Contemporary Anthropology Reading Group
The CARG (Contemporary Anthropology Reading Group) is a group of scholars who meet to discuss newly published monographs in anthropology. It is open to researchers, PhD students, and staff currently (or previously) affiliated with Munich-based institutions. Our aim is to cultivate a space to read books from cover to cover and across a wide range of geographic areas and topics, to counter the frantic pace and the increasing specialization of academic life.
We pick books based on the members' suggestions and votes. Past readings include The Government of Beans by Kregg Hetherington, Nightmarch by Alpa Shah, and The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Weingrow.
The reading material is circulated for free. Meetings are hybrid and happen every two months over lunchtime at the Rachel Carson Center, for 75–90 minutes. They are a great opportunity to connect with fellow anthropologists across departments and universities.
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please contact the organizers, Emmanuelle Roth (e.roth@lmu.de) and Lisa Rail (lisa.francesca.rail@univie.ac.at).
Upcoming Events
- 8 November 2024: Laura McLauchlan. Hedgehogs, Killing, and Kindness: The Contradictions of Care in Conservation Practice. MIT Press, 2024.
Notable Past Events
- 6 September 2024: Sophia Chao. In the Shadow of the Palms. More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.
- 21 June 2024: Tania Li and Pujo Semedi. Plantation Life: Corporate Occupation in Indonesias's Oil Palm Zone. Durham: Duke University Press, 2021.
- 12 April 2024: Hugh Raffles. The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time. New York: Pantheon Books, 2020.
- 2 February 2024: Alex Blanchette. Porkopolis: American Animality, Standardized Life, and the Factory Farm. Durham: Duke University Press, 2020.
- 24 November 2023: Michael Taussig. Mastery of Non-Mastery in the Age of Meltdown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.
General Information
- 44 books read and discussed since 2015;
- Several discussion sessions joined by authors;
- A review letter by CARG-members to the authors of On Roads (Harvey & Knox), published with their response on the Society for Cultural Anthropology website: https://culanth.org/fieldsights/series/on-roads-a-review-letter