Jennifer Fraser (page 1 of 5)

Call for Papers: Carcinogenesis, Toxicity and the Epidemic of Cancer

Organized by Nickolas Surawy-Stepney, Jennifer Fraser, Thandeka Cochrane & Shagufta Bhangu (King’s College London), for the Royal Anthropological Society Health, Environment, and AnThropology (HEAT) 2025 two-day conference.

April 23-24, 2025

Durham University, U.K.

The climatic and environmental changes brought about by the forces of industrialisation, capitalism, empire, and global ‘development’ are becoming increasingly visible. But vital too are changes wrought that are less visible – the chemical alterations induced in water, soil, air, crops, animal and human bodies that are having profound effects on health and wellbeing. Responsibility and consequences are distributed in deeply unequal ways (Choy 2016). In this panel we focus specifically on the carcinogenic effects of this toxicity. While scientific investigation into links between industrial environmental contamination and carcinogenesis has been underdeveloped in favour of that which foregrounds personal agency and individual choice, a growing body of anthropological scholarship has begun to reorient this research agenda. Drawing on examples such as peanut production in Senegal (Tousignant 2022), open-pit mining in Spain (Fernández-Navarro et al., 2012), nuclear waste disposal in the USA (Cram 2023 & Masco 2021), and agricultural pesticide use in Kenya (Prince 2021), scholars have started to probe the connections between corporate and industrial interests and the ‘epidemic’ of cancer, in an effort to think through the relationship between the living and its milieu in novel ways (Canguilhem 2001). We invite papers that advance these analyses of ‘carcinogenic accountability’, and examine how risks of carcinogenic exposure are made visible and invisible, embraced and resisted, and studied. We are particularly interested in research which undertakes semiotic and material cultural analyses of the following concepts: ‘exposed’, ‘toxic’, ‘safe’, ‘carcinogenic’, and/or interrogate the ethical, epistemic, and regulatory conjunctures within which these categories operate.

To propose a paper please use the Abstract Management system linked here. The call for papers ends Monday, January 13, 2025. You do not have to be an RAI or ASA member to propose a paper.


Proposals should consist of:

  • The title of the panel
  • The title of the paper you wish to present
  • An abstract of no more than 250 words.
    Paper proposals must be submitted via the submission system and will be reviewed by panel convenors.

New Book from Adriana Petryna: Horizon Work

The History of Anthropology Review (HAR) is pleased to announce the release of former HAR contributor Adriana Petryna‘s new book Horizon Work: At the Edges of Knowledge in an Age of Runaway Climate Change. Published this past April by Princeton University Press, Petryna’s work examines the twinned wildfire and climate crises through the frame of “horizoning,” a mode of reckoning that considers unnatural disasters against a horizon of expectation in which societies can still act. 

A full description of the book can be found below:

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New Resource: Special Focus on “Fields” in Isis, Vol 113, no.1 (March 2022): 108-156.

A special focus on “fields” has just been published in the March 2022 issue of Isis.

Featuring contributions from our very own HAR editors Cameron Brinitzer and Rosanna Dent, this focus section grapples with the seemingly straightforward but surprisingly unexamined question “What is a field?” Through highlighting some of the many transformations that have taken place in the field sciences since the mid-twentieth century, this collection of articles shows that rather than operating as fixed sites or practices, fields and fieldwork are dynamic phenomena,  situated in particular times and places, and guided by scientific personas, epistemological premises, rhetorical aims, and historical processes.

The full text version of this special focus can be found here.

CFA: History of the Human Sciences Early Career Prize 2022

History of the Human Sciences– the international journal of peer-reviewed research, which provides the leading forum for work in the social sciences, humanities, human psychology and biology that reflexively examines its own historical origins and interdisciplinary influences – is delighted to announce details of its prize for early career scholars. The intention of the annual award is to recognise a researcher whose work best represents the journal’s aim to critically examine traditional assumptions and preoccupations about human beings, their societies and their histories in light of developments that cut across disciplinary boundaries. In the pursuit of these goals, History of the Human Sciences publishes traditional humanistic studies as well work in the social sciences, including the fields of sociology, psychology, political science, the history and philosophy of science, anthropology, classical studies, and literary theory. Scholars working in any of these fields are encouraged to apply.

