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Lab short abstract

Foregrounding embodied participation with reflective learning we ask what it means to do anthropology through play. How might play & games function as sites of knowledge production, ethical encounter, and theoretical experimentation? What does embodied play reveal that other methods may obscure?

Lab long abstract

What happens when we approach play as a transversal anthropological method relevant to broader ethnographic contexts? This lab explores how playful engagements can reshape ethnographic practice and anthropological theory by attending to the bodily, affective, and relational aspects of polarisation. By reimagining anthropology itself as a collective, improvisational, and world-making practice, this lab offers an experimental, participatory exploration of how sport, play and games generate embodied understandings of social realities in a polarised world.

We invite participants to play together as a method of anthropological inquiry. Rather than observing play at a distance, participants will engage bodily and affectively in a series of simple games followed by facilitated collective reflection. To do this, we will use children’s games from around the world used in Sport for Development and Peace post-conflict contexts. While these games were taught to Sport for Development and Peace practitioners in development contexts around the world, the lab explicitly moves beyond the development context to one of anthropological enquiry.

The lab unfolds in two interlinked phases. First, participants take part in selected games that foreground social values embedded in play, such as cooperation, competition, rule-making and more. Second, participants collectively reflect on their experiences, translating sensations, emotions, misunderstandings and negotiations into ethnographic insight. This feedback session explores how play renders social boundaries tangible, felt and enacted, while also revealing how moments of tension may open unexpected possibilities for connection or reconfiguration. The lab is accessible to all abilities. Please wear trainers and comfortable clothing. Max 15 participants.