03.08.05: The blog has moved to www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/, and several broken links have been corrected
Here are the most recent posts on the new blog location:
Thursday, January 20, 2005, 23:04
BBC: Tsunami "folklore" saved islanders
BBC
Traditional knowledge handed down from generation to generation helped to save ancient tribes on India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the worst of the tsunami, anthropologists say. Samir Acharya, convenor of the Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology (Sane), said the aboriginals have a collective memory of earthquakes and tsunamis so they knew to move to higher ground. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
The Great Andamanese did not sense the arrival of the tsunamis
Ten Little Niggers: Tsunami, tribal circus and racism
Wednesday, January 19, 2005, 23:33
Urban anthropology Inc. shares stories of Milwaukee's homeless people
Greater Milwaukee Today
Over a three-year period of time from 2000-2003, Urban Anthropology Inc., a Milwaukee nonprofit organization, deployed a handful of anthropologists, anthropology interns and former homeless individuals to document 109 stories of homelessness. The subjects, who were paid $5 and agreed to be tape recorded described life before being homeless, the path that led to their homelessness, life as homeless and, where applicable, how they got off the streets.
Dr. Jill Florence Lackey, Urban Anthropology executive director, says the homeless study fits into her organization’s mission of preventing and abolishing racism/ethnocentrism and creating bridges among cultural groups >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Homepage of Urban Anthropology Inc. (UrbAn)
Sunday, January 16, 2005, 20:11
Ten Little Niggers: Tsunami, tribal circus and racism
Kai Friese, Outlook India
Yes, anthropology is alive and well, in the islands and it’s having a field day in the news. The Indian Express on Sunday gave us a double-page spread (slugged ‘Black and White’) with a field guide to "the tribes and their survival tricks". The Great Andamanese "whose strongest physical characteristics are distinctly Negroid"; the Jarawas who "look at heavenly bodies and can decipher what is to come"; the Shompen, "the only primitive tribe of the islands with Mongoloid features", and so on.
It’s revealing that most journalists have invoked racial labels like Mongoloid or Negroid (I’ve even read ‘Negrative’) only as a marker of primitivism. Meanwhile, NDTV’s more sensitive reporter wittered on about the "dignity" of Nicobarese tribals, and the BBC’s web edition fretted about the fate of "some rare indigenous tribal groups". >> continue (updated link, 31.1.05)
SEE ALSO:
- The Great Andamanese did not sense the arrival of the tsunamis
Wednesday, January 12, 2005, 22:09
California Digital Library: 61 Free Anthropology Books in fulltext
So cool! Alex Golub has discovered that The California Digital Library provides free access to - at the moment - 61 anthropological books in fulltext.
His recommendations: Rob Brightman’s Grateful Prey , The Calligraphic State, Maring Hunters and Traders, History and Tradition in Melanesian Anthropology, The Heart of the Pearlshell, Circumstantial Deliveries (Rodney Needham at his Needhamy-ist), and Wage, Trade and Exchange in Melanesia. >> continue to the Anthropology Book Section, California Digital Library
Wednesday, January 12, 2005, 14:13
Anthropologists on fieldwork for Microsoft in India
RedNova News / Seattle Post - Intelligencer
Microsoft Corp.'s research unit is turning to social scientists in a new effort to understand the long-term possibilities for computer technology in developing countries.
A Microsoft Research lab, to be inaugurated tomorrow in Bangalore, India, plans to employ anthropologists, ethnographers and others to observe and document the lives of people in India's rural villages.
A primary aim of the new group is to help Microsoft understand the situation in rural villages before the company tries to create appropriate technologies for them - rather than first creating the technologies and then trying to find areas where they might apply. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Microsoft hires five anthropologists (Inc Magazine, june 2004)
antropologi.info's special on Corporate Anthropology
Wednesday, January 12, 2005, 00:44
- The Great Andamanese did not sense the arrival of the tsunamis
KUTV.com / ap
PORT BLAIR, India (AP) The last few dozen remaining members of an ancient indigenous tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands said they raced up a mountain to escape a devastating tsunami - and avoid extinction.
"I am the king. They follow what I say," said Jiroki, the king of the Great Andamanese tribe, wearing a red T-shirt and shorts. Contrary to speculation by some anthropologists, his wife said the Great Andamanese did not sense the impending arrival of the tsunamis. >> continue
Remark: Interesting to see how anthropologists "speculate" ... they still dream about the nobel savage. Interesting to see how journalists like the Andamanese to be like. Derogatorily and romantizingly at the same time! they presented them first (ex1 / ex2 )as "stone age peoples" that want to be left alone. Interesting to read about the king telling us in this article: "We feel nice interacting with the outside world. Earlier our heart was only in hunting," the king said. "There were no movies, nothing."
