American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is the world's largest scholarly and professional organization dedicated to advancing anthropology as a discipline encompassing cultural, biological, archaeological, and linguistic subfields.[1] Founded in 1902 to promote the study of humankind through empirical and interpretive methods, the AAA has grown to serve over 10,000 members, the majority of whom are employed in higher education or are students, with the remainder in public, private, or nonprofit sectors.[2][3] The association facilitates key activities including an annual meeting that draws more than 5,000 attendees, publication of over 20 peer-reviewed journals accessible via its AnthroSource database, and operation of more than 35 specialized sections for focused scholarly engagement.[2][4] While instrumental in professionalizing anthropology and disseminating research, the AAA has encountered notable controversies, such as its 2023 decision to cancel a proposed panel on biological sex differences amid objections from members prioritizing social constructivist views over empirical data on human dimorphism, reflecting broader tensions within the field between scientific rigor and ideological commitments.[5][6]History
Founding and Early Years (1902–1940s)
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) was established in 1902 as a professional organization dedicated to advancing anthropology as a scientific discipline, incorporating elements from earlier groups such as the Anthropological Society of Washington.[2] Key founders included Franz Boas, who positioned himself as a central leader and pushed for restricting membership to an elite cadre of approximately 40 professional anthropologists to ensure rigorous standards, and W.J. McGee, who advocated for wider inclusion of anyone interested in the field to foster broader engagement.[7] [2] This tension reflected early debates on exclusivity versus populism in professionalizing the nascent field.[8] W.J. McGee, a geologist and ethnologist previously involved in establishing the American Anthropologist journal in 1899, was elected the AAA's first president, serving from 1902 to 1904; the association adopted the journal as its official organ to disseminate research.[9] [2] Under McGee's inclusive vision, initial membership opened to enthusiasts beyond strict professionals, enabling steady if modest growth in the organization's early activities, which centered on coordinating anthropological research, fieldwork documentation, and annual meetings aligned with scientific congresses.[2] Franz Boas succeeded as president from 1907 to 1908, during which the AAA emphasized empirical studies of human variation and culture, countering unilinear evolutionary theories prevalent in prior anthropological thought.[7] Through the 1910s and 1920s, the AAA maintained a focus on consolidating subfields like ethnology and archaeology, with leadership rotating among figures such as William H. Holmes (1909–1910) and leaders from institutions like the Bureau of American Ethnology; membership expanded gradually but remained under 1,000 by the late 1930s, reflecting the field's limited institutionalization amid academic and museum-based work.[10] The association's publications and meetings facilitated data-sharing on Native American cultures and physical anthropology, though growth stalled relative to post-war expansions due to economic constraints and the interdisciplinary nature of early anthropology.[2] By the 1940s, amid World War II disruptions, the AAA began addressing applied anthropology's role in policy, with Elsie Clews Parsons elected as the first female president in 1941, marking a shift toward diverse leadership while upholding commitments to fieldwork and cultural documentation.[11]Post-War Expansion and Professionalization (1950s–1970s)
The post-World War II era marked a period of rapid expansion for the American Anthropological Association (AAA), coinciding with the broader proliferation of U.S. higher education institutions fueled by the GI Bill and increased federal investment in social sciences. Anthropology departments grew exponentially, with the number of professional anthropologists in the United States tripling between 1947 and 1962, driving AAA membership from modest pre-war levels—around 500–1,000—to dramatic post-1950 increases that multiplied approximately 20-fold by the early 1970s.[12][13][2] This surge reflected the discipline's integration into expanding university curricula, where anthropology courses became staples alongside burgeoning graduate programs and research initiatives. Professionalization advanced through enhanced funding mechanisms and institutional reforms that supported rigorous fieldwork, theoretical development, and subdisciplinary specialization. Postwar opportunities, including National Science Foundation grants, Fulbright programs for international area studies, and targeted government allocations during the Cold War, enabled anthropologists to undertake large-scale projects, often emphasizing cross-cultural comparisons and applied research.