World Anthropologies

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST WORLD ANTHROPOLOGIES Foreword Special Section on Nativism, Nationalism, and Xenophobia: What Anthropologists Do and Have Done Virginia R. Dominguez the call out through the WCAA (and its heads of over forty University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Associate Editor for anthropological associations around the globe) and through World Anthropologies the journal’s editorial board, which has many members out- Emily Metzner side the United States. The ten scholars who committed to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Editorial Assistant for writing essays for this special section (though not all came World Anthropologies through) were a mix of those approached by Virginia individually and anthropologists who heard about it in one of he World Anthropologies section in this issue consists these other ways. Indeed, half were people we approached of essays written fairly quickly by anthropologists in individually and half were people who heard or read the call variousT places in the world who responded to our request and approached Virginia directly. in early December 2016 for short- to medium-length essays The end result is suggestive, not exhaustive, but it doc- due January 20. We thought the topic was clear, but it was uments developments in many countries, in the recent past apparently too broad for some and too daunting for others. as well as in the contemporary moment, where anthropol- We were, therefore, delighted with the number and range ogists have had to live and work in environments that most of essays we received and include here. Poland, Greece, found too nativist, too nationalist, too protectionist, and India, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Japan feature downright xenophobic and intolerant. Put differently, most quite visibly, but so does most of Europe, the United States colleagues included here describe periods, actions, prac- (even if backgrounded here), and many other contemporary tices, activities, representations, and/or rhetoric they find societies and countries around the world. antithetical to anthropology. Here is what we wrote—and what went out through the We have copyedited the essays but have otherwise given WCAA (World Council of Anthropological Associations) the authors wide berth to address or focus on an issue or a and the AA editorial board in early December: place to the best of their abilities and with arguments that are fully their own. We recognize that other anthropologists The WORLD ANTHROPOLOGIES section of AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST invites anthropologists living and work- living and working in those countries or settings might prefer ing amid any of the growing nativist/nationalist/xenophobic/ to stress a different phenomenon or offer a different inter- protectionist movements in various parts of the world, outside pretation than the ones found here, but our aim is to broach of the United States, to submit short- to medium-length pieces the topic rather than provide closure, and we will welcome (anywhere from 1200 to 2000 words) to a special section planned for the September 2017 issue of American Anthropologist. Essays future essays (short or medium in length) that critique one or in this planned World Anthropologies section of AA may address more of these essays, offer alternative arguments, or stress how anthropologists respond to, interpret, analyze, engage with, something else altogether. resist, and/or teach about these movements, or how anthropolo- Many of our colleagues around the world have bravely gists in the past have responded to the rise of similar movements in their societies. taken up this topic with respect to the present, and not just with respect to the past. But others have been admonished We added that we welcomed essays written in languages to be less public, less visible, and less vocal in their criticism other than English, though we explained that they would if they want to keep their jobs or have any hope of mak- have to be translated into English before appearing in the ing inroads or providing continuous alternative, dissident journal.1 We asked colleagues interested in contributing an visions. essay to this special section to let us know as soon as possible Anthropology is not a homogeneous field, but it does that they were planning to submit, especially if their essays tend to see itself as standing for equality, human rights, social were not going to be in English, so we would have the justice, respect for diversity, and indeed even fighting for necessary time to translate them or get them translated. the underdog. When so many of our colleagues around the We approached certain individuals we knew were work- world tell the stories of incidents they have witnessed that go ing on related issues and received some commitments that against those widespread anthropological values, it is time for way, but we also sought to reach far and wide by sending us to pause and contemplate our response(s). Perhaps Sarah AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Vol. 119, No. 3, pp. 518–540, ISSN 0002-7294, online ISSN 1548-1433. C 2017 by the American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/aman.12914 World Anthropologies 519 Green (Helsinki) was the bravest of all contributors when the 2017 annual meeting of the American Anthropological she mentioned how she did not respond to the perpetrators Association) and can build disciplinary strength in times in Greece in 2012 and how she remembers wondering why. of great repression. As Mariano Perelman suggests, Together, these essays point to important questions and anthropologists are uniquely poised to better understand considerations for anthropologists who want to attenuate these movements beyond the purely economic realm and these movements and discourses, diversely characterized as to extend the public narrative about them with questions racist, xenophobic, far right, and nationalist in this collec- about what it means for people to live with dignity and tion of essays. Whether the movements (or governments) about how people imagine their past and future horizons. are driven by a smaller sector of elites, as in Argentina, or the Also stressing the affective and phenomenological forces majority, as Michał Buchowski tells us is the case in Poland; behind such political projects, Anouk de Koning and Wayne whether they claim to speak on behalf of “the people” or a Modest suggest that we historicize the “anxious politics” Judeo-Christian god or some other symbol of what is taken they see—and feel—in the Netherlands as well as other to be good and righteous, as Tuhina Ganguly asks, to which Western European countries and perhaps the United States, audiences must we address our scholarship to make an im- and recognize their ties to legacies of colonialism. All pact, and in what languages must we speak and write? What of these authors emphasize the personal and professional analytical tools can we bring to bear on this discussion? Can dangers anthropologists face when our work challenges we broaden our scope of understanding by working with the such powerful and repressive political configurations, but knowledge produced across the four fields of our discipline all seek out paths for anthropologists to do so. Our hope is (as defined in the United States) as well as the knowledge that their bravery will serve as inspiration to those among produced by scholars working on related phenomena in us who seek to join them in whatever creative ways we can different geopolitical and sociocultural contexts, as Yasuko muster. Takezawa advises? Is nationalism always and necessarily repressive, and how are we to differentiate between various NOTE movements for autonomy and national identity? Sarah Green 1. Virginia R. Dominguez served as translator of the essays by suggests we distinguish an inward-looking, separatist, “eth- Carmen Rial and Miriam Grossi, and by Mariano Perelman for nicist” nationalism based on origins from a “kinship vision of this issue. Emily Metzner has translated works in previous is- belonging” that maintains the potential for inclusion. sues, such as in the September 2015 and September 2016 is- Carmen Rial and Miriam Grossi make it clear that sues. We will strive to consistently attribute translation from anthropology can indeed matter (which is also the theme of now on. Essay A New Tide of Racism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia in Europe: Polish Anthropologists Swim Against the Current Michał Buchowski incident, between two and three hundred people gathered Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland, and European University outside the shop. “At some point, bottles and stones were Viadrina, Germany thrown from the crowd” toward the shop. A window was broken, a firecracker was thrown inside, and within just a n the early weeks of 2017, while living in Japan doing few minutes, the shop was demolished (Orłowski 2017). almost a year of research on immigrants, I found myself I read that the crowd applauded. Skirmishes with the po- readingI the news from Poland, my homeland, and getting lice erupted and twenty to thirty rioters were detained. increasingly upset. I read that people celebrated New Year’s When a local bishop appealed to stop the violence dur- Eve as usual in Poland. They watched fireworks, attended ing a mass, some attendees left the church in protest, a parties and public gatherings, and many got drunk. I read very rare act in this Catholic country. On the very same that in Ełk, a small town in northeastern Poland, two ine- night, at the opposite, southeastern end of the country, in briated young Polish men shouted slurs and epithets at the Lubin, nearby Wrocław, vandals destroyed another kebab Algerian and Tunisian owners of a kebab shop (Fejfer 2017). shop owned by an Indian man and spray-painted “Fuck ISIS When the two Poles (a population long seen as white and [in Polish], fuck Islam [in English]” across its facade (EW Catholic and accustomed to seeing itself that way) attempted 2017).

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