Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics

Watch how anthropology and art organically intersect for Anjana Bala whose film "Optics" premieres on Sadler's Wells Digital Stage.

This film is a contemporary South Asian dance work that draws upon Indian classical rhythms, shapes, and geometries. Created by dance artist and anthropologist Anjana Bala alongside talented collaborators, the film uses optics as a metaphor for visibility, exploring how we pursue it and the emotional consequences it entails.

Set against shifting landscapes of light and the edges of visibility, this film explores our complex relationship with being seen and social worth – oscillating between competing for it and resisting it, between perfection and imperfection, between embracing dreams of recognition and discovering one’s own light.

https://www.sadlerswells.com/digital-stage/meet-the-rose-choreographic-school-cohort/

We have an exciting new masters programme, MSc Culture, Justice and Environment, which offers unique perspectives on human-environment relations. We spoke to Gisa Weszkalnys about the value of anthropological research to understand and address environmental challenges today.

'Anthropological research critically examines how cultural practices, (post)colonial legacies, and inequality shape environmental challenges. By addressing agrarian change and industrialisation, urbanisation and conservation, resource extraction and accumulation, pollution and waste, it reveals the socio-political dynamics driving ecological crises and proposes diverse perspectives for just, inclusive, and sustainable change. The disciplines offers unique methodologies that help unpack how these dynamics have changed over time and provide critical insights into diverse human practices and marginalised perspectives essential for addressing complex environmental challenges.'

Discover our MSc China in Comparative Perspective
Join us for an exclusive taster lecture followed by a Q&A session and firsthand insights from recent graduates and current students. This is a great opportunity to get a feel for what our programme offers you and ask any questions you may have.

🗓️ Date: 15th January
🕒 Time: 3 PM
🔗 Register here: https://buff.ly/41D6JGC

Why consider studying on this programme?
This is a unique programme that emphasises comparing China with other countries and regions to provide you with a broader context and deeper understanding of global issues while benefitting from the expertise of researchers in a range of disciplines (anthropology, sociology, political science, geography) at LSE. The programme’s interdisciplinary nature prepares you for diverse career paths including but not limited to international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and business.

https://buff.ly/41H9ua5

Discover our MSc Anthropology and Development
Join us for an exclusive taster lecture followed by a Q&A session and firsthand insights from recent graduates. This is a great opportunity to get a feel for what our programme offers you and ask any questions you may have.

🗓️ Date: 28th January
🕒 Time: 12pm GMT
🔗 Register here: https://buff.ly/41x1V5F

Why consider studying on this programme?
This MSc in Anthropology and Development provides a unique perspective on the complex challenges facing our world today. Drawing on our expertise in understanding the economic and political life of diverse societies, the programme gives a comprehensive overview of rapid processes of change and rapid transition. The programme will prepare you for roles in the state sector, positions in NGOs and charities, or work in the private sector.

https://buff.ly/3ZYWwmQ

Sustaining the Unsustainable? A Double Book Launch:
Reflecting on Science, Bureaucracy, and Theories of Change from Climate-Smart Southwest China hosted on 11th December at 5.15pm-7pm in the Old Anthropology Library.

Join us for a thought-provoking double book launch, "Sustaining the Unsustainable?" Authors Andrea Pia and Tim McLellan will delve into their recently published ethnographic monographs, exploring the complexities of science, bureaucracy, and theories of social and environmental change in southwest China. Their work offers a unique perspective on environmental sustainability, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities in this region. Accompanying them, PhD students Cla Ruzol and Tongyue Zhu will engage in critical dialogue, further enriching the discussion. This event promises to be a stimulating exploration of sustainability, bureaucracy, and the human impact on the environment.

Neil Armstrong joins us for this week's Friday Seminar to speak about 'What Does Anthropology Have to Offer Mental Health Research? Reflections on Authenticity'.