[14][15] AAA annual meetings evolved from smaller gatherings to major events, with session counts and attendance rising to accommodate diverse presentations on topics from linguistics to archaeology, underscoring the association's role in standardizing scholarly exchange.[2] Efforts to codify professional standards culminated in key structural changes, such as the 1968 decision to open full membership to graduate students and non-Ph.D. practitioners, broadening participation beyond elite academics and aligning with the field's democratization.[12] In 1971, the AAA adopted its Principles of Professional Responsibility, the first formal ethics code, which emphasized responsibilities to research subjects, scholarly integrity, and public dissemination, addressing emerging concerns over fieldwork practices and funding influences amid rapid growth.[16][17] These measures professionalized anthropology by establishing enforceable norms, though they also highlighted tensions between scientific objectivity and applied engagements.[18]Institutional Changes and Crises (1980s–2000s)
During the 1980s, the AAA underwent a major structural reorganization in response to an IRS investigation into its tax-exempt status, culminating in a 1983 vote where 86% of participating members (approximately 2,200 out of 7,400) approved the creation of specialized sections and divisions to accommodate growing subdisciplinary fragmentation while maintaining organizational unity.[19] This reform addressed earlier challenges, including a membership dip from 9,000 to 7,000 between 1976 and 1981 amid economic pressures like federal funding cuts under the Reagan administration and a severe job market contraction for PhDs, with unemployment peaking in 1982.[19] The sections formalized divides among the traditional four fields—cultural, biological, linguistic, and archaeological anthropology—allowing groups like the newly founded Society for Cultural Anthropology (1983) to pursue interpretive and postmodern agendas, including the launch of Cultural Anthropology journal in 1986, which emphasized ethnographic writing over empirical holism.[19] [12] Intellectual tensions escalated as the four-field model, once central to American anthropology's holistic identity, faced critiques for its 19th-century origins in evolutionary and racial classifications, leading to its de facto abandonment in many departments by the 1990s through specialization into non-overlapping subfields like medical, queer, and psychological anthropology.[19] [20] The postmodern "crisis of representation," amplified by works like Writing Culture (1986), prioritized reflexive, literary approaches in cultural anthropology, questioning ethnographic objectivity and scientific claims, while biological and archaeological subfields increasingly sought autonomy from AAA dominance by cultural relativists.[19] In 1998, the AAA issued a statement on race asserting it as a social ideology rather than a biological reality, attributing human physical variation to minor genetic differences without adaptive significance, a position rooted in Boasian cultural determinism but contested by geneticists for understating evolutionary evidence.[21] [22] A pivotal crisis emerged in 2000 with the publication of Patrick Tierney's Darkness in El Dorado, which alleged unethical experiments and violence by anthropologists Napoleon Chagnon and James Neel among the Yanomami, prompting the AAA to form the El Dorado Task Force under pressure from cultural anthropologists critical of Chagnon's sociobiological work.[23] [24] The task force's 2002 final report rejected most of Tierney's claims as unsubstantiated—later corroborated by independent inquiries from the American Society of Human Genetics and others finding Neel's vaccine protocols standard and non-genocidal—but faulted Chagnon for inflammatory rhetoric and the field for ethical lapses, a conclusion criticized for selective evidence and ideological bias against evolutionary anthropology.[25] [23] This handling, including initial suppression of dissenting views, fueled resignations among scientific anthropologists, exposed governance flaws in prioritizing advocacy over due process, and highlighted deepening rifts, with membership units reflecting subfield imbalances (e.g., cultural sections dominating while biological paid minimal fees).[19] [26]Organizational Structure
Governance and Leadership
The governance of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) is primarily vested in its Executive Board, which holds responsibility for all Association-wide matters and ensures representation across anthropology's four subfields (archaeology, biological, cultural/social, and linguistic anthropology) as well as practicing and academic dimensions.[27] The Board consists of 17 voting members: the President, President-elect, Immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, four subdisciplinary representatives (one per subfield), two undesignated seats, nine representatives from the largest sections, and the Chair of the Minority Issues Committee (MPAAC).[28][27] Non-voting ex-officio members may include the Executive Director and chairs of standing committees.[27] Principal officers include the President, who serves a one-year term focused on leading the Association, representing it externally, and presiding over Board and annual business meetings; the President-elect, who assumes the presidency the following year after a one-year term assisting the President; and the Immediate Past President, who provides continuity.