Keywords:
Women, History of Anthropology, Feminist Anthropology
Abstract:
This panel continues the series of meetings of the Commission that began in 2018 in Salvador, Brazil. Its objective is to make visible and recover lesser-known trajectories of women anthropologists in the official history of national anthropologies and in world anthropology. Despite being present throughout the history of the discipline, women anthropologists have been little read, cited, and referenced in anthropology course bibliographies. Despite various initiatives by feminist anthropologists to rethink anthropological theory from an intersectional perspective of gender, race, and sexualities, anthropological education continues to reproduce androcentric, Western, white, and ableist perspectives. To reverse this logic, the contribution of African anthropologists has been crucial. Their analytical proposals have allowed for the redefinition of narratives and perspectives on Africa and its cultural diversity. By challenging colonialist/Eurocentric narratives, they have contributed to the production of anthropological knowledge that reflects local realities and experiences, African worldviews, and highlights African voices in academic spaces. This approach has enabled them to challenge power structures, stereotypes, and prejudices that marginalized African anthropologists. Continuing the panels organized in recent years at IUAES congresses on various continents, this proposal, to be carried out at the WAU congress in South Africa, aims to both continue the ongoing survey of anthropologists from different parts of the world and expand knowledge about "unknown" or little "recognized" African anthropologists. This panel will contribute to building a more inclusive body of anthropological literature and promoting diversity in the discipline. It also encourages critical reflection on the impacts of feminism, queer politics, gender activism, and womanism on the history of anthropology, valuing the contributions of women, indigenous people, queer, trans, non-white individuals, and other marginalized groups in the constitution of anthropology. Presentations in English, Portuguese, and French will be accepted.