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Call for Applications: Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Maps of Malignancy

Applications are now open for a Postdoctoral Fellowship on a Wellcome Trust-funded research project on Maps of Malignancy in Sub-Saharan Africa at the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King’s College London.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Research Associate) in Maps of Malignancy

Closing date: 25 October 2021

​​​​​​The Department of Global Health & Social Medicine is seeking a Research Associate to work as part of a research team on a research project entitled “Maps of Malignancy: Epidemiologists and Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Funded by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, the project aims to shed light on epidemiological efforts to map cancer in Africa over the last 70 years. Specifically, drawing on insights from postcolonial science studies, the project examines the socio-technical infrastructures and political rationales that underpin these mapping efforts as well as the understandings of cancer and Africa that they bring into being. To address these issues, the project uses a combination of ethnographic and archival research methods to examine two cartographic efforts: (1) the research on cancer aetiology carried out by British and French doctors in Africa in the late colonial and early postcolonial periods to improve treatment strategies at home; and (2) the contemporary global surveillance initiatives seeking to measure the cancer burden in Africa in order to rationalise health policy and planning on the continent. The research project builds on and expands an earlier British Academy-funded pilot project on Cartographies of Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Online Event: Lee Baker on “W.E.B DuBois, Franz Boas, and ‘the Real Race Problem'”

On Friday, February 5, 2021, from 9:30am to 11:00am, Lee Baker is delivering a talk as part of Duke University’s tgiFHI speaker series. Entitled “W.E.B DuBois, Franz Boas, and ‘the Real Race Problem,” this presentation examines the racist anti-racism of American Anthropology, focusing particularly on the writings and activities of DuBois and Boas during the first decade of the 20th century.

The presentation will be virtual (via Zoom). There will be an opportunity to join a facilitated discussion with the speaker and other participants after the lecture. Registration information can be found here.

A short overview of the talk is provided below.

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CFP: Anthropological Journal of European Cultures Special Issue on “Decolonizing Europe: national and transnational projects”

The Anthropological Journal of European Cultures is inviting expressions of interest for a special themed issue on ‘Decolonizing Europe: national and transnational projects’ that will be edited by Patrícia Ferraz de Matos (Universidade de Lisboa) and Livio Sansone (Universidade Federal da Bahia) and published in the Fall 2021.

Pieces should be no longer than 3000 words (including references). Editors particularly welcome contributions from early career scholars and postgraduates–although they welcome submissions from established scholars too.

Interested contributors should submit a brief expression of interest outlining the proposed chapter (circa 300 words) to Patrícia Ferraz de Matos (patricia_matos@ics.ulisboa.pt) and Livio Sansone (sansone@ufba.br) by 5 March 2021.

More information on the thematic focus of this special issue is provided below.

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CFP: Préhistoire et anthropologie entre science, philosophie, politique et internationalisme. Colloque international sur Gabriel de Mortillet, Paris

On the occasion of the bicentennial of the prehistorian Gabriel de Mortillet’s (1821-1898) birth, the Musée d’archéologie nationale and the French research centres “Natural History of Prehistoric Man” and “Archaeology and Philology of the East and the West” are organizing an international conference entitled: Préhistoire et anthropologie entre science, philosophie, politique et internationalisme. À propos de Gabriel de Mortillet (Prehistory and anthropology between science, philosophy, politics and internationalism. About Gabriel de Mortillet).

The conference will be held in Paris (École Normale Supérieure) and Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Musée d’archéologie nationale) on 25-26 November 2021.

