SAE 2001 Annual Report

SOCIETY FOR THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF EUROPE
Annual Report, 2000-2001
Submitted by
Susan Parman, President

The SAE remains an active and financially viable organization. As its activities and financial commitments have increased, its balance has declined, from $16,685 on 1/1/00 to $14,829 on 1/1/01. Although this decline is intentional (commitments were made to projects such as the annual funding of the CES/SAE Pre-Dissertation Fellowship, East European Book Drive, and a journal as opposed to a Bulletin), the society decided to raise dues this year by $5 (the student rate will remain the same) to halt the decline and plan for future projects. Revenues as of September 30, 2001 were $10,570, and Expenses were $8,334, resulting in a fund balance of $18,065 at the end of September 30, 2001. Expected income from membership dues was $444.85 below predicted amounts ($8,705.15 vs. $9,150.00). Paid membership in the SAE fluctuated between 510 and 545 between October 1 2000 and September 1 2001. The expectation that we would see a rise with publication of the Journal for the Society of the Anthropology of Europe (which replaced the SAE Bulletin as of March 2001) has not yet been justified, but the journal is only in its first year. Plans to increase membership were discussed at the Executive and Business meetings, including efforts to form closer ties with EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists).

Several new officers were elected or assumed office in 2001 and include:
Program Chair-Elect: Daphne Berdahl
Secretary-Elect: Lynn D. Maners
Member-at-Large: Pamela Ballinger
Student Representative: Emily McEwan-Fujita

The second-year Member-at-Large, who serves as the Nominations Chair, has started the process of identifying individuals who can be placed on the slate for the election of new officers during 2002: President-Elect, Secretary-Elect, Treasurer, Program Chair-Elect, Publications and Projects Chair, Membership and Public Relations Chair, Member-at-Large, and Student Representative.

The SAE attempts to address the needs of the diversity of its members, from distinguished lectures to workshops relevant to graduate students. At the annual meeting in Washington the SAE sponsored the William A. Douglass Distinguished Lecture by Marc Abeles titled "A European Perspective on American Philanthropy: New Approaches to Giving in Silicon Valley," and provided venues for meetings of 4 sub-groups with European foci: the France and Francophone Cultures Network, the Anthropology of German Studies Network, The Hungarianist Research Group, and the East European Anthropology Group. Two invited sessions were held: one honoring William Douglass called "The Influence of William Douglass on the Anthropology of Europe," and the other on "Cosmopolitanism and Modernity in the Mediterranean."

In addition, the SAE reviewed and/or organized ten other panels: "Interrogating the Public and Private: Ideology, Morality and Identity in Post-Socialism"
"The Population Implosion in Southern and Eastern Europe"
"Constructing European Difference: Gender, Race, Class...and Culture"
"Unpacking Post-Socialist Consumption: Consumption, Rapid Change, Commodities and New Projects of Value"
"Mirrors, Myths and Metaphors: Ethnographing Greece"
"Misdeeds in the Making: Everyday Vice in the Grip of Institutions"
"Money and Border-Building: Monetary Union, Foreign Aid and Currency Practices"
"European Soul Searching: New Discourses on European Identity"
"Practice Makes Culture: Local Translations of National Politics in Europe"
"Capitalist Myths, Ethnic Memories: Making States, Nations and Money in the New Europe"

In addition, the SAE sponsored two workshops: "Translating the Anthropology of Europe: Getting Your Work Published in More than One Language," and "Surviving Your Dissertation."

The SAE also sponsored six luncheon roundtables (up from 5 the previous year) that were almost fully subscribed to:

1. Susan Terrio, "Criminalizing Youth"
2. Jeffrey Feldman, "Back from the Field: Graduate Students' Reflections on Fieldwork in Europe"
3. Elizabeth Krause, "Population Politics"
4. Susan Rogers, "Mass Tourism and its Alternatives"
5. Doug Holmes, "Challenges of Doing Ethnography in the New Europe (I): Worlds of Science, Art, Business, and Politics"
6. Levent Soysal, "Challenges of Doing Ethnography in the New Europe (II): Places and Spaces of the European Metropolis"

Originally seven were offered but one was cancelled, and the Executive Board approved the sending of the following statement to Lucille Horn that expressed its concerns about how registration for the roundtables was handled this year: The Executive Board raised serious concerns about the AAA's methods of communicating information about the roundtables, and about early deadlines for reserving seats at the roundtables. The list of roundtables was not included in the September AN along with the registration form; instead, interested persons were directed to the web site, in which the information was not readily available. Also, given the flexibility of technology, it seems reasonable to keep the dates open for reserving a seat at one of the roundtables longer than is currently allowed.

