A Brief History of the First Global Survey of Anthropological Practice and Some Lessons Learned

Abstract

This brief article is intended to complement “The WCAA Global Survey of Anthropological Practice (2014-2018): Reported Findings” in this issue of ViBrAnt. The article details the internal processes within the World Council of Anthropological Associations through which the Global Survey of Anthropological Practice (GSAP) was initiated and developed. It also discusses the issues and challenges the research team faced, as well as how it endeavored to address them, in carrying out a global survey of anthropologists. The principal aim of the GSAP was to create a knowledge base about the professional practice of anthropologists globally that could be used by the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) and its member associations to help promote the value and relevance of the discipline. With its fifty-odd member associations from all continents, the WCAA was uniquely positioned to gather these data, and the GSAP process effectively remade this network of associations into a large-scale research consortium. The development and intent of the survey, the particular actors involved and actions taken in its development, are thus critical to its fruition, as well as its shortcomings. The historical process itself contains valuable insights for any future endeavors to survey practitioners of anthropology on a global scale.