CfP: Care and East Asia

The Society for East Asian Anthropology’s (SEAA) column in Anthropology News is excited to invite abstract submissions for this quarter’s theme, “care.” As a section of Anthropology News (the American Anthropological Association’s member magazine), we select one author per quarter to publish a public-facing essay, according to a theme chosen by AN.

General CfP by Anthropology News (full description available here):

How do we care for ourselves and others? How do we care for objects, archives, words, history, traditions, animals, plants, ideas, and obligations? How can care be a form of resistance or persistence amid violence or change? How do forms of care interact with the ways people work, play, love, evoke the past or future, or engage politically? 

At SEAA, we are particularly interested in soliciting a piece that uses “care” to transform our understanding of East Asian communities. We invite you to explore the following and other related questions:

• How do public healthcare systems and informal care economies shape the experiences and well-being of individuals in East Asian societies?
• What insights can the concept of care provide when reevaluating labor rights, politics, and governance in East Asian societies?
• What are the impacts of remote and digital communication on the provision of care?

We aim to feature how regional particularities and cultural understandings that are vibrant in East Asia potentially contribute to examining forms of care in substantive ways, both in theory and practice.

Submissions, targeted toward a general audience, can take the form of a short essay (up to 2,000 words and 3 images) or a photo essay (up to 750 words and 8 images). We invite contributions from scholars who are involved with a broad range of ethnographic methods, from archival to digital, in-person, and remote fieldwork.

If you are interested in working with us, please send your 150-250 word abstract to co-editors Jieun Cho (jieun.cho[at]duke.edu) and Aaron Su (aaronsu[at]princeton.edu) by August 15, 2024. For a photo essay, please also include 2-3 sample images. The selected piece will go through a round of edits with section editors, and will be published in Anthropology News by the end of 2024. Although we are only able to accept one piece per quarter, we are excited to keep excellent abstract proposals in mind for future themes to come.

Anthropology News boasts a readership of about 25,000 unique views per month, providing a significant platform for your work to reach a wide audience. We publish articles from members that address contemporary issues with original ethnographic research. Scholars of all stages currently possessing or anticipating SEAA membership are encouraged to participate. To learn more about what we publish, please check out previous articles here.