Research area Social Anthropology

Social Anthropology at Stockholm University seeks to develop a global and comparative perspective on the social and cultural diversity that characterizes today’s world, encompassing all continents and the interactions between them.

Our research spans almost every continent and builds on a rich international research tradition that is continually renewed through fieldwork, critical reflection, and scholarly exchange. We stand at the forfront of our field and have acheived significant international recognition.

Art, Literature and Writing

Research on cultural creativity has been versatile, ranging from studies of art worlds and (world)literatures to experimental forms of writing in different styles and genres.

Digital and Multimodal Anthropology

Digital anthropology covers studies of digitalisation in different cultural contexts and their global connections, as well as multimodal forms of anthropological knowledge production.

Environmental and More than Human Anthropology

Research at the department aims to contribute to the understanding of the interaction between society and the environment and examines the consequences of human actions.

Global Development

Our research examines political and economic power structures at local, national and global levels, and the study of how hierarchical relations between different regions and social groups are upheld and challenged.

Infrastructural Matters

This research looks at infrastructures not only as finished objects but also dynamic and changeable ‘matter’ in constant need of maintenance and vulnerable to other processes.

Mobility and Migration

Much of this research is characterized by influential methodological and conceptual developments focusing on diverse approaches such as autoethnography and migration brokerage and infrastructure.

Organising Governance

With increasing globalization and cultural complexity, governance takes novel forms. Studying how attempts to govern are organized informs us about how contemporary power is being reconfigured and challenged.

Social Movements, Activism and Political Violence

Through ethnography we depict the everyday lives of people and the cultural variations in relation to states, hegemonic market economy, and political conflicts. There are also studies of extreme forms of conflicts and violence.