Europe | antropologi.info

New Eurozine issue on Politics of border making and (cross-)border identities

Published on May 3, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, cosmopolitanism, Europe, globalisation, Us and Them

Eurozine is a netmagazine that publishes both own texts and articles previously published in European magazines. Their new “focal point” looks very interesting. From their introduction: “Have borders become irrelevant with the project of a united Europe, which is supposed to overcome the historical divisions of the continent and the political isolation of its East? No, just the opposite. Essayists and researchers look at the dilemmas of border building and cross-border cooperation in the EU and its neighborhood. >> continue (link updated)

Eurozine is a netmagazine that publishes both own texts and articles previously published in European magazines. Their new "focal point" looks very interesting. From their introduction: "Have borders become irrelevant with the project of a united Europe, which is supposed…

Anthropologist: Europe Should Face Itself in Turkey’s Mirror

Published on April 27, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Europe, religion cosmology, Us and Them

Zaman Daily Newspaper

At this time of the season, purple flowers bloom more fully in all corners of the Bosphorous, and purple clusters, enchanted because spring is coming at full speed, twine around. Being in Istanbul is a privilege under the shadow of purple clusters. Philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist Edgar Morin, was in Istanbul last weekend. Morin says, “Love is part of a life poem,” and he himself has proven the fact that if one does not know anything about poems, he/she cannot be a scientist.

“Despite all efforts by intolerant Europeans, Turks climb a 200-meter hill on the way to Saint George Orthodox Church in Istanbul, together with Christians and Muslims. It is not our duty to judge the people’s beliefs here, but the ability to pray side by side and the fraternity among nations. Europeans are not very familiar with this ability. They have been after sharing since the beginning of the 19th century. They do not see the “people” around but only race, religion and discrimination. Europeans, who are busy setting double standard snares, are now lagging far behind the idea of humanism”, Morin says. >> continue

Zaman Daily Newspaper

The power of dead bodies in Eastern Europe

Published on March 20, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, Europe, politics

The Oberlin Review

“Dead bodies have enjoyed political life the world over,” said anthropologist Katherine Verdery on Monday. She did not, however, mean this literally. Verdery’s lecture, appropriately called “The Political Lives of Dead Bodies” after the title of her new book, aimed to explore the tremendous changes across Eastern Europe that accompanied the end of Communist rule. By studying the dead for political purposes, Verdery hopes to gain better understanding of these changes and their impacts. >> continue

SEE ALSO:
Book review: The Political Lives of Dead Bodies Reburial and Postsocialist Change by Katherine Verdery (Commonweal, June 4, 1999 / findarticles.com)

The Oberlin Review

Beyond Ethnic Boundaries? Anthropological study on British Asian Cosmopolitans

Published on February 25, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, cosmopolitanism, Europe, fieldwork / methods, Us and Them, youth

Anthropologist Cicilie Fagerlid (University of Oslo) has recently published her thesis about young British Asians on the web. In her introduction, she writes:

“Society cannot remain a society if people feel excluded on basis of what characterises them as a category. The imagined category Britishness must not exclude the imagined category Asianness. How is the interface between recognition for difference, societal belonging and individual freedom played out?

This thesis is based on 11 months fieldwork among, roughly, 30 British Asians, aged 20 to 30, in London in 1999. With the anthropological focus on the micro level, on the experiences of socially and culturally embedded individuals, I hope to show how Britain, step by step, is moving in the direction of a cosmopolitan society.

By focusing on the individual negotiation, the diversity that appears indicates that their British Asianness can be contained by neither an old idea of Britishness nor essential traits of Asianness.”

>> download the thesis (459 kb, pdf) (updated with copy)

Anthropologist Cicilie Fagerlid (University of Oslo) has recently published her thesis about young British Asians on the web. In her introduction, she writes:

"Society cannot remain a society if people feel excluded on basis of what characterises them as a category.…

What does it mean to be Muslim in a secular society? Anthropologist thinks ahead

Published on February 20, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, Europe, migration, religion cosmology, Us and Them

The Daily Star Lebanon

Dounia Bouzar, an anthropologist and educator, spent two years working with 12 Muslim associations in France studying the different ways young Muslims approach their daily life. Her newest book, “Monsieur Islam n’existe pas; Pour une desislamisation des debats” (Mr. Islam doesn’t exist; de-islamisizing the discussions), is one of several publications just out in France that examine “la France Musulmane,” or Muslim France. Part of the goal in her new book is to show just how diverse the community is.

Discrimination is still a big problem in France and Bouzar feels it’s important to look for the reasons why a percentage of young Muslims feel the need to look abroad for guidance – a relatively new phenomenon. >> continue (link updated)

The Daily Star Lebanon