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Cultural values and the spreading of AIDS in Africa

Published on December 1, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, gender, medical anthropology / ethnobothany

Christian Science Monitor

Awareness levels around the world are higher than they’ve ever been, but so is the pace at which the virus spread, according to the report. The real hurdle, say observers, is translating awareness into behavior change, and the effort often runs up against longstanding and strongly held cultural values.

African men who have become disempowered through a history of colonialism, racism, and poor economic prospects are unwilling to give up the power they hold over women, says Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, head of anthropology at South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“I don’t think we’re putting enough emphasis on changing men’s behavior,” says Ms. Leclerc-Madlala. She says a key solution is for male African leaders – whether politicians, sports figures, or traditional rulers – to take a stand, admit publicly that men’s behavior is a problem, and urge men to change. >> continue

Christian Science Monitor

Awareness levels around the world are higher than they've ever been, but so is the pace at which the virus spread, according to the report. The real hurdle, say observers, is translating awareness into behavior change, and the…

Urban Legends: Do Eskimos really have 100 words for snow?

Published on November 21, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language

i have a phoenix – Reviews by a librarian

Everyone thinks the Eskimos have 100-plus words for snow. Everyone is wrong. They don’t. In the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Pinker writes:

“Where did the myth come from? Not from anyone who has actually studied the Yupik and Inuit-Inupiaq families of polysynthetic languages spoken from Siberia to Greenland. The anthropologist Laura Martin has documented how the story grew like an urban legend, exaggerated with each retelling.”

Later, Pinker quotes linguist Geoffrey Pullum: “Horsebreeders have various names for breeds, sizes, and ages of horses; botanists have names for leaf shapes; interior designers have names for shades of mauve; printers have many different names for fonts…, naturally enough.” >> continue

i have a phoenix - Reviews by a librarian

Everyone thinks the Eskimos have 100-plus words for snow. Everyone is wrong. They don't. In the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Pinker writes:

"Where did the myth come from?…

How far have we come since anthropologists began to think about magic & religion?

Published on November 18, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, persons and theories, religion cosmology

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

Hugh Gusterson, associate professor of anthropology at MIT, Anthropology News (AAA) November

Interview with Sámi musician Mari Boine: Dreams about a world without borders

Published on November 15, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, globalisation, indigenous people / minorities, Saami, Us and Them

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 (updated link)

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…

Modern technology revives traditional languages

Published on November 14, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language, technology

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

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…