The networks are the backbone of EASA activity and we are proud so many of them have been so active in this past year.
During 2017, the following networks received EASA funding for network activities:
Applied Anthropology (AAN): EASA supported the network’s fifth annual symposium, Why the world needs anthropologists 28-29 October, Durham UK. Preparations for an edited volume are well underway, and the network has set an agenda for its sixth annual symposium: Designing the future (26-27 October 2018, Lisbon).
Race and Ethnicity (ARE): ARE held a network meeting in Berlin on 17-19 July, which also initiated a number of working groups on a variety of matters, such as curriculum design and content, mentoring, etc.
Ethnographic Experimentation (COLLEEX): COLLEEX held its first workshop, Ethnographic Experimentation: Fieldwork Devices and Companions in Lisbon, July 13-15. Some of the sum awarded was used to employ a technician to address issues surrounding complex multimedia presentations.
Anthropology of Confinement (ConfinementNet): the network, set up in 2014, held its first independent meeting (after panels at EASA conferences) at Aalborg, Copenhagen, on 14-15 November; the network is looking to set up a book series.
Anthropology of Economy (AOE): the network held a workshop in Vienna, 27-28 October, on Tracing senses of deservingness: perspectives on power, morality and distribution in contemporary Europe; the network convenors are in conversation with the EASA book series editor about a possible volume arising from the workshop.
Anthropology of Law (LawNet): the network held a workshop on 19-21 September in Bern, Switzerland, on the topic Anticipating Law with twin themes of how law might be used to imagine future society, and how law may predict the future behaviour of individuals and groups.
Anthropology of Mining (MINING): the network used EASA funding to organise a workshop in Utrecht, Netherlands, on the topic of Mining Temporalities. The workshop has resulted in papers being submitted to a special issue of Extractive Industries and Society (EXIS), with publication expected in March 2018.
Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality (NAGS): the network held an EASA-funded workshop at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, 23-24 November, in collaboration with the Dutch LOCA, the Dutch Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) and a number of other Dutch academic groups.
Medical anthropology network (MAE): The network organised a conference Bodies in transition – power knowledge and medical anthropology on the 5-7 July in Lisbon. The conference held at the University of Lisbon was very successful with 243 participants, 37 panels, 177 paper presentations, and 43 sessions and displayed the broad variety and high-level quality of presented topics.
Medical Anthropology Young Scholars (MAYS): The network organised their annual meeting with the title Medical Anthropology Beyond Medical Borders on the 15-16 June, 2017, at the University of Edinburgh. During the two-day meeting, 25 participants from countries around the world, presented their work in three different parallel groups.
Network of Anthropological Theory (NET): the network held a workshop from 7-10 September on Capri (Italy) with the title Fakery, insincerity, and the anthropology of Humbuggery. A publication from the workshop is planned for early 2018.
Anthropology of Religion (ANTHROREL): the network used co-matched EASA funding to hold a workshop, Conviviality and its Discontents: Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Urban Settings, 18-19 September Lisbon. The objective of the workshop was to find ways to move beyond the strictures of monolithic approaches such as ‘the anthropology of Islam’ or ‘the anthropology of Christianity’.
In addition, the following networks received funding for joint network activities:
Anthropology and Mobility Network (Anthromob) and the Anthropology of Media Network held a joint meeting at the University of Cologne, 14-16 September; the aim of the workshop was to bring together scholars working on the theoretical underpinnings of media and mobility studies in anthropology, with an emphasis on early and mid-career academics. The Anthromob network also published an edited volume based on an Anthromob meeting in 2013.
The Peace and Conflict studies in Anthropology network (PACSA) held a joint meeting with the Anthropology of Security network (AnthroSec) in Amsterdam, 28-30 August, on the topic of The making of peace, conflict and security: the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. The conference had more than 150 participants, attending 20 panels.
Five other associations held events during 2017:
Anthropology and the Arts Network: The network organised a Summer School Ethnography of the Arts / Art of Ethnography on the 17-24 September 2017, at Villa Arson, Nice. This was in cooperation with FU Berlin and Université Paris Ouest Nanterre.
Anthropology and Social Movements Network: The team of the Peasant Activism Project, in cooperation with the network, organised the second meeting of the Political Imagination Laboratory: Visualizing and Investigating the Imagination of Contemporary Activism, 8 – 10 December 2017 at University of Perugia, Italy.
European Network for Queer Anthropology (ENQA): The network organised its second workshop The pasts, presents, and futures of queer mobilities: transnational movements of ideas, concepts, and people on the 7th and 8th of September, 2017 at the Central European University in Budapest.
Energy Anthropology Network (EAN): Electrifying Anthropology, 14-16 March 2016. The workshop brought 27 international scholars to Durham University in North-East England, to debate approaches to electricity over 3 days of workshops. The event was supported by the Durham Energy Institute.
Sacral Communication and Healing Network: The network held its fifth Summer Course in the field of Organizational anthropology in 7-9 September, 2017 in Nagykőrös, Hungary. The lecturers were invited from U.K., Sweden, Romania, Austria, Hungary and USA.
One network has a call for submissions out:
Teaching Anthropology Network is organising an event Teaching and learning anthropology and ethnography in eastern and southeastern europe: Making sense of cultural difference in familiar and unfamiliar contexts, on May 12-13, 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece. Deadline for abstract submissions is March 18th, 2018.
The EASA Executive Committee strongly encourages joint network activities and wishes to encourage more joint network applications.
Many networks record progress on setting up active Facebook groups and we would encourage all networks to explore this means of communication with network members.
See all network reports, including reports on EASA-funded activities on the network section of the website.
New networks
During the course of 2017 three new networks were proposed to the EASA Executive Committee and approved:
Pilgrimage Studies Network (PILNET) (convenors: Professor John Eade (Roehampton, UK)
Ageing, Generation and Life Course Network (AGENET) (convenors: Dr Jason Danely (Oxford Brookes, UK)
Network for Psychological Anthropology (ENPA) (convenors: Dr. James Davies (University of Roehampton, UK)
Details of these new networks are being posted on the website as they come in. Any EASA members considering proposing a new network are strongly encouraged to discuss the suggestion with the Network Liaison Officer, Marcus Banks, marcus.banks(at)anthro.ox.ac.uk.
On the whole, the EASA Executive Committee prefers to extend the brief of existing networks where possible rather than establish new networks. Any proposals for new networks should explain why and how the proposed network would be distinctive and how it would address an area of the discipline which is not currently covered.
Annual reports (2017-18)
There are still some networks which have not submitted their 2017 annual reports. Even if there has not been a great deal of activity in a network, please do send us your reports so we know you are still with us!
Network Convenors
Network convenors are reminded that ‘Convenors should be elected every two years and be in office for no more than four years’. Many networks use the opportunity of the biennial conferences to seek nominations for, and to arrange elections of, new convenors. The forthcoming EASA 2018 conference in Stockholm is the ideal opportunity to seek nominations to refresh your network convenors. Where relevant, please use your mailing lists to send out a call for convenor nominations.
EASA 2018: ‘Staying, Moving, Settling’
Network convenors are reminded that the Call for panels for the 2018 EASA Biennial Conference (Stockholm, 14-17 August) remains open and that all networks are guaranteed a panel: see details of how to apply online.
The Call for Panels closes on 31 January so there are only a few days left!