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, November 18, 2004, 10:21
AnthroSource - huge anthropological archive online - but useless for non-members
I signed up for a free account at AnthroSource. The self-description sounds good. They encourage you top sign up, but if you're not paying member, you don't have access to any articles. There are no individual subscriptions to AnthroSource. Interested individuals must join the American Anthropological Association.
"Developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), AnthroSource brings 100 years of anthropological material online to scholars and the public, including:
* A complete electronic archive of all AAA journals through 2003
* Seamless access to archival content housed at JSTOR for key AAA publications including American Anthropologist (for AAA members and subscribing institutions)
* Current issues for 11 of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications" >> continue to AnthroSource
Thursday, November 18, 2004, 08:16
How far have we come since anthropologists began to think about magic & religion
Hugh Gusterson, associate professor of anthropology at MIT, Anthropology News (AAA) November
When anthropology was established as a discipline in the early 20th century the relationship between magic, science and religion was one of its central preoccupations. If anthropologists have backstaged these issues in recent decades, today they are more than ripe for revisiting and reworking.
If Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard were alive today, they would surely be intrigued to find that, while Americans often construe their global dominance in terms of their superior science and technology, they also have a president who lists Jesus as his favorite thinker and regards evangelicals as his most important voting bloc.
As an anthropologist of science I am increasingly struck by the way that magic and science, far from being opposites, are increasingly fused at the hip. Technology itself has an aura of infallibility that makes it an instrument of magic. The stakes are bigger and the interventions more expensive, but have we really traveled so far from the complex mixture of paranoia, logic and magic that characterized Evans-Pritchard’s Azande? >> continue
Thursday, November 18, 2004, 08:10
Activist Ethnography: An unconventional look at homelessness
Western Michigan University
The book "Inequality, Poverty and Neoliberal Governance: Activist Ethnography in the Homeless Sheltering Industry" by associate professor of anthropology at Western Michigan University Dr. Vincent Lyon-Callo combines political-economic analysis with the rich detail of ethnographic study to offer a rare view of homelessness and inequality.
"My research looks at the well-meaning practices whereby those in the homeless sheltering industry try to resolve homelessness," Lyon-Callo says. "What I found is that even the best practices are limited when attention is focused on market-based and individualized practices of reform and governance."
"Privatization and deregulation in the name of efficiency and productivity have become the norm. Punishment and imprisonment have replaced many social programs. As a result, Lyon-Callo says, it has become easier to incorrectly view homeless people as deviants and to accept vast social inequality and widespread homelessness. >> continue
Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 22:13
AnthroCommons now Launched! A Virtual Community for the 2004 AAA Annual Meeting
American Anthropological Association
AAA's Annual Meeting is the largest single community gathering of anthropologists each year where anthropologists network, exchange ideas, and develop ways to further our profession.
Now operational, the basic idea of AnthroCommons, is to provide: (1) a single place where Section Presidents can post announcements and information related to the Annual Meeting; and (2) a place where Session Organizers can post papers and related scholarly content; and (3) a place for an ongoing digital discussion forum among members to follow discussion threads on the scholarly program, as well as to allow comments by others. The option for contributors to select "open" Creative Commons copyright licenses can further open doors for information sharing in and beyond our community. >> continue
>> go directly to AnthroCommons
SEE ALSO:
Highlights of the American Anthropological Association's Upcoming Annual Meeting (AAA)
Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 08:18
"Anthropological customer research has become popular for a good reason"
Ross Teague, Manager of Design Reseach and Senior Human Factors, Local Tech Wire
The use of anthropological principles in conducting product and customer research has become very popular of late, and for good reason. Anthropologists can be viewed as the first market researchers, and their discoveries can provide truly actionable learning.
Researchers have typically focused on the method of contextual research – that is, getting out into the customer environments to see how they really work and to interview them in their environments. A method that is often overlooked that can provide valuable insight is key informant interviewing. >> continue
Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 08:10
Race and Early Modern Studies: The Power of an Illusion and Its Genesis
RedNova reviews two books:
Women and Race in Early Modern Texts. By Joyce Green MacDonald. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ix + 188 pages.
English Ethnicity and Race in Early Modern Drama. By Mary Floyd- Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. xii + 256 pages.
