Hammons’ central thesis:

Whether he's documenting shamanism in Sumatra or teaching in Boulder, Hammons reminds us that to understand where we’re going, we first have to understand the stories we tell ourselves about what’s next. Christian Hammons | Anthropology

For decades, the discipline of anthropology was defined by its relationship to the past. Traditionally situated as the interpreter of "the other" and the curator of cultural heritage, the anthropologist’s role was often seen as preserving what was vanishing. However, in the contemporary era—marked by rapid technological advancement, ecological crisis, and geopolitical instability—the discipline has undergone a necessary pivot. This shift is epitomized in the work of Christian Hammons, whose theoretical framework constructs an "anthropology of the future." Hammons’ work challenges the discipline to move beyond the "ethnographic present" and engage with the future not as an empty void to be predicted, but as a cultural fact that is actively being produced, imagined, and contested in the present moment. This essay explores Hammons’ conceptualization of the future, examining how his approach transforms time into an object of study and reveals the future as a site of political struggle and ethical responsibility.

: Hammons often explores the blurred lines between the organic and the mechanical, looking at how objects—like a community carousel in Nederland, Colorado—can take on a life and agency of their own. Why This Matters Now