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.
News
ASA AGM
The ASA Annual General Meeting (AGM), will take place on Thursday 13th April, from 12.50 to 1.50pm during the annual conference at SOAS, University of London, accommodating f2f and online participation. All members are invited. The AGM is a good opportunity for prospective members to find out more about what the ASA does (and why), so please do also encourage colleagues to join us if they can.
An agenda will follow, but for now please register to attend.
RAI Film Festival
The RAI Film Festival, which showcases groundbreaking documentary filmmaking from around the world, has announced an expansive online and in-person programme for 2023.
The festival gathers storytellers from every corner of the world, whose films of humanity shine a light on the people, places and stories that are too often lost in the spotlight of global media.
The 18th edition of the festival takes place from 3 to 31 March, offering a selection of over 80 films to a global streaming audience. In addition, a curated programme of film screenings, gala events, workshops, and an expanded reality exhibition, takes place in Bristol from 22 to 25 March.
Pnina Werbner
The ASA was very sorry to learn of the passing of long-term and active member, Pnina Werbner, on 17th January. Well-known and respected for her work on cosmopolitanism, she was regularly to be seen at ASA conferences - indeed she hosted the 2006 jubilee conference at her University (Keele), resulting in an ASA monograph from it. Pnina is survived by her husband Dick Werbner (also a longstanding ASA member) and their two children. You can watch her memorial (2hrs).
An Unwell World?
Anthropology in a Speculative Mode
SOAS, University of London
11 - 14 April 2023
Obituary: Alan Barnard
The ASA is sorry to learn that longstanding ASA member Alan Barnard passed away suddenly on Friday. Dr. Magnus Course, Head of Social Anthropology at University of Edinburgh writes:
Alan was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but spent most his life here in Scotland, joining the Department of Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh in 1978. He received a personal chair in the Anthropology of Southern Africa in 2001 before retiring in 2015 after 37 years' service. His immense contribution to the discipline was recognized with his election to the British Academy in 2010. Alan was especially proud of his appointment to the role of Honorary Consul of the Republic of Namibia in 2007. Over the decades, Alan was the author of dozens of books and articles, ranging from his earlier work among the marginalized hunter-gather communities of Namibia and Botswana to later more theoretical work about the contribution social anthropology could make to explorations of the origins of human language and society.
His gentle kindness, his friendship, and his unfading passion for anthropology's biggest questions will be sorely missed.
Fixed term research assistant
The ASA invited applications for a fixed-term position as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr Andrea E. Pia. The ASA is undergoing a restructuring of its operations which aims at rendering the association more inclusive and relevant to contemporary British society. Read more.
Scholars at risk
Scholars at risk who are looking for safety and support are encouraged to apply to this joint scheme between the Academies in the UK and the Council for At-Risk Academics. Anthropologists are welcome to contact ASA for help in identifying suitable host institutions, and our directory of members is available for consultation.
War in Ukraine – an Interview with Dr Taras Fedirko
ASA Media Officer Andrea E. Pia talks with Dr Taras Fedirko about his recent ethnographic fieldwork on militarism and media oligopolies in Ukraine. Dr Fedirko discusses the political and social contexts of Ukraine after the Maidan revolution and clarifies the role that media corporations, Putin’s propaganda, and para-military groups have played in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read in full...
Statement on racism by the committee of the ASA
The ASA Committee believes that anthropologists today, like the vast majority of scholars in social science, the humanities and the natural sciences, think that racism, as a means of producing and reproducing inequality based on ideas about racial difference, is morally wrong and that...Read the full statement.
ASA Ethical Guidelines (EGG) Review
In the fall of 2019, the ASA Ethics Guidelines Working Group circulated a survey soliciting members'
feedback on their experiences of institutional ethics review. 87 respondents completed the survey and a summary of the results is now available here.
If you have any queries about the work of EGG, please contact Jude Robinson at ethics(at)theasa.org.
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.
The ASA is a
member of the World Council of Anthropological
Associations.
Read the ASA's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions, in relation to sale of membership and conference services.