UPDATE: Michael I. Niman, Alternet, writes: "The indigenous populations of the Andaman and Nicobar islands have had extensive contact with the outside world. These descendents of African peoples were first visited by Marco Polo who described them as "No better than wild beasts." European slave-traders later raided the islands for slaves. Anthropologists report that slavers continued to raid the islands well into the second half of the 20th century, long after the international slave trade was thought dead."
SEE ALSO: Ten Little Niggers: Tsunami, tribal circus and racism
Monday, January 10, 2005, 08:16
New feature in development: Search anthropological websites and journals
On a new search page on antropologi.info you can search for information on several anthropology-related websites - among others:
- anthrobase.com (Collection of anthropological texts)
- American Anthropological Association
- SOSIG Social Science Information Gateway
- Wikipedia
- EVIFA (one of the best virtual anthropological libraries (in German and English)
- Anthroglobe (Journal)
- Anthropology Matters (Journal)
- Qualitative Research Net (Journal)
>> continue to antropologi.info Search
Monday, January 10, 2005, 08:15
After the Tsunami: Maybe we're not all just walking replicas of Homo Economicus
Linda McQuaig, The Toronto Star
About the same time the tsunami was hitting the shores of southeast Asia, North Americans were hitting the stores in the usual Boxing Day shopping frenzy. North Americans were behaving in a way we consider "normal." Indeed, the desire to accumulate ever more material possessions is regarded today as not just normal, but basic to human motivation.
The outpouring of concern and generosity toward helpless people halfway around the globe came as something of a surprise here. Could it be that there's more to the human personality than our business-dominated culture encourages us to believe? Maybe we're not all just walking replicas of Homo Economicus — the robot-like character whose motivation revolves around his insatiable appetite for material gain — that lies at the heart of modern economic theory.
Karl Polanyi, the late economic historian and anthropologist argued that the most basic human characteristic — found in every human society across the ages and around the globe — isn't material acquisitiveness but rather a need to relate to other humans, to feel part of a larger community. >> continue
Thursday, January 06, 2005, 23:11
New: Science Commons - sharing scientific knowledge with others
Creative Commons
Science Commons is a new project of Creative Commons and will launch early 2005.
The mission of Science Commons is to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science Commons works within current copyright and patent law to promote legal and technical mechanisms that remove barriers to sharing. >> continue to Science Commons
Remark: The search engine is already working and a search for anthropology gives you more than 900 matching pages!
(Link via netbib weblog)
Thursday, January 06, 2005, 22:50
Minorities in Canada : Closer contact has eased tensions
The Economist
Traditionally, the English-speaking minority in Quebec kept itself pretty much to itself. If this was once accurate, it is no longer so. Now more than two-thirds of Quebec's 750,000 English-speakers can also speak French—double the proportion of the 1970s. Even in those rich ghettos in western Montreal, French is spoken almost as much as English.
A recent government report on Quebec's English-speakers noted other signs of integration. As Anglos learn to speak French younger and better, frequently choosing to study in French schools, there has been a surge in marriage (or at least coupling) outside the community. Closer contact has eased tensions between what were once known as “the two solitudes” who share Quebec.
With linguistic tension much reduced, the sovereignty movement will need a new cause around which to rally, says Deirdre Meintel, an anthropologist at the University of Montreal who specialises in minorities. “You can be Québécois now without having spoken French all your life,” she says. >> continue
Tuesday, January 04, 2005, 22:31
Reading Winds, Waves Help Indian Islanders
Guardian / ap
Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea and birds may have saved the five indigenous tribes on the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar islands from the tsunami that hit the Asian coastline Dec. 26.
``They can smell the wind. They can gauge the depth of the sea with the sound of their oars. They have a sixth sense which we don't possess,'' said Ashish Roy, a local environmentalist and lawyer.
It appears that many tribesman fled the shores well before the waves hit the coast, where they would typically be fishing at this time of year. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
HindustanTimes special on the Andaman and Nicobar Islanders
Tuesday, January 04, 2005, 15:56
Tsunami could be the final blow to already endangered tribes
MSNBC
Anthropologists worry that the tsunami could be the final blow to some cultures that were already thought to be endangered.
“My suspicion is that we may be seeing … perhaps as many as three or four different nations (specific indigenous populations) that would be completely wiped out,” says Dr. Rudolph Ryser, chairman of the U.S.-based Center for World Indigenous Studies.
He notes that tiny islands that dot the west coast of Sumatra and the east coast of India are so close to the epicenter of the earthquake that they would have been hit within minutes. Many have no high ground to provide refuge. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Experts sail in search of lost tribes (Times of India)
Indian authorities search for aboriginal tribe on remote islands (ABC News Online)
Anthropologists to make on-the-spot assessment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India Daily)
Tsunami threatens survival of Indian tribes (Reuters)
Sunday, December 19, 2004, 22:14
Christmas Break
antropologi.info takes a break and will be back in the beginning of January 2005. God jul og godt nytt år! (as one says in Norwegian...)