"The books reviewed share some noteworthy aspects. Both refuse to focus not only on people of color as raced, but instead analyze the significance of whiteness for cultural and gender identity, and for the development of Britain as a nation. In addition, both demonstrate that aspects of Africa and Africans were purposely forgotten in the early modern period to sustain the development of England as the leader in the slave-trade." >> continue
Monday, November 15, 2004, 19:27
Six Degrees, Helsinki
Europeans romanticize American Indians but they forget that the Sámi are the indigenous people of the northern countries. What do you think about this?
In Norway people began recognising this connection through a continuous stream of information that I was providing. I truly feel that things are happening and changing in Norway that weren’t even considered ten years ago; not only me, but many Sámi artists think the same.
There is some progress, but do you think it is too late for the younger Sámi generation?
Sadly it is too late for the older generation. However, when I see young children studying the Sámi language in school, like my niece, and I hear how rich she speaks it, I know that they don’t carry the same shame that we did.
Would it be possible for Sámi from different countries to have an independent state?
No, that is a dream but, I don’t know... I don’t think it’s realistic. In 100 years it could happen, but also in 100 years there could be no borders at all - that would be even more perfect. >> continue
SEE ALSO
The Sámi of Far Northern Europe
News from Sami Radio in English
Sunday, November 14, 2004, 22:42
Modern technology revives traditional languages
Two articles that both have been published some days ago:
ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology
ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian scientists said on Thursday. In groundbreaking research, the ancient script of Ethiopic, which dates back to the fourth century, has been adapted so it can be used for SMS text messaging.
The scientists believe it will open up the digital age to millions of people in Ethiopia who cannot speak or write English, but use their own centuries-old alphabet. >> continue
Inuit language finds home on net
(BBC News) Browser settings on normal computers have not supported the language to date, but attavik.net has changed that. It provides a content management system that allows native speakers to write, manage documents and offer online payments in the Inuit language.
It could prove a vital tool to keep the language alive in one of the most remote communities on earth. >> continue
SEE ALSO
ImagineNATIVE Film Festival Promotes Indigenous Films, Media (Cultural Survival)
Sunday, November 14, 2004, 18:45
Anthropologist explores the history of the flush toilet - an "icon of modernity"
Francesca Bray, UCSB Department of Anthropology
We live in a "technological age". But which technologies have played the most important roles in producing our modern civilization? Which have most radically transformed our lives? Industrial engineering, the space research program, computers and communications technology? Of course, yet certain unobtrusive everyday technologies have been just as fundamental in producing the modern self: try to imagine your life without the toilet.
The flush toilet (WC) is recognized globally as an icon of modernity. Sometimes aspiring families in poor countries will install a porcelain pedestal in their house as a demonstration of their modern mindset, even if there is as yet no piped water connected to make it work.
Americans believe that American toilets are the best, and that American toilet practices are top of the evolutionary or civilizational scale. This display explores some of the social, cultural and environmental dimensions of American toilet practices >> continue
(Link via Ideas Bazaar)
Friday, November 12, 2004, 10:16
Six professors discuss state of Public Anthropology
The Tufts Daily
Nina Kammerer, David Guss, and Mark Auslander (L-R) were three of the six professors from four different schools engaged in a roundtable discussion over the growing field of Public Anthropology. In her presentation, Wellesley professor Sally Engle Merry pushed for a return of the kind of public intellectual exemplified by Margaret Mead. "Anthropology has been doing much less of that," she said.
Due to their extensive research and connections to the community, anthropologists may be qualified to participate in community decisions. "There's somewhat of a shift between the researcher and the activist, which is interesting and sometimes uncomfortable," Merry said. >> continue
SEE ALSO
More info on this conference
Friday, November 12, 2004, 10:11
Germans as Indians: Ethnographic images explore an unsettling cultural exchange
Boston Globe
Photographers Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, who have work up at the Bernard Toale Gallery, are anthropologists of a sort. They document explosions of one culture within another, which occur through migration, colonialism, but also through odder means, such as appropriation.
They've photographed a town in Washington that sells itself as Bavarian, with chalet-style architecture, signage in a Germanic font, and lederhosen worn during parades -- even though the town has no historic ties to Germany. Their work examines the strange gaps and attractions between societies with a cool, deadpan eye.
