Anthropology and Enlightenment ASA14 Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth Decennial Conference Edinburgh 19-22 June 2014 Thu 19 June Sat 21 June 15:30-18:00: Registration 09:00-10:30: Panel session 4 18:00-18:30: Inauguration 10:30-11:00: Tea & coffee 18:30-19:30: Firth Lecture 11:00-12:30: Panel session 5 20:00-22:00: Reception 12:30-14:00: Lunch and Anthropology Matters session 14:00-15:30: Panel session 6 Fri 20 June 15:30-16:00: Tea & coffee 09:00-10:30: Panel session 1 16:00-18:00: Plenaries 10:30-11:00: Tea & coffee 18:00-18:15: Break 11:00-12:30: Panel session 2 18:15-19:30: HAU Roundtable 12:30-14:00: Lunch and ASA AGM 20:00-22:00: Dinner 14:00-15:30: Panel session 3 15:30-16:00: Tea & coffee Sun 22 June 16:00-18:00: Plenaries 09:00-10:30: Panel session 7 18:00-18:30: Break 10:30-11:00: Tea & coffee 18:30-19:30: Munro Lecture 11:00-12:30: Panel session 8 19:30-20:00: Break 12:30-14:00: Lunch and HoDs meeting 20:00-22:00: Ceilidh 14:00-15:30: Panel session 9 15:30-16:00: Tea & coffee 16:00-18:00: Plenaries 18:00-18:15: Break 18:15-19:15: Closing ceremony Anthropology and Enlightenment Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth Decennial Conference Edinburgh, 19-22 June 2014 Convenor: The Scottish Training in Anthropological Research (STAR) consortium With thanks to the universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and St Andrews for their financial assistance and support in making the conference possible. Volunteers: Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos, Sebastian Arze, Emma Atkin-Brenninkmeyer, Benjamin Bridgman, Kevin Brown, Shuhua Chen, Jonathan Chow, Juan Claux, Don Duprez, Dilara Garaeva, Sandalia Genus, Lucie Hazelgrove-Planel, Gyorgy Henyei Neto, Elizabeth Hodson, Amanda Hunter, Jenny Killin, Anna Kuprian, Christine Lee, Rodolfo Maggio, Iris Marchand, Livia Marinescu, Stephen McConnachie, Hannah McInnes-Dean, Katarina Ockova, Callum Pearce, Tiana Rakotondratrimo, Koreen Reece, Sylvia Seldon, Kimberly Sigmund, Michael Southwood, Courtney Stafford-Walter, Mally (Malgorzata) Stelmaszyk, Elishka Kara Stirton, Ilinca Vanau, Steven Vella, Noah Walker-Crawford, Grit Wesser, Catherine Whittaker, Inna Yaneva-Toraman. NomadIT: Eli Bugler, Megan Caine, Darren Edale, Rohan Jackson, Triinu Mets, Elaine Morley Table of contents Conference timetable .......................................................... 2 Welcome .............................................................................. 6 Theme .................................................................................. 8 Practical information ........................................................ 10 Events and fringe programme .......................................... 16 Exhibitions ....................................................................... 21 Film programme ............................................................... 23 Daily timetable ................................................................. 26 Table of plenaries and panels ........................................... 29 Plenary, panel and paper abstracts ................................... 37 List of convenors, chairs, discussants and presenters ... 133 Maps .............................................................................. 146 Welcome From the Chair of the ASA On behalf of the ASA committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the conference delegates, and to thank the STAR consortium – which includes anthropologists from the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and St Andrews – for organising the conference. Taking on the work and responsibility to host the ASA’s annual conference represents a major contribution to our discipline, and their joint endeavour exemplifies the collaborative approach that underpins the association. The ASA exists to promote the professional and intellectual interests of all of its members, and the annual conference is a key part of its activities. In a decennial year, it is inspiring to see the ASA conference set out a sweeping intellectual agenda which celebrates both the history of the Enlightenment and the continued scholarly potential of an optimistic and outward-facing mode of enquiry. The themes set out in the plenaries and panels are of interest not only to anthropologists, but also to researchers in a range of disciplinary areas. And these themes are broad and exciting: they ask big questions about the universe, nature, beauty and harmony, order and design. They explore major aspects of being human: death and immortality; morality and virtue; utopias and dystopias. The rich and diverse array of panels, films and related events reflects the enthusiasm raised by the conference theme, and it is plain that these will generate many lively and engaging discussions. The continued