Anthropology and Social Change

@anthciis.bsky.social

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Ⓐctivist Ⓐnthropology MAs + PhDs 🌍 Journal: https://jwsr.pitt.edu/ 📕 Books: https://blog.pmpress.org/kairos/ 🏴‍☠️ Lectures: https://www.ciis.edu/news/david-graeber-memorial-lectures

Climate crisis protest with dozens of canoes blocking an oil tanker, including a Palestinian flag in the foreground. Lettering reads “Political Ecology: critical approaches to anthropology of the environment, and Socio ecological change”
Flyer with a Black and white photo of a mid 20th century protest, with an ethnically diverse range of participants, mostly femme, with shirts bearing slogans such as silence = death, and signs saying “no mandatory testing of physicians,” “heal the system” etc. Text above reads: “Health autonomy convergence June 12-14, San Francisco a national convergence for healthcare workers to come together, share experiences, and continue to the work of building a network of radical care. Healthautonomyconvergence.com. Registration opens April. Text below reads: “ organized by havoc hosted by the department of anthropology and social change at CIIS”
Event flyer. Background photo with the late David Graeber seated cross-legged in his office, a serene expression, books on either side, a potted plant in the window and a lamp behind him. In the foreground, the four logos of the organizing departments and orgs: Elizabeth Bruyere School, Rojava University, ICSyH BUAP, and CIIS. John’s photo in lower-right, a wild silver-haired Caucasian man with a wry smile. Text in lower left reads, “co-production of: Elizabeth Bruyere School of Social Innovation; Rojava University; Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities BUAP; and Anthropology and Social Change at CIIS.”
Event flyer. Mostly-obscured Kurdish mural in the background of a femme figure holding an autumn, leafless tree in her upturned left hand. In the foreground, circle shaped professional photo of the speaker, a light skinned bespectacled figure in black, arms folded. Text reads: “ anthropology, and social change visiting scholar series presents the building blocks of a New World talks on Rova Revolution February 9-11 530 to 7:30 PM free Namaste Hall 1453 Mission St., San Francisco three talks! Questions: smaccracken@ciis.edu Reimar Heider Feb 9 a series of concepts: surprising twists Feb 10 building blocks: democratic, confederalism, Jineolojî and the queen of sciences Feb 11 construction of a new world: organize, organized, autonomy, education, and self-defense
Video meme with the rousing A Las Barricadas singing scene from Libertarias (1996), Partisan women fighters singing and raising their fists on a truck about to depart for the front against Franco’s fascists. Caption at the top reads, “liberals are all ‘vote harder’, and I’m out here like…”
Image of a fit Caucasian masc person decked out in matching rainbow pants, blazer, umbrella, sunglasses, and necktie over a bare chest, making an exuberant “let’s party” gesture.
“Coolyori hotline bling times three” classic meme format with anime femme in sunglasses, patterned after the Drake hotline meme. In the first frame, the character has a stern gesture of refusal and the text reads “higher education is doing fine.” In the second frame she’s got a satisfied expression with a “finger gun” type expression signifying approval, and the text reads “ higher education is again in a crisis of legitimacy.” In the third frame, the same expression as in frame two, but with the “finger gun” gesture of approval in both hands, stylized sparkles and flames behind her signifying a degree of high-intensity. The text reads “higher education was always in a crisis of legitimacy.”
When I’m in a ___ and my opponent is ___ meme format with a comically flabbergasted Squidward in the bottom left reacting to an image above. Text by Squidward reads “when I’m in a critique of political economy contest and my opponent is David Graeber” Image above is a black and white photo of Graeber seated in a couch, probably at London School of Economics, in a lobby on the ground floor, a window to the street behind him, dressed in khaki pants, blazer and vest, his dress shirt unbuttoned at the neck. Palms raised and eyes upraised, he is gesturing as though in mid-speech. Bold text above him reads (from his book Debt: The First 5000 Years) “Money has no essence. It isn’t “really” anything…”
Dog-killing, prison photo op taking “ICE Barbie,” Kristi Noem in her “police ice” labeled drab uniform, with her infamous Rolex on her left wrist. In the forefront, a large mockup of the watch labeled with its retail price, $45,000.