That particular interest in German culture shows up in the pair's exhibition at Toale, ''German Indians." Certain people in Germany enjoy dressing up in traditional Native American garb. >> continue
Friday, November 12, 2004, 08:05
Forget suburbia, this is ethnourbia!
space and culture has collected links to a newer phenomenon called "ethnourbia", a term coined in the 1990s by geographer Wei Li:
"Suburbs are bland, right? They’re boring, monotonous, devoid of life and culture: homogeneous. Nope. Suburbia is becoming increasingly diverse. More and more middle-class immigrants are skipping traditional ethnic enclaves and heading straight for the boonies, where strip malls are now filled with ethnic businesses, bubble-tea parlours dot the landscape and schools fill up with kids from any number of different backgrounds. Forget suburbia; this is ethnoburbia."
"Unlike traditional ethnic neighbourhoods, ethnoburbs are affluent and diverse, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups and income levels. Instead of diluting the ethnic presence, the rise of the ethnoburb has actually made ethnic minorities more visible." >> continue
(via purse lip square jaw by Anne Galloway, another blogging anthropologist!)
Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 23:30
Ethnographic study on bloggers in California & New York
Dina Mehta, author of the blog Conversations with Dina, points to a ethnographic study on bloggers. She quotes:
"The bloggers interviewed say their preference for blogging over a web page because it is more dynamic “the rhythm of frequent, usually brief posts, the immediacy of reverse chronological order”, more focused “ the little distraction it provides”. A blog is perceived as a “superior alternative to sending mass emails” because it is freer and less intrusive"
"Bloggers feel they have an audience expecting regular, good postings, and an obligation towards them. Participants speak about feeling burnout, and having stopped blogging for a while."
"The act of writing, as art and craft or as a support for thinking, is also one of the motors of blogging. A last reason for blogging is being part of a community. The publishing process becomes intrinsically collective, as people interact through blogs. "Blogs are natural community tools for people whose practice is to write and comment on the writing of others: researchers, poets, journalists." >> continue
Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 09:04
In Britian: The local pub is the heart of the community
Manchester Online
MOST people believe the local pub is far more important to their community than the church, according to a survey published today. Kate Fox, social anthropologist and co-director of the Social Issues Research Centre, was asked to comment on the findings.
She said: "The survey confirms the status of the pub as a central part of British life and culture, a unique institution, vital for sustaining local communities. The bar of the pub is one of the very few public places in England where it is socially acceptable to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger," she said.
"At the bar, the normal unwritten rules of privacy and reserve are suspended - we are granted temporary `remission' from our conventional social inhibitions, and friendly conversation with strangers is regarded as entirely appropriate and normal behaviour." >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Working out the English - about Kate Fox' book
Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 08:07
Long battle between Argentine oil company and Ecuadorian indigenous community
IPS News
- Buenos Aires has unexpectedly become the new stage for a long-standing battle between an Argentine oil company and an Ecuadorian indigenous community fighting to defend its ancestral land rights in the Amazon rainforest.
Representatives of the Kichwa community of Sarayaku have come to the Argentine capital to call on President Néstor Kirchner to intervene in the conflict. ”Our people's future is threatened. We are living in a constant state of fear,” Marlon Santi, a community leader from Sarayaku, told IPS.
The Ecuadorian government of President Lucio Gutiérrez has now militarised the area in an attempt to ensure that the project goes ahead, claiming that it will bring development and jobs to the region. >> continue
Tuesday, November 09, 2004, 09:39
Businesses, advertising firms turn to commercial ethnography
The Grand Island Independent
Eight O'Clock Coffee Co. wanted its advertising push to hit people right where they live: in their own homes, just waking up in the morning, craving that first cup of coffee. To get the right look, the company turned to an increasingly popular form of research known as commercial ethnography, which combines marketing and the kind of observations done by anthropologists.
Kaplan Thaler's director of strategic planning and research, Chris Wauton, says a milestone in developing commercial ethnography came in 1979 with a book written by anthropologist Mary Douglas and economist Baron Isherwood titled, "The World of Goods: Towards an Anthropology of Consumption." >> continue
Link via Bits and Bytes by Fazia Rizvi who writes:
The (quoted) article goes on to add:
"It was difficult for some in the business world to turn from quantitative, survey type information to qualitative, interpretive research, she said."
