FUTURUS TALK: Inga Kuzma, Non-indifferent Anthropology and Sensory Urban Research

Pozivamo Vas na predavanje u okviru projekta “Kakve gradove želimo? Suvremene transformacije urbanih vizija, praksi i etika” (NextGenerationEU) i platforme FUTURUS

Utorak, 24. ožujka 2026. u 13 sati

Knjižnica Instituta za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Šubićeva 42/V, Zagreb

INGA B. KUŹMA

From the Łódź School of Ethnology to Urban Polycrisis: “Non-Indifferent Anthropology” and Sensory Urban Research

The lecture will introduce the research profile of the University of Łódź, with particular attention to the tradition of ethnology and cultural anthropology developed in Łódź, which has long combined classical ethnographic approaches with interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary social and cultural transformations. In the second part of the presentation, Inga Kuźma will discuss recent research on urban anthropology focusing on the authorship concept of “non-indifferent anthropology”. This perspective proposes a shift toward more engaged forms of knowledge production inspired by the arts-based-researche that respond to the intertwined ecological and social crises shaping contemporary cities. The lecture will explore how urban environments can be understood as multispecies spaces of coexistence, where humans, non-human organisms, technologies, and infrastructures form complex relational assemblages. Particular attention will be given to sensory ethnography and creative tools and methodologies, which enable researchers to investigate the embodied and affective dimensions of urban life that often remain invisible in conventional analytical frameworks. Drawing on recent fieldwork and methodological experimentation, the presentation will examine how sensory approaches can contribute to understanding issues such as urban ecological transformations, the instrumentalization of nature in neoliberal urbanism, and the everyday experiences of marginalized urban populations. By combining theoretical reflection with empirical research examples, the lecture aims to demonstrate how anthropology can function as a practice of ethical engagement and care, contributing to more inclusive and environmentally responsive ways of thinking about urban futures.

INGA B. KUŹMA is a PhD, DA & Associate Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Łódź (Poland). She practices anthropology inspired by (participatory) action research. Her research experience and interest ecompasses (co-)development of equality and anti-discrimination strategies and models within social policies; herstory; homelessness; and degrowth. She is an active member of COST Action Network and the advisor for the national and regional housing policy. She co-authored and co-edited number of papers and volumes, and recently has (co-)authored The homes of the homeless. A study of living in crisis (Kraków-Łódź 2019) and Woman – space of conflict, battlefield. Sketches on political anthropology (co-author: Edyta Pietrzak; 2021).