Short Abstract:

This roundtable reconsiders what currently constitutes biosocial anthropology, how it might be further developed, and the contexts and consequences of expanding and diversifying such an interdisciplinary approach.

Long Abstract:

The growing and pressing challenges raised by the impact of climate change on health, ecologies and livelihoods, global pandemics such as Covid-19, the intractable and increasing rise in chronic disease, as well as reconsideration of the how social experiences and exposures shape bodies, brains and biologies across the lifecourse, highlight the need for better integration of the biological and social in anthropology and beyond. A biosocial approach is not new within anthropology, with different histories and politics surrounding how the biosocial has been considered and addressed in diverse anthropological traditions. There is, nonetheless, an urgent need to reconsider what might now constitute biosocial anthropology, how it might be further developed and what are the contexts and consequences of expanding and diversifying this interdisciplinary approach in anthropological research and teaching. In this roundtable, we bring together members of the newly established RAI Biosocial Anthropology Committee to reflect critically upon and consider the challenges, opportunities and new directions for Biosocial Anthropology in the UK and beyond.