An “alternate timeline” meme of the (imprisoned in real life) beaming Kurdish Freedom movement leader Abdullah Öcalan in a green button up shirt appearing implausibly on the cable tv program “The Daily Show.” Host John Stewart gestures for the camera toward our PM Press book, Building Free Life: Dialogues with Öcalan, a yellow book with Öcalan’s face on the cover.
Wallerstein wearing spectacles with images of the earth globe in each lens. Text at the top reads “capitalism’s late stage intensifies”
“Why not both” meme format with cute femme kid and yellow subtitles saying “why don’t we have both?” Above in bold white capitals: “Anthropology? Social change?”
“Why not both” meme format with cute femme kid and yellow subtitles saying “why don’t we have both?” Above in bold white capitals: “bachelors completion? Accelerated MA?”
“Why not both” meme format with cute femme kid and yellow subtitles saying “why don’t we have both?” Above in bold white capitals: “anarchism? Communism?”
James Scott, Pierre Clastres, Ursula LeGuin, and David Graeber in the stars. A news headline below reads “Project 2025 mainly led by ex-Trump officials, leaked videos reveal” Large macro meme-text reads “my idols are dead” above, and “my enemies are in power” below
“ online panel, Rojava under pressure: women’s revolution, as a beacon of Hope and uncertain times. Women, freedom, Rosa between Utopia and geopolitical reality panelists: Shiraz Hemo - coordinating member of Kongra Star Foza Yusif - executive board member of the democratic unity party Rohilat Afrin - command of the women’s defense units. Moderation - Meghan Bodette Director of research, Kurdish peace Institute. December 12, 2024 at 19 00 CET online broadcast on the YouTube channel @kongrastar22 “
Photo of Andrej Grubačić, a bearded and bald masc Yugoslavian-born department chair, in a white shirt and floral scarf, standing in a room in the University of Rojava.
N.O. Bonzo book cover art. Stylized woodcut-like foliage in red and black forms an outer border, intercut with black lettering on a white banner that reads, “Mutual Aid: An Illuminated Factor of Evolution.” A corresponding banner at the bottom reads “Illustrated by N.O. Bonzo Introduction by David Graeber and Andrej Grubačić Foreword by Ruth Kinna Afterward by Allan Antliff Postscript by GATS. Center woodcut style image in black and white shows two laborers, one femme and one masc, hands clasped in solidarity. She holds a sickle and he carries a pitchfork. They are each flanked by stylized fruit trees and in the center behind their clasped hand is an abundance of wheat. A banner at the bottom of this center image reads “Peter Kropotkin.”
Against a backdrop of Rojava flags: Debbie Bookchin, a femme in black with shoulder length black hair; Arthur Pye, a masc in blue button-up, Kurdish scarf, drab cadet cap, and glasses, and Andrej Grubačić a masc in a red cap and red shirt, seated in a panel at a table with the banner: “Defend Rojava: Direct democracy/Women’s Liberation/Social Ecology - Emergency Committee for Rojava - Defendeojava.org
Background image of raised Palestinian flag with foreground text, saying: “Coordinated Economic Blockade to Free Palestine Monday, April 15, 2024 The global economy is complicit in genocide. Join participating cities in blocking the arteries of capitalism and jamming the wheels of production.”
Event flyer. Background image is of the CIIS lobby itself, facing the windows onto Mission St. Overlaid on that image are text, a photo of Dr. Manisha Anantharaman, a femme Desi person with long straight black hair, and the cover image of her book, showing a stylized image of the eastern hemisphere in green on white background, with the words “Recycling Class - The Contradictions of Inclusion in Urban Sustainability.” Flyer text reads: “ecology, spirituality, and religion + anthropology and social change present: Dr. Manisha Anantharaman - Recycling Class: the contradictions of inclusion in urban sustainability. April 4, 2024 4pm-6pm pacific time - Free talk! CIIS Lobby 1453 Mission St., SF.” The center of the flyer has a QR code that routes to the same pre-registration URL given in this post.
