Anthropologies of Gatherings

Join us as we delve into a panel and discussion considering how we as anthropologists approach and work in fields of gatherings. William Stringer and Jerrold Cuperus bring their own experiences of fieldwork in Australia - of protests and church gatherings respectively. So come gather with us and enjoy this conversation together. Read on for more info about each of our panellists work:

We’re not meeting for coffee: experiences of ethnography in activist gatherings - William Stringer, Maynooth University & Monash University

Demonstrations, flotillas, markets, blockades and strategy meetings all feature prominently in my PhD fieldwork. In this talk, I draw upon my experience working with ‘radical’ activist groups in Australia and consider what we can glean from bringing these varied events together under the banner of ‘gatherings’. Building upon the concept of ‘anticipation’ (Pawlak, 2025), I question the distinction between gatherings and other regular events within my fieldwork, such as conversations over coffee and digital group messages.

Through the presentation, I will reflect upon my methodological approaches to the study of gatherings; including negotiating access, participant observation and the use of visual methods. Focusing on the recent March for Australia in Melbourne, I will discuss the embodied experience of being in protest gatherings as a researcher, and the challenges and opportunities it presents for ethnographic research.

Comfortable gatherings and the perpetual newcomer - Jerrold Cuperus, University of Queensland

Every Sunday, thousands of people gather in Pentecostal churches across Australia. They drink coffee, hang out, catch up, drop their children at Kids’ church, and slowly trickle into the auditorium to participate in the worship service. During these pre-church gatherings, congregants go out of their way to make newcomers and guests feel welcome and comfortable in their spaces. In this presentation, I will discuss how social interactions and environmental design are used to make these gatherings a comfortable affair.

In conducting multi-sited ‘patchwork’ ethnography across 20 different churches in Southeast Queensland, I experienced the variety of different techniques used to ‘craft’ these welcoming spaces. I will argue that positioning myself as a ‘perpetual newcomer’ across many churches enabled this insight, making it a viable ethnographic strategy for other anthropologists who may experience difficulty with ‘accessing’ communities or who deal with fleeting gatherings.