ANTHRO 378: What is Enmity?

Course Description

At a time where war is everywhere - as real, protracted conflicts in several parts of the world but also as rhetorical hyperbole of declaring war on various social and political problems - the question of enmity becomes a central concern. An enemy is a figure, or a category, whose very existence poses an existential threat to the self or the community. While anthropology abounds with debates on difference, distance, othering, intimacy and violence, less attention has been paid to the figure and function of the enemy and the social intensities that enmity enables and perpetuates. Mobilizing political theory, historical texts and multiple ethnographic examples the seminar will explore many kinds of enmity: dynamic political enmities; quotidian and durable social enmities; ethno-racial enmities; hierarchical vs. horizontal enmities; performative, ritual and ludic enmities, and more.