Meme format derived from a well-known TikTok where a barista shows themselves fixing an espresso drink while observing in their caption, “this drink literally costs me working for half an hour.” A still frame from the TikTok has been substituted for a paperback book cover image, and below the image is the text: “Penguin Classics - Karl Marx - Capital Volume 1” Overlaid on the entire meme is our course code and title: ANTH 6198 Contemporary Capitalism
Parody of a Heath Ledger Joker meme, but with David Graeber, nicely dressed in grey sport jacket over a jewel-red vest and dress shirt with earth-tone trousers, seated in a grey armchair with a city street visible behind. His arms are raised palm up to either side in an animated gesture, head slightly upturned and apparently in mid-speech. Top caption reads, “Support academics doing internet piracy and nobody panics, it’s just part of the plan.” Bottom caption reads, “Dissolce boundaries between academia and activism, and everyone loses their minds”
Meme format with a woman Rojava soldier in fatigues and beret on the left, David Graber in dark glasses, white shirt and beige pants smoking a cigarette on the right. Each is labeled “co-researcher.”
Meme format with confederate battle flag vs. Rojava YPJ and YPG flags. Text for the confederacy: “miserably defeated after 4 years, desperate to repeat. Text for Rojava: “10+ years running, still here”
Early Charlie Brown comic, with Charlie pulling from his stash of LP records. His word bubble is modified to say “Time for Activist Anthropology” in block letters, and the LP in his hand has an image based on Staughton Lynd and Andrej Grubačić’s volume Wobblies and Zapatistas, with illustrations of an IWW worker beside a masked Zapatista, with the words “activist anthropology low residency MA+PhD”
Livestream event flyer, which reads “We charge genocide! Livestream Palestinians take Biden to court Friday, Jan 26 bit.ly/PalestinevBiden Pre-Court Briefing 10:30am-12pm (ET) | 5:30-7pm (Palestine) Heating & Testimony 12pm (ET) | 7pm (Palestine)
Meme format with wojak line drawing of a bespectacled head, red-eyed and crying squaring off against an image of radical democratic indigenous historical figure Kondiaronk as he appears on a Canadian postage stamp, but brandishing a copy of book, “The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow,” and with an oversized “hello my name is Kondiaronk” name badge. The crying figure objects, “Nooooooo Society without a state? People would act based on reasoned persuasion rather than coercion!!!1!!” Kondiaronk replies simply, in large letters, “Yes.”
The red and black flag antifascist logo, but with the words “activist ethnography” encircling the flags
Meme with top and bottom images. Top left, a photo of a beaming YPJ solider in a lineup of women fighters. Top right, elder women in a Rojava community defense force flashing the “v for victory.” A news caption says “How to abolish the police lessons from the Rojava Revolution. Bottom, three carbon copy images of famous “trans exclusionary radical feminist” (TERF) author JK Rowling, awkwardly sporting knit pink pussy hats, together forming a militant line of white TERFs. Captions read, at the top: “I’m a feminist,” then by the top Rojava images, “What I hope they mean ☀️,” and by the bottom image, “What they mean 😭.”
Meme with a black and white photo of 19th/20th century Spanish Anarchist and martyr Francisco Ferrer surrounded by 21st century icons of liberated knowledge and information-secure organizing: Library Genesis, Signal, Pirate Bay, Public Libraries, Telegram, and Sci-Hub. Text on the top reads “Anarchists are ruining traditional education.” Text on the bottom reads “Do your part.”