Neil Armstrong is lecturer in anthropology at the Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research and Action, SOAS. He uses anthropology to address practical questions about mental healthcare. His book 'Collaborative Ethnographic Working in Mental Health: Knowledge Power and Hope in an Age of Bureaucratic Accountability' was published last year.

The seminar is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

MODERN METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS - a lecture / performance ethnography

On Tuesday 10th December, come to The Thai Theatre for a taste of how Indonesian hypnotists are integrating longstanding ritual traditions with emergent understandings of psychology, technology and biofeedback. In this session, which blurs the formats of a lecture and participatory performance ethnography, our very own Dr Nick Long will give a live demonstration of ‘Modern Metaphysical Hypnosis’ and will offer attendees the opportunity to ‘see’ inside their own minds. (Audience participation is strictly optional). There will also be time to reflect on the anthropological implications of these innovative forms of hypnotic practice.

Perfect for anyone in need of a pre-holiday hypnotic mood boost – or who is interested in exploring themes related to mind and society, consciousness, ritual, or immersive / performative ways of communicating ethnographic knowledge.

The session will take place from 17:30 - 19:00 at the Thai Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ

The event is free, but due to capacity constraints, advance ticketing is required. To attend, please book here: https://buff.ly/3ZCyeP3

Hope to see some of you there next week!

We look forward to welcoming LSE Anthropology and Law alumnus Harry Compton back to the department this week for a talk entitled 'Tracing the Path: From Anthropology to Photography’.

Since graduating from LSE, Harry has gone on to become a distinguished photographer. Recent exhibitions, awards and features include the LensCulture Portrait Prize (2024), Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery (2023), LensCulture Critics Choice (2023), Gibellina Photoroad Exhibitor (2023), Scotia bank Contact Photography Festival Exhibitor (2023), and the SPM Photo Residency Award for Photographer Under-30 (2023).

In this talk he will outline his journey, the way anthropology continues to shape his practice, and will share practical tips and insights for anyone interested in developing an anthropologically-informed photographic practice.

This event has been organised in conjunction with the current LSE Anthropology exhibition, Faces of Hypnosis, showing until the 20th December in the Old Building’s Atrium Gallery.

Join us for this week's Friday Seminar with Carla Jones who will speak about 'Style on Trial: The Gendered Aesthetics of Appearance, Corruption, and Piety in Indonesia'.

Carla Jones is Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research analyzes the cultural politics of appearance in urban Indonesia, with a particular focus on femininity, domesticity, aesthetics, and Islam. She has written extensively on self-improvement programs, manners, and middle-class respectability in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. She is the co-editor, with Ann Marie Leshkowich and Sandra Niessen, of Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress (Berg, 2003). Her current work situates anxieties about Islamic style in the context of broader debates about corruption and exposure.

The seminar is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

'The India Briefing' is a new podcast hosted by Mukulika Banerjee and Pragya Tiwari.

The podcast offers a deep dive into India’s dynamic landscape and delivers insightful updates on India’s politics, economy, and culture. Whether you’re studying, investing, or simply curious about the country, join us for crisp conversations and debates that decode India’s role in global affairs.

The latest episode uncovers the reasons behind New Delhi's pollution problem.

Listen and subscribe via the link.

Episode 3 - Delhi Pollution: Crisis in the Capital Podcast Episode · The India Briefing · 22/11/2024 · 32m

Professor Shawn-Naphtali Sobers joins us this week for our Friday Seminar. He will speak about his research, "Exploring the Use of an Entertainment Device in a Time of Trauma: A Longitudinal Approach to Communicating the Story of an Emperor in Exile and the Role of Material Culture in Everyday Life'".

Shawn-Naphtali Sobers is a Visual Anthropologist, working in writing, photography, and filmmaking, exploring narratives of belonging. His research interests are primarily explored through the themes of hidden histories, unheard stories, everyday life and material culture. As a researcher his work has spanned a wide range of topics, including; community media, creative education, trans-Atlantic slave trade, disability & walking, religion, Rastafari, Ethiopian and Caribbean cultures, and photography & generative AI. His recent book, 'Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture & Narrative: Tings in de House', was published by Routledge in 2023.

