The World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) is a network of national, regional, and international associations dedicated to promoting worldwide communication and cooperation in anthropology. Established in 2004, the WCAA has 54 member associations, each represented by a delegate, who attend meetings every two years. The WCAA aims to promote the discipline of anthropology globally, encourage cooperation among anthropologists worldwide, and promote jointly organized events of scientific debate, research, and dissemination of anthropological knowledge.

The WCAA has a Chair and an Organizing Committee, elected every two years, who discuss the WCAA’s activities at monthly meetings and decide on policy matters of a more urgent nature than those discussed at the WCAA semi-annual meetings. The WCAA engages in ongoing task forces on a range of anthropological concerns, from ethics to global cultural policies and publication, and raises issues affecting anthropologists to relevant authorities worldwide.

The WCAA publishes a yearly open-access journal, Déjà Lu, consisting of reprints from anthropological journals worldwide, a blog called En sus propios términos, a forum in which anthropologists express themselves in their own languages, and a quarterly newsletter showcasing the activities of different anthropological associations worldwide. The WCAA also offers semi-monthly anthropological webinars with speakers addressing topics ranging from fieldwork in an era of Covid-19 to racism in anthropology. These productions are readily available on the WCAA website.

In 2016, the WCAA and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) joined forces to form the World Anthropological Union (WAU), with IUAES consisting of individual members worldwide and WCAA consisting of anthropological associations and their representatives. WAU serves as a unifying voice for global anthropology, facilitating cooperation between IUAES and WCAA in a range of activities.

While the WCAA has made great strides in promoting global anthropology over the past two decades, the organization recognizes that a truly global anthropology is still in the process of formation. The WCAA remains committed to its mission of promoting communication and cooperation among anthropologists worldwide and welcomes support from individuals and organizations who share its vision.

WCAA Member Associations

  • Anthropological Association of Ireland – AAI
  • Anthropology Southern Africa – ASnA
  • Colegio de Graduados en Antropología de la República Argentina – CGA
  • Australian Anthopological Society – AAS
  • Associaçõ Brasileira de Antropologia – ABA
  • Canadian Anthropology Society / Société canadienne anthropologie – CASCA
  • Croatian Anthropological Association – HAD
  • Czech Association for Social Anthropology – CASA
  • Česká Národopisná Společnost – ČNS
  • Colegio de Antropólogos de Chile – CAC
  • The Chinese Anthropological Society – CAS
  • European Association of Social Anthropologists – EASA
  • Finnish Anthropological Society – SAS
  • Association Française d’Ethnologie et d’Anthropologie – AFEA
  • Association Française des Anthropologues – AFA
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie – DGSKA
  • Global Council for Anthropological Linguistics – Glocal
  • Hong Kong Anthropological Society – HKAS
  • Indian Anthropological Association – IAA
  • Indian Anthropological Society, Calcutta
  • International Association for Southeast European Anthropology – InASEA
  • International Society for Ethnology and Folklore / Société Internationale d´Ethnologie et de Folklore – SIEF
  • International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences – IUAES
  • Israeli Anthropological Association – IAA
  • Società Italiana di Antropologia Culturale – SIAC
  • Istituto Italiano di Antropologia – ISItA
  • Asosiasi Antropologi Indonesia – AAI
  • Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology – JASCA
  • Latin American Association / Asociación Latinoamericana de Antropología – ALA
  • Latvijas Antropologu Biedriba – LAB
  • Colegio de Etnólogos y Antropólogos Sociales – CEAS
  • Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand
  • Norsk Antropologisk Forening – NAF
  • Insaniyyat – Society of Palestinian Anthropologists
  • Nordic Anthropological Film Association – NAFA
  • Pan African Anthropology Association – PAAA
  • Anthropological Association of the Philippines / Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao, Inc – UGAT
  • Polskie Towarszystwo Ludoznawcze / Polish Ethnological Society – PTL
  • Associaçãõ Portuguesa de Antropologia – APA
  • Association of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia) AAER
  • Serbian Ethnological and Anthropological Society) SEAS
  • The Korean Society for Cultural Anthropology – KOSCA
  • (Catalania) Institut Catalá d’Antropologia – ICA
  • Instituto Madrileño de Antropología – IMA
  • Asociación de Antropología de Castilla y León – AAC-LMK
  • Anthropological Association of Sweden – SANT
  • Taiwan Society for Anthropology and Ethnology – TSAE
  • Tunisian Association of Anthropology / L’Association Tunisienne d’Anthropologie – TAA
  • Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK – ASA
  • Royal Anthropological Institute – RAI
  • American Anthropological Association – AAA
  • Society for Applied Anthropology – SfAA
  • Uruguayan Association of Social and Cultural Anthropology – AUAS