Meme contrasting “colonial/capitalist knowledge” with an “ecology of knowledges.” The former is represented by a wojak line drawing of a figure whose brain absurdly and grotesquely grows into a cage that imprisons him. Tears stream from his bloodshot eyes. The ecology of knowledges is represented by a host of wojak line drawings of figures surrounding the first figure but with their backs turned to him: a blonde trans chad, a doomer tradwife, a curly haired masked antifascist, a trans figure in pigtails, a group of masked anarchists of various schools, a purple haired alt girl, a doomer girl with a copy of Sociology of Freedom, a masked Zapatista, a lesbian activist, an alt girl with red and black hair, a determined YPJ fighter, and natives in traditional garb in the center.
Parody of the Coachella 2024 lineup poster, with the headline, “Anthropology and Social Change Low Residency MA+PhD” Headline acts are replaced with the phrases, “Activist Ethnography, Militant Research, Social Change, with tons of subject areas in the place of the bands including, Rojava Revolution, Zapatismo, Workers Inquiry, World-Systems Research, Indigenous Resistance, Self-Determination” etc. Poster concludes, “and… Have No Doubt We are Anticapitalist” and finally, “courses taught by: Andrej Grubačić - Targol Mesbah - Michelle Glowa.”
Meme format made from top and bottom images. In top, black and white student 1968 protest with police on the left attacking apparently unarmed students on the right. In bottom, a color image of the famous arrest of civil rights protestor Iesha Evans on the right: dignified, impassive, and unarmed in a summer dress, being approached by two cautious and tentative cops in full riot armor, from the left. The left hand side with the police is captioned “colonial capitalist world system,” and the people on the right are captioned simply, “the people.”
Detail image of a black and white keffiyeh with bold white text against a black border, saying “activist [watermelon emoji] ethnography”
“Coolyori” meme format of an anime femme figure in sunglasses, making a finger-gun gesture, but with the addition of an “anarchocommunist” red and black hair bow rather than the usual solid red. Their image repeats in the left column three identical times, gesturing to the right hand column where the words read “writing,” “editing,” “getting published.
The cover to Nazan’s new book. The image shows a stylized painting of a human figure, head thrown back as in horror or amazement, against an orange painted surface and dripping with blue pain in the foreground. A news headline looms in the upper right. Text on top reads: The Mother, The Politician, and the Guerrilla Women’s Political Imagination in the Kurdish Movement. Text on the bottom reads Nazan Üstündag
Gold book cover with red block lettering: “The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity David Graeber and David Wengrow”
A meme with an image of a political assembly in Rojava with a crowd densely gathered in a circle around one round table and speaker, the walls decorated in Roajava’s various logos in yellow, red, and green. A news headline below the image in red text reads, “Report: The Political System of North and East Syria.” A meme caption above the entire image reads, “Stateless society doesn’t exis—“
“Three armed handshake” meme format with three extremely buff linked arms. The threes biceps are labeled 1 “CNT-FAI National Confederation of Labor-Iberian Anarchist Federation” 2 “AANES (Rojava) Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria 3 “EZLN Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Their linked hands are labeled “Anti-Authoritarian Left” Above the meme is a caption saying “So, tell us about your research interests…”
Meme consisting entirely of the FBI’s one-page document with the image of typed text over it. The FBI document is titled “Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide: Anarchist Violent Extremism” with color graphics of the circle-A, Sabocat, antifascist symbols, the black, red-black “ancom,” and green-black anarchy flags, and the newly added ACAB graphic with the FBI’s—sometimes surprisingly accurate—descriptions of each symbol. The typed text over it in black lettering on green background reads, “Based Anarchism 101 Zine Just Dropped”
Meme with the image of a proud and beaming Black college graduate, with glasses and a grey shirt and black tie under black college graduate robes and with a graduate cap on, holding up a diploma. Text says, “Police be like, ‘drop your weapon’”
Closeup archival image of Fred Hampton Sr. at a podium microphone in a softly textured dress hat. Overlaid text reads, “Theory’s cool, But theory with no practice ain’t shit.”