Andrei Vladimirovich Golovnev

The main thematic focus of the Congress is on a diversity of mobilities that has shaped human life and evolution, from the earliest prehistoric migrations to contemporary virtual mobility by means of communication flows at high speed and frequency. Diverse anthropological theories, perspectives and methodological approaches to understanding the dialectic of mobility and stability, dynamics and statics, sustainability and changeability will be explored in this conference, while also providing a panorama of local, ethnic and national experiences in the form of empirical case studies from around the world.

The phenomenon of the ‘World on the Move’ is open to observation and conceptualization, but this may require a modification of the methodology and agenda of anthropological studies, which have often focused on relatively static structures and institutions. Migration and communication include issues of agency and motivation, adaptation and integration, modes of communication within different groups and communities, and modes of interaction within and between culturally complex societies. Examples from the past can provide the necessary background to analyze the complex dynamics of changing circumstances and trends in historic perspective and with contemporary relevance. The digital and visual technologies also call for new and innovative research methods as well as analytical and interpretive tools from anthropology, and such innovations are encouraged and welcomed at the St Petersburg IUAES-2022 Congress.