Panel Proposal for the 14th EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) Biennial Conference, meeting in Milano, 20-23 July 2016

“Themes in the History of Anthropology and Ethnology in Europe”

Convenors: Andrés Barrera-González (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), abarrera@cps.ucm.es; Han F. Vermeulen (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology), vermeulen@eth.mpg.de

Short Abstract: This panel invites papers on a wide range of authors, institutions and national traditions in theory and practice relevant to the history of anthropology and ethnology, including topics from the fields of museum and visual anthropology. The papers should derive from research carried out within a history of science framework.

Long Abstract: The history of anthropology is an expanding field in the USA and elsewhere but still has to be professionalised in Europe. After the EASA conferences in Coimbra (1990), Prague (1992), Oslo (1994) and Barcelona (1996), it lasted until 2014 (Talinn) before the subject was again taken up as a panel. The ‘new history of anthropology’ initiated by Henrika Kuklick (2008) was intended as a rigorous history and sociology of science, but the four-field approach does not seem to be valid for developments in Europe prior to 1879. We feel that a comprehensive and inclusive account of the discipline’s development is needed to do justice to its diversities and suggest a historicist and paradigmatic approach to the history of anthropology and ethnology in Europe. Contributions that reach beyond the more prominent figures in the field, associated with the central and hegemonic schools, and shed light on the relations between anthropology and other fields of knowledge are very welcome. Ways of doing anthropology other than the material and textual can also be taken into account. Contributions to the advancement of anthropological knowledge made by the use of unconventional means such as ethnographic film or photography are worth considering. The panel strives to revive the History of European Anthropology Network (HEAN) as part of the Europeanist Network.

Paper proposals must consist of:

  • a paper title
  • the name/s and email address/es of author/s
  • a short abstract of fewer than 300 characters
  • a long abstract of fewer than 250 words

Deadline: Submissions open December 21, 2015 until February 5, 2016.

For more information on how to submit proposals, see the conference CFP.

Authors
Adrianna Link: contributions / website / alink@amphilsoc.org