About the GASCA

Was ist Ethnologie?

The German Association of Social and Cultural Anthropology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie) congregates social anthropologists as well as people and institutions interested in anthropological issues. It was founded in the 1920s, with even older predecessors.

The GASCA devotes itself to the promotion of social anthropological research and teaching and to the distribution of social anthropological knowledge. It is a network of scientific exchange. 35 working groups focus on thematic and regional subdivisions of social anthropology.

Read more

As its major scientific activities the GASCA organizes a biannual congress and publishes the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie│Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ZfE│JSCA). Founded in 1869, the ZfE│JSCA is one of the oldest anthropological journals worldwide. It is co-published with the Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory of Berlin (Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte). The ZfE│JSCA is published in two volumes a year which contain peer reviewed articles in German and English, each of which is accompanied by an English abstract. Online access to the journal is available via JSTOR.

Twice a year the GASCA publishes the Newsletter of the German Anthropological Association (Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie). Besides a thematic focus it contains reports and information from the social anthropological institutes and museums in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The GASCA is a non-profit association. It currently has close to 850 members. The highest governing body of the association is the General Meeting, which convenes biennially. The GASCA is managed by a board of three, and is assisted by an advisory board and an administrator.

The GASCA (DGSKA) is member of the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) and therefore part of a network of national and international associations that aims to promote worldwide communication and cooperation in social anthropology.

News

GASCA Conference 2025

DGV Konferenz 2023

The next conference will take place in Cologne, from 29.9.-2.10.25. The topic will be: “Un/Commoning Anthropology “. The Call for Workshops closed on 25 September.

The last conference took place in Munich from 25 – 28 July 2023 on the topic ” Contested Knowledge: Perspectives in Social and Cultural Anthropology”.

Click here to go to our 2023 conference homepage. There you can find information about the programme as well as photos, blogs and the keynote speech to watch.

DGV Konferenz 2023

GASCA Notices

Issue 56 of the “Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie” 2023 is out now.

You can download the current as well as older issues in pdf.
Please find them in our online archive.

Thematic  and Regional Working Groups

Thematic and Regional Working Groups of the German Anthropological Association offer a forum for a vital exchange on certain topics, aspects and regions. Please find here  the guidelines for working groups (PDF).

All Thematic Working Groups| All Regional Working Groups