Professors from CLAM, in collaboration with national and international academic partners, will coordinate two Working Groups (GTs) at the XV Mercosur Anthropology Meeting (RAM). Professor Marina Nucci will coordinate GT 011, “Anthropology of Science and Technology in Perspective: Biotechnologies, Corporalities, and Sociabilities.” Professor Jane Russo will coordinate GT 150, “Therapeutic Pluralism, Therapies in the Plural: Transits, Itinerations, and Hybridisms in Search of Well-being.” Abstracts for the Working Groups will be accepted until April 7, 2025.
The XV Mercosur Anthropology Meeting will take place from August 4 to 8, 2025, at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The theme of this edition is “Reclaiming the Future,” aiming to discuss contemporary social and environmental crises by integrating both academic/scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge.
The XV RAM will feature 183 Working Groups. Below, you can find more details about the GTs coordinated by CLAM professors:
GT 011: “Anthropology of Science and Technology in Perspective: Biotechnologies, Corporalities, and Sociabilities.”
Coordinators: Fabíola Rohden (UFRGS), Alejandra Rosario Roca (UBA/ UNPAZ) and Marina Nucci (CLAM/IMS/UERJ).
Description: This Working Group aims to continue the discussions held during previous RAM editions and other events, contributing to the strengthening of networks focused on the anthropology of science and technology in different countries.
The objective is to foster debate on the intersections between science, technology, society, and power, with a particular focus on analyzing the networks that span from knowledge production to its impacts on new ways of understanding the subject in contemporary settings. This includes ongoing biomedicalization processes and the emergence of various forms of (bio)sociability.
Alongside laboratory ethnographies—which have had a significant impact by highlighting the social (and political) nature of science—an important field of study has emerged, centered on understanding the presence of science in everyday life, its role in the administration and concrete management of life, and its interactions with gender, race, and other social markers of difference. These dynamics contribute to the production of new sociabilities and subjectivities.
GT 150: “Therapeutic Pluralism, Therapies in the Plural: Transits, Itinerations, and Hybridisms in Search of Well-being.”
Coordinators: Jane Russo (CLAM/IMS/UERJ), Nicolás Viotti (CONICET) and Fernanda de Carvalho Vecchi Alzuguir (UFRJ/IESC).
Description: Nothing is self-evident in defining what should be considered “therapeutic.” Entities, substances, knowledge, techniques, and rituals form a complex network that reflects the plurality of meanings attributed to this term. This Working Group aims to explore the intersections between different therapeutic practices and beliefs, considering the diverse ways in which well-being and distress—both physical and mental/spiritual—are experienced and understood. By discussing research on various therapeutic pursuits, we seek to examine the heterogeneous range of agents, practices, and beliefs that shape distinct approaches to self-care. Our goal is to illuminate the combinations, foundations, and apparent contradictions that emerge in the search for well-being.
There are multiple intersections between religious and/or “popular” practices, biomedicine, and so-called “alternative therapies,” the latter often associated with practices categorized under the “New Age” movement. These intersections are frequently analyzed through dualities that contrast the archaic, popular, and affective/moral on one side with the modern, scholarly, and scientific/rational on the other. Instead, we aim to move beyond these dichotomies, seeking to understand how seemingly contradictory ways of perceiving and experiencing the body and its afflictions coexist—often peacefully. This coexistence forms a network that is both dense and flexible, shaping diverse approaches to self-improvement and healing.
The deadline for submitting abstracts for the GTs is April 7, 2025. Abstracts must be submitted through RAM’s online system, available at ram2025.sinteseeventos.com.br.
Submission requirements: the title must have up to 200 characters including spaces; the abstract, up to 1,500 characters including spaces. Proposals will be accepted in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The minimum qualification required for abstract submission is undergraduate student.
For additional information on the proposal submission process for the GTs, click here.