This has probably been the biggest hurdle for me to overcome. I have over 15 years of qualitative research experience with people's use of the Internet and Internet technologies. I find my observations and conclusions confirmed and validated over and over again. But managers and executives usually only trust quantitiative data and it's hard to make the argument for directions that are informed by the qualitative approach." >> Bits and Bytes: Businesses Wake Up To Anthropology
Tuesday, November 09, 2004, 08:10
Anthropology in Museums: Not only the authentic should survive
The Australian
Faced with a culture in peril, what is the right thing for a museum to do? Should it take the traditional approach, documenting it so that at least some record exists when it disappears? Or should it involve itself in keeping it alive? Richard Kurin is pushing for the second approach. Trained as an anthropologist, he describes himself as a "culture broker" – someone who develops new and mainstream audiences for diverse cultures.
One of the things that concerns Kurin is that people are being turned into cultural consumers rather than producers. Museums, he says, have to go beyond merely documenting cultures and instead become agents in their protection. Curators should go out and work in communities, involving them and sharing knowledge honestly and openly.
One of the most troublesome words in the debates about intangible heritage is authenticity. Although audiences crave authenticity in the cultural sphere, no one knows quite how to define it. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Richard Kurin: Preserving the magic - cultural heritage (Unesco Courier)
Monday, November 08, 2004, 08:08
Anthropologists at Pitney Bowes seek new product ideas in email communication
AP / The Advocate
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The culture and customs of work are under scrutiny by a pair of anthropologists at Pitney Bowes Inc. trying to improve product designs by watching customers on the job. One prototype Jill Lawrence and Alexandra Mack are helping to develop is a secure mail locker for people frequently on the road.
"It's understanding the work people are actually doing, not what they're saying they do," Mack said. There's a difference between the two, as the anthropologists tell it. They discovered, for example, a group of lawyers who use e-mail to compile lists of projects as much as they use it to communicate electronically, Lawrence said.
Adapting anthropology to industry is becoming more common, said Ghita Levine, spokeswoman for the American Anthropological Association in Arlington, Va. It's helping companies better market their products while boosting interest in the social science. Applied anthropology has grown so fast that in 2002, the anthropological association added it to the basic branches that comprise the discipline, she said. >> continue
Sunday, November 07, 2004, 22:52
AnthroCommons: American Anthropological Association Goes Creative Commons?
AAA News
Professor Rosemary Joyce proposed that the AAA sponsor an online forum whereby session participants could exchange and discuss their organized topics, even if they do not take place in face-to-face meetings at the annunal meeting as originally planned in San Francisco. The AAA Executive Board enthusiastically endorsed the online forum.
All of our efforts to plan and organize the exchange of ideas, and the conduct of Association and Section business, will be available in a central repository for anyone to search and access. This innovative use of digital technology will facilitate professional and scholarly communication both for this and in future years.
The option for contributors to select “open” Creative Commons copyright licenses will further open doors for information sharing in and beyond our community. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
antropologi.info's special on Open Access Anthropology (multilingual)
Sunday, November 07, 2004, 18:50
Book Review: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology
Steven Shaviro, professor in English at Wayne State University
David Graeber's Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology is filled with interesting and provocative ideas. Graeber wants to ally the discipline of anthropology with the anarchist currents that have shown up, most recently, in the anti-globalization movement. Each, he says, has a lot to offer the other.
What anarchism can offer anthropology, according to Graeber, is a way out of academicist impasses, a way that anthropology might change the world, rather than merely interpret it. This is the most upfront side of the book, but also its least convincing one. For I fear that here Graeber overly idealizes academia, and the discipline of anthropology in particular.
Graeber is far more interesting when he writes about what anthropology can offer anarchism. Graeber discusses Marcel Mauss' theory of the gift as an alternative to orthodox economic assumptions about the centrality of markets and "exchange", and Pierre Clastres' arguments about societies that explicitly sought to avoid the formation of a State.
>> continue (Link updated 4.5.05)
NOTE:
Many anthropologists would agree that there is an affinity between anthropology and anarchism and there are many convinced anarchists among anthropologists, but fewer of them might support "resistance against civilization" as the webpage Radical Anthropology calls for. Nevertheless, this website has some interesting articles, like Anthropology and Anarchism by anthropologist Brian Morris at Goldsmiths College, London.
See also another review on Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology in Green Pepper Magazine that among other states that "in the last three decades of the twentieth century, it was the work of Sahlins and other critical anthropologists such as Richard Lee and Pierre Clastres that produced some of the most outstanding changes within anarchist theory."
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