Janet Carsten is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and professor currently employed at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Carsten studies

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. She is the daughter of the British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Francis Ludwig Carsten.

Research and career

Carsten has conducted research in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and Britain. After completing her PhD at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, she was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and Lecturer at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. She has given guest lectures and keynote addresses at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, the National University of Taiwan,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales,

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, the University of Sao Paulo, and at the Museu Nacional, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She delivered the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture in 2012. During a three-year Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship from September 2007-10 she conducted research on articulations between popular and medical ideas about blood in Britain and Malaysia. Carsten is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Academy. In 2023, she was elected a member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

. Carsten is currently a Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh.

Published works

Books

2021 ''Marriage in Past, Present and Future Tense.'' (Edited with H-Chiu, S.Magee, E.Papadaki, K.Reece). UCL Press. 2019 ''Blood Work: Life and Laboratories in Penang.'' Duke University Press. Introduction 2018 ''Reason and Passion: The Parallel Worlds of Ethnography and Biography'' (edited with Sophie Day and Charles Stafford). Special Issue, ''Social Anthropology'', Vol. 26 No.1 2013 ''Blood Will Out: Essays on Liquid Transfers and Flows'' (edited). Special Issue, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 19, and separate book publication, Wiley Blackwell. 2007 ''Ghosts of Memory: Essays on Remembrance and Relatedness'' (edited). Blackwell. 2004 ''After Kinship''. Cambridge University Press. 2000 ''Cultures of Relatedness: New Approaches to the Study of Kinship'' (edited). Cambridge University Press. 1997 ''The Heat of the Hearth: The Process of Kinship in a Malay Fishing Community''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1995 ''About the House: Lévi-Strauss and Beyond'' (edited with Stephen Hugh-Jones). Cambridge University Press.

References

Living people British women anthropologists Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy Members of Academia Europaea Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-anthropologist-stub