Research Projects
Driven by a desire to illuminate the contemporary world, offer new insights into the past, and set new agendas in anthropological theory, our projects are a testament to the range and vibrancy of the research interests in Social Anthropology. Explore this area of the site to discover the very latest research that’s coming out of Cambridge!
Human Rights and the Chichewa Radio
Are human rights the most effective way of making claims under the conditions of stark socioeconomic inequalities? One of Dr Harri Englund’s recent projects, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), has explored popular alternatives to human rights talk in African-language radio broadcasting. The radio is – not only still, but increasingly – [...]
Are human rights the most effective way of making claims under the conditions of stark socioeconomic inequalities? One of Dr Harri Englund’s recent projects, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), has explored popular alternatives to human rights talk in African-language radio broadcasting. The radio is – not only still, but increasingly – [...]
Democratising the self: democracy as everyday practice in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago
This research project investigates the process of democratisation in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. While ‘democratisation’ is often understood to mean the transformation of political institutions – electoral systems, independent judiciaries, etc – it means something very different for residents of the Riau Archipelago. There, ‘democratisation’ is primarily understood as a process one does to oneself. Citizens [...]
This research project investigates the process of democratisation in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. While ‘democratisation’ is often understood to mean the transformation of political institutions – electoral systems, independent judiciaries, etc – it means something very different for residents of the Riau Archipelago. There, ‘democratisation’ is primarily understood as a process one does to oneself. Citizens [...]
The Inadequacies of Independence: creating a new province in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago
In July 2004, the Riau Archipelago seceded from its former province of ‘Riau’ to become ‘Kepri’ – an autonomous province within the Republic of Indonesia. It did so on a platform of both Malay ethnonationalism and overthrowing the ‘internal colonialism’ to which the archipelago had allegedly been subjected. Despite the widespread political rhetoric that Kepri [...]
In July 2004, the Riau Archipelago seceded from its former province of ‘Riau’ to become ‘Kepri’ – an autonomous province within the Republic of Indonesia. It did so on a platform of both Malay ethnonationalism and overthrowing the ‘internal colonialism’ to which the archipelago had allegedly been subjected. Despite the widespread political rhetoric that Kepri [...]
Transforming Technologies and Buddhist Book Culture
An AHRC project at the MIASU which will explore the relationship between Buddhist culture and technological transformations by looking at ‘the book’ as artifact, medium for communications, symbol of political authority and ritual object in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. Dr Uradyn Bulag, Dr Hildegard Diemberger and Dr Stephen Hugh-Jones with Burkhard Quessel (British Library).
An AHRC project at the MIASU which will explore the relationship between Buddhist culture and technological transformations by looking at ‘the book’ as artifact, medium for communications, symbol of political authority and ritual object in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. Dr Uradyn Bulag, Dr Hildegard Diemberger and Dr Stephen Hugh-Jones with Burkhard Quessel (British Library).
International Science and Bioethics Collaborations
International Science and Bioethics Collaborations (ISBC) is a 3-year project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Project brings together a number of social anthropologists from Cambridge, Durham and Sussex Universities and research partners across the Asian sub-continent. It aims to address current social, economic and cultural issues in international collaboration and knowledge [...]
International Science and Bioethics Collaborations (ISBC) is a 3-year project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Project brings together a number of social anthropologists from Cambridge, Durham and Sussex Universities and research partners across the Asian sub-continent. It aims to address current social, economic and cultural issues in international collaboration and knowledge [...]
Citizenship, Trade Unionism and Subjectivity in Buenos Aires
The project investigates citizenship regimes among public sector workers in Buenos Aires, exploring themes of the self, political agency, collectivity and affect.
The project investigates citizenship regimes among public sector workers in Buenos Aires, exploring themes of the self, political agency, collectivity and affect.
Oral History of Twentieth Century Mongolia
Dr David Sneath, Dr Christopher Kaplonski and Professor Caroline Humphrey. An AHRC funded co-operative project between the MIASU and the National University of Mongolia which aims to collect over 600 personal oral histories from Mongolians throughout the country to create a publicly accessible, dual-language database with the aim of creating a new understanding of individuals’ [...]
Dr David Sneath, Dr Christopher Kaplonski and Professor Caroline Humphrey. An AHRC funded co-operative project between the MIASU and the National University of Mongolia which aims to collect over 600 personal oral histories from Mongolians throughout the country to create a publicly accessible, dual-language database with the aim of creating a new understanding of individuals’ [...]
The Roots of Success
Barbara Bodenhorn I am currently engaged in an interdisciplinary exploration of environmental projects in forest communities in Mexico. With Dr. Laura Barraza, I work in two forest communities – Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca (Zapotec) and San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Michoacán (Purhépecha) – both recognised as indigenous communities with the right to manage their own natural [...]
Barbara Bodenhorn I am currently engaged in an interdisciplinary exploration of environmental projects in forest communities in Mexico. With Dr. Laura Barraza, I work in two forest communities – Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca (Zapotec) and San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Michoacán (Purhépecha) – both recognised as indigenous communities with the right to manage their own natural [...]
Buddhist Self-Formation
Dr James Laidlaw I am currently studying Buddhist ethics of self-cultivation, in the context of increasing exchange of religious ideas and practices across Buddhist Asia. Research is planned in Taiwan, Thailand, and northern China, informed both by ethical and psychological theory, drawn both from western and Buddhist traditions. The traditional means by which Buddhists practise [...]
Dr James Laidlaw I am currently studying Buddhist ethics of self-cultivation, in the context of increasing exchange of religious ideas and practices across Buddhist Asia. Research is planned in Taiwan, Thailand, and northern China, informed both by ethical and psychological theory, drawn both from western and Buddhist traditions. The traditional means by which Buddhists practise [...]
The Anthropology of Jainism: Shanti Suri
Dr James Laidlaw: Jainism is a first-cousin to Buddhism, having been founded at roughly the same time in the same region of north India, and like Buddhism it is a tradition of monastic renunciation that is also the popular religion of a larger lay population. Jains make up a small but highly influential section of [...]
Dr James Laidlaw: Jainism is a first-cousin to Buddhism, having been founded at roughly the same time in the same region of north India, and like Buddhism it is a tradition of monastic renunciation that is also the popular religion of a larger lay population. Jains make up a small but highly influential section of [...]