How might anthropology think about substitutions as a way to understand how change is (or often isn't) enacted? This collection edited by Katie Ulrich (@katieulrich.bsky.social), Véra Ehrenstein and myself for Society for Cultural Anthropology collates 14 essays addressing this topic! culanth.org/fieldsights/se…

Mythri Jegathesan follows the linguistic and conceptual slippage between tranches and trenches, as oil debts are paid off in tea equivalents through tea pickers’ labor in Sri Lanka’s tea trenches. culanth.org/fieldsights/tr…

Thank you, Alice Rudge, Katie Ulrich (@katieulrich.bsky.social), and Véra Ehrenstein for this Society for Cultural Anthropology series on substitution. It was really helpful to work through these ideas over the past year.

சரித்திரம் படைக்கும் முறையில் இரண்டு மலையக பெண்கள் இம்முறை பாராளுமன்றத்தில்! Ambika Samuel Selvi Selvi ඉතිහාසයේ පළමු වතාවට මලයග ගැහැණු දෙන්නෙක්ම මාලීමාවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට. Historic first, two women from Malaiyaga Tamil community to represent parliament.

Still taking this in ♥️ incredibly heartened to see this moment for Malaiyaha Tamil women in Sri Lanka and break from a history of patriarchy in Malaiyaham.

this is so brilliant and heart-warming! More power to these exceptional women ✊🏽♥️

Come to the SAW business meeting this Wednesday (the 20th) at 11:45am EST. Come find out how to get involved, and our new initiatives. ucsd.zoom.us/meeting/regist…

Launching a mentoring series (via Zoom) this spring and seeking volunteer mentors! Potential topics: applying for the first job, submitting a first book proposal, revising an article, navigating fieldwork etc. If interested, please email Elise Andaya ([email protected]).

Quick Notes/Thread on Syria angles: What explains the stark polar reactions we are observing everywhere in the wake of the Syrian regime’s collapse? It is as though people are watching different realities, or approaching reality from singular angles. I’ll try to unpack here

"If we are doing our jobs, if we are really teaching, then the work we are doing is not just conveying information and assigning grades. When we are really teaching, we are imagining a world otherwise, alongside our students. —Maura Finkelstein culanth.org/fieldsights/pa…

This is wonderful and congrats, Neena Mahadev!

As 2024 comes to a close, we asked a few friends to share their top three reads this year. Thank you Vindhya Buthpitiya; Neloufer de Mel; Kiran Grewal; Ramya Jirasinghe; Apsara Karunaratne ; Vihanga Perera & RuvaniRanasinha . What were your favourites? polity.lk/best-reads-in-…

"I have come to the view that the Columbia University administration has created such a toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine that I can no longer teach or conduct research at Columbia." ccrjustice.org/home/press-cen…

We stand with advisory board member Katherine Franke and all Columbia University students, faculty and staff facing unprecedented attacks for their advocacy for Palestinian rights. Read our statement on end of Franke’s 25-year career at Columbia Law: palestinelegal.org/news/katherine…

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regist… #coomaraswamy #History #SriLanka #webinar

The Social Scientists' Association congratulates Neena Mahadev on her book KARMA AND GRACE winning the 2024 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, Society for the Anthropology of Religion.

Graduate students, the Society for the Anthropology of Work (SAW) invites you to submit your scholarly work to the Eric R. Wolf Prize. Submissions are due on September 1. The recipient of the Eric R. Wolf Prize will receive a $250 cash award.

#SriLanka: One of the most enduring obstacles to realising wage increases in the plantation sector is the resistance on the part of estate owners and plantation companies, particularly those organised under the Planters’ Association, writes Skandha Gunasekara🇱🇰 themorning.lk/articles/pAFOI…