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« There is more than one way of thinking about the world, dreaming about it and acting on it. Anthropologists move in between special features and commonalities. Even though everywhere in this world we put on clothes, eat, make homes, marry and have children, these practices are based on codes, rules and imaginaries that vary from one culture to another. In this respect anthropologists deal with the most intimate aspects of what we live and feel, and which is incorporated from our early childhood. To borrow the phrase from Héritier (2012, 87), “The world exists through our senses before existing in a more ordered fashion in our minds,” which might explain the often highly affective reactions that occur when one encounters other ways of being and doing. How can we cohabit with groups that have different practices, visions of the world, or social organisations? Despite the fact that the question which lies at the heart of the anthropological project – relating to the otherness – is nothing new, the increasing migration and means of communication certainly are. Anthropology allows us to go beyond determinist discourses, such as those which put forward biological arguments (e.g. it is women who become pregnant) to justify societal facts (e.g. it is up to women to take care of children), or tautological culturalist discourses (e.g. “they” do that because this is the way they are). Anthropology looks at the way in which a group takes its constraints on board and finds its own solutions. This allows it to invent itself as a group, accepting its difference. The discipline can thus help us to move away from preconceived ideas and assume alternative viewpoints. It is particularly important in times of heated societal debates, but it also has practical applications in industrial and commercial fields, and in relation to public policy… » To be continued