[27] The Secretary maintains records and minutes, while the Treasurer oversees financial management, both serving three-year terms.[29] Officers are elected annually by AAA members in good standing through electronic ballots distributed by the Nominations and Elections Committee, with candidates nominated by a committee ensuring diverse representation; however, voter turnout has historically been low, at approximately 18% in recent elections.[27][30] Board seats are filled via similar member elections or section-specific processes, with terms staggered to maintain stability.[28] The Executive Director, appointed by the Board on recommendation of a search committee, manages daily operations, staff, and implementation of Board policies, serving at the Board's pleasure.[31] Ady Arguelles-Sabatier has held this position since July 2023, succeeding prior directors amid efforts to strengthen strategic direction and operational efficiency.[31][32] As of 2025, Whitney Battle-Baptiste serves as President (term 2023–2025), with Jeff Maskovsky elected as President-elect for 2025–2027; other Board members include Lee D. Baker (Treasurer) and Florence Babb (Secretary).[33][34][35] The Board convenes regularly, including at the annual meeting, where a quorum of 250 members is required for business transacted by the general membership.[36] It oversees committees such as the Association Operations Committee, which addresses administrative, governance, and section relations issues, and the Anthropology Advocacy Council, formed to respond to member needs.[37][38] These structures reflect the AAA's evolution toward inclusive yet centralized decision-making, though critiques of election processes highlight challenges in broad member engagement.[30]Sections and Membership
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) divides its activities into more than 35 specialized sections, which serve as sub-organizations representing distinct subfields and thematic interests in anthropology, such as cultural, archaeological, biological, and applied domains. These sections enable members to engage in targeted networking, professional development, and scholarly exchange, including organizing sessions at annual meetings, electing section-specific leadership, and producing affiliated publications. Each section operates under bylaws approved by the AAA Executive Board, ensuring alignment with the association's governance while allowing autonomy in programmatic decisions. Examples of sections include the American Ethnological Society (focusing on ethnology and cultural comparison), the Archaeology Division (emphasizing archaeological methods and theory), the Anthropology and Environment Society (addressing human-environment interactions), and the Association for Africanist Anthropology (concentrating on African studies).[4][39] AAA membership categories accommodate diverse participants, including professionals, students, retirees, associates, and international affiliates, with all members required to affiliate with at least one section to promote specialized involvement. Professional membership dues are tiered by ability to pay, starting at $59 annually plus section fees (ranging from $0 to $68), while graduate student rates begin at $49 and retiree options at $50. Associate members, who lack voting rights, still access section affiliations and resources like the AnthroSource database containing over 250,000 anthropology articles. Undergraduate students qualify for reduced rates until recent graduation, and certain groups, such as enrolled American Indian and Alaska Native citizens, may apply for lifetime membership. Sections and interest groups (distinct from sections but complementary) collectively represent 38 specialized communities, enhancing the association's capacity to address varied anthropological pursuits.[40][41][42][43]Annual Meetings and Activities
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) organizes annual meetings as its central professional gathering, held each year since shortly after its founding in 1902 to facilitate scholarly exchange among anthropologists. These events, typically spanning four to five days in late fall and hosted in major U.S. cities, draw over 5,000 attendees, including members from academic, applied, and public sectors, with historical growth in participation accelerating post-1950 alongside the association's membership expansion beyond 10,000.[2] Recent meetings have seen up to 7,000 registrants engaging in a program structured around peer-reviewed submissions.[44] Core activities encompass invited and volunteered paper sessions, poster presentations, roundtable discussions, and flash talks, often organized by the association's sections or thematic committees, totaling over 300 sessions per meeting.[2] Workshops provide hands-on training in methods, ethics, or career skills, while special events include media screenings from the Margaret Mead Film Festival and networking receptions.[45] The 2024 meeting, for instance, featured 680 sessions, with 546 in-person and 134 virtual or on-demand, reflecting adaptations for broader accessibility post-pandemic.