Anthropological Topics We All Should Care About

Anthropological topics are diverse. In my immediate research, I’m currently focusing on breath and breathing.

Anthropological topics are diverse. In my immediate research, I’m currently focusing on breath and breathing. My latest book, “Breathing Hearts” (2024), focused on postsecular Sufi communities in Europe who mobilize breathing in alternative healing, aesthetic and spiritual practice.

Breathing can be understood through many angles, sociocultural, political, material, technoscientific. From a social and cultural anthropological perspective, breathing is a big part of narratives, embodied techniques, and practices that give it social and spiritual significance. At the same time, the political and social inequalities of breathing are a part of the struggles over power and justice. This area includes environmental racism, unequal air quality, and the relationships between biological and social forces in shaping lived experiences of breath. And, of course, the material and environmental aspects of breathing show us how objects and artifacts influence the spaces where breathing takes place, carrying meanings that transcend their physical form.

Throughout this article, I will refer to materials previously published in other blog pieces which detail what I’m trying to describe here.

Sociocultural and Narrative Dimensions of Breathing

Sociocultural and narrative dimensions of breathing shape meanings across societies, in embodied body techniques of breathing that reinforce identities and values, and in breathing as a ritual practice where breath is central to spiritual, social, and cultural expression.

One of my favorite research on this area comes from Macnaughton & Carel (2016). Their research shows us that breathing and breathlessness cannot be understood by medical measures alone. To truly grasp what breath means, we also need to look at its cultural, emotional, and narrative dimensions. This research makes it clear that clinical approaches are limited on their own, and that our understanding of breath should also include how people live, feel, and tell stories about it. This is very important because, although breathing is usually regarded as an automatic biological experience, anthropology shows us that we are more than our bodies and breathing is biosocial.

Political and Social Inequalities of Breathing

Within the realm of political and social inequalities of breathing, we see how political movements and breathing challenge dominant power structures, how breathing inequality and environmental racism expose the uneven distribution of clean air across race, class, and space, how air pollution inequality in German cities illustrates the persistence of localized environmental challenges, and how biosocial politics and breathing reveal the entanglement of biological and social forces in shaping unequal experiences of breath.

A powerful research in this area comes from McGregor, Whitaker, & Sritharan (2020). Their research shows us how Indigenous environmental justice movements connect ecological concerns with social justice, grounding activism in Indigenous ontologies that see the Earth and non-human beings as living entities. This perspective helps us understand that these movements are not only about resisting environmental degradation but also about demanding a real change through reciprocal responsibilities, self-determined governance, and relational ethics. This research makes clear that political movements are powerful sites in which marginalized communities challenge dominant systems and reimagine sustainable and just futures.

Material and Environmental Aspects of Breathing

Material breathing highlights how tangible objects and artifacts not only shape the environments in which breath is taken but also embody sociocultural ecological meanings that extend far beyond their physical form.

Research by Sánchez-Climent (2024) is a great example here. Their research shows us that material objects are more than utilitarian tools. In lived experiences, these objects carry cultural, social, and ideological meanings that shape how people interact with the world. We can understand how objects influence identity, memory, power, and values, and how they connect individuals across time, space, and social contexts, making them central to understanding the material dimensions of breathing by studying material culture.

Concluding Remarks

Breathing is not just something our bodies do. It is connected to the societies we live in. Anthropologists study how breath matters in stories, body practices, and rituals. This shows that breathing is important for spiritual, social, and cultural life. To understand breathing fully, we must look beyond the body mechanics and consider feelings, stories, practices, justice, and the environment. Breathing is shaped by social and ecological conditions, including movements that fight for clean air and care for the Earth, showing how communities can challenge unfair systems and imagine better futures. It is also influenced by objects, such as measurement tools, prayer beads, and medical devices, which carry meanings and shape how people live, remember, and connect with others. These anthropological insights show that breathing is more than air entering and leaving the body; it is deeply connected to our everyday lives and the world around us.

References

Macnaughton, J., & Carel, H. (2016). Breathing and breathlessness in clinic and culture: Using critical medical humanities to bridge an epistemic gap. In A. Whitehead, A. Woods, S. Atkinson, et al. (Eds.), The Edinburgh companion to the critical medical humanities (Chapter 16). Edinburgh University Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK379257/

McGregor, D., Whitaker, S., & Sritharan, M. (2020). Indigenous environmental justice and sustainability. In Articles & Book Chapters (Article 2891). Osgoode Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/scholarly_works/2891

Sánchez-Climent, A. (2024). Materiality and Immateriality: Exploring Material Culture in the Construction of Cultural Meanings. Global Journal of Cultural Studies. doi.org/10.6000/2817-2310.2024.03.13

Selim, N. (2024). Breathing Hearts: Sufism, Healing, and Anti-Muslim Racism in Germany. Berghahn Books. https://doi.org/10.3167/9781805391982

Dr. Nasima Selim is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in medicine, public health and anthropology. She is a breathworker, writer, researcher, and educator. Her books include “Breathing Hearts” (Berghahn 2024), an open-access ethnography, and "Ways of Breathing and Knowing" (Routledge, forthcoming), a volume of 12 interdisciplinary essays she co-edited with Dr. Judith Albrecht.