Paper short abstract:

The WCAA results from cosmopolitics of the 21st century. It was quickly seen as a tool to enhance the anthropological voice on the global level. Has the WCAA been able to fulfill the hopes it raised? What has it changed? Can anthropologists now enjoy a more equitable international scene?

Paper long abstract:

The 20th century witnessed different kinds of anthropological cosmopolitanisms. The WCAA results from cosmopolitics of the 21st century. It was quickly seen as a tool to enhance the anthropological voice on the global level. However any international organization based on a democratic and transnational perspective has many obstacles to overcome. Nation-states structuring powers and the existing structures of hegemonic internationalism are two of the most immediate ones. Language is another. Has the WCAA been able to fulfill the hopes it raised? What has it changed? Can anthropologists now enjoy a more equitable international scene? Which are the critical institutional, political and theoretical issues we need to deal with to foster the mission of the WCAA in the future? What else is to be done?