Research area Social Anthropology

The Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University is committed to a global and comparative perspective toward the diversity of social and cultural forms of the contemporary world. Its research encompasses all continents, and the interactions between them.

It draws on the rich international anthropological research heritage, but is also engaged in a continuous renewal of that tradition, its thought and practices.

Art, Literature and Writing

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

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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.

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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.

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Global Development

This implies an analysis of 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.

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Infrastructural Matters

Here at the department research looks at infrastructures not only as finished objects but also dynamic and changeable ‘matter’ in constant need of maintenance and vulnerable to other active matters.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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