Russian Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologists in figures (based on the Congress proceedings)

The article studies the Russian Congresses of Anthropologists and Ethnologists (RCAE) held between 1995 and 2017. Drawing on the Congress programmes and proceedings, the author has compiled a Congress matrix with a number of indicators identified for each of the twelve fora. She has analysed a range of thematic areas as well as the numbers of participants for each Congress along with the geography and variety of scientific centres, cities, and countries taking part. The article shows that over the 22 years, from the I to the XII Congress, the number of participants has increased from 200 to 1 543 as have the number of presentations delivered - from 184 to 1 421, and sessions and roundtables held - from 17 to 57. The geography of participation has also expanded: from 27 to 103 in the case of Russian cities and from 8 to 36 in that of countries beyond Russia. Scientific centres of anthropology / ethnology are concentrated today in both central and regional locations and at both academic institutions and universities, with the research centres of Moscow (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences) and of Saint Petersburg (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)) still being the leading ones among the other. Furthermore, the author has identified conventional thematic areas of interest to the Congresses, and concluded that the RCAE allows keep track of new developments and approaches in the field as well as see the increased or decreased interest in different lines of thinking. The research results produced show that not only does the Congress help understand the state of anthropology / ethnology but also it can constitute a field research site in its own right, putting forward new research questions and tasks.

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