Feminist anthropologies in the contemporary world: A conversation on theory, praxis, and politics

Abstract

Abstract This article brings together the voices of members of three major feminist anthropological associations to discuss the state of feminist anthropology as a distinct subfield of anthropology, as well as its state of affairs as an increasingly expanding, as well as increasingly threatened, approach to anthropological theory and praxis worldwide. Composed as a conversation, it is based on a roundtable discussion that took place at the 2022 American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting, which followed in the footsteps of an important roundtable discussion on Latin American feminist anthropologies that was held at the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) 2021 Congress. Topics discussed included definitions of feminist anthropology, feminist anthropological genealogies, the feminist anthropological canon, the contributions of feminist anthropology, the relationship between feminist scholarship and feminist activism, and the major theoretical, ethnographic, political, ethical, methodological, topical, and pedagogical challenges facing feminist anthropology and feminist anthropologists globally today. Participants included members of the Association for Feminist Anthropology section of the AAA, the IUAES Commission on Global Feminisms and Queer Politics, and the Society for Applied Anthropology Gender‐Based Violence Topical Interest Group.