Round table discussion on applied anthropology

Had the honor to moderate the following round table discussion at The Swedish Anthropological Association (SANT) Conference in Gothenburg:

How can anthropology compete in a world of number crunching?

Round table discussion on anthropological work outside the academy

Every day, employees in companies, authorities and other organizations in Sweden use their anthropological knowledge for everything from solving major societal issues to providing better care, more efficient service, optimizing services or products. Many testify that there is an enormous need for the kind of knowledge that anthropology can contribute, and that their education – whether it is a bachelor’s degree or a doctoral degree – has given them invaluable insights, perspectives and methods. At the same time, few of those we meet have knowledge of what anthropology is, and even when there is knowledge, anthropology does not always fit into a world that is dominated by the number crunching and quantitative methods preferred by economists and engineers. What can we do to change this?

Listen to an exciting conversation between anthropologists with experience from a wide variety of job sectors and forms of employment, including consulting assignments and employment in the business world, public administration and non-profit organizations.

Moderator: Katarina Graffman

Participants: Steffen Jöhncke, Lotta Björklund Larsen, Haris Agic, Nicholas Waller and Mathias Erikson