J. A. Cortès, InTalent researcher, at the anthropology conference in Galicia

A Coruña, 27 June 2017.- Organized by researchers Cristina Sánchez-Carretero, from INCIPIT- CSIC, and José Antonio Cortés Vázquez, post-doc fellow of the InTalent UDC-Inditex program, the “ANTROPOLOGY CONFERENCE OF, FROM, IN, FOR GALICIA” of the Galician Anthropology Association (AGANTRO) took place at the Museo do Pobo Galego, in which around 40 anthropologists participated, with the aim of making visible the dramatic precarious situation that this profession suffers in Galicia and finding solutions for its future.
The conference was inaugurated by Xosé Manuel González Rebored, from the Museo do Pobo Galego, and by the Secretary General of Culture of the Xunta de Galicia, Anxo Lorenzo. Xosé Manuel González Reboredo stressed that the Museo do Pobo Galego is the home of Galician anthropology par excellence and congratulated AGANTRO for its new direction and vitality. For his part, Anxo Lorenzo, representing the Minister of Culture and Education, Román Rodríguez, affirmed the importance of a group of anthropology professionals, specialists in culture, meeting periodically to debate their scientific field and reaffirmed the commitment of the Xunta de Galicia to collaborate with AGANTRO in its research and dissemination activities of Galician anthropology.
Next, anthropologist Xerardo Pereiro, from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), gave the inaugural conference of the conference, in which he reviewed the history of Galician anthropology from the 19th century to the present. Xerardo Pereiro pointed out key ideas for thinking about the present and future of anthropology at the service of Galician society, the understanding and solution of its social and cultural problems. The conference continued with two panels of presentations on the identity of Galician anthropologists and their research-action work. In them, the diversity and good anthropological work of the youngest and emerging ones was evident.
During the afternoon, a round table took place on the precariousness of anthropologists, the problems and potential of social and cultural anthropology in Galician universities and the professionalization of anthropologists in fields such as secondary education, environmental impact reports, cultural heritage management, the business world, public administration or mediation in conflict resolution. The conference concluded with a general assembly of the association, coordinated by its current president, Professor Dr. Xaquín Rodríguez Campos, in which the new statutes were approved, the membership of the Spanish Anthropology Association and the collaboration with the Portuguese Anthropology Association, represented at the conference by its vice-president, Professor Dr. Humberto Martins (from UTAD). As a corollary to the conference, the presentation of the latest book by anthropologist Paula Godinho, from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, was held at the Lila de Lilith bookstore.