‘Connecting with the Past: Cultural Survivals and Ethnographic Comparison in the Study of Ancient Societies’
Interdisciplinary Workshop, University of Birmingham (UK)
12-13 November 2026
Survivals and analogies provide a thought-provoking and creative framework for interpreting ancient societies, but their use often remains uncritical and undertheorised. When the anthropologist E. B. Tylor introduced the concept of cultural survivals in his book Primitive Culture (1871), the notion postulated an alleged evolution and adaptation of cultural forms over time. The conjectural nature of some of the proposed analogies, as well as the tendency to establish connections with the past to characterise societies as ‘primitive’ in contexts of colonial domination, led survivals to fall out of favour in anthropological theory by the mid-20th century. However, some academic disciplines still recognise survivals as a valid analytical framework that serves as an empowering claim to heritage in local communities and allows for an exploration of cultural and embodied transmission. There is a delicate balance at play here: rather than dismissing survivals on account of their evolutionary intellectual legacy, it may be productive to rethink their potential for understanding ancient societies with the help of a more nuanced approach.
The aim of this two-day workshop is to foster discussion on the implications and potential of the concept of cultural survivals, with specific emphasis on the study of ancient societies. The overall focus will be on the heuristic value of ethnographic comparison as a method for researching the past, hence contributing towards a critical rethinking of survivals as a creative analytical methodology.
The organiser welcomes proposals for 20-minute presentations. The workshop will be in person with online streaming. Topics for contributions may include (but are not limited to)
- Conceptions of time, uses of memory, and hauntology in connections with the past
- Ethnographic photography, documentary films, and visual constructions of survivals
- Objects in ethnographic collections and their interpretations
- Ethnogenesis, nationalisms, and the role of cultural survivals in political discourse
Please fill in this form to submit an abstract of ca 300 words, with your name, affiliation (if applicable), and contact email. There will be some travel bursaries available for PhD students and ECRs; you can indicate whether you would like to be considered for one of these upon submitting your abstract.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 14 August 2026, and decisions will be communicated to prospective participants in w/c 24 August 2026. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Dr Leire Olabarria [L.Olabarria@bham.ac.uk]
This Call for Papers can be downloaded here: Call for Papers_Connecting with the Past 2026.pdf
This workshop is supported by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship.
Note: this is not a Classical Association event – please contact the organisers directly with any enquiries.