Polarisations and differences: Anthropology's ontological turn(ing)

Abstract (English)

In many parts of the world, our interactions with(in) media are increasingly being constructed as/through representations of polarisations. We notice these polarisations in some spaces as culture wars, gender wars, race wars, religious wars in which there are different identitarian categories that are represented to be standing against one another, or sometimes even in something that seems much more simpler such as which milk to add to your coffee. Such choices that we face are increasingly being framed as though they are either/or choices. We invite papers that examine these polarisations around us specifically in trying to understand given the context of anthropology's rejection of representationalism. More specifically, how can we understand polarisations beyond perspectivism? Some lines of thinking can be in understanding these polarisations as cuts within new feminist materialism or cuts within schizoanalysis and bringing such readings into anthropology. What becomes more important than simply understanding these processes would also be to help us to move past these polarisations. And hence, papers that can extend their argument towards ideas such as talking-across or talking-with would also be welcome. Maybe another step further would then be to examine the ethics of our arguments, for example, through ideas such as self-responsibility or responsibility-to-others. Finally, another line of thinking can be to examine how certain polarised categories construct themselves as useful within certain contexts in order to portray some polarised categories as superior, or rather, more useful than the other(s).