Anthropology of nature and multispecies ethnography in Asia

Organized by Frédéric Keck and Ji Zhe.
tableau chinois
Figure de la dynastie Tang représentant Fuxi et Nuwa avec une tête humaine et un corps de serpent : Nuwa tenant les règles et Fuxi tenant les règlements © Domaine public ‎‎‎

In the last twenty years, the anthropology of nature in France and multispecies ethnography in the United States have questioned the classical oppositions between nature and culture on which anthropology has built its comparisons between different societies, and brought new objects of analysis at different ontological and relational scales. In this session organized jointly between Collège de France and INALCO, we will question how these transformations within anthropology have changed our vision of Asian societies, by animating discussion between the two prominent representants of these intellectual trends, Philippe Descola and Anna Tsing, and Wang Mingming and Sophie Houdart who have confronted their analyses with their own reflections in China and Japan.

 

Programme : 

9.30 : Welcome Address & Introductory Remarks: Ji Zhe (Inalco), Rima Sleiman (Inalco), Frédéric Keck (CNRS)

9.45-10.45 : Discussion between Philippe Descola (Collège de France) and Wang Mingming (Peking University) on Marcel Granet and the anthropology of China

10.45-11.00 : Pause

11.00-12.00 : Discussion between Anna Tsing (UC Santa Cruz) and Sophie Houdart (CNRS) on the anthropology of Japan after the Fukushima disaster

12.00-12.30 : Discussion with the public