Articles
Contingency conveniences: anticipation as a temporal practice of SEF inspectors at the Portuguese airport border
This article follows from ethnographic work conducted at an airport in Portugal, where, from June 2021 to April 2022, I observed the daily routines of the inspectors of the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) across various groups,
[+]Articles
Cotidiano e trajetórias vitais situadas de mulheres idosas (AMBA, província de Buenos Aires, Argentina): a incidência da pandemia de Covid-19
Este trabalho pretende dar conta das interseções entre diferentes aspetos da vida quotidiana e das trajetórias de vida das pessoas idosas num espaço de bairro e a incidência da pandemia de Covid-19. Baseia-se no desenvolvimento sustentado,
[+]Articles
The reconfigurations of culture jamming in the digital environment: the case of anti-consumerism memes in the #antiblackfriday campaign (Brazil)
In this article, I discuss the reconfigurations of the phenomenon known as culture jamming, characteristic of the communicative dimension of political consumption, based on the appropriation of Internet memes as a tool to criticize consumption.
[+]Articles
Informal economies in Bairro Alto (Lisbon): the nocturnal tourist city explained through a street dealer’s life story
The historical neighbourhood of Bairro Alto is the city’s most iconic nightlife destination, especially for tourists visiting Lisbon (Portugal). The expansion of commercial nightlife in this area has been accompanied by the increasing presence of
[+]Articles
A pame theory of force: the case of the xi'iui of the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, Mexico
This text analyzes the term of force (mana’ap) as a native concept formulated by the pames (xi’iui) of the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro. This is related to aspects such as blood, food, cold, hot, air and their effects on the body. It is observed
[+]Articles
Convergences and bifurcations in the biographies and autobiographies of indigenous intellectuals from Mexico and Brazil
In this article we present an exercise of reflection on the challenges involved in writing and studying the biographies and autobiographies of indigenous intellectuals in different geographical, historical and political scenarios: Mexico and Brazil,
[+]Articles
The history through sacrifice and predation: tikmũ,ũn existential territory at the colonial crossroads
[+]Articles
To grow up: affectionate imitation in the relations of Capuxu children with their animals
This paper analyzes the experiences of Capuxu children with the animals they interact with daily, looking for un understanding about how children’s relationships with these companion species cross the Capuxu sociality, including the onomastic
[+]Articles
Biological science laboratories as practices: an ethnographic reading of plant anatomy at a University in the Caatinga (Bahia, Brazil)
Anchored in notes elaborated in a multispecies ethnography, this text formulates a reading of biological science laboratories as situating practices of human and non-human actors. For this, the authors bring up plants from/in the caatinga,
[+]Interdisciplinarities
Sensitive maps in abandoned territories of railway stations on the Brazil-Uruguay border
The research maps and investigates the territories created by the abandonment of railway stations, a process that has been accentuated since the 1980s, in the twin cities of Jaguarão-Rio Branco and Santana do Livramento-Rivera, on the
[+]Multimodal Alt
A graphic ethnography as a form of affection and memory: afflictions, spirits, and healing processes in Zion churches in Maputo
In 2016, three years after completing my Ph.D., I embarked on my first attempt to translate my ethnographic research conducted in Maputo, among the Zion communities, into a graphic language. Through a series of single illustrations, I aimed to
[+]Recursivities
Desanthropic ethnography: between apocryphal stories of water, deep dichotomies and liquid dwellings
In this text we address the possibility of deconstructing the relationships – that have water as a resource available to humans – that have ordered some dichotomies such as anthropos-nature, establishing that there are methodologies, theories
[+]Argument
Anthropology of art, Anthropology – history, dilemmas, possibilities
In this essay, I first aim to pinpoint the factors that have historically marginalized art within anthropological thought. I propose that this marginalization stems from two main influences: the aesthetic conception of art and the metaphysical
[+]Reviews
Um jovem caçador de lixo na Mafalala, nas décadas de 1960 e 1970
Celso Mussane (1957-) é um pastor evangélico moçambicano. Licenciou-se na Suécia (1994) e tirou o curso superior de Teologia Bíblica na Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, em Londrina no Brasil (2018). Entre 2019 e 2020, publicou
[+]Reviews
Alberto Corsín Jiménez y Adolfo Estalella, Free Culture and the City: Hackers, Commoners, and Neighbors in Madrid, 1997-2017
Este libro tiene tres dimensiones analíticas: primero, es una etnografía del movimiento de cultura libre en Madrid. Segundo, es un estudio histórico sobre la traducción de lo digital a lo urbano, favoreciendo una nueva manera de posicionarse en
[+]Articles
“The Chinese are universal, they're invading everywhere”: rumours and tensions surrounding the Chinese presence in Cape Verdean trade
Rumours, hearsay and gossip are a constitutive part of societies and play a fundamental role in coercing, controlling and disciplining individuals in the search for social cohesion. They tend to emerge at times of social tension and civilisational
[+]Articles
Reflexivity and politics in the ethnographic text: representations and effects of writing
