What makes domination and inequality persist over time? New interventions in social reproduction theory (Bhattacharya 2017; Gimenez 2018; Ferguson 2020; Vogel 2013) combine the analytic insights of Marxism and feminism in laying bare the social relations and interdependencies that sustain the continued accumulation of surplus value. They follow in the footsteps of economic anthropologists who have long advocated for the re-centering of social reproduction in the analysis of concrete fieldsites and occurrences (Collier & Yanagisako 1987; Harris &Young 1981; Narotzky 1997; Smith 1999; 2018). A social reproduction approach looks at the processes and activities involved in securing the continuity of a given society. With particular interest in capitalist societies, it identifies the universal dependence on the market for the reproduction of human life as a source of coercion and domination. It also refocuses attention on nonmarket domains that are made invisible by a too-narrow focus on market relations, even as they make these relations possible. Although the traditional focus of social reproduction theory is on the unwaged, feminized domestic labor that Marx had neglected, it does not assume the home as the singular site of reproductive labor, or the housewife as its sole performer. Rather, social reproduction theory traces diverse forms of social oppression in the reproduction of capitalism, including migrant labor and varieties of public or commodified childcare, healthcare and eldercare. In a related but distinct sense, “social reproduction” also refers to the political and ideological mechanisms by which group privileges and particular power structures are reproduced as part and parcel of societal reproduction (Althusser 2014; Bourdieu 1977). Finally, the Marxist anthropology of the 1970s and 80s (Godelier 1977; Meillassoux 1981; Ong 1988; Taussig 1980) presents many congruent lessons on the persistence of non-capitalist social forms within contemporary societies. Our panel aims to tie these strands together, making the case for ethnography’s potential to enrich the theoretical field by exploring empirical intersections that shed light on the concealed forces sustaining domination and inequality. With fieldsites spanning from China through Myanmar, Malaysia and Pakistan to Israel and Germany, and zeroing in on the practices of parenting, schooling, colonization, migration, real estate dealing, industrial production, family farming and retail sales, we hope to demonstrate the contribution of economic anthropology in general, and social reproduction theory specifically, to understanding the dynamics underlying and linking painfully familiar phenomena.

The optimization of social reproduction through intensive parenting in Germany

Social Reproduction: Theory and Ethnography

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.

Hadas Weiss

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The optimization of social reproduction through intensive parenting in Germany

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