›Forms of Mixing‹: Contemporary History and Sociocultural Anthropology. A Conversation with Debjani Bhattacharyya and Brian Larkin

Bhattacharyya, Debjani; Güttler, Nils; Kaufmann, Lena; Larkin, Brian

doi:10.14765/zzf.dok-2867

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Journal article

›Forms of Mixing‹: Contemporary History and Sociocultural Anthropology. A Conversation with Debjani Bhattacharyya and Brian Larkin

BP2-STS

Bhattacharyya, Debjani ORCID University of Zurich
Güttler, Nils ORCID University of Vienna
Kaufmann, Lena ORCID University of Fribourg
Larkin, Brian ORCID Columbia University

2025

Published in:

Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History. - 2025, vol. 21 (2024/2025), p. 139-154

Contemporary history and sociocultural anthropology

English In the following conversation, historian Nils Güttler and anthropologist Lena Kaufmann discuss the recent shifts with two go-betweens in history and anthropology: historian Debjani Bhattacharyya and anthropologist Brian Larkin. Bhattacharyya’s research on ecology and law in the Bengal Delta and Larkin’s studies of media infrastructures in Nigeria demonstrate how a combined historical and anthropological lens is essential for understanding complex, multifaceted social and environmental phenomena, particularly in (post)colonial settings. This dialogue is an attempt to reflect on how combined methodologies might offer new insights into the pressing issues of our time such as colonial pasts, environmental questions and climate change, resource extraction and urbanization, infrastructures and global flows of technology and knowledge. What is the value of integrating historical and anthropological perspectives? Where do the boundaries between the two blur, and in what ways can such transgressions be not only beneficial but necessary?

Faculty

Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines

Department

Département des sciences sociales

Language