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Anthropological film: How technology helps men with physical handicaps

Published on December 13, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, development empowerment, technology, Visual Anthropology

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)

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…

Six professors discuss state of Public Anthropology

Published on November 12, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, development empowerment

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

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More info on this conference

The Tufts Daily

Long battle between Argentine oil company and Ecuadorian indigenous community

Published on November 10, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, development empowerment, ecology nature, indigenous people / minorities, Native American

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

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…

Large Dams In India — Temples Or Burial Grounds?

Published on September 21, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, culture traditions, development empowerment, politics

ZNet India interviews anthropologist Angana Chatterji

One of the most controversial “development projects” in recent years is a series of more than 3,000 dams in India’s Narmada River Valley. These dams flood vast areas and displace hundreds of thousands, mostly peasants and adivasi (tribal) people, while promises of relocation and resources usually prove to be illusory.

– National dreams and global capital have created incredible suffering and destroyed not just human life, not just part of our cultural heritage, but also the natural heritage of the Valley, says Angana Chatterji, a Calcutta-born anthropology professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco It is cruel and criminal.

– We drove to Purni, beyond which the land is engulfed by an infinite stretch of gloomy water. Narmada Sagar exemplifies the violence of nation-making in India today — a demonic, calculated rush for homogenized, unsustainable futures. This is what cultural genocide looks like. >> continueSEE ALSO:
Information about Angana Chatterji incl articles

ZNet India interviews anthropologist Angana Chatterji

One of the most controversial "development projects" in recent years is a series of more than 3,000 dams in India’s Narmada River Valley. These dams flood vast areas and displace hundreds of thousands, mostly peasants…

Poverty and health policies: Listening to the poor in Bangladesh

Published on September 7, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, development empowerment, medical anthropology / ethnobothany, politics, poverty

Medical anthropologist Sabina Faiz Rashid, The Daily Star Bangladesh

The assumption often among policymakers is that mere provision of health services and better choices will improve health of the poor. Universal education in public health and biology and the availability of Western medical care are seen as preferred forms of intervention to improve the health situation of the country. However, throughout my fieldwork, I was confronted by overwhelming structural and social inequalities which have led to high unemployment, crime, widespread substance abuse and the breakdown of family networks and marital relations in slums.

For the poor, health cannot be separated from social and political — economic conditions of everyday life. If we truly want to see improvements in the health of poor women and men in Bangladesh, we need a more radical and broader based approach to health, where social and economic justice need to be an integral part of medicine and public health interventions. >> continue

Medical anthropologist Sabina Faiz Rashid, The Daily Star Bangladesh