In 2020, one year after a research that had as its main objective to analyze, comparatively, the cycles of sugarcane workers’ strikes in Pernambuco, and metalworkers of São Paulo and ABC Paulista, that occurred in the late 1970’s, we returned
[+]Articles
The legal persecution of homosexuality in the Iberian Peninsula: 19th and 20th centuries
The legal framework that underpins the persecution of homosexuality in Portugal and in the Spanish State appears before the beginning of the Iberian dictatorships. In Portugal, for example, the I Republic creates legislation against “those who
[+]Articles
Needs, rights and languages: an ethnographic study about inhabiting and making of citizenship in Buenos Aires
This article links the issues of the inhabit and housing rights with that of the making of citizenship, which are explored from an anthropological perspective. It is based on the ethographic work developed between 2015-2020 with the inhabitants of a
[+]Articles
“An evil hand”: on abolitionist feminists, sex workers and epistemic violence in Argentina
In June 2020, the Argentine Ministry of Development launched the National Registry of Popular Economy (ReNaTEP) which, among other categories, included sex workers and strippers. Sex workers’ organizations celebrated the possibility of registering
[+]Recursivities
Integrating refugees and migrants into higher education in Portugal? An action research experience in a Portuguese university
This article results from research comprised of fieldwork ethnography, participant observation, collection of life stories, interviews and testimonials of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, living in Portugal. We focus on a particular experience
[+]The book and its critics
Liberdade para desejar
Parte do nosso compromisso no trabalho etnográfico é o de reconhecer nossos interlocutores como sujeitos de desejo. Mesmo que esses desejos, escolhas e vontades não sejam aqueles entendidos por nós, pesquisadores, como “bons”, “melhores”
[+]The book and its critics
Uma década e muitos acontecimentos depois: o que (re)ler dos possíveis liberalismos minoritários?
A partir de um investimento etnográfico denso, o livro Minoritarian Liberalism: A Travesti Life in the Brazilian Favela, de Moisés Lino e Silva, traz interessantes reflexões a respeito dos limites ao (suposto) caráter universal e inequívoco em
[+]Dossiê "Neoliberalism, universities, and Anthropology around the world"
Neoliberalism, universities, and anthropology around the world: introduction
The idea for this dossier began with a conversation over one of those long breakfasts given at conferences. It was 2014 and the blows of the 2008 economic crisis were still being felt strongly. There was growing concern in the academic field over
[+]Reviews
“Useless degrees”, quality assurance, and employable graduates: neoliberal effects on University Education in Kenya
At a time when it is critical to understand humanity and its various forms of socioeconomic and political life, anthropology and other social sciences are being threatened by a neoliberal emphasis on “relevant” courses in universities in Kenya.
[+]Dossiê "Neoliberalism, universities, and Anthropology around the world"
Anthropology from different angles: a tale of the neoliberal arts
A discipline’s value depends on the institutional position of its valuers. In U.S. liberal arts undergraduate education, trustees, marketers, and parents routinely link disciplinary value to “return on investment”. This market logic is evident
[+]Dossiê "Neoliberalism, universities, and Anthropology around the world"
Knowledge politics and labor precariousness in Spanish universities: implications for social anthropology
Neoliberal reforms arising from Spain’s entrance into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) have had major consequences for academic practice and unleashed heated debate in the university community and society. This article explores the main
[+]Dossiê "Neoliberalism, universities, and Anthropology around the world"
The deterioration of anthropological work in Mexico during the 21st century
This article analyzes how the working conditions for Mexican anthropologists have deteriorated throughout the last few decades. Until half a century ago, only a few dozen professional anthropologists practiced in Mexico, and most of them had access
[+]Dossiê "Neoliberalism, universities, and Anthropology around the world"
Hong Kong anthropologists within global neoliberalism and national and local politics
There are global neoliberal pressures on the academy that are more or less faced by anthropologists around the world. To what extent are anthropologists required to publish in English in SSCI-ranked journals to keep their jobs and get promoted? But
[+]Reviews
Ramon Sarró, Inventing an Alphabet: Writing, Art, and Kongo Culture in the DRC
This is a truly innovative ethnography about writing; a worthy anthropological response to Derrida’s deconstruction of the notion. It centers on the encounter between two marginal creators: a brilliant geometrician from Africa, and a seasoned
[+]Articles
Fazer antropologia na boca do urso
Fazer antropologia na boca do urso, sem descrições densas ou contextos teóricos, apenas numa dialética simples entre tensões do mundo ocidental “capitalista” e as cosmologias animistas do Norte. Uma pretensão que leva a antropóloga
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Sections
PROPOSALS SUBMISSION
All proposals should be sent to: etnografica@cria.org.pt
subject: proposal submission FORUM AGORA [name of the section]
AGORA EXCLUSIVE SECTIONS
Quick Notes
Section with a blog-like profile. It can include independent and original posts, but also short reflections by authors of texts published in the journal, providing a more "popular" version of the article.
