Diego Maria Malara
Visited the IAS in November 2024
I am Diego Maria Malara, an Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Glasgow. My research has focused on religion and politics in Ethiopia, with a particular emphasis on the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
During my stay in Bayreuth, I collaborated with Dr. Koreen Reece to organise an international workshop titled On Generation: Crisis, History and Change. This event brought together leading anthropologists and early career researchers from Germany, the US, the UK, Ireland, and France, with the goal to spark new debates on generational continuity and change in the age of polycrisis.
The conceptualisation of this workshop was also informed by some of my recent works, including (1) Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life (Scottish University Presses), a co-authored book exploring, inter alia, Tim Ingold’s major rethinking of the anthropology of generation; (2) A special issue of Northeast African Studies that I recently edited, titled Ethnographies of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity: Sacred Histories, Changing Identities, and the Politics of Religious Pluralism (2024); (3) A co-authored essay titled Possessed by the Post-socialist Zeitgeist: History, Spirits and the Problem of Generational (Dis)continuity in an Ethiopian Orthodox Exorcism, published in the volume Charismatic Healers in Contemporary Africa (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024).
The papers presented at the workshop are currently being revised for submission as part of a special issue, which I will co-edit with Dr. Reece. Our workshop brought to Bayreuth two world-renowned anthropologists, Tim Ingold and Janet Carsten, who participated as discussants and may also contribute to the special issue, pending further arrangements.
Finally, my time in Bayreuth also provided a valuable opportunity to engage with some of the outstanding researchers based at IAS, stimulating conversations that I hope will lead to future collaborations.