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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

Socially conscious hip-hop is worldwide phenomenon

Published on March 13, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, migration, music, politics

Canadian Press

Somali-born rapper K’naan says hip-hop records helped him cope with his country’s civil war, his adolescence as a refugee and his life as an immigrant in North America. “It’s a whole new thing that is happening, even in villages in Africa,” said K’naan, whose music touches on everything from personal empowerment to life in Somalia.

Marc Perry, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois, says despite rap’s commercialization, socially conscious hip-hop is common among immigrants in the West and black populations in such countries as Brazil and South Africa. That’s not surprising given hip-hop’s history, Perry said at a recent symposium at Concordia University called Hip-Hop: Culture of Resistance. >> continue

Canadian Press

Somali-born rapper K'naan says hip-hop records helped him cope with his country's civil war, his adolescence as a refugee and his life as an immigrant in North America. "It's a whole new thing that is happening, even in villages…

Book review: Mahmood Mamdani: "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim"

Published on February 1, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, culture traditions, globalisation, politics, religion cosmology, Us and Them

Media Monitors Network

A valuable new contribution to unearth and interpret America’s bizarre conduct is Mahmood Mamdani’s study “GOOD MUSLIM, BAD MUSLIM”. The author, a distinguished political scientist and anthropologist, explains that the book grew out of a talk at a church in New York after 9/11 when to bear an identifiably Muslim name was to be made aware that Islam had become a political identity in America.

Perhaps the heart of this book can be found in the first chapter titled “Culture Talk; Or How Not To Talk About Islam And Politics”. The author is able to penetrate the limits of conventional discourse on democracy and dictatorship, poverty and wealth and also succeeds in locating “culture” within the chasm of globalisation. >> continue Link updated 29.5.18

SEE ALSO:

Interview with Mahmood Mamdani (Asia Source) Link updated 29.5.18

Media Monitors Network

A valuable new contribution to unearth and interpret America's bizarre conduct is Mahmood Mamdani's study "GOOD MUSLIM, BAD MUSLIM". The author, a distinguished political scientist and anthropologist, explains that the book grew out of a talk at a…

Germans critical of Santa Claus’s spread – “symbol of American commercialism”

Published on December 9, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Europe, politics, religion cosmology, Us and Them

Christian Science Monitor

To many Germans, Santa’s spread is an unwelcome reminder of the encroachment of American commercialism into Europe. “People are starting to become critical of commercialism in every respect,” says Hermann Bausinger, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Tübingen.

“Christmas has switched from being only a celebration within the family and the church to being a public event starting late in November and going on through January,” says Mr. Bausinger.

The problem, as German television celebrity Mr. Hahne sees it, is that American-style Santas are crowding out Saint Nicholas, the traditional Christmas icon of this hilly Germany village named after the 4th-century bishop. “Santa is a symbol of consumption,” Hahne says. “Nicholas was a real bishop [who] taught us what’s still very true today: giving does not make us poorer. It makes us richer.” >> continue

Christian Science Monitor

To many Germans, Santa's spread is an unwelcome reminder of the encroachment of American commercialism into Europe. "People are starting to become critical of commercialism in every respect," says Hermann Bausinger, a cultural anthropologist at the University of…

Applied anthropology – A wedding ceremony in support of peace in West Timor

Published on December 6, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, Asia, culture traditions, politics, Regions, Us and Them

Ingvild Solvang, social anthropologist, Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia (JRS)

JRS Indonesia has experienced that traditional ways to solve issues of displacement can be very fruitful, not only in West Timor but also in other parts of Indonesia. Finding the appropriate traditional approach becomes a process in itself, which ties the refugees and local communities together. It creates an arena where people sit down to discuss values that are essential in their culture.

In the local community, the binding of local tradition is stronger than formal legal documents. That makes the Fetsawa Umamane ceremony, in this case, an important supplement to the legal process. The combination of a formal legal and traditional approach will hopefully lay a solid foundation for good durable solutions for old and new families in Sukabitetek. >> continue

Ingvild Solvang, social anthropologist, Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia (JRS)