WAU Congress 2025
Antigua, Guatemala
November 3-8 2025
The paper of Dr. Cássio Brancaleone explores the possibility, desirability, and practicability of an anarchist anthropology. Inspired by the works of David Graeber, Holly High, Joshua Reno, and Beltrán Roca, it interrogates whether anthropology can move beyond the overdetermined frameworks of the state and hierarchized power.
Critical and Urgent Epistemic Redefinitions in World AnthropologiesThe World Anthropological Union (WAU) 2025 Congress, Unearthing Humanity: Critical and Urgent Epistemic Redefinitions in World Anthropologies, stands as a crucial intellectual gathering in an era marked by profound global transformations. As the boundaries of human experience continue to shift under the weight of technological advancements, environmental crises, and sociopolitical upheavals, anthropology is uniquely positioned to engage with the intricate dynamics of cultural, social, and ecological change. The WAU 2025 Congress invites scholars, practitioners, and activists to collectively interrogate and redefine the epistemic foundations of the discipline, addressing the urgent need for inclusive, ethical, and innovative approaches to understanding humanity in its diverse and interconnected forms.At the heart of the WAU 2025 Congress is a recognition of the uneven power dynamics that have historically shaped anthropological knowledge production. The emphasis on epistemic justice foregrounds the voices of those historically marginalized, advocating for methodologies that dismantle Eurocentric frameworks and integrate pluralistic, indigenous, and localized epistemologies. This endeavor is complemented by critical reflections on the discipline’s colonial legacies, as explored in tracks such as “Decolonizing Methodologies” and “Histories of Anthropology.” By embracing diverse ways of knowing and prioritizing collaborative approaches, the WAU 2025 Congress seeks to not only interrogate the past but to envision a future in which anthropology serves as a tool for global equity and mutual understanding.Simultaneously, the WAU 2025 Congress highlights the interdisciplinary potential of anthropology in addressing the most pressing challenges of our time. Tracks such as “Anthropology of Climate and Environment” and “Global Challenges and Local Realities” underscore the role of anthropologists in navigating the tensions between global systems and localized experiences, while themes like “Technology and Society” examine the anthropological implications of digital transformation. These discussions, enriched by the diverse perspectives of participants from around the world, aim to expand the discipline’s theoretical and practical horizons. Unearthing Humanity thus calls for a collective reimagining of anthropology’s purpose and possibilities, emphasizing its role as a critical, reflexive, and transformative lens on the human condition.
Panelists 5 Nov 2025: Cassio Brancaleone (Brazil), Gaya Makaran (Poland), Elizabete Ribeiro Albernaz (South Africa)
The convergence of anarchist thought and anthropological inquiry offers fertile ground for reimagining human organization beyond hierarchical and centralized structures. Building on the contributions of Pierre Clastres, James Scott, David Graeber, Harold Barclay, and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, among others, anarchist anthropology has become a field of critical importance. These scholars have shown how stateless societies, indigenous cosmologies, and resistance practices provide insights into power, authority, and autonomy. Anthropology, through this lens, not only documents human diversity but also challenges epistemological assumptions that normalize hierarchy and domination.
This panel seeks to bring together academics, activists, and researchers to explore the theoretical and practical dimensions of anarchist anthropology. By examining grassroots movements, subaltern struggles, and non-state forms of organization, we aim to highlight alternative pathways for self-organization.
Objectives and Scope
The panel fosters a transdisciplinary dialogue on social self-organization and its challenges in dismantling structures of domination. We focus on autonomous practices across different contexts, emphasizing subaltern contributions to struggles for equality and freedom. By integrating anarchist theories with anthropological studies, this panel offers a space to engage with practical experiences of autonomy in diverse cultural and geographic settings.
Key Questions:
How do anarchist theories enhance anthropological understandings of non-state governance, social cohesion, and resistance?
What insights emerge from ethnographic research on grassroots movements, autonomous spaces, and cooperative economies?
How do reciprocity, mutual aid, and solidarity challenge neoliberal and statist paradigms?
Can anthropology adopt anarchist principles to foster more egalitarian and collaborative research methodologies?
Topics of Interest:
Stateless Societies and Empirical Anarchy – Studies on societies organized without centralized power.
Everyday Resistance and Informal Networks – Subtle acts of resistance, inspired by James Scott’s weapons of the weak.
Critiques of Hierarchy and Domination – Theoretical analyses of the persistence of states and bureaucracies.
