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Festivals and Cultural Change in Kathmandu, Nepal

Published on September 6, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, culture traditions, globalisation, migration, religion cosmology

Nepal News

With the increase in the population, Kathmandu valley’s dynamics and structures of population have changed. New migrant families are coming up and the structures of old families are transforming from extended ones to nucleus. The family relation is no more confined to a particular locality and caste as it has become heterogeneous in nature. Many families even have married relations to international families.

Since valley has turned into a metropolitan, one can witness the transformation taking place in our age-old rituals, festivals and cultures. From celebrating rituals to marriage, the valley has seen drastic and dramatic transformation. Traditional systems are fading away and new system is gradually replacing the older one. As usual, Kathmandu valley is embracing change keeping intact its tradition of harmony and accommodation >> continue

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Nepal News

With the increase in the population, Kathmandu valley's dynamics and structures of population have changed. New migrant families are coming up and the structures of old families are transforming from extended ones to nucleus. The family relation is no…

The Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana and The Maithil Brahmans in India

Published on September 4, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, Asia, fieldwork / methods, websites

Two new links, found via Science Blog/ Open Directory Project:

The Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana: Short overview, many links. By John Bock, professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton: “The Okavango Delta of the Republic of Botswana is a large wetland surrounded by the Kalahari desert. The Okavango is a unique ecosystem and has large populations of African mammals, birds, and other animals. Of less interest have been the 100,000 people who call the Delta home. This site is dedicated to the dissemination of information concerning the Okavango Delta People” >> continue

The Maithil Brahmans in India: an online ethnography by Carolyn Brown Heinz, Department of Anthropology California State University, Chico – including fieldnotes and many pictures. Confusing site navigation. >> continue

Two new links, found via Science Blog/ Open Directory Project:

The Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana: Short overview, many links. By John Bock, professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton: "The Okavango Delta of the Republic…

Multiculturalism or anti-racism?

Published on September 3, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, culture traditions, persons and theories, Us and Them

Alana Lentin, Open Democracy

The multiculturalist model that elevates difference to a social principle is under attack. People committed to creating a world of justice and equal rights should not waste time defending it.

Multiculturalism’s exclusive focus on culture can present an apolitical picture of “minority” experience and agency that evades the daily realities of institutionalised racism. This emphasis on culture lies at the heart of the problem of multiculturalism, and – I would argue – makes it an unworthy prize for progressive voices now seeking to reclaim it. >> continue

Alana Lentin, Open Democracy

The multiculturalist model that elevates difference to a social principle is under attack. People committed to creating a world of justice and equal rights should not waste time defending it.

Multiculturalism’s exclusive focus on culture can present an…

Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s september newsletter on immigration issues

Published on September 1, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Europe, migration

Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s homepage

There are, plainly, no good arguments against allowing increased labour migration into European countries. Their labour is needed in our countries with their ageing populations; they enhance and widen the scope of national identities; their remittances help out at home; and their children have opportunities only dreamt about a generation earlier.

The problem for a country like Norway is, therefore, not how to limit the number of asylum-seekers or labour migrants, nor how to mitigate the conflict between immigrants and the domestic working class. The problem consists in attracting professionals. >> continue

Thomas Hylland Eriksen's homepage

Northern Norway’s first ever witch conference

Published on September 1, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Arctic / Northern Regions, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, religion cosmology, Saami, Us and Them

AP / Yahoo News

Nearly 400 years after the worst of the Norwegian witch trials ripped through the area, approximately 100 people have made their way to the small town of Vardoe, just over 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) from the North Pole, for northern Norway’s first ever witch conference.

“When we take the low population of Finnmark (Norway’s northernmost county and home to Vardoe) into consideration, the persecution of accused witches is almost the worst in all of Europe,” Rune Blix Hagen Hagen, historian at the University of Tromsoe, says. Approximately 20 percent of the 138 people convicted of witchcraft in Finnmark county between 1598 and 1692 were Sami.

While the belief in witchcraft and magic may appear firmly lodged in the past, the willingness to participate in witch hunts has not ebbed with the passing centuries, according to social anthropologist Jan Broegger. >> continue

AP / Yahoo News