Shawn co-founded Firstborn Creatives production company in 1999 with Rob Mitchell, and made programmes for BBC 1, ITV West and Channel 4. A collection of his work can be found at buff.ly/412K4mJ

The seminar is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

Join Dr Nick Long tomorrow Tuesday 26 November in the Shaw Library, 11-11.30am to find out about his ethnographic work with hypnotists and hypnotherapists.

What is hypnosis? Can everyone be hypnotised? Does being able to hypnotise other people change how you see the world? LSE anthropologist Dr Nick Long spent over 16 months living and working with hypnotists in Indonesia to find out. Organised in conjunction with the Faces of Hypnosis exhibition on display in LSE’s Atrium Gallery in November and December 2024, this talk explores the three most important things Nick discovered about hypnosis – and why they matter to us all.

You can visit 'Faces of Hypnosis' from 10am-8pm Monday to Friday until 20 December.

LSE Research Showcase LSE Research Showcase for staff, students and alumni. Join our coffee break sessions to learn about some of the fascinating research taking place at LSE, or watch recordings of sessions you have missed.

NEW LSE Law & Anthropology Seminar Series

Nafay Choudhury: ‘Bazaar Governance: Legal Pluralism and Economic Order in an Afghan Marketplace’

3 December @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
The Moot Court Room, 7th Floor, CKK Building

We are delighted to present the first event in the new LSE Law and Anthropology Seminar Series, supported jointly by the Law School and the Anthropology Department.

Our inaugural speaker will be Dr. Nafay Choudhury, Assistant Professor of Law at the LSE, on the topic of ‘Bazaar Governance: Legal Pluralism and Economic Order in an Afghan Marketplace’.

All interested LSE staff and students are very welcome to attend. Capacity is limited, and the event operates on a first come basis.

Alternatively, to join hybrid please register via the link.

Based on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Afghanistan, this presentation explores the maintenance of order within Afghanistan’s central money exchanger bazaar, Sarai Shahzada. The bazaar plays a central role in the running of the country’s entire economy despite operating with a high degree of autonomy from the state. The presentation explores the various governance practices within the bazaar, which bring together overlapping and interpenetrating elements of state law, non-state law and extra-legal arrangements based on based on trust. I employ the term entangled governance to capture the convergence of these different forms of ordering. Entangled governance turns attention to the hybrid assemblage of diverse logics and rationalities employed by individuals that contributes to the overall maintenance of order. It highlights the messy, inconsistent and contingent nature of order within a social setting. Ethnographic insights help to provide a granular account of the “organized chaos” or “patterned contingency” that characterizes the continued success of the bazaar.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/events

Join us this week for our Friday Seminar with Noah Walker-Crawford who will speak on "How to Sue Goliath: Climate Justice in Action".

Dr Noah Walker-Crawford is a Research Fellow at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute. He studies climate litigation from a socio-legal perspective. He holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. Beside his academic work, he advises litigants and NGOs on using legal tools to fight for climate justice.

The seminar is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

Hypnosis: the inside story | LSE Research Showcase LSE Research Showcase for staff, students and alumni. Join our coffee break sessions to learn about some of the fascinating research taking place...

Fire: Climate, Wildfires, and the Religious Imagination

Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, from 12:15-1:45PM EST

Mareike Winchell (LSE) joins Adriana Petryna (University of Pennsylvania) for this online event to discuss their work on wildfires in the United States and Bolivia, exploring both the political-theological dimensions of fire and complexities of taking action to prevent environmental disasters.

Sing up for the online event and find out about this series of events by Columbia University Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life via the link

Fire: Climate, Wildfires, and the Religious Imagination — Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life   IRCPL’s Religion and Climate series is animated by calls to reimagine human relationships with and responsibilities to the environment in an age of planetary crisis. As the impact of climate change is increasingly but unevenly felt, religion is emerging as a site of epistemological dou