Organizers are currently accepting submissions for this event’s three thematic sessions:

  1. Penser et faire l’anthropologie et l’archéologie préhistorique au XIXe siècle
  2. Les archives du sol et les archives documentaires : un regard croisé et multidisciplinaire
  3. Gabriel de Mortillet préhistorien et voyageur scientifique sans frontières

Interested speakers are invited to submit their proposals online (via the registration section). The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2021.

More information about this event can be found here.

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CFP: Антропологии/ Anthropologies Special Issue on the History of European Anthropologies

The Russian open access journal Антропологии/Anthropologies, published by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Russian Academy of Sciences), is currently seeking contributions for a special issue on the histories of anthropology in Europe.

The aim of the issue is to provide the journal’s (mainly) Russian speaking readership with an idea of the current state of the field of history of anthropology in Europe or as practiced by European scholars. Editors are interested in research articles that exemplify current practices of writing the history of anthropology. Contributions that reflect on purposes and trends in this field are also welcome. Submissions do not need to be fully original research articles. Rather, they might present versions of already published research or works that are expected to be published in languages other than Russian.

Articles should be approximately 9,000 words. Submissions can be written in English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French, and will be accepted until 15 March 2021.

Original English texts will be published in both English and Russian versions of the journal.

More information about the journal and the submission process can be found here.

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Online Seminar: Anthropology After Gluckman, January 21, 2021

On 21 January 2021, from 5:00-6:30pm, the African Studies Centre at the University of Oxford is hosting a special panel discussion on Richard Werbner’s book: Anthropology After Gluckman: The Manchester School, Colonial and Postcolonial Transformations (2020).

The panel features author Richard Werbner (University of
Manchester) in conversation with Marilyn Strathern (University of Cambridge), Adam Kuper, (Boston University), Richard Fardon (SOAS), and Sakkie Niehaus (Brunel University). The discussion will be moderated by Wale Adebanwi (University of Oxford).

The meeting can be joined by following this link.

RSVP: Brenda McCollum (brenda.mccollum@kellogg.ox.ac.uk)

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‘Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia’ by Paul Turnbull

Paul Turnbull. Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia. Palgrave Studies in Pacific History. 428 pp., 6 b/w illus., bibl., index. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

Indigenous bodies have long been a source of historical interest. Over the past decade many scholars have discussed how indigenous bodies and body parts have functioned as sites of persistent fascination, colonial oppression, and Indigenous agency. One persistent theme in this historiography is how the collection and use of Indigenous biospecimens came to be prospected and profited upon. Warwick Anderson’s The Collectors of Lost Souls showed us how Fore brain samples served as a valuable biomedical commodity. Kim TallBear and Jenny Reardon illustrated the role of “Indigenous DNA” in generating scientific knowledge, accruing capital, and attaining professional prestige. Emma Kowal similarly drew our attention to the “ethical biovalue” afforded to Indigenous specimens through discussing how many drug targets and diagnostic tools have emerged out of the collection and use of Indigenous blood, saliva, surgically-removed diseased tissues, and urine.[1] Paul Turnbull’s Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia follows in the footsteps of this well-known body of work. However, rather than focusing his attention on brains, blood, or bodily tissues, Turnbull is more interested in Indigenous skeletal remains and the ways that they have functioned as sites of scientific curiosity from the 1700s to the turn of the twentieth century.

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Webinar: “Anthropology of Policing Part II: The Persistence of Racialized Police Brutality and Community Responses,” June 25, 2020

The American Anthropological Association is continuing the conversation on the Anthropology of Policing by offering a second webinar on the persistence of racialized police brutality and community responses. The webinar will take place on June 25, 2020 at 1pm EDT.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration information and instructions on how to access this event can be found here

New release from BEROSE – Hourcade on Georg Forster

HAR is pleased to announce the latest release from BEROSE International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology. This new article by Emmanuel Hourcade traces the life of Georg Forster, the famous German traveler and ethnographer who, in 1772, accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage.

