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Long Abstract
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Many so-called peripheral anthropologies have existed around the world since the first half of the 20th century. Some of these sites of knowledge production emerged in part due to the need to document cultural practices, histories, and relations through ethnography where it has been under-represented, under-studied, recently materialized, or where rapid socio-cultural changes have taken place. Yet, their relevance to dominant anthropological discourse emerged only the 1980s, with some exceptions. Publications emblematic of this appreciation for such systems of knowledge production include the issue of Ethnos on national anthropologies (Gerholm and Hannerz 1982), Decolonizing Anthropology (Harrison 1991), World Anthropologies (Lins Ribeiro and Escobar 2005), African Anthropologies (Ntarangwi et al. 2006). However, scholarship has not kept up with the ethnographic demand or needs, while existing works often lack theoretically grounded descriptions of the often-contested process of institutionalization and challenges for gaining traction of the discipline in a particular area. Much of this panel will draw upon experiences of anthropologists in South Asia, the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, who worked to reinforce graduate training and develop doctoral university programs in Anthropology. Seen as a whole, the papers will provide a framework for best practices and/or challenges faced in developing and improving courses and programs, offering professional development skills and networks, supporting students, and advancing the discipline in locales where it is under-represented (i.e., multiple and evolving understandings of what anthropology does/means, access to resources, marginalities vis a vis the neoliberal turn, uncertain policy terrains, etc.). The papers will also reflect on the way knowledge and power work in developing or strengthening new programs for anthropological training as the discipline as a whole is working to establish itself in the wider educational arena in the context of decolonization, and what this means for the future of anthropology in these locales and beyond.
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