Created in 2011, Hot Spots goes beyond the headlines to consider current events and pressing global issues from the perspective of anthropologists and others on the scene. Hot Spots series are reviewed by the editors of Cultural Anthropology; series editors must be current members of the SCA.
Arctic Abstractive Industry
The Arctic is a region that is being dramatically altered through climate change, even as extractive industries and the nations that rely on them frame the Arct... More
Refugees and the Crisis of Europe
Since the beginning of 2015, an unprecedented number of people from Middle Eastern and African countries—many of them fleeing war, persecution, and unrelenting ... More
Greece is Burning
At last judged adequately modern, Greece won the privilege of hosting the summer Olympic Games in 2004. Many analysts have pointed to the national deficit that ... More
The Pilbara Crisis: Resource Frontiers in Western Australia
The remote and fragile Pilbara region of Western Australia contains some of Australia’s greatest mineral wealth, as well as some of its richest, most globally s... More
Aftershocked: Reflections on the 2015 Earthquakes in Nepal
Beginning at 11:56 a.m. local time on April 25, 2015 and continuing for over two months, a series of large earthquakes and significant aftershocks, numbering mo... More
#BlackLivesMatter: Anti-Black Racism, Police Violence, and Resistance
Gathered under the umbrella of #BlackLivesMatter, a movement has erupted in the United States and multiple locations across the globe, including the Dominican R... More
The Colombian Peace Process: A Possibility in Spite of Itself
With negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) in an adva... More
Protests and Polarization in Venezuela After Chávez
February 2014—less than a year after the death of President Hugo Chávez—marked the beginning of a series of protests that raised important questions about the f... More
Ukraine and Russia: The Agency of War
The war in Russia and Ukraine is as much a war of consciousness and ideologies as it is a war of militias with guns, tanks, and Buk missile launchers. While in ... More
Ebola in Perspective
Since early 2014, the international coverage of Africa has been dominated by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Much of that coverage represents the region as h... More