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"Dull anthropology" – Book review: A Society Without Husbands or Fathers

Published on August 28, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, books, gender, persons and theories

“Despite the fascinating content, the book is a methodical anthropological study, and thus heavy going at times. One longs to hear more Na voices, to read more stories of their ways”, David Loftus writes in his review of the book A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China by anthropologist Cai Hua. His critism reminds on debates in the 1980s and 90s (“How could such interesting people (anthropologists) doing such interesting things (fieldwork) produce such dull books?”). While the debate contributed to some more personal ethnographies (personal reflections on fieldwork, multiple voices etc), postmodernism led to some totally unreadable accounts.

The reviewed book is about a matrilineal society where “genetic fathers have no recognized kinship with children, and no part in their upbringing”. Furthermore, “men and women take multiple sex partners. “An attempt to monopolize one’s partner is always considered shameful and stupid,” Cai Hua writes, “and the villagers will mock it for a long time.”

>> read the whole review on blogcritics.org

ON MATRILINEAL SOCIETIES SEE ALSO:

Eggi’s Village. Life Among the Minangkabau of Indonesia (another matrilineal society)

Contemporary matriarchal societies: The Nagovisi, Khasi, Garo, and Machiguenga

Matriarchy: history or reality?

Anthropologists: U.S. Marriage Model Is Not Universal Norm

MORE ON ACADEMIC WRITING:

How To Speak and Write Postmodern

Karla Poewe: Writing Culture and Writing Fieldwork: The Proliferation of Experimental and Experiential Ethnographies

"Despite the fascinating content, the book is a methodical anthropological study, and thus heavy going at times. One longs to hear more Na voices, to read more stories of their ways", David Loftus writes in his review of the…

Book review: Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective

Published on August 28, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, medical anthropology / ethnobothany

In the August 2005 issue of The Australian Journal of Anthropology, Jocelyn Grace reviews the book “Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective” by Ann McElroy and Patricia Townsend. The review is interesting, especially because it addresses differences in regional traditions in anthropology.

The USA might be the only region (or one of the few) in the world where the evolutionary perspective plays a role in anthropology. Nevertheless, the authors claim:

Combined with evolutionary theory and field methodology, medical ecology has provided some key organizing principles for medical anthropology. Although no single approach ‘unites the field’, there is a ‘broad tacit consensus’ that ecology and evolution are core concepts.

Grace writes in her review:

Although this may be the case in the United States, it is certainly not true of medical anthropology in Australia. (…) Given its theoretical orientation, Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective is not a likely choice as a core text for teaching medical anthropology in Australia.

The same could be said about anthropology in Europe.

>> read the whole review

In the August 2005 issue of The Australian Journal of Anthropology, Jocelyn Grace reviews the book "Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective" by Ann McElroy and Patricia Townsend. The review is interesting, especially because it addresses differences in regional traditions…

Taking American Race Relations on the Road…to Africa / Rituals in Ghana / Men and Masculinities in Africa

Published on August 26, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, books, gender, journal articles / papers, Us and Them

The African Studies Quarterly is an Open Access Online Journal for African Studies.

In their recent issue there’s an article by anthropologist Rebecca Gearhart on Taking American Race Relations on the Road…to Africa:

“As an anthropologist who leads undergraduates to East Africa, I am in hot pursuit of a way to help my students avoid taking the particular way in which Americans understand race with them to Africa. So far, I have been unsuccessful in prying my students loose from the color-coded framework that has organized race relations for them throughout their lives. American notions of race often become obstacles to understanding how social relationships are negotiated outside of the American context. (…) Social relationships in Kenya are not defined by skin color the way they are in America. From a Kenyan perspective, “race” might be translated as: cultural heritage, first language, home district, family name, profession, and/or ethnic affiliation.”

>> continue

Their recent issue has lots of interesting book reviews, among others Joseph Adjaye’s ethnography “Boundaries of Self and Other in Ghanaian Popular Culture”. Adjaye studies his own society:

Joseph Adjaye offers us an inspiring ethnography of several rituals among the Akan, Krobo, and Bono in Ghana. The book offers a vivid impression of the (post)colonial transformations of libations, funerals, naming ceremonies, female initiation practices and two festivals (Bakatue and Apoo), which the author tries to explain by using and refining different theoretical approaches. The strength of this book is situated in the author’s personal experiences. As the eldest son in an Akan family, he has to take up specific rules during rituals.

>> continue

Another book review: Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa. Edited by Lisa A. Lindsay and Stephan F. Miescher:

“This book is the first collection of its kind to focus on the practices of masculinities especially in West Africa. Covering early colonial period through post-independence, the editors and contributors discuss how masculinities have been constructed and contested in sub-Saharan Africa. The book challenges stereotypes of African men as inferior and victims of colonialism.”

>> continue

The African Studies Quarterly is an Open Access Online Journal for African Studies.

In their recent issue there's an article by anthropologist Rebecca Gearhart on Taking American Race Relations on the Road...to Africa:

"As an anthropologist who leads undergraduates to East…

The Corporate Anthropology Center?

Published on August 19, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, corporate & business anthropology, websites

Has anybody heard of the “Corporate Anthropology Center”? “The Global Hub for Cultural Business Anthropology”? They offer “Training and Certification – Consumer Research and Database – IntraCorporate Services – Competition Analysis” etc (extremly business-like rhetoric!).

They claim to have been in business since 1979, but a google-search returns no results, the website seems to be new, lacks a title and looks quite unprofessional (one page with lots of text, no menue). The domain was registred only one month ago and is owned by Sally Austin.

>> continue to Corporate Anthropology Center

Has anybody heard of the "Corporate Anthropology Center"? "The Global Hub for Cultural Business Anthropology"? They offer "Training and Certification - Consumer Research and Database - IntraCorporate Services - Competition Analysis" etc (extremly business-like rhetoric!).

They claim to have been…

Christopher Kaplonski’s website on Anthropology of Mongolia

Published on August 19, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, Asia, fieldwork / methods, politics, websites

You can download several articles and papers on Anthropology of Mongolia on Christopher Kaplonski’s website. He is currently doing research on concepts of democracy in Mongolia and political Violence and its legacy.

He writes:

Among other things, I have looked at how different political parties confronted the issue of rehabilitation and compensation for the victims of political repression. Exactly who is a victim and who is not a victim raises important questions about identity and politics. Given the importance of this category to work on human rights, reconciliation, truth commissions and memory studies, it intrigues and puzzles me that it has been left almost completely unexamined in existing research. I thus see an integral part of this larger project on political violence being the problematization of the label of “victim.”

(…)

It is very interesting and important to me that any discussion of the concept of democracy that I’ve read in Mongolian explains the concept in terms of its Greek origins and Western theories. As an anthropologist, I’m pretty convinced that this is not the most useful approach. Rather, I think it is important not to just to look at how people respond to surveys, or understand European and American political theory but how they actually talk and act in different situations. My current thinking is that in many ways, the textbook definition of democracy is irrelevant in the daily life of people. People seem to be thinking of democracy as a form of ‘anti-socialism.’

>> read more on his website

The layout is clean and friendly, but the navigation is quite confusing. Here some shortcuts:

>> conference papers to download

>> more articles to download

>> section about Mongolia incl lots of pictures

>> his general section on anthropology, fieldwork and data-analysis

You can download several articles and papers on Anthropology of Mongolia on Christopher Kaplonski's website. He is currently doing research on concepts of democracy in Mongolia and political Violence and its legacy.

He writes:

Among other things, I have looked…