AnthropoPolitik
Debates &
Perspectives
A conversation series exploring contemporary
political and societal transformations.
AnthropoPolitik is a discussion and podcast series developed within the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) at UM6P, bringing leading scholars and thinkers into dialogue on the pressing questions of our era, from postcolonial knowledge and technoscience to capitalism, identity, and globalization.
Featured Episode
Editorial Series
About the Series
"A platform where the complexity of the world meets the rigour of academic thought — accessible to everyone."
AnthropoPolitik is a discussion and podcast series developed within IAS UM6P to explore contemporary political, cultural, and societal transformations through dialogue with leading scholars and thinkers. Hosted by Montassir Sakhi, the series deepens its exploration of postcolonial knowledge, technoscience, capitalism, identity, and contemporary ideological transformations.
The programme contributes to IAS UM6P's commitment to public intellectual engagement by making research discussions accessible to broader audiences through high-quality audiovisual formats — filmed conversations broadcast on YouTube and distributed across digital platforms.
Our Mission
What AnthropoPolitik Does
Long-form conversations with internationally recognised academics, combining rigour with accessibility.
Bridging anthropology, sociology, and political thought to illuminate the complexity of contemporary transformations.
Filmed conversations distributed digitally, making IAS research visible and impactful beyond the university walls.
A Season of
Intellectual Encounters
The first season of AnthropoPolitik introduced a rich series of conversations with international scholars, addressing fundamental questions of knowledge circulation, identity, globalization, and political thought. Each episode brought a distinct disciplinary lens to bear on the transformations reshaping our world.
Drawing together thinkers from Morocco, France, Tunisia, Germany, and Canada, Season 1 charted a deliberately international and comparative conversation — one that refused easy answers and embraced the productive tensions between different traditions of social and political thought.
Episode 01
Merouan Mekouar
York University, Canada
"Native Researchers and Social Mobilizations"
Chercheurs Natifs et Mobilisations Sociales
Episode 02
Hassan Rachik
UM6P & Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
"An Anthropological Journey in One's Own Country"
مسار أنثروبولوجي في بلده
Episode 03
Khalil Dahbi
GIGA Institute for Global and Area Studies, Germany
"Artificial Intelligence, Racism and Genocide"
الذكاء الاصطناعي من الإبادة والعنصرية
Episode 04
Wael Garnaoui
University of Sousse, Tunisia
"Can We Escape Fear?"
هل يمكن الهروب من الخوف؟
Episode 05
Sylvain Lazarus
Université Paris 8, France
"Who Thinks Politics Today?"
Qui Pense la Politique Aujourd'hui?
Episode 06
Pierre-Noël Giraud
Mines Paris–PSL & Université Paris-Dauphine, France
"What Does It Mean to Be Economically Useless Today?"
Qu'est-ce qu'Être Inutile Économiquement Aujourd'hui?
The Conversation
Continues
Season 2 of AnthropoPolitik expands the dialogue, bringing new voices and perspectives to bear on the most urgent questions of contemporary politics, culture, and thought. New episodes are released regularly — watch now on YouTube.
Fresh conversations added throughout the season — subscribe to stay up to date.
Deeper engagement with modernity, digital governance, knowledge decolonization, and global inequalities.
Conversations in Arabic, French, and English, reflecting the true breadth of the IAS intellectual community.
All Episodes
Season 1 — Episode Guide
Six conversations. Six scholars. Six windows onto the political, cultural, and intellectual transformations reshaping our world. Season 1 is available in full on the IAS YouTube channel.
Native Researchers and Social Mobilizations
Chercheurs Natifs et Mobilisations Sociales
Merouan Mekouar — York University, Canada
How do scholars who study their own societies navigate the politics of knowledge production? This conversation explores the specific epistemic position of the "native researcher" — the tensions, privileges, and blind spots involved in conducting social science within one's own community — examined through the lens of North African social movements and political mobilization.
An Anthropological Journey in One's Own Country
مسار أنثروبولوجي في بلده
Hassan Rachik — UM6P & Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
A conversation on the practice of anthropology in Morocco — the history of the discipline, its colonial entanglements, its post-independence reinvention, and the methodological and ethical questions that arise when a scholar turns the anthropological gaze on their own society. A reflection on memory, tradition, and the production of knowledge about Moroccan identities.
Artificial Intelligence, Racism and Genocide
الذكاء الاصطناعي من الإبادة والعنصرية
Khalil Dahbi — GIGA Institute for Global and Area Studies, Germany
An uncompromising dialogue on the intersection of artificial intelligence technologies with historical and contemporary forms of racial violence. Examining how algorithmic systems reproduce and amplify structural racism, and drawing lines of continuity between colonial technologies of classification and today's data-driven governance of populations.
Can We Escape Fear?
هل يمكن الهروب من الخوف؟
Wael Garnaoui — University of Sousse, Tunisia
A philosophical and political interrogation of fear as a foundational category of contemporary life — examining how fear functions in Arab societies and globally, how political regimes instrumentalize it, and whether emancipatory politics can ever truly transcend it. A deeply humanist conversation on freedom, precarity, and the conditions of political agency.
Who Thinks Politics Today?
Qui Pense la Politique Aujourd'hui?
Sylvain Lazarus — Université Paris 8, France
A rigorous philosophical dialogue on the nature of political thought in the contemporary world. Drawing on his theory of "subjective anthropology" and decades of engagement with Marxist and post-Marxist thought, Lazarus examines who holds the capacity to think politics today, and what it means to do so in an era of institutional exhaustion and ideological fragmentation.
What Does It Mean to Be Economically Useless Today?
Qu'est-ce qu'Être Inutile Économiquement Aujourd'hui?
Pierre-Noël Giraud — Mines Paris–PSL & Université Paris-Dauphine, France
A critical examination of capitalism and the fate of populations rendered economically superfluous by technological change and global restructuring. Giraud's distinction between "nomads" and "sedentaries" in the global economy provides the framework for a searching conversation about inequality, automation, and what political economy owes to those it leaves behind.
Public Scholarship
Beyond the Lecture Hall
Through filmed conversations and widely distributed episodes, AnthropoPolitik strengthens IAS UM6P's role as a platform for intellectual debate and public scholarship. The series connects academic research with broader audiences by addressing contemporary issues at the intersection of anthropology, sociology, and political thought.
In a media landscape often dominated by the immediate and the sensational, AnthropoPolitik stakes a claim for depth — for conversations that take time, that honour complexity, and that treat their audience as capable of engaging with rigorous intellectual argument. The series is a statement about the kind of public sphere IAS UM6P seeks to help build.
How the Series Works
Each episode is a dedicated, single-topic conversation ranging from 45 to 90 minutes.
All episodes are available freely on the IAS UM6P YouTube channel, reaching global audiences.
Every conversation is editorially independent, grounded in scholarly rigour, and free of commercial influence.
Conversations in Arabic, French, and English, with guests from across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Watch the Series
Watch AnthropoPolitik
on YouTube
All episodes of AnthropoPolitik are available free of charge on the IAS UM6P YouTube channel. Season 2 is now streaming. Subscribe to receive notifications when new conversations are released.
AnthropoPolitik is produced by the Institute for Advanced Study at UM6P, Ben Guerir, Morocco. Hosted by Montassir Sakhi.