commitment of ASA members in this regard is vital to the health and wellbeing of our discipline and, in a forum that brings our most senior researchers together with the most junior, this constitutes a critical part of our own intergenerational transmission of knowledge. By taking the notion of Enlightenment as a starting point, the convenors aim to recapture the ‘wonder’ generated by achieving new understandings of the world. I think they will succeed, and, in the politically utilitarian context that now dominates research practice, it is heartening to be reminded why we choose to investigate and to analyse, and to seek answers to difficult and complex questions. I look forward to a truly illuminating conference. Veronica Strang, Chair of the ASA Next year…The ASA2015 conference will be held at the University of Exeter. Focusing on a theme of Symbiotic Anthropologies, it will consider the ways in which anthropology reaches across disciplinary boundaries to engage with diverse epistemic communities, exploring how this engagement can both challenge our independence while also supporting exciting theoretical and methodological innovations. See our advertisement for the conference at the end of this book. 6 Welcome From the conference convenors Welcome! The Scottish Training in Anthropological Research (STAR) consortium is delighted to welcome participants to the ASA14 Decennial conference in Edinburgh. Established in 2006, STAR brings together staff and research students in social anthropology at the universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews. Over the five years since its foundation, the consortium has organised a series of Scotland-wide workshops and other events focusing on postgraduate training, the RAI film festival, and both the RAI undergraduate and post-graduate conferences – all of which have facilitated innovative research and teaching and established a spirit of cooperation between our institutions. While the conference is based in Edinburgh, the theme for the conference was developed with these values in mind, and reflects our commitment to cooperation and to drawing on our combined strengths. In the year when Scotland votes on the independence referendum, we are holding the conference in the capital city. The theme for the conference, Anthropology and Enlightenment, takes its inspiration from the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment, born in an era when intellectual life in Scotland was at its most cosmopolitan and outward-facing. This was a time of intellectual optimism and experimentation, of polymaths and autodidacts who were not afraid to address the widest and most fundamental questions of what it is to be human. Above all, the Scottish Enlightenment was a milieu rather than a school, a world of public argument in coffee-houses – and indeed in drinking establishments – rather than a canonical set of texts. Through our choice of theme we aim to rekindle the spirit that gave birth to the discipline of anthropology, yet in a manner and an idiom appropriate to the contemporary era, by combining historical reflection with an exploration of anthropology’s relations with other disciplines, including philosophy, political economy, theology, history, architecture, medicine, law, agriculture and even sociology. The diversity and eclecticism of the panels and papers reflects this and addresses a range of anthropological interests, current interdisciplinary themes and a commitment to the spirit of the conference. We hope you will enjoy your stay here, and participate not just in the conference itself but also in the fringe events, including a visit to the Royal Botanic Garden, a ceilidh (traditional Scottish dancing), art exhibitions, tours of the National Museum of Scotland, a comedy night, and whisky tasting. Last, but not least, we invite you to avail yourself of the many delights of the beautiful city itself. The STAR consortium 7 Theme The conference theme, Anthropology and Enlightenment, takes its inspiration from the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment. This was a time of intellectual optimism and experimentation, of polymaths and autodidacts who were not afraid to address the widest and most fundamental questions of what it is to be human. Above all, the Scottish Enlightenment was a milieu rather than a school, a world of public argument, rather than a canonical set of texts. Through our choice of theme we aim to rekindle the spirit that gave birth to the discipline of anthropology, yet in a manner and an idiom appropriate to the contemporary era, by combining historical reflection with an exploration of anthropology’s relations with other disciplines, including philosophy, political economy, theology, history, architecture, medicine, law, agriculture and even sociology. Papers