Rules of procedure
The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth (ASA) exists to support and promote the teaching, research and professional practice of social anthropology.
Membership
a) Membership is conferred by invitation of the Association.
b) Membership shall be restricted to people who, by virtue of their training, posts held and published works, can be recognised as professional social anthropologists.
c) Save in exceptional circumstances, a person to be considered eligible for membership must:
1a) have a postgraduate research degree in social anthropology or
b) have published significant work in social anthropology (which may include film, exhibitions and other forms of publication that embody professional applications of social anthropology),
AND
2a) hold or have held a teaching or research appointment in social anthropology or
b) hold or have held other employment using his or her training in social anthropology or
c) have been unavoidably unemployed for more than a calendar year after his or her training in social anthropology at a university or comparable institution of higher education.
d) Persons considered eligible for election to membership may either be proposed by a member or apply for election. A nomination or an application must include full career details, a list of articles and books actually published, and the names and email addresses of two referees who must be members of the Association. Nominations and applications, fully documented, must reach the Administrator by the end of December for consideration at the following AGM (or by the end of March during the year of a Decennial conference, the next being 2013). Please complete the form on the membership page.
e) At the Annual General Meeting the Committee will present a list of names of those whom preliminary scrutiny enables the Committee to propose for election. Voting where necessary shall be by secret ballot. Candidates shall be elected on a two-thirds vote of the members present.
f) There will be no discussion of candidates who do not appear on the Committee’s list, but the Committee will supply reasons why particular candidates are not considered eligible to the proposer or the candidates on written application to the Chair.
Associate Membership
a) Associate membership of the ASA is open to
i) Postgraduate research students in social anthropology
ii) Postgraduate research students in related disciplines if social anthropology was a major part of an earlier degree.
b) Persons eligible for Associate membership must provide evidence of their status.
c) Associate membership
i) Does not convey voting rights.
ii) Is available for a maximum of six years.
iii) Does not automatically lead to full membership; this has to be applied for in the normal way.
d) Associate joint Membership of the ASA and RAI is available to both taught and research postgraduate students in social anthropology. Postgraduate students becoming Associates of the ASA in this manner must provide evidence of their status to the RAI which handles membership applications. Associate joint Membership of the ASA/RAI:
i) Does not convey voting rights.
ii) Is available for the duration of the programme of study and one year thereafter.
iii) Does not automatically lead to full membership; this has to be applied for in the normal way.
Subscription
Subscriptions at the appropriate rates in force shall become due on 1 January of each year.
a) Any member who does not pay a subscription for two consecutive years, or when their arrears amounts to two or more consecutive years’ subscription, shall after enquiry by the Secretary, and with the approval of the Committee, be regarded as having terminated membership.
b) Members who reach retirement or who expect to be out of regular employment for at least one year may, on application to the Honorary Secretary or the Honorary Treasurer, pay an annual subscription at a reduced rate.
Officers
a) The Officers of the Association shall include the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and at least six Committee members.
b) All officers are elected for a term of two years and are eligible for re-election for a further term after which they are not eligible for further office for four years except that an officer, after serving a term on the committee, may be elected Chair, Secretary or Treasurer for two years with an optional re-election for a further term of two years. No officer may serve for more than six consecutive years.
c) The election of officers shall take place at the Annual General Meeting of the Association.
d) Nomination to offices must be made in writing to the Secretary by October 1st of the academic year of election. Such a nomination will imply that the proposer has the candidate’s consent; obtaining such consent will be the responsibility of the proposer.
e) The Committee will prepare the list of candidates for election to office for presentation to the Annual General Meeting for election. If necessary there will be a secret ballot. The candidates with the greatest number of votes will be declared elected.
f) One vacancy on the Committee shall be reserved for a member who at the time of election had qualified for membership within the last two years.
g) The Committee will meet at least three times per annum.
Meetings
a) The Association shall meet once yearly to conduct its business and for discussion of papers. The Committee at its discretion may convene further meetings for the discussion of papers, which shall not be business meetings, on the proposal of not fewer than five members.
b) Notice of meetings shall be circulated at least six weeks beforehand.
c) Attendance at the business section of meetings is restricted to members of the Association.
Affiliation
The Association may affiliate to, or disaffiliate from, any appropriate body or scholarly society on the recommendation of the Committee and with the agreement of a two-thirds majority of the members present at an official meeting of the Association.