Hourcade, Emmanuel, 2020. “Anthropologie et rencontre des cultures au XVIIIe siècle: vie et œuvre de Georg Forster,” in BEROSE – International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology, Paris.

In addition to unveiling the richness, vividness and sophistication of the ethnographic reports and reflections contained in Forster’s travelogue, A Voyage Round the World (1777), this piece also discusses the travelogue’s popular reception, and explains how Forster came to be recognized as a founding father of German scientific literature

Online Event: American Anthropology Association Webinar on the “Anthropology of Policing,” June 11, 2020

On June 11, 2020 at 1pm EDT/11am PDT the American Anthropology Association is hosting a webinar titled: “Anthropology of Policing: The Persistence of Racialized Police Brutality and Community Responses – What Can Anthropologists Contribute?

Featuring a variety of panelists, including Ramona Perez, Kalfani Ture, Donna Auston, Shanti Parikh, and Avram Bornstein, discussions will be guided by two principle questions: (1) What should an Anthropology of policing look like and (2) What practical and actionable steps should anthropologists, as cultural experts of the lived experiences of impacted communities, take to transform American policing.

This webinar is FREE and open to the public. Instructions for how to access this event can be found here. The full event abstract is provided below.

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Online Event: “Seeing Indigenous Land Struggles in COVID-19,” June 9, 2020

On June 9, 2020 the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation and the Science and Society Network is hosting an online workshop titled “Seeing Indigenous Land Struggles in COVID-19.”

Drawing on examples from the Philippines and Malaysia, this event will explore how indigenous struggles for land and livelihood are central to understanding the emergence of a zoonotic pathogen like SARS-CoV-2.

The seminar will be available to stream on YouTube live on June 9, 2020 from 10am – 11:30am (Australian Eastern Standard Time, GMT+10). Registration information can be found here.

More information about this event can be found below.

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Call for Applications: Honorary Reviews Editor for JRAI

The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI) seeks to appoint an Honorary Reviews Editor to start shadowing the current Reviews Editor (Dr Dolores Martinez) from September 2020, and taking over from April 2021.

He or she will work closely with the Editors of the JRAI (The incoming editorial team includes Dr Tom Yarrow, Dr Hannah Knox, Dr Adam Reed, and Dr. Chika Watanabe, who will take over the editorship from September 2020).

The deadline to apply fo this position is July 30, 2020. More information about this opportunity can be found below.

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Call for Exhibition Submissions: “Illustrating Anthropology,” Royal Anthropological Institute, London, UK

The Royal Anthropological Institute is currently accepting submissions for an online and physical exhibition on “Illustrating Anthropology,” which explores the potential of illustration for anthropological research and dissemination.

If you’re looking for a creative way to engage with your research data during lockdown, or have sketches that express your ethnographic findings or experience, feel free to send them their way!

The deadline for submissions is May 22, 2019. More information about the exhibition, as well as detailed submission instructions can be found below.

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New Resource: Free Journal Access from Berghahn Books

In response to COVID-19, which has resulted in the closure of many universities and university libraries, Berghahn Books is providing researchers with free access to their entire journal archive up until June 30 2020.

Of special interest to historians of anthropology are:

Berghahn Books is an independent scholarly publisher in the humanities and social sciences. A comprehensive list of their journals can be found here.

New Resource: Ricardo A. Fagoaga’s “Primeras etnografías en México: su método, su olvido y la construcción de una idea la antropología mexicana.”

The History of Anthropology Review (HAR) is pleased to announce the recent publication of Ricardo A. Fagoaga‘s book chapter: “Primeras etnografías en México: su método, su olvido y la construcción de una idea la antropología mexicana.”

