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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…

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

Multimedia website on American Indians lives in the 1830s

Published on August 26, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, Native American, websites

Christian Science Monitor

In the 1830s, native Americans from the eastern half of the United States were being “relocated” to the West, while those already in the West were having their last experience with living in a land that was actually under their own control. At the same time, George Catlin, an ex-lawyer from Philadelphia decided to “gain fame” by recording Indian lives and cultures before they were permanently altered by European influences.

Campfire Stories with George Catlin offers both historical and contemporary perspectives on the meetings and conflicts between native and European worlds.

Online for about two years, this multi-award winning site from the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum uses a Flash interface to showcase its collection of Catlin’s paintings. The paintings are presented with historical documents as well as commentary from modern experts on art, culture and anthropology. >> continue

Christian Science Monitor

In the 1830s, native Americans from the eastern half of the United States were being "relocated" to the West, while those already in the West were having their last experience with living in a land that was actually…

Diaspora and Changing Identities: Korean Immigrants Are Not Always from Korea

Published on August 25, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, migration, Northern America, Us and Them

Pacific News Service

LOS ANGELES — Korean voices speaking Spanish, Russian or Portuguese in Los Angeles are those of the invisible immigrants who live among the largest Korean population in the United States. Hailing from places like Argentina, Brazil and Uzbekistan, they are a dispersed people within a community that they don’t always identify with. This Diaspora has challenged notions of what it is to be Korean since its members all have widely varied experiences. >> continue

Pacific News Service

LOS ANGELES -- Korean voices speaking Spanish, Russian