Reciprocity, Mutual Aid, and Gift Economies – Alternative economic systems beyond competition and profit.
Anarchist Ethnography – Methodologies aligning with anarchist principles, fostering non-hierarchical research.
Utopian Imaginaries and Prefigurative Politics – Case studies on autonomous zones and anti-authoritarian practices.
Critiques of Capitalism and Neoliberalism – Alternative models to industrial expansion, extractivism, and economic growth.
Post-Colonial and Anti-Colonial Perspectives – Indigenous self-determination and non-hierarchical cosmopolitical practices.
Historical and Archaeological Perspectives – Long-term analyses of societies without centralized power.
Call for Contributions
We invite researchers, academics, and activists to submit theoretical reflections, case studies, or methodological innovations exploring the intersections of anarchism and anthropology. Contributions should advance the understanding of autonomy, self-organization, and social movements in addressing power and domination.
By bringing together diverse perspectives, this panel aims to build a collaborative and transdisciplinary space for dialogue. Our goal is to collectively envision new horizons for social transformation rooted in in equality, reciprocity, cooperation, and freedom.
Resumen (Español)
La convergencia entre el pensamiento anarquista y la antropología permite reimaginar la organización humana más allá de estructuras jerárquicas y centralizadas. A partir de las contribuciones de Pierre Clastres, James Scott, David Graeber, Harold Barclay y Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, la antropología anarquista ha surgido como un campo crítico que examina cómo sociedades sin Estado, cosmologías indígenas y prácticas de resistencia ofrecen perspectivas críticas e sofisticadas sobre poder, autoridad y autonomía. Desde esta perspectiva, la antropología no solo documenta la diversidad de formas de organización humana, sino que desafía supuestos epistemológicos que naturalizan la jerarquía y la dominación. Este panel busca promover un diálogo transdisciplinario y reunir académicos, activistas e investigadores para explorar las dimensiones teóricas y prácticas de la antropología anarquista. Mediante el análisis de experiencias ancladas en movimientos sociales, luchas subalternas y formas de organización no estatales, buscamos destacar otras vías para comprender y estimular la autoorganización social. Nos enfocamos en prácticas sociales en diversos contextos, enfatizando las contribuciones de los sectores subalternos a las luchas por autonomía, igualdad y libertad. Al articular teorías anarquistas y estudios antropológicos, este panel ofrece un espacio de reflexión crítica sobre experiencias concretas de autoorganización social. Preguntas Claves: ¿Cómo pueden las teorías anarquistas enriquecer la antropología en relación al autogobierno no estatal, cohesión social y resistencia? ¿Qué aprendizajes surgen de la investigación etnográfica sobre movimientos autónomos y economías cooperativas? ¿Cómo la reciprocidad, el apoyo mutuo y la solidaridad desafían los paradigmas neoliberales y estatistas? ¿Puede la antropología adoptar principios anarquistas para fomentar metodologías más colaborativas?
Temáticas de Interés: Sociedades sin Estado y Anarquías Empíricas – Estudios sobre sociedades organizadas sin poder centralizado; Resistencia Cotidiana y Redes Informales – Actos sutiles de resistencia, inspirados en las armas de los débiles de James Scott; Críticas a la Jerarquía y la Dominación – Análisis teóricos sobre la persistencia del Estado y la burocracia; Reciprocidad, Apoyo Mutuo y Economías del Don – Sistemas económicos alternativos más allá de la competencia y el lucro; Etnografía Anarquista – Metodologías alineadas con principios anarquistas, promoviendo investigaciones colaborativas; Imaginarios Utópicos y Política Prefigurativa – Estudios de zonas autónomas y prácticas antiautoritarias; Críticas al Capitalismo y al Neoliberalismo – Modelos alternativos frente a la mercantilización de la vida, el extractivismo y el crecimiento económico ilimitado; Perspectivas Poscoloniales y Anticoloniales – Autodeterminación indígena, descolonización epistemológica y cosmopolíticas; Perspectivas Históricas y Arqueológicas – Análisis de largo plazo sobre sociedades sin estructuras de poder centralizado.
Invitamos a investigadores, académicos y activistas a presentar reflexiones teóricas, estudios de caso o innovaciones metodológicas que exploren las intersecciones entre anarquismo y antropología. Las contribuciones deberán avanzar en la comprensión de la autonomía, la autoorganización y las experiencias de los movimientos sociales frente los mecanismos de dominación.