This section contains excerpts from conversations with Peruvian anthropologists, intended to serve as source material for publications and research in the initial phase of the Reassembling Anthropology Project.
Conversation with Yhon León-Chinchilla - January 30, 2026
Yhon reflects on his training as an anthropologist at the National University of Central Peru within a context of academic precariousness that, rather than being merely a shortcoming, served as a defining factor in his academic journey. While he notes weaknesses in methodological instruction, he emphasizes that these were partially offset by the university’s proximity to rural communities, which allowed for early and ongoing access to fieldwork. Thus, his education did not depend exclusively on the formal curriculum, but rather on a territorial immersion that expanded learning opportunities. In this context, “study circles” among students emerged as fundamental spaces for collective self-education. More than just extracurricular activities, they functioned as mechanisms to fill theoretical and methodological gaps. According to Yhon, these spaces can be understood as forms of academic resistance that challenge and contest the hegemonic modes of disciplinary education.
Conversation with Ginno Martínez - November 30, 2025
In the conversation with Ginno Martínez, the discussion explores how professional trajectories can become a central input for the production of anthropological knowledge. Martínez recounts his initial experience in the community relations department of a hydroelectric company, where everyday work with local communities and the management of conflicts gave rise to concerns that later evolved into research questions for his undergraduate thesis. According to his own account, much of the ethnographic work had already been carried out through his professional practice, as he had accumulated situated and in-depth knowledge of the social processes in which he was involved. This case highlights the assemblages between professional practice and academic training in peripheral contexts, where research does not emerge exclusively from the university but also from concrete work experiences. Rather than existing as separate spheres, these dimensions intersect and mutually reinforce one another, enabling the pursuit of intellectual projects under adverse conditions while enriching anthropology by grounding it in lived experience.
Conversation with Pável Aguilar - October 23, 2025
Pável Aguilar offers an incisive reflection on the structural inequalities that shape the field of anthropology and social science in Peru. Drawing on his personal experience, he examines the tensions arising from training and research conducted outside Lima, the capital city, where historical academic centralization shapes access to resources, intellectual networks, and professional recognition. His testimony sheds light on the precarious conditions faced by anthropologists from "the regions", as well as the strategies necessary to insert themselves into a system that continues to privilege knowledge production from the capital. Aguilar also highlights an ongoing process: the emergence of new networks and initiatives that open possibilities for imagining and consolidating more situated and plural forms of knowledge far from the established academic spheres.