Authoritarian movements are on the rise worldwide. At the same time, we see a proliferation of new articulations and new styles of authority, as well as vehement debates on what authority should look like (e.g. in the field of parenting, governance, and (pious) religion). In response to these developments, this panel combines the analytical frameworks from the anthropology of religion, the state and pedagogy to explore a grounded anthropological theory of how authority is ‘done’. The anthropology of religion, and Islam in particular, has conceptualised authority as an ethical relationship in which disciplinary techniques and “aesthetics of persuasion” allow for the shaping of a more virtuous self (Agrama 2010; Fernando 2014, Mahmood 2005; Meyer 2010; de Witte, de Koning and Sunier 2015). The anthropology of parenting, education and therapeutic care, instead, point to broad shifts in pedagogical ideals of authority in line with the global dissemination of neoliberal and psychology-based models of personhood emphasising egalitarianism, emotions, and non-violence (Faircloth 2013; Kaneh-Shalit 2017; Wilce and Fenigsen 2016). Last, the anthropology of the state and governance have shown that state authority, including bureaucratic or institutional authority, is inherently performative and provisional (Jauregui 2016). It requires constant boundary work and carries possibilities of violence (Aretxaga 2003; Babul 2012; Bear 2011; Hansen and Stepputat 2006). This panel explores two themes that tie these fields together in their appreciation of authority not as something ‘had’ but as something ‘done’. The first theme consists of the distributions and relationalities through which authority, provisionally, emerges. The second theme is that of the shifting and heterogenous nature of registers of authority and the polyvalent ethical subjectivities and sensibilities such registers invoke and enable. Both themes highlight that enactments of authority straddle and unsettle, rather than confirm, dominant conceptual divides, such as the religious and the secular, formal and informal, state and non-state (Fader 2009; Kloos 2019; Lammer 2019). The papers in this panel combine insights from the anthropological fields mentioned above to ask new questions about contemporary contestations over, and new enactments of, authority in various contexts across the globe (the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Europe as well as mediascapes and big data). What aesthetic, affective and ethical genres and practices are performed and (re-)combined to create persuasive authoritative relationships? What ethical subjecthood and desired attuning between 'author' and 'authorised' do enactments of authority seek to effect? How are enactments of authority distributed, assembled, and renegotiated across scales, spheres, and actors? The papers address a wide range of dimensions, actors, and manifestations of authority, from the anti-authoritarian ideals of new parenting models and 'reality game' universes, and the shifting genres of Islamic authority, to the distributions of authority in big data and through extra-judicial violence, and the affective brokerage performed in development and urban governance networks. Together, they showcase what an anthropological theory of ‘doing’ authority might look like.

Overkill 2.0: Provisional Authorities and Violent Subjectivities

Towards an anthropology of authority: doings, distributions, desires (Part II - The subjectivities that authority generates)

technical paper

Truth and Responsibility
“Truth and Responsibility” is a call to reimagine anthropology to meet the demands of the present moment. The imperative to bear witness, take action, and be held accountable to the truths we write and circulate invites us to reflect on our responsibility in reckoning with disciplinary histories, harms, and possibilities. To whom are we giving evidence and toward what ends? For whom are we writing? To whom are we accountable, and in what ways? We are thrilled to announce the theme of the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting to be held in Baltimore, MD: Truth and Responsibility.

Many consider anthropology to be a holistic social science dedicated to cross-cultural understanding as a way to reduce bigotry and more fully comprehend “what it means to be human.” Others push against this readily circulated origin story, arguing that “human” remains a highly contested, political category—evident as the presumed set of rights and protections associated with the “human” continue to be stripped away violently in the communities in which some of us live and work. Which violent histories and epistemologies must anthropologists take responsibility for in telling truth(s) about the discipline’s development? How do the dual histories of settler colonialism and slavery continue to influence anthropological thought and practices? In these political times, how can anthropologists throughout the globe work to secure a capacious, progressive vision of the human? How might movements for anti-racism, decoloniality, queer liberation, and healing such as #BlackLivesMatter, #ProtectMaunaKea, and #MeToo push a future anthropology out of the ashes of the anthropological past? Finally, what are the limits and possibilities of the anthropological imagination?

Across subfields, we find truths in patterns of human behavior, language, evolution, and cultural worlds. Industry-positioned anthropologists do this by extending the boundaries of the discipline not as an administrative solution to job shortages but as a source of intervention and knowledge production. Increasingly, anthropologists who make use of the scientific method question how status and identity help to decide which facts come to represent truth. How might quantitative researchers use our methods to identify patterned truths, and what responsibility do we hold in challenging conventional wisdom about these patterns? What responsibility do we have to both our colleagues and larger publics, to push toward increased transparency and ethical grounding in our data collection, analysis, and presentation?

Pedagogy is a key medium for the communication of anthropological truths. Which (and whose) truths are foregrounded in our curricula? What are the possibilities for a liberatory pedagogy in a precarious, “post-truth” era? Conferences, museums, organizing spaces, and classrooms are sites where pedagogy and various forms of communication can help us interrogate the performativity of truth. How might anthropologists conceive of truth performances? Might visual, aural, and choreographic performances during AAA sessions offer anthropologists alternative genres for truth-telling and truth-making that provoke discussions about responsibility?

In accordance with the urgency of the year’s theme, the questions posed in this call for papers do not have easy answers. The hope is that those who submit proposals will take up these questions and engage in collective thinking and imagining about the truths we hold, the truths we challenge, and the responsibilities we bear in co-creating a free and more equitable world. All panel proposals should have a statement about how the panel has incorporated the goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and/or analysis of power.

Executive Session proposals have already been selected and speak directly to the theme “Truth and Responsibility.” To practice the critical reflexivity this call for papers invites, we asked that Executive Session submissions explicitly address the diversity of session participants, such as organizational/institutional affiliation, career stage, race, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, class, religion, national identity, and gender. Proposals for Executive Sessions that demonstrated a commitment to equity and inclusion and/or a clear analysis of power (i.e. anti-imperialist, anti-white supremacist, decolonial, anti-ableist, feminist, anti-transphobic, anti-xenophobic, etc) were given priority. We are excited to be in conversation with residents of the Baltimore region and look forward to the discussions, performances, and actions generated by the dynamic group of anthropologists attending the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting.

AAA Annual Meeting 2021

“Truth and Responsibility” is a call to reimagine anthropology to meet the demands of the present moment. The imperative to bear witness, take action, and be held accountable to the truths we write and circulate invites us to reflect on our responsibility in reckoning with disciplinary histories, harms, and possibilities. To whom are we giving evidence and toward what ends? For whom are we writing? To whom are we accountable, and in what ways? We are thrilled to announce the theme of the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting to be held in Baltimore, MD: Truth and Responsibility.

Amir Mohamed

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Overkill 2.0: Provisional Authorities and Violent Subjectivities

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