Talk On — Debates in Anthropology

In this episode of Talk On, Xenia Cherkaev speaks with Amiel Bize about their forthcoming special issue, 'Who Gets the Remainder? The Ethics and Politics of Gleaning'. They explore gleaning—the gathering and reuse of leftovers—as both a material practice and a moral claim. Drawing on examples from biblical traditions, East African fuel economies, Soviet factories, artisanal gold mining, urban recycling, and early modern dockyards, they examine why practices that may be illegal are often regarded as socially legitimate. Central to the conversation is the concept of “indeterminate property”: resources that are neither clearly private nor public. The episode shows how claims to such remainders challenge conventional ideas of ownership and market value while expressing obligations to prevent waste, redistribute resources, and preserve their usefulness. Gleaning thus emerges as a source of dignity, freedom, community, and resistance to alienating economic relations.

Read more about the project here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02757206.2026.2670645

In this Episode of Talk On, Jagat Sohail discusses his research on the experience of refugees in Germany during and after the "long summer of migration" in 2015. His research sheds light on the unexpected wave of hospitality towards refugees that characterised that summer, the subsequent turnaround in the public eye, and the rise of anti-immigrant, right-wing populism. As a researcher from India, Sohail inverts the classic dynamic of anthropologists from Europe and the US researching in the Global South, reflecting on the significance of this perspective and the methodological implications of such vantage points for ethnographers.

In this episode, Xenia Cherkaev speaks with Alice von Bieberstein about her book ‘Temptations in Ruin: Sovereign Accumulation and the Making of Post-Genocide Turkey’. The book develops the concept of sovereign accumulation to analyse the political-economic afterlife of the Armenian genocide under conditions of 21st-century neoliberal extractivism and ongoing counterinsurgency warfare against the Kurdish freedom movement. It does so ethnographically through the story of an urban regeneration scheme in the historically Armenian quarters of the city of Muş in what is today far-eastern Turkey, but which is also part of Northern Kurdistan and was once part of the heartland of Western Armenia. Following the quarter’s demolition, residents moved on to dig the foundations of their homes in search of what is locally known as ‘Armenian’ treasures or gold. Some individuals and groups also developed ideas and concrete projects of heritagization. The book thus looks at how Armenian material remains are targeted in different modalities of value-extraction, stewardship, and care in ways that re-animate the 1915 genocide against Armenians in its specificity as a moment of primitive accumulation that brought into being a racialized property regime that continues to reflect in different positionalities today. Cherkaev and von Bieberstein discuss how the history of sovereign violence continues to shape relations between state, capital, and citizens in this predominantly Kurdish region of Turkey; how this history becomes recursive and itself a kind of necro-economic frontier; and how these broader analytical insights point beyond Turkey to illiberal undercurrents structuring logics of accumulation in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In this episode, Jovan Maud talks to Anna-Lena Wolf about her book *Labor on the Line — Justice at Work at Tea Plantations in Assam, India*. The book examines the concept of justice in the context of tea plantations in Assam, India, and how different actors—including workers, managers and activists—have differing notions of justice. Anna-Lena conducted long-term field research in Assam, where she observed the complexity of notions of justice and how these are negotiated between different actors. She argues that justice functions differently at various levels, from the plantation to the nation-state, and that agency is not only about rebelling against oppressive structures but also about making decisions within them. During the discussion, Anna-Lena highlights the changes on the plantations, including the abolition of the Plantation Labour Act and the rise of smaller producers, which may not please workers employed on several plantations. Anna-Lena concludes by examining the wider implications of her research, including the potential to apply the concept of workplace justice to contexts beyond Assam's tea plantations.

In this episode, Jovan Maud speaks with Jeremy Rayner about his co-edited publication 'Back to the ‘30s? – Recurring Crises of Capitalism, Liberalism and Democracy', that explores the political and economic dynamics of the 1930s and their relevance to contemporary issues. The discussion delves into the rise of authoritarianism, neoliberalism, and the role of economic power in shaping political landscapes today. Rayner reflects on how the legacies of the 1930s continue to influence current debates, particularly around democracy, governance, and the environment. Drawing on various interdisciplinary perspectives, he emphasizes the importance of a nuanced understanding of history, highlighting the similarities and differences between past and present struggles. The conversation offers a thought-provoking take on how historical insights can inform our understanding of today's complex global challenges. Rayner argues for a nuanced understanding of history that recognizes both continuities and critical differences with the past, while warning that once authoritarian figures gain control, they rarely give it back. The conversation underscores the importance of historically informed political analysis as we navigate increasingly complex global issues.