Introduction to Society

The Finnish Anthropological Society

The Finnish Anthropological Society is a learned society founded in 1975. The core function of the Society is to promote research of high quality in the fields of anthropology and disciplines closely related to anthropology. The Society also creates public venues for discussing and disseminating anthropological knowledge and aims at consolidating the identity of anthropologists working in Finland.

Central to these projects is their quarterly, peer-reviewed journal Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society which aims to provide an interface between Finnish anthropologists and international scholarship in the discipline. The journal’s editorial policy is to encourage submissions from other ‘small countries’, from scholars whose mother tongue is not English, and who work from a perspective which may differ from mainstream, globally hegemonic academic discourses.

The Society also sponsors an international anthropology conference, which has proved to be a dynamic venue for scholarly discussion and sociality that attracts anthropologists from both abroad and across Finland. The Edvard Westermarck Memorial Lecture is yet another activity, organized by the Society biennially, that has brought some of the most acclaimed anthropologists in the world to Finland. Recent lectures have been delivered by Marilyn Strathern, Webb Keane, Marshall Sahlins, and Philippe Descola. (See Events page for further information.)

Membership of the Finnish Anthropological Society is granted to applicants who have studied either anthropology or related disciplines. The Society also accepts as members applicants with a college or university degree who are interested in anthropology, or whose professional training or employment are related to anthropological research. In addition, the Society accepts support memberships.

For more information, please visit the Membership page.

To read the Constitution of the Finnish Anthropological Society, visit this page.

The Society is a member of the World Council of Anthropological Associations.

WCAA logo