For several decades, social and cultural anthropology has been enmeshed in an antiformalist mood—a shared sensibility that valorizes disruption, emergence, and complexity over stability and pattern; celebrates flexible concepts resistant to systematization; and treats theoretical frameworks with suspicion. Initially revolutionary, this antiformalism has long since become mainstream, settling into recognizable conventions. This article traces antiformalism’s manifestations across diverse theoretical moments, from post-structuralism and practice theory through material and ontological turns, showing how form nevertheless persisted—often disavowed but relied upon—within ostensibly antiformalist approaches. We argue that the alternation between formalism and antiformalism constitutes something like the beating theoretical heart of anthropology, operating both at the macro level of half-century disciplinary shifts and at the microlevel of individual arguments where formal and anti-formal moves remain necessarily interwoven. Against this background, we detect an emergent tonal shift: a rising enthusiasm for form manifest in renewed attention to social and cultural regularities as puzzles worthy of explanation, and in a different valuation of conceptual work that emphasizes robustness, sharp edges, and shareability. We map this new formalist sensibility and identify its characteristic epistemic virtues—coherence, corrigibility, and collaboration—which distinguish it from both earlier structuralisms and recent antiformalist approaches, positioning anthropology as a diverse yet collective comparative endeavor.

This article examines the hybrid network structure of the global sustainability governance system, focusing on the evolving relationships between private transnational regulators (PTRs) and intergovernmental organizations (IOs). We argue that a defining feature of this structure is the mutual dependence between PTRs and IOs: PTRs invoke public international law instruments (PILIs) – and, by extension, the authority of the IOs behind them – to bolster their own authority and to enhance the normative force of the standards they promulgate. IOs rely on PTRs to disseminate their norms within corporate settings, thereby strengthening their compliance capacities. This interdependence carries significant synergistic potential. We examine the grounding relationship between PTRs and PILIs/IOs through extensive network analysis based on a specially curated dataset comprising 55 PTRs, 393 private standards, 261 PILIs (including treaties, conventions, and declarations), and 41 IOs. Citation patterns within this network support our thesis. We also offer tentative evidence regarding the second prong of our model and outline directions for future research. Finally, we assess the vulnerabilities of this interdependent structure, highlighting the fragility of the global sustainability legal order in the face of rising nationalism and anti-multilateralist pressures.

Enterovirus A71 was first isolated in California in 1969, with the earliest retrospective detection traced back to 1963 in the Netherlands, but its early spread remains unclear. Using age-specific seroprevalence data from children aged 1–10 years in Kawasaki City, Japan, collected annually from 1966–1973, we applied serocatalytic models to estimate annual force of infection during 1959–1973. Several models were tested, incorporating different assumptions about time-varying force of infection, age-dependent susceptibility, and seroreversion, to identify the best fit to the data. Model comparison identified the models with independent annual infection probability or two distinct outbreak periods, both including age-dependent force of infection and seroreversion, as optimal. All top models consistently identified two major transmission periods: 1961–1962 and 1968–1969. The two-outbreak model estimated mean attack rates of 21.8% and 37.8% for the earlier and later outbreaks under seroreversion, and 19.8% and 34.9% under age-dependent force of infection. Our findings provide evidence of enterovirus A71 circulation in Japan during two distinct periods in the 1960s, coinciding with early detections in Europe and the USA, suggesting global distribution by that decade. This study underscores the value of testing archived sera for reconstructing pathogen emergence and spread.

This paper presents the theory of improvisational emergence, an account of how social phenomena emerge from improvisational processes. I build outward from the small-group improvisational encounter to provide an account of the relationship between individuals, groups, and societies. Social entities, including groups and societies, emerge from people engaged in group improvisation. But even though social entities emerge from individuals in interaction, their study cannot be reduced to the study of individuals, because once having emerged, social entities have causal power over individuals. The theory of improvisational emergence addresses the structure-agency relationship and the micro-macro debate in sociological theory. It moves beyond practice and structuration theories in positing an ontological separation between people and society. Improvisational emergence allows us to explain the relationship between the improvisational creativity of each participating individual and the collective improvisationality of the group. A complete understanding of social phenomena, including social structures, norms, and cultures, must be grounded in the theoretical and empirical study of creative improvisation.

The notions of “emergence” and “becoming” have become widely adopted in relational studies in archaeology, but their definition and application remain nebulous. We advocate a middle-range approach to the incorporation of these related concepts into the study of migration and pronounced cultural shifts. Our study relies on the Bayesian modeling of a significant corpus of radiocarbon dates from Mississippian sites in the Tombigbee Valley of southeastern North America. This investigation has identified the likelihood of two broad migration episodes that we hypothesize are related to cultural rephrasings of landscape and temporality.

Sporobolus natalensis (Steud.) T. Durand & Schinz. and Sporobolus pyramidalis P. Beauv., generally known as giant rat’s tail grasses, are two significant weed species that invade summer fields and pastures in the eastern regions of Australia. This study was conducted to examine seed germination behavior, seedling emergence, and the response of these species to various herbicides. Seed germination and seedling emergence were assessed in response to environmental factors, including alternating temperature regimes (15/5, 20/10, 25/15, 30/20, and 35/25 C), light conditions (dark and light/dark), osmotic potentials (0, −0.1, −0.2, −0.4, −0.8, and −1.6 MPa), and seed burial depths (0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 cm). Furthermore, the efficacy of several post-emergence herbicides was evaluated in pots under outdoor environmental conditions. Germination was higher under light/dark (12-h light/12-h dark) conditions than under continuous darkness (24 h). The seeds of both species exhibited significantly higher germination (>95%) under 12-h light at higher temperatures (35/25 C) compared with low (20/10 C) or medium (25/15 C) temperatures. The osmotic potential required to inhibit 50% of maximum germination was −0.77 MPa for S. natalensis and −0.59 MPa for S. pyramidalis. Seedling emergence decreased with increasing burial depth, with no emergence observed from seeds buried at depths of 4 cm. Applying herbicides significantly reduced both species’ seedling survival and dry matter. The most effective herbicides for controlling spring-germinated S. pyramidalis and S. natalensis were haloxyfop, clethodim, butroxydim, glyphosate, glufosinate, and paraquat, which provided satisfactory control of both species. The findings from this study can be used to develop effective management strategies for controlling S. pyramidalis and S. natalensis in agricultural systems.

This study explores user engagement and strategic interaction with a newly designed tangible game board- a 3x3x3 cube frame with 27 voids and 27 game pieces. 15 teams, each with 2 players, were provided with only the game set to develop their own game rules and strategies, encouraging participants to engage in the spatial and experiential aspects that the game board offers. Researchers observed how players approached the 3D structure and developed gameplay tactics without predefined rules, fostering creativity and exploration. Importantly, the study captured feedback on the structure’s versatility, with many participants developing new game rules, which implies its potential as a game platform. The experiments revealed that one of the emergences resulting from the affordances of the game platform is a game strategy for 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, amongst the many other possible games identified.