[46] Many meetings adopt an annual theme to frame programming, such as "Ghosts" for the 2025 event in New Orleans (November 19–23), encouraging interdisciplinary explorations of persistent cultural or historical phenomena.[47] Beyond presentations, the annual business meeting convenes members to vote on governance issues, bylaws amendments, and policy resolutions, historically serving as a venue for debates on professional ethics and public engagement.[48] Section-specific receptions and committee meetings foster subdisciplinary collaboration, while career fairs and mentoring sessions support early-career anthropologists. Financial assistance programs subsidize attendance for students and under-resourced participants, with registration requiring AAA membership.[49] Programs from past meetings are archived digitally for ongoing access.[50]Publications and Resources
Scholarly Journals
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) publishes and oversees a portfolio of peer-reviewed scholarly journals that span the subfields of anthropology, including sociocultural, biological, linguistic, archaeological, and applied dimensions. These journals are primarily disseminated through Wiley-Blackwell and aggregated in the AnthroSource digital database, which provides access to over 250,000 articles from AAA and affiliated section publications.[51] [52] Membership in the AAA grants subscribers access to most titles, reflecting the organization's role in advancing empirical and theoretical research across anthropology's four fields, though sociocultural topics often feature prominently in submission and publication trends.[4] The flagship journal, American Anthropologist, established in 1888 by predecessor organizations such as the American Anthropological Association's early precursors, serves as the premier venue for integrative scholarship on humankind. Published quarterly, it features original articles, book reviews, commentaries, and visual anthropology content that synthesize findings from biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology, with an emphasis on advancing general anthropological knowledge rather than narrow specialization.[53] [54] By 2023, it had amassed over one million annual article downloads, underscoring its influence in the discipline.[55] Other core AAA journals published via Wiley include American Ethnologist (founded 1974), which emphasizes ethnographic theory and comparative sociocultural analysis; Cultural Anthropology (established 1986 by the Society for Cultural Anthropology section), known for innovative, theoretically driven ethnographies; Medical Anthropology Quarterly (launched 1986), focusing on health, illness, and biocultural interactions; and Ethos (initiated 1973), dedicated to psychological and cognitive anthropology. Section-sponsored titles, such as Annals of Anthropological Practice (formerly Practicing Anthropology, dating to the 1970s) and Museum Anthropology (established 1976), address applied and institutional dimensions, while Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (started 1989) compiles monograph-length works on archaeological methods and interpretations. These publications collectively output thousands of peer-reviewed articles annually, with editorial boards drawn from AAA membership to ensure disciplinary rigor.[51] [53]| Journal Title | Subfield Focus | Established |
|---|---|---|
| American Anthropologist | All four fields; integrative | 1888[53] |
| American Ethnologist | Sociocultural ethnography and theory | 1974[51] |
| Cultural Anthropology | Theoretical and experimental ethnography | 1986[51] |
| Medical Anthropology Quarterly | Health and biocultural studies | 1986[51] |
| Ethos | Psychological anthropology | 1973[51] |
| Annals of Anthropological Practice | Applied anthropology | 1970s[51] |
AnthroSource and Digital Archives
AnthroSource serves as the American Anthropological Association's primary digital platform for accessing its scholarly publications, functioning as a comprehensive online archive of anthropological materials. Launched in 2005 through an initial partnership with the University of California Press, it resulted from a five-year project to digitize over 100 years of AAA content, including journals, newsletters, bulletins, and monographs.[57] The platform provides full-text access to more than 250,000 articles, enabling searchable retrieval for AAA members and subscribing libraries.[52] In 2007, the AAA transitioned AnthroSource's hosting to Wiley-Blackwell, establishing a long-term collaboration that includes digital distribution and platform maintenance, with the agreement renewed as recently as June 2022 for continued operation through Wiley Online Library.[58] This setup ensures ongoing integration of past and emerging publications, with features such as external reference linking to web-based materials cited in articles, distinguishing it from alternatives like JSTOR.[59] AnthroSource thus centralizes the AAA's digital archives, preserving and disseminating historical and contemporary anthropological scholarship while prioritizing member and institutional access over open public availability.[55]