Current Anthropological Research: The Class on Class: Towards an Anthropology of Capitalism

This course gives a comprehensive introduction to a specific area of contemporary anthropological investigation. Current research trends and recent theoretical developments are explored through critical discussions with emphasis on anthropology's evolving engagement with the selected field. The course offers a unique opportunity to be acquainted with diverse aspects - methodological, epistemological and theoretical - of the research process, aspects that lie at the very basis of anthropological analysis and practice, and of ethnographic production.

Course theme autumn 2024

This class offers a short introduction to the anthropology of capitalism by looking at its core relations of inequality and the classical forms of struggle against it. It will do so theoretically, globally, and historically, but also 'intimately' via ethnography; in other words, a combination of 'close up' and 'birds` eye view' that is a hallmark of social anthropology as an 'interdisciplinary discipline'. The course will offer a short overview of the competing histories of capitalism and the global system, focusing on the intersectional inequalities of class (class combined with race, gender, coloniality etc.) that underpin it, and looking at historical forms of resistance. We will discuss the diverse notions of class that have historically been around, including the ways in which global systemic inequalities express themselves in nationalism and post-colonialism. The course will also cover such topics as 'development', labor relations and digital technology/Artificial Intelligence. 

The course is designed for students who like to acquire a good historical and theoretical oversight of capitalism, inequality, and social struggle, and who want to become familiar with social anthropological approaches to it. 

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence.

The student will be able to:

Knowledge

• provide in-depth knowledge of the topic addressed in the course, with particular reference to its history and associated theoretical and methodological debates in social anthropology

Skills

• explain the current state-of-art of research in the field of study addressed in the course
• assess critically the various methodological and theoretical considerations that must be taken in order to further develop the field of study

General competence

• apply key concepts and perspectives from the course and its field of study independently, in the understanding and analysis of local and global processes
• apply an understanding of and critically analyze the correlation and difference between observation, empirical data, interpretation, theory and analysis in text production
• discuss the potential for applying perspectives from the course in their own research project