About research at the department of social anthropology
At the Department of Social Anthropology, we conduct research on how people organize their lives, labour and communities in different parts of the world. Our research is based on long-term fieldwork in close collaboration with the people it concerns. Through our focus on everyday life, we document how social relations are produced, experienced and transformed in local communities across the world, as well as how global processes influence local relations.
Our research themes
The department is characterized by a broad thematic orientation and examines all aspects of human life and society. Our researchers are engaged in fieldwork from Svalbard to Oceania, from the east coast of the US to western Africa, from the top of the Andes to the seabed, and from the halls of the UN to refugee camps in Greece. Ongoing research projects work on big issues such as power relations, inequalities, political organization and the production of meaning, the climate emergency, work and the economy, violent conflicts and technological advancement, from the perspective of the people that face them.
See all our research projects and groups.
The impact of our research
Social anthropology provides the key to understand the world in all its diversity and complexity. The department of social anthropology produces experiential knowledge about society and people’s participation in it that informs decision-making in local government, global diplomacy and business. Our research asks critical questions about judicial and bureaucratic processes, distributive politics, environmental and cultural heritage regimes, power and inequality, and labour relations in various global contexts. At the same time, social anthropology is a discipline that provides unique perspectives on people’s intimate relations and social categories such as gender, sexuality, religious identities and cultural belonging. That type of research-based knowledge is indispensable in the development of strategies for inclusion, integration and community building in a great number of social arenas.
International collaboration
The department is globally orientated in all their activities, and we work collaboratively with colleagues and partner institutions all over the world on research and teaching initiatives. Our researchers publish in international journals, disseminate their findings to a global audience and partake in a global community of researchers. International guest researchers visit the department regularly, and we host key international research event such as Bergen Social Anthropology Seminars, Bergen Anthropology Day, and the Fredrik Barth Memorial Lecture.