Sunday, December 19, 2004, 21:54
Eating Christmas in the Kalahari
Richard B. Lee, Natural History, December 1969
“Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay Lee was published in the December 1969 issue of Natural History. It is one of the’s most frequently reprinted stories. In the final paragraph, Lee wondered what the future would hold for the !Kung Bushmen with whom he had shared a memorable Christmas feast. The University of Toronto anthropologist now answers that question, in a postscript to his original article. >> continue
Saturday, December 18, 2004, 08:00
Mobile phone company Vodafone gets inspired by traditional Kula exchange system
New Scientist
Every year, the people of the Trobriand Islands in the Solomon Sea off Papua New Guinea exchange ornamental seashell armbands and necklaces. It is a social ritual that according to Malinowski cements social bonds between fishing communities. Strange as it may seem, this tradition has inspired a recent new service from communications company Vodafone.
Anthropologist Richard Harper has been working for Vodafone in the UK since 2003, where he has adapted kula-style gift-giving rules to encourage social bonding among groups of people in phone-texting networks. Under his guidance, Vodafone has launched its Postcard service. You send an MMS picture-and-text message to Vodafone, who will print it as a postcard and mail it to whomever you want. Like the islanders' gifts, Vodafone's postcards are permanent - unlike text messages.
The idea is that the recipient will then want to send a postcard of their own, perhaps to a third party, and so draw more subscribers into the network. Exchanging more valuable artefacts, such as music or video files, may be next. >> continue
(link via Purse Lip Square)
READ ALSO
>> Interesting critical comment by anthropologist Alex Golub
Friday, December 17, 2004, 08:05
Illustrates the history of ethnic groups in Russia with exhibition of trousers
BBC News
St Petersburg's Museum of Ethnography has decided to illustrate the history of ethnic groups living in Russia with an exhibition of trousers worn as part of their traditional costumes.
On display there are 70 pairs of trousers representing Turkic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic groups who inhabit the area from the Baltic Sea to the southern Urals.
The style of trousers reflects the environment people lived in and their daily routine, so they tell you more about the given culture than, say, a jacket or hat that often serve decorative rather than practical purposes, says the curator, Yelena Kolchina >> continue
Thursday, December 16, 2004, 21:47
Student Conference on Forced Migration - Papers available online
SEEKING REFUGE, SEEKING RIGHTS, SEEKING A FUTURE 3rd Annual International Forced Migration Student Conference will take place 13-14 May 2005, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford (UK) >> continue
Four of this year's conference papers are available online
Liana Lewis (Nottingham Trent University):
“What is to be a Refugee (and) Child in the Island? How do Refugee Children experience their lives in the 21st Century England.”
Anastasia Dimitriadou (The Institute of Education, London):
“An exploration of refugees’ experiences as English language students in Further education colleges.”
Nida Bikmen (University of New York):
“Memories of homeland, residues of ethnic violence. How different discourses about the history of ethnic relations in Bosnia affect interethnic attitudes and contacts in exile.”
Alexander Betts (Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University)
“The International Relations of the 'New' Extra-Territorial Approaches to Refugee Protection: Explaining the Policy Initiatives of the UK Government and UNHCR.”
>> continue
Thursday, December 16, 2004, 08:28
Men Face New Role in Society - Interview with anthropologists
NPR (Radio)
In the third and final part of his series, NPR's Joe Palca talks to two anthropologists about how men are coping with changes in modern society and whether they're sliding down the social ladder as women make their way up. >> continue
Monday, December 13, 2004, 12:17
Anthropological film: How technology helps men with physical handicaps
One more film to be viewed on the website of Visual Anthropology in Tromsø/Norway - Independent by Espen Marius Foss:
"This story is about two young Norwegian men with physical handicaps who seek the good life in a technological world. Dagfinn runs his own computer-enterprise, but dreams about a job in a bigger company. Geir Ove has a sound assistance-system, but lacks necessary aids to write another novel.
The film addresses the new possibilities and limits for participation and creative existence within the "Information Society". It also questions our craving for individual independency." >> continue and watch the video (Broadband only
SEE ALSO:
More anthropological Films online
Saturday, December 11, 2004, 16:00
The Vulgar Spirit of Blogging - ethnographic study of Persian-language weblogs
Alireza Doostdar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, American Anthropologist
This article is an ethnographic study of Persian-language weblogs (blogs), focusing on a divisive argument among Iranian bloggers that came to be known as the "vulgarity debate."
Sparked by a controversial blogger who ridiculed assertions that Islam was compatible with human rights, the debate revolved around the claim that biogging had a "vulgar spirit" that made it easy for everything from standards of writing to principles of logical reasoning to be undermined. >> continue (pdf)
(via Global Voices)
SEE ALSO:
Alireza Doostdar's old blog
Judd Antin's (TechnoTaste) comments
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