BIO

I have been stubbornly practicing as an anthropologist for more than 25 years. This means that I have focused all my attention on knowing human beings from the fascinating perspective of my discipline. And all of this in order to now reach the conclusion that the classical idea of the human being as a discrete, independent and self-contained entity is nothing more than a mirage. At least that is where the work that I am doing with other colleagues in the context of a research project, carried out within the conceptual and theoretical frame of posthumanism, is bringing me[1]. The concept of this project grew out of previous work, which focused on the Anthropology of the Body and of the desire to explore new theoretical horizons that contribute to the development of the discipline. This approach also invites me to continue being active in another of my main areas of research, the Anthropology of Music, incorporating a new perspective: It is not the same to understand music as a set of reified categorisations on "composers", "works" or "musical practices" than as a sonic flow created and/or perceived with aesthetic purposes but which can accomplish functions far beyond these purposes; a sonic flow that affects us.

Since I received my Ph.D. in 1985 at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg under the guidance of Rolph Wilhelm Brednich, having studied cultural anthropology in Barcelona and Göttingen, there have been several research topics that have attracted my attention: New social meanings of the intangible cultural heritage (e.g. folklorism), collective identities and culture (specifically, ethnicity and multiculturalism) and beliefs, in addition to the already mentioned lines of research on music and the body. While I was researching these fields, I have always placed a special emphasis on reflecting on the conceptual tools that we apply to the empirical realities that we intend to study. So, for example, the criticism of a concept as usual as "folklore" made me talk about "folklorism"; the idea of "social relevance" seemed to me to be a keyword in order to conceive of academic practices in a meaningful way, and I have also given importance to reflecting on such a basic concept of anthropology as it is that of "culture".

Fieldwork has always been very important for my research. In addition to the fieldwork developed in different parts of the Spanish state, I have also carried it out in Germany, Sardinia, Japan and Equatorial Guinea. The qualitative methodologies, which are characteristic of anthropology, always make us feel very close to people. The africanist Lluís Mallart rightly stated, "no matter how much science we want to do, it seems to me that anthropology is impossible without a certain feeling towards the other" and here I would add that without empathy there would not be anthropology either.

By exploring throughout fieldwork the spheres of values and beliefs, of rationality and irrationality, it is easy to realize that anthropological thought should often dialogically assume concepts that tend to exclude each other. A well known case is that of Physics. Niels Bohr recognized the need to conceive the physical particles simultaneously as corpuscles and as waves. I have confronted with analogous conclusions throughout my research for after all, "if we wanted home truths, we should have stayed at home" (Robin Horton). In any case, I have always liked to distinguish between science and scientificism.

I would not understand my professional task without investing time and dedication to the research structures (scientific associations, editorial committees, organization of academic meetings) and university education as a visiting professor. The results of my research have been made known through books, numerous articles that have been published in specialized journals and knowledge transfer activities (materials for students, cultural dissemination, exhibitions).

[1] “Body and gender seen through the epistemological and conceptual lens of posthumanism” (FEM2016-77963-C2-1-P)