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| Society for Cultural Anthropology | |
|---|---|
| Name | Society for Cultural Anthropology |
| Formation | 1983 |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
| Leader name | Joao Biehl |
| Affiliation | American Anthropological Association |
Society for Cultural Anthropology
The Society for Cultural Anthropology is a scholarly organization associated with the American Anthropological Association that promotes research and dialogue in cultural anthropology. Founded in the early 1980s amid debates at venues such as the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting and in journals like American Anthropologist, the society has been linked to editorial initiatives comparable to those of Cultural Anthropology (journal), the Journal of Anthropological Research, and other disciplinary outlets such as Current Anthropology and Annual Review of Anthropology. Key figures connected through the society include scholars associated with departments and centers at institutions like Brown University, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Chicago.
The society emerged during intellectual moments shaped by conferences at venues like the American Ethnological Society meetings and debates over theory nurtured in programs at University of Michigan and Cornell University. Early contributors and interlocutors included scholars trained under mentors at University of California, Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and Stanford University, with influence from debates surrounding works by authors associated with Clifford Geertz-related seminars and critiques from scholars linked to Marxist anthropology, postcolonial studies, and feminist anthropology. Institutional collaborations involved archives and centers such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and the Social Science Research Council. Over decades the society adapted to digital transformations exemplified by projects at MIT and publication experiments akin to initiatives at Duke University Press and University of California Press.
The society articulates goals resonant with missions promoted at organizations like the Social Science Research Council, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the MacArthur Foundation—to foster ethnographic inquiry, support comparative scholarship, and encourage public engagement. Its activities intersect with programs run by entities such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and international partners including the British Academy and the European Research Council. The society's outreach has connected with museums and cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and research centers at Yale University and Princeton University.
The society is best known for its flagship journal, which joined the suite of disciplinary periodicals alongside Cultural Anthropology (journal), American Anthropologist, Ethnography, and Medical Anthropology Quarterly. Its publishing model has engaged with editorial practices similar to those at MIT Press, Cambridge University Press, and Routledge, and its articles are often cited alongside works published by scholars affiliated with Oxford University Press and Stanford University Press. The society has experimented with open-access formats in the spirit of initiatives by Public Library of Science and repositories like JSTOR and Project MUSE. Featured contributors have been affiliated with programs at University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, Goldsmiths, University of London, and University College London.
The society organizes panels and symposia at major gatherings including the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, sessions at the Social Science History Association, and collaborations with the Meeting of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology. It has co-hosted events with institutions such as Brown University, Duke University, University of California, Berkeley, and international meetings at venues like the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and the European Association of Social Anthropologists conferences. Regional workshops have been held in partnership with centers including the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the Institute for Advanced Study.
Membership draws scholars from departments at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and global affiliates from Australian National University, University of Toronto, University of Cape Town, and National University of Singapore. Governance structures mirror those of the American Anthropological Association and other learned societies like the Royal Anthropological Institute and feature elected committees, editorial boards, and advisory councils composed of scholars with appointments at institutions such as Brown University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and Johns Hopkins University.
The society's influence is visible in citation practices across journals including American Anthropologist, Current Anthropology, and Comparative Studies in Society and History, and in curricular changes at departments like University of California, Los Angeles and University of Washington. Critics have raised concerns similar to debates at venues such as Radcliffe Institute forums and in commentaries published in outlets associated with The Chronicle of Higher Education and Contexts, questioning issues of representation, editorial transparency, and disciplinary boundaries debated alongside conversations linked to decolonization of curricula initiatives at universities including University of Exeter and SOAS University of London. Supporters point to collaborative projects with funders such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation and to the society's role in sustaining ethnographic scholarship at museums, archives, and universities worldwide.
Category:Anthropology organizations