anthropology in the news | antropologi.info

Gift economies and open source software: Anthropological reflections

Published on April 13, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, cyberanthropology, gift economy gift giving, internet, persons and theories, technology

David Zeitlyn, University of Kent at Canterbury

Building on Eric Raymond’s work this article discusses the motivation and rewards that lead some software engineers to participate in the open source movement. It is suggested that software engineers in the open source movement may have sub-groupings which parallel kinship groups such as lineages. Within such groups gift giving is not necessarily or directly reciprocated, instead members work according to the ‘axiom of kinship amity’ – direct economic calculation is not appropriate within the group. What Bourdieu calls ‘symbolic capital’ can be used to understand how people work in order to enhance the reputation (of themselves and their group). >> continue (pdf) (Link updated 12.4.2021)

(Found in the huge paper collection on Open Source at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Cyberanthropology – links

David Zeitlyn, University of Kent at Canterbury

Korean Artist a Fan of an Ancient Craft

Published on April 13, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, art, Asia, culture traditions

Photojournalist Nayan Sthankiya, OhmyNews

Very little attention in today’s fast-paced society is paid to the history and dedication involved in the production of traditional Korean fans. However, one man in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, continues to keep the art alive in much the same way it was practiced hundreds of years ago. >> continue

Photojournalist Nayan Sthankiya, OhmyNews

Very little attention in today's fast-paced society is paid to the history and dedication involved in the production of traditional Korean fans. However, one man in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, continues to keep the art alive in…

Indigenous Russians Unite Against Oil and Gas Development

Published on April 13, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, culture traditions, development empowerment, ecology nature, indigenous people / minorities

ZNet

Despite their small numbers, the Sakhalin aborigines are standing up to multinational energy companies that are developing oil and gas deposits on the island. On March 25-26, representatives of the Nivkh, Orok, Evenk, and Nanai peoples of Sakhalin held a congress in the town of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Roughly 3,000 indigenous people make up about 0.5 percent of the island’s total population.

The indigenous congress created a council which will represent the island’s indigenous population in negotiations with the oil companies and Russian government authorities. The council will advocate for an ethnographic study to assess the cultural impact of the oil and gas projects on indigenous peoples.

The new Shell pipeline is being constructed over a sacred Nivkh burial ground. The noise from the construction has impacted the caribou population and driven herders away from their traditional grazing grounds. The new Shell drilling platform and the pipeline connecting it to the shore is due to be constructed near the key feeding area of the endangered western pacific gray whale. >> continue

SEE ALSO:
Peoples of the Russian North and Far East (Arctic Circle)

ZNet

Laos: Massive Dam Project Could Backfire

Published on April 11, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, development empowerment, ecology nature, indigenous people / minorities

IPS News

A new dam funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB ) and hailed as a windfall for Laos may end up doing more harm than good to one of the world’s poorest nations and its vulnerable farmers, several independent development groups say. It shows that international financial institutions, spearheaded by the Washington-based World Bank, are paying little regard to indigenous people, the environment or the long-term welfare of the poor nation. This will drastically alter the character of two important rivers, displace thousands of desperately poor residents, and disrupt the livelihoods of tens of thousands more. >> continue

IPS News

A new dam funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB ) and hailed as a windfall for Laos may end up doing more harm than good to one of the world's poorest nations and its…

Enhanced antropologi.info site search / Yahoo! 360º Invites to give away

Published on April 10, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, internal notes

It’s now easier to find older entries and pages. We’re no longer dependent on the atomz free site search. As the maximum number of pages has been exceeded, not all pages were indexed. Now I’ve installed the isearch-search engine. The search is accessible in the menue on the left site of this page and on my anthropology search page.

As some of you might know, Yahoo has launched their social network tool Yahoo! 360º, including blog, photo sharing etc. In order to sign up, you need an invite. I have plenties of invites left, so if somebody is interested, drop a note with your email address and I’ll send you an invite. Use the comment function or the contact form. By the way, I’ve got still lots of gmail invites…

It's now easier to find older entries and pages. We're no longer dependent on the atomz free site search. As the maximum number of pages has been exceeded, not all pages were indexed. Now I've installed the isearch-search engine. The…