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Founding members

American Anthropological Association

The American Anthropological Association (AAA), the primary professional society of anthropologists in the United States since its founding in 1902, is the world's largest professional organization of individuals interested in anthropology.

Anthropology Southern Africa

Anthropology Southern Africa (ASA) was founded in 2001 with the merging of the two former anthropology associations in South Africa. These were the Association for Anthropology in Southern Africa (AASA) and the South African Association for Cultural Anthropologists (SASCA). In general, AASA members were associated with the English-speaking universities and SASCA members with Afrikaans-speaking universities, though membership was not confined to academics. The two associations were divided not only by language but also by epistemology (Social Anthropology in the case of AASA, Cultural Anthropology in the case of SASCA), and by ideology (in brief, agreement and disagreement with apartheid policies).

Association of Social Anthropologists of the U. K. and the Commonwealth

The ASA was founded in 1946 to promote the study and teaching of social anthropology, to hold periodical meetings, to present the interests of social anthropology and to maintain its professional status, to assist in any way possible in planning research, to collate, and if possible, publish information on social anthropology, and a register of social anthropologists.

Australian Anthropological Society

The Australian Anthropological Society Inc was incorporated under New South Wales legislation in 1973. Members of the Society currently include a substantial proportion of the practising anthropologists in Australia, with some other members overseas in, for example, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

Brazilian Association of Anthropology

Founded in 1955, the Brazilian Association of Anthropology is the oldest scientific organisation existing in Brazil in the field of Social Sciences. In fifty years, the ABA has played an outstanding role in dealing with issues related to public policies regarding education, social action and protection of human rights. Throughout its history, it defended ethnic minorities, discriminated groups and has expressed itself manifestly against social injustice. Its voice has not failed to disturb those who do not respect human rights. Its code of ethics demands respect for populations studied and requires researchers to make their objectives clear to the groups and populations they study.

Canadian Anthropology Society

The Canadian Anthropology Society was founded in February of 1974 at a meeting of 120 ethnologists at Université Laval, with its original name being the Canadian Ethnology Society. The founding members drafted and approved a constitution with a mandate to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. The society's aims were to encourage formal and informal dissemination of knowledge through an annual conference and publications; promote relations with other academic and professional associations, aboriginal groups, and governments; and publicize ethnological research and activities to further understanding of ethnological practices.

European Association of Social Anthropologists

EASA is a professional association open to all social anthropologists either qualified in, or else working in, Europe. It is a society of scholarship, founded in January 1989 at a meeting of eighteen founder members from fourteen European countries, supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. This meeting drafted the Constitution and elected the Association's first Executive Committee (1989-90), chaired by Prof. Adam Kuper, Brunel University of London.

French Association of Anthropologists

The Association Française des Anthropologues (AFA) was founded in May 1979 following a conference on « The Present State and Future of Anthropology » (April 1977), organized by S. Dreyfus-Gamelon and G. Condominas, at a time when the anthropological community was concerned with both its professionalization and its representation to the outside world. The Association set itself the goal of « promoting the development of anthropology and of relations between anthropologists, informing the general public about anthropology, representing French anthropology on international bodies and making anthropologists aware of their responsibilities.

Indian Anthropological Society

The Indian Anthropological Society traces its origin from the Anthropology Club established in 1921 at the initiative of the then Vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, Sir Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay, who acted as its founding President. The major objectives of the Club were to organize periodic academic discourses on anthropology and related disciplines as well as to examine the role and relevance of anthropology in the emerging situational contexts of India. The Club also took active interest in promoting and propagating inter-culturally tolerant outlook among fellow citizens.

International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences

The I.U.A.E.S. is a world organization of social and biological anthropological scientists and institutions working in the fields of anthropology and ethnology, but also of interest to archaeologists and linguistics specialists, among others. Its aim is to enhance exchange and communication among scholars of all regions of the world, in a collective effort to expand human knowledge. In this way it hopes to contribute to a better understanding of human society, and to a sustainable future based on harmony between nature and culture.

Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology

With a membership of approximately 2,100 scholars and students, the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology (JASCA; Nihon Bunkajinrui Gakkai) is one of the largest anthropological organizations in the world. The JASCA's main purpose is to promote research on human culture(s) in cultural anthropology, social anthropology and ethnology.

Latin American Association of Anthropology

According to its statutes, the ALA is a democratic organization, without any political nor religious affiliations. Its primary objective is to congregate professionals with an anthropological interest on Latin American and the Caribbean to promote the exchange of ideas, the debate of paradigms and the defense of common interests in the field.The Latin American Anthropological Association was constituted in April 1990, during the Brazilian Anthropological Association meeting, in Florianopolis. In July 2005, the Association held its First Congress of Latin American Anthropology in Rosario, Argentina.The Association is administered in three-year periods by a Council of Representatives -constituted by as much as two representatives of each country which has ALA members- and an Executive Board –constituted by a President, a General Secretary, a Technical Secretary, a Treasurer and five Vice-Presidents.

Pan-African Anthropological Association

The PAAA is a professional association whose primary goal is to facilitate the development of anthropological capacity and to promote excellence in the context of Africa’s development. The mission of the association is derived therefore from the tripartite mandate mentioned in the historical background of PAAA.

Russian Association of Anthropologists and Ethnologists

Members

Association for Social Anthropological Research

APRAS(Association pour la Recherche en Anthropologie Sociale) has been founded in 1989 and is open to all doing research in the field of social anthropology, in France or elsewhere.

Catalan Institute of Anthropology

The Institut Català d'Antropologia (ICA) has now been active for twenty seven years in disseminating the discipline of anthropology and create a forum in our country for discussion, research and scientific study of society and culture. At its outset, this institution arose out of the concern of a group of anthropologists to open up new horizons and methods of work once the Franco dictatorship came to an end.

German Anthropological Association

The German Anthropological Association congregates social anthropologists as well as people and institutions interested in anthropological issues. It was founded in the 1920s, with even older predecessors.

Portuguese Association of Anthropology

The Portuguese Association of Anthropology (Associação Portuguesa de Antropologia - APA), founded in 1989, is the representative association of Portuguese anthropologists. In 2005, it has some 515 associates. APA is economically independent, being supported by its associate’s fees and is formally constituted as an association under Portuguese law. Its organs are elected by the associates for a three-year period. APA is permanently based at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (a research institution with a postgraduate program, which includes a section specializing in anthropology) through an agreement of mutual convenience.

The College of Ethnologists and Social Anthropologists A.C.

The College of Ethnologists and Social Anthropologists A.C. is a professional organization created by the Constitutive Assembly of July 25, 1974. Legally recognized as a professional college by the General Profession Direction of the Public Education Secretary (Mexico) since 1976, the College has an official place in Mexico City, judicial personality, its own patrimony, and indefinite duration.

The Italian Institute of Anthropology (Istituto Italiano di Antropologia)

The Istituto Italiano di Antropologia (ISItA) was founded in 1893 by Giuseppe Sergi. The objective of the ISItA is to promote an interdisciplinary approach to anthropology which encompasses a synthesis of the biological, social and cultural aspects of the evolution of Man. The activities of the ISItA include the organisation of scientific meetings regarding matters of general interest and the publication of the Journal of Anthropological Sciences (JASs).The JASs publishes research articles, notes and reviews concerning all aspects of evolutionary anthropology (primatology, human paleontology, prehistory, biology and genetics of extinct and extant populations), with particular attention towards interdisciplinary approaches.



Copyright© 2005 World Council of Anthropological Associations
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