The SAE sponsors two annual competitions: 1) In collaboration with the Council of European Studies, the SAE awards one Pre-Dissertation Fellowship to an anthropologist preparing to do research in Europe; and 2) Student Paper prizes. This year the CES/SAE Pre-Dissertation Fellowship was awarded to Jessica Rachel Greenberg for her research project on "Citizen Youth: Young Men and Women's Participation in the Yugoslav Transition to Democracy." Two prizes were awarded in our annual student paper competition. The undergraduate level competition prize was not awarded this year; two prizes at the graduate level were awarded to Antoine Pecoud for his paper, "Cosmopolitanism and Business: Entrepreneurship and Identity among German-Turks in Berlin," and Kimberley Coles for her paper, "Ambivalent Builders: Europeanization, the Production of Difference, and Internationals in Bosnia-Herzogovina." Perhaps the biggest SAE news is the establishment of an endowment for the support and promotion of Europeanist anthropology. William A. Douglass, a member and long-term supporter of SAE, donated $50,000 to endow the distinguished lectureship and fund a book prize. The William A. Douglass Endowment will provide support for the annual SAE Distinguished Lecture and also provide funds for an annual William A. Douglass Book Prize of $500 for a book in English on the anthropology of Europe (to be selected by a 3-member committee). The Distinguished Lecturer for 2001 was Marc Abeles, "A European Perspective on American Philanthropy: New Approaches to Giving in Silicon Valley." A Book Prize Committee (chaired by David Kideckel, the president-elect of SAE) began work to advertise and award the first book prize in 2002. A symposium honoring the work of William Douglass was organized by David Kertzer, and the SAE President opened the Distinguished Lecture and introduced Susan Carol Rogers, who chaired the endowment advisory committee, to discuss the history of the endowment. The SAE Bulletin was replaced by a new publication, The Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe, edited by Kelli Ann Costa. Twoissues were published in 2001 that included papers deriving from SAE sessions presented at the San Francisco meeting as well as book reviews. The Journal established criteria for recruiting members of its editorial board, which currently includes but is not limited to those who hold the positions of the editor of the journal, the editor of H-SAE, the Program Committee Chair, the Publications and Project Committee Chair, the Membership and Public Relations Committee Chair, and the Student Representative. The journal is now listed in the 2002 Buyer's Guide to Scientific, Medical, and Scholarly Journals.

Discussions about establishing an SAE book translation series resulted in posting guidelines on H-SAE. The object of this endeavor would be to assist in the preparation and publication of English translations of significant books of interest to SAE members. In 2001 the committee posted on H-SAE and distributed posters at the AAA meetings in Washington a Call for Papers for Translation into English for a special edition, titled "The Historical Anthropology of Europe," edited by Sharon Roseman, to serve as the inaugural issue of this special series of translated papers.

The SAE Executive Board and Business Meeting approved the concept that retired faculty who have done important work in the anthropology of Europe and who have been recognized with a festschrift session at the AAA will be presented with a plaque at the business meeting of the SAE. As requested by the membership during the previous year, the Executive Board developed a policy statement that was presented to the Business Meeting and approved unanimously: The SAE encourages the organization of festschrift sessions at the AAA that recognize significant research in Europe, and, upon the successful offering of such sessions, will recognize the subject(s) of these sessions at the SAE Business Meeting with a certificate that honors their accomplishments. The organizer of the sessions shall be responsible for the wording, production, and presentation of the certificate, which may be framed if appropriate. The SAE shall bear the cost of the certificate, the amount subject to approval by the Executive Board. The SAE electronic list and website is still among the best in the AAA and under the highly competent direction of Anthony Galt (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay), both have flourished and continue to grow. With the bulletin no longer being published, the list has become the main means for communicating timely issues to the membership. H-SAE provides information about the history of the SAE, its bylaws, publications, student competitions; list of Distinguished Lecturers, roundtables, and program chairs; information about the SAE's East European Book Drive; slide project sampler; links with other scholarly networks and organizations; and information about how to join SAE.

For the past several years SAE has provided funds to individuals to cover the cost of postage to send surplus books to European institutions and colleagues, particularly those in the former Eastern Bloc. More than $500 was spent for this purpose in 1999-2000 and $750 was allocated for 2000-2001 to continue this worthy endeavor. It was reported at the Business Meeting that this project had slowed down, and other ideas were discussed to make better use of the funds. Both the Executive Board and the Business Meeting discussed fund-raising ideas, with the hopes that some day a second CES/SAE Pre-Dissertation Fellowship could be awarded, more financial support could be provided for the journal (for example, to hire a professional designer, or to hire AAA to do in-house editing, printing, and distribution), and other projects.

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