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.

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The Wheel of Crisis in Thailand

The Wheel of Crisis in Thailand

For decades, Thailand has been entangled in a cycle of political turmoil that oscillates between elections, street protests, and coups both military and judicia... More

The Central African Republic (CAR) in a Hot Spot

The Central African Republic (CAR) in a Hot Spot

This Hot Spot is dedicated to Dennis D. Cordell, whose generosity and example nourished a number of us as we came to know CAR, and who passed away far too soon.... More

The Politics of “Postconflict”: On the Ground in South Asia

The Politics of “Postconflict”: On the Ground in South Asia

The last decade has marked the purported end of several conflicts in South Asia: the 2003 ceasefire along the Indian–Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, the 2... More

Protesting Democracy in Brazil

Protesting Democracy in Brazil

What exactly happened in Brazil during June and July, 2013? What started as a protest over an increase in bus fares grew into something much larger, with rallie... More

An Impromptu Uprising: Ethnographic Reflections on the Gezi Park Protests in Turkey

An Impromptu Uprising: Ethnographic Reflections on the Gezi Park Protests in Turkey

This Hot Spots series addresses the antigovernment protests that first sprang up in Gezi Park, Taksim, in Istanbul in the summer of 2013, and later spread to mu... More

Mali, March 2012

Mali, March 2012

Folo Folo Kuma or A Prefatory Word Before the events of late March 2012, most people - even those who regularly follow global news - probably had very little aw... More

Occupy, Anthropology, and the 2011 Global Uprisings

Occupy, Anthropology, and the 2011 Global Uprisings

Occupy Wall Street burst spectacularly onto the scene last fall with the take-over of New York City's Zuccotti Park on September 17, 2011, followed by the rapid... More

Côte d'Ivoire Is Cooling Down? Reflections a Year after the Battle for Abidjan

Côte d'Ivoire Is Cooling Down? Reflections a Year after the Battle for Abidjan

The Path to Peace The murderous conflicts that followed presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire in November 2010 led to an international debacle that ended some... More

Self-Immolation as Protest in Tibet

Self-Immolation as Protest in Tibet

Tibet has no history of self-immolation as sacrifice, religious offering, or political protest. Yet, in the last year alone, roughly thirty-five Tibetans have s... More

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt a Year after January 25th

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt a Year after January 25th

On January 25, 2011, Egyptians from all social backgrounds marched to public squares across Egypt and began an 18 day revolution that captivated the world. Call... More