In this chapter, Fagoaga explores the history of the Huasteca expedition, an ethnographic fieldwork project carried out by María Atienza, Isabel Gamboa and Luz Islas during the early twentieth century. A short description of the chapter, along with its citation information, can be found below:

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Funding Opportunity: Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) Internship at the American Philosophical Society Library & Museum

The Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) Undergraduate Summer Internship offered by the American Philosophical Society Library & Museum in Philadelphia provides an opportunity for three talented undergraduates to conduct research, to explore career possibilities in archives and special collections, and to learn about advanced training in Native American and Indigenous Studies and related fields.

The internship will take place in the summer of 2020, and interns will receive a stipend of between $3,000-$3,500 depending on housing costs. The deadline for applications is Friday, February 14, 2020. Further information about the internship and application process can be found below:

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New Resource: New articles on History of Anthropology in Middle America, Latin America and Mexico

The History of Anthropology Review (HAR) is happy to announce the recent publication of three articles on history of anthropology and
anthropological research in Middle America, Latin America and Mexico.

  • Stefan Krotz, “Zur Forschungsgeschichte in Mesoamerika,” in Eveline Dürr y Henry Kammler, Hrsg., eds., Einführung in die Ethnologie Mesoamerikas. Ein Handbuch zu den indigenen Kulturen (Waxmann Verlag, 2018), 127-13.
  • Stefan Krotz, “Overseas, Continental, and Internal Colonialism: Responses from Latin American Anthropologies,” in Dittmar Schorkowitz, John R. Chávez and Ingo W. Schröder, eds., Shifting Forms of Continental Colonialism: Unfinished Struggles and Tensions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 71-94.
  • Esteban Krotz, “Claves para una estilística de la antropología política de Brigitte Boehm,” Relaciones, vol. 40, no. 157 (2019): 113-122.

HAR welcomes announcement suggestions from readers. If you have a recent publication, or come across an event, resource or CFP of interest, please let us know by emailing us at news@historyofanthropology.org

New Resource: Patricia Ferraz de Matos’ “Racial and Social Prejudice in the Colonial Empire: Issues Raised by Miscegenation in Portugal (Late Nineteenth to Mid-Twentieth Centuries)”

The History of Anthropology Review (HAR) is happy to announce the recent publication of Patricia Ferraz de Matos‘ article: “Racial and Social Prejudice in the Colonial Empire: Issues Raised by Miscegenation in Portugal (Late Nineteenth to Mid-Twentieth Centuries).”

In this article, Ferraz de Matos examines the issue of miscegenation in Portugal, which is directly associated with the context of its colonial empire, from late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The analysis considers sources from both literary and scientific fields. Topics such as interracial marriage, degeneration and segregation as well as the changes brought about by the end of World War II and the social revolutions of the 1960s are also considered. 

The full-text version of this article can be found here.

Funding Opportunity: 2020-2021 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) Fellowship and Internship at the American Philosophical Society

The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia invites applications for summer undergraduate internships and predoctoral, postdoctoral, and short-term research fellowships from scholars at all stages of their careers, especially Native American scholars in training, tribal college and university faculty members, and other scholars working closely with Native communities on projects in Native American and Indigenous Studies and related fields and disciplines. These funding opportunities are supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI). Fellows will be associated with the APS’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), which promotes greater collaboration among scholars, archives, and Indigenous communities. More information about these opportunities can be found below:

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Event: History of Arctic Anthropology, Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 27-28 February, 2020

On February 27-28, 2020 the Royal Anthropological Institute in London is hosting a two-day conference on the History of Arctic Anthropology. Confirmed speakers include Kirsten Hastrup (Copenhagen), Tim Ingold (Aberdeen), Igor Krupnik (Smithsonian) and Peter Schweitzer (Vienna). There is no conference fee, but tickets must be booked in advance. To RSVP please go to https://arcticanthropology.eventbrite.co.uk

Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences on “Going public: Mobilizing, materializing, and performing social science history”

The Journal of the History of the Behavioural Sciences (JHBS) is currently soliciting paper submissions for a special issue on: “Going public: Mobilizing, materializing, and performing social science history.” More information about this opportunity can be found below.

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