Up to 1000 words. Permanent publication. Proofreading by editors.
Editor: Octávio Sacramento (UTAD, CETRAD, Portugal)
Short Cuts
Featured articles for online reading ; only articles from the current issue; summarised texts with photographs or other content that paper does not allow.
Up to 500 words. Permanent publication. Proofreading by editors. May include photography, video, and audio.
Editor: Humberto Martins (UTAD, UMinho, CRIA-UMinho/IN2PAST, Portugal)
"From the archives"
Here we dig deep into the archives to take a fresh look at the anthropology published in Etnográfica since 1997. Every four months, a guest editor proposes a selection of re-readings based on a thematic (or geographical, or temporal, or...) axis that they define according to their research interests and the questions that today's world poses to them.
A text introducing the selection, written by the guest. Up to 1000 words. Selection of up to 8 articles. Every four months.
Editor: Emília Margarida Marques (CRIA-Iscte/IN2PAST, Portugal)
Multimodal – Audiovisual section
This section publishes original multimodal contributions engaging with ethnographic practice and enriching the writing. We encourage submissions of essays that incorporate visual formats, such as photography, drawing, graphics and audiovisuals, or sound, as part of their ethnographic reflection.
Up to 6000 words. Images are worth 200 words each. Video and audio up to 20 min.
Essay - review by the editor and invited peers, optionally anonymised.
Technical specifications to be agreed with editor.
Editor: Inês Ponte (ICS-ULisboa, Portugal)
Urgent Anthropology
Articles in the form of short essays on hot topics within the scope of the anthropology of urgency and the anthropology of affections; but also articles/essays that shape public agendas or explore invisibilised realities and phenomena.
Review by editors. Permanent publication. Publication time up to 3 months. By submission or by invitation from the editor.
Between 2000 and 2500 words. May include photography, video and audio.
Editor: Renata Gonçalves (U. Fluminense, Brazil)
Field notes
Original texts that provide a look and reflection on research experiences with the presentation of fieldwork vignettes. Authors are invited to incorporate multimodal representations (text, sound and image in the most varied formats) that facilitate access to facts, materialities, involvements, interactions, relationships and interactions made possible during fieldwork. A section that opens the door to the ways in which anthropologists produce knowledge when they carry out their research, valuing raw data, materials to be analysed, impressions and inaccuracies, circumstantiality and the gerundial nature of doing anthropology and which invites creative solutions that make us enter or approach the experiences lived by anthropologists in the field.
Review by editors. Audiovisual materials: each image is worth 200 words. Video and audio up to 6 min.
Maximum 2500 words.
Editors: Antonádia Borges (UFRJ, Brazil); Cyril Isnart (IDEMEC, France; CRIA-Iscte/IN2PAST, Portugal); Ernesto Martínez Fernández (Universidade de Sevilha, Espanha); Humberto Martins (UTAD, UMinho, CRIA-UMinho/IN2PAST, Portugal);
B Side
B Side presents unpublished texts in a non-academic format, with authorial and editorial freedom. Authors are invited to share unpublished texts kept in their drawers that may arise from academic or scientific interests, but which for whatever reason have not been transformed into a conventional product such as an article or chapter. There is also room for essays and experimentalism, with complete openness to other fields (literature, poetry, dramatic or theatrical texts, etc). B Side defends the dignity and anthropological fidelity of essayistic and literary writing and invites authors to present literary or poetic texts in the construction of their narratives, considering that writing, like fieldwork, is above all a relational, affective, emotional, sensory and aesthetic process.
Curated by the editor.
Maximum 6000 words.
