some concern regarding how this will affect social scientific research. The ASA, the British Sociological Association (BSA), the European Sociological Association (ESA) and the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) have produced a joint statement on this issue. which serves as an authoritative document from these four professional associations that can be used in university contexts and in connection with funding applications in the future, should the need arise. Read the statement (PDF).

ASA Teaching Prize

The ASA welcomes nominations from its members for its annual Award: Teaching and Lecturing in Anthropology. This award valorises the contribution made by those teaching anthropology at all levels (including postgraduates who are significantly involved in teaching activities). The award provides the recipient with a year’s free membership of the Association and £100 book token, as well as giving public recognition to their teaching achievements. The award will be announced at the ASA’s annual conference in Oxford in September, and noted on its website and in other media. Deadline for nominations: 30th June 2018.

Read more regarding nominations, the selection process and criteria.

AM 2017Anthropology Matters Special Issue: ‘Anthropology and the Politics of Engagement

Guest edited by Theodoros Kyriakides, Hester Clarke, and Ximin Zhou Just published: A Special Issue of Anthropology Matters based on papers from the 5th RAI Postgraduate Conference in Manchester themed ‘Anthropology and the Politics of Engagement’ and guest edited by Theodoros Kyriakides, Hester Clarke, and Ximin Zhou. Articles by Landi, Douzina-Bakalaki, Ponte, and Foster. Afterword by Paul Stoller. Visit www.anthropologymatters.com for open access.

  • Front Mattersby Anthropology Matters Editors
  • Foreword Introduction: Anthropology and the Politics of Engagement by Theodoros Kyriakides, Hester Clarke, Ximin Zhou
  • Volunteering Mothers: Engaging the Crisis in a Soup Kitchen of Northern Greece by Phaedra Douzina-Bakalaki
  • Queering Knowledge: Academia in the Hands of the Activists
  • Engaging with Dolls and with Play in Rural Southwest Angola by Ines Ponte
  • Engagement and Alienation among Manchester’s Unemployed byJohn Foster
  • ‘Pleasure Is Not in the Science Programme!’: When Anthropology Engages with Sex Education for Teenagers by Nicoletta Landi
  • Afterword: Engaging Public Anthropology by Paul Stoller
The ASA considers individual requests for financial assistance by members to support activities that will further the aims of the ASA and professional anthropology in the UK. The maximum amount that any applicant can apply for is £100. Read more.

AIAnthropology in Action is the journal of the combined Apply and Anthropology in Action networks. It is an international peer-reviewed journal publishing articles, commentaries, research reports and reviews. Contributions reflect the use of anthropological training in policy- or practice-oriented work and foster the broader application of these approaches to practical problems. Read more.
Buy recent ASA monographs.
WCAAThe ASA is a member of the World Council of Anthropological Associations.

The ASA's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions, in relation to sale of membership and conference services, can be viewed here.