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ASA Anthropology of Britain Network

General aims of the network

The aim of the network is to provide a forum which will facilitate a greater level of communication between researchers with an ethnographic interest in the qualitative characteristics of contemporary British society, from ethnicity and migration to rural communities, museums, popular culture, social movements, gender, health and medical technologies, social exclusion, local governance, and political structures. Its immediate objective is to enable those of us who share a common anthropological perspective to take a broader view of the social context within which we are working, and to explore the intellectual concerns shared by anthropologists doing research on different aspects of British society. As well as establishing a network within which to exchange views, the network will also hold regular face-to-face workshops.

If you would like more information on the AOB or to be added to our mailing list, please contact the co-convenors  Dr Katharine Tyler (k.tyler(AT)surrey.ac.uk) and Dr Cathrine Degnen (cathrine.degnen(AT)ncl.ac.uk).

Next events

General Annual Meeting, ASA10, QUB, Thursday April 5th, 17h00-18h30

All are welcome to attend. Building on a renewed disciplinary interest in critical perspectives on class, the meeting will open with an informal discussion on the place and role of class in AOB research. The meeting will then be open for other business. See conference site.

Previous events

Representations and 'Reality' workshop, 15th January 2010, Sheffield Hallam University

The AOB held its fourth annual workshop at Sheffield Hallam University. The theme of the workshop was as follows:

It has been called the knowledge society, the information society and the interview society. In today's Britain we are surrounded with depictions of ourselves and each other, from politicians and the peace movement to personalities, people in landscape, or even to the inner workings of our bodies;  images, narratives, examples, attempts to display and explain who and what we are and how we interact with our surroundings (including each other).

What does the anthropological eye contribute to our understanding of depicted events and phenomena? This workshop invites abstracts for papers which discuss the changing communities of Britain and their portrayals, and use theory and method derived from anthropology to critique and question how representations reflect and create 'realities' and understandings of life in Britain today. It is expected that some papers will focus on the use of (our own) representations to create anthropological understanding and critical awareness, while others will question what public representations 'do' in the wider communities.

For more details of the papers presented, please download this PDF.

General meeting, April 8th 2009 at ASA09, University of Bristol

The meeting began with a short talk and Q&A session by Professor Catherine Nash (Queen Mary, University of London) about her recently published book, Of Irish Descent: Origin Stories, Genealogy, and the Politics of Belonging, Syracuse University Press, 2008. The meeting then opened for any other business.

Learning and unlearning to be British
January 10th-11th 2008, University of Aberdeen

The Anthropology of Britain network held its third workshop on January 10-11th, 2008 at the University of Aberdeen. Building on our recent panels at the ASA in London and Keele, and the AOB workshops at the University of Surrey and the University of Newcastle, this was an opportunity for AOB members to meet and present their current work. The theme arises from a context of Scottish and Welsh devolution, political debates over immigration and assimilation, and recent political declarations regarding the importance of Britishness. In a world where identities are often assumed to be so simple that they can be attached to cards, ethnographic research has a lot to offer in terms of making complexities visible.

Click here (PDF) to see the workshop programme.

General meeting, April 2007 at ASA07, London Metropolitan University

The meeting started with a short talk and Q&A session by Dr Gillian Evans (Manchester) about her recently published book, 'Educational Failure and Working Class White Children in Britain', Palgrave, 2006. The meeting then opened for other business.

Workshop, 12th January 2007, University of Newcastle

The Anthropology of Britain network held its second day-long workshop at the University of Newcastle on January 12th, 2007. This was the first anthropology conference ever to be hosted at Newcastle and was a very successful event, offering the chance for a number of AOB members to meet and for some to present their current work. Please click here [Word doc] to see the programme of events.

Funding was generously provided by Newcastle's School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology.

General meeting, 11th April 2006, Keele University

This was held at ASA06 at Keele. Agenda items discussed were: an update on the network's activities; list of members' research interests and contact details; and planning for an ESRC Seminar Series Grant.

Workshop, 12th January 2005, University of Surrey

This workshop was the first of its kind for the newly established network. Having been granted ASA network status in March 2004, the members of the Anthropology of Britain network were eager to get underway with a first face-to-face workshop and to build up connections amongst members which had already been established during the past year through largely electronic communication. This workshop aimed to reflect contemporary debates and recently published research within the anthropology of Britain. In so doing, the workshop represented the diversity of ethnographic and theoretical interests of the network's members (some 70 people).

Click here to download the programme as a Word file.

General meeting, 5th April 2005, University of Aberdeen

This was held at ASA05 in Aberdeen on the 5th April (click here to put it in context of the conference events).  At this General Meeting Rebecca Cassidy of Goldsmiths introduced her recently published book, 'The Sport of Kings: Kinship, Class and Thoroughbred Breeding in Newmarket', Cambridge University Press. Members were invited to participate in a general discussion with Rebecca about her book.