Editor: Chiara Pussetti (ICS-ULisboa, Portugal)
NEW SECTIONS – ETNOGRÁFICA AND AGORA
Found in Translation
This section aims to give space to peripheral texts or those that are outside academic circulation for linguistic or epistemological reasons. Many of the texts not translated into dominant languages or already accommodated in the global circuit of social science journals lead to the unbalanced dissemination and reproduction of established paradigms of thought. Etnográfica therefore proposes to bring to the discussion forum a production that is sometimes unknown and challenges these same paradigms, in terms of content, style and format. This may include translations of works from languages and circuits peripheral to those of the dominant production in academia, as well as from other disciplinary and/or ontological fields.
Variable length. Annual publication. Presentation text.
Maximum 1000 words.
Guest Editor 2024: Francisco Freire (NOVA-FCSH, CRIA-NOVA FCSH/IN2PAST)
The cut: cutting-edge themes in dialogue
In this section the editors propose a challenging essay that will question and push forward theoretical-anthropological thinking. This piece may also include cutting-edge ethnographic methodologies, and will propose something new and controversial, within the parameters of professional academic common sense. Three different contributors will respond to these provocations with their own thoughts, based on their anthropological experience, with critical perspectives. The author of the main piece gives a final response.
Maximum 7000 words.
Main article in provocation: 3000 words.
Contestant 1: 1000 words; Contestant 2: 1000 words.
Contestant 3: 1000 words; Main author's response: 1000 words.
Published once a year. Invitation and review by editors.
Editors: Diana Espírito Santo (U. Católica, Chile) and Ruy Blanes (CRIA-Iscte/IN2PAST, Portugal)
Four reviewers are invited to write a critical review of a recent book with significant theoretical and/or methodological implications for anthropology. Each reviewer creates a brief synopsis of the book, from their perspective, and a critical commentary on aspects of the book, as well as outstanding questions and other issues that leave room for the author to respond at a later date. At the end of these four essays, the author of the book will address each of them and, finally, acknowledge the criticisms and defend his book (or not).
Maximum 6000 words.
Commentator/critic 1: 1000 words; Commentator/critic 2: 1000 words
Commentator/critic 3: 1000 words; Commentator/critic 4: 1000 words
Author's response: 2000 words
Published once a year. Invitation and review by editors.
Editors: Diana Espírito Santo (U. Católica, Chile) and Ruy Blanes (CRIA-Iscte/IN2PAST, Portugal)
EXISTING SECTIONS – ETNOGRÁFICA AND AGORA
Interviews
The publication of interviews in Etnográfica will be stimulated by a proposal from the Board of Directors and may also result from proposals made directly by the contributors. In the first case, the interviews are part of the journal’s editorial project and are planned by the Editorial Board. As far as proposals from contributors are concerned, they must fulfil the following criteria:
They must not exceed 7500 words, including any bibliographical references, or exceed 40 minutes in length in the case of recorded interviews (sound or video).
They should be geared towards emphasising one of the following items:
-- The interviewee's scientific/academic career.
-- Analysis and/or critical commentary on recent work (no more than three years after publication).
-- The interviewee's inclusion in a theoretical current and the corresponding discussion/confrontation with other authors and/or currents.
-- Presentation and corresponding discussion of concepts and/or categories proposed by the author or that refer to their work.
Interview proposals are open on a permanent basis, and the journal undertakes to give its consent or express its disinterest within a maximum of 60 days. The timing of publication is the responsibility of the Editorial Board, which will evaluate the suitability of the publication within the journal's editorial framework.
Editor: Luís Cunha (UMinho, CRIA-UMinho/IN2PAST, Portugal)
Review proposals, for written works as well as cinematographic and documentary works, must be written in one of the languages accepted by the journal - Portuguese, English, Spanish and French - and may not exceed 1500 words. Except in exceptional situations, which are always defined in liaison with the Board, only reviews that refer to works published or edited in the last five years will be accepted. Without prejudice to any proposals that the Editorial Board may consider appropriate, Etnográfica will privilege the following criteria when publishing reviews:
-- Works that refer to or privilege the internationalisation of Portuguese works and/or those from the Lusophone space.
-- The reception and dissemination in Portugal of referential works, seen as relevant contributions to contemporary anthropological debates.
-- Works from lesser-known geographical contexts, other than Europe or North America.
The Editorial Board is responsible for accepting or rejecting proposals, a decision that will be communicated to the proposers within a maximum of 60 days, and the Board is responsible for scheduling the respective publication.
Editor: Luís Cunha (UMinho, CRIA-UMinho/IN2PAST, Portugal)
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