The Institute of Social Anthropology teaches social anthropology in its full diversity. Key areas of research at our institute include (but are not limited to): migration, anthropology of the state, economic and ecological anthropology as well as media anthropology. Our different degree programs – one bachelor and three master’s programs which include the specialised master’s program Anthropology of Transnationalism and the State (ATS) and CREOLE – provide students with a thorough grounding in anthropological theory and methodology. Furthermore, they offer vast possibilities for specialisation. The Institute of Social Anthropology also participates in several postgraduate programs for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers.
Anthroblog: "About relations" by Lisa Alvarado Grefa, PhD Candidate at the Institute of Social Anthropology, Bern
Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm
Hier das Statement der Jury: Die vielen Leben eines Mythos: als antike Überlieferung, übersetzt in religiöse ekstatische Praxis und fortgeführt als Ritual weiblicher Selbstermächtigung. Er wiederholt sich – immer gleich und immer wieder anders, in den Körpern, die tanzend gegen das Gift einer patriarchalen Ordnung aufbegehren oder sich im toxischen Erbe einer ausbeuterischen Landschaftsnutzung stellen. Zwischen Archivrecherche und Reenactment, Klang- und Textkomposition, Gender und Genre entwickelt der Film eine eigenwillige, im besten Sinne widerständige Sprache.
Call For Papers
Our December workshop will explore the pole of digital technologies in social learning towards environmental justice and inclusive knowledge-making across diverse communities. Our keynote speakers include Bianca Vienni Baptista (ETH Zurich) and Tim Schütz (UC Irvine). Foto Credit: Alfisyahr Izzati, Fieldwork in West Borneo, 2016
Tobias Haller is co-organizer with scholars from University of Lausanne of the joint IASC Europe&CIS and ICCA/Territories of Life Conference
In an increasingly urban world, rural people, be they Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities or Rural Communities, are increasingly being left behind. While some Indigenous Peoples have been relatively successful in creating space within the various global policy making institutions, such as in IUCN, other rural communities sharing resources in common property especially in Europe are not. The conference adresses these issues in collaborative discussions between European Commoners and researcher of the commons in order to discuss issues such as the missing commons in the SDGs and European Rural Agriculture and Conservation Policies.
Institutskolloquia FS2024
Mega-Infrastrukturprojekte
Die Energiewende gelingt nur, wenn die lokale Bevölkerung mit einbezogen wird – sei es in der Schweiz oder in Afrika. Dies zeigt Tobias Haller, Sozialanthropologe der Universität Bern anhand von Mega-Infrastrukturprojekten auf der ganzen Welt.
UNI Aktuell
New publication by Isabel Käser
Sabine Strasser and Martin Sökefeld: Journal Of Ethnic And Migration Studies
Sabine Strasser and Martin Sökefeld Mit Beiträgen von Victoria Tecca, Usman Mahar, Karlien Strijbosch, Elise Hjalmarson, Sabina Barone, Gerhild Perl
Neue Publikation,
Mit vielen Beiträgen aus Bern von aktuellen, assoziierten und ehemaligen Institutsmitgliedern: Lene Faust, Jeanne Féaux de la Croix, Kathrin Oester, Gerhild Perl und Michaela Schäuble
Neue Publikation von Michaela Schäuble
Schäuble, Michaela (2024). Contesting heritage: Artistic and cultural (re)appropriations of Apulian tarantism. Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Volume II (pp. 51-78). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003467809-4
neue Publikation von J. Féaux de la Croix
Féaux de la Croix, Jeanne. Producing Knowledge for Socio-Ecological Transformation in Central Asia? A Humbling Experiment in Re-Cognizing Rivers. Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques 78:2, pp. 311-334.
Féaux de la Croix, J. and Samakov, A. 2024. A. Moving beyond the Framing Impasse in the Aral Sea Delta: Vernacular Knowledge of Salinization and Its Potential for Social Learning towards Sustainability. Sustainability 16, 8605.
16/9/24: CEE Plenary Lecture with Professor Tobias Haller
Watch video
Mega-Infrastructure Projects (MIPs) represent a central element of globalized development. They are complex ventures involving international capital and many stakeholders. However, despite MIPs' promise of a sustainable modern development, many local users are left disenchanted. Not only do they lose access to their resources often held in common, many projects fail to deliver on their goals. New work and livelihood opportunities for local communities often do not materialise. Despite these failures, operating companies and governments remain committed to these large-scale solar-, wind- and biofuel projects. See the presentation on you tube:
New publication from Darcy Alexandra
Alexandra, D. (2024). Never Buried, That War–. In: van Roekel, E., Murphy, F. (eds) A Collection of Creative Anthropologies. Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Lunch Talk in the Draper Natural History Museum, Cody (WY)
Interview mit Dr. Rohit Jain, SRF Rundschau
An der historischen Osterprozession in Mendrisio TI stellen Menschen schwarz geschminkt angeblich historische Figuren dar. Dieses sogenannte «Blackfacing» gilt heute als rassistisch. Die Organisatoren der Prozession wollten dies deshalb verbieten. Doch dagegen gab es emotionale Proteste aus der lokalen Bevölkerung. Dr. Rohit Jain, Institut für Sozialanthropologie der Universität Bern hat zu Blackfacing und kolonialen Symbole im öffentlichen Raum geforscht und ordnet die Debatte ein.
Lerchenweg 36 3012 Bern
Phone: Tel.: +41 31 684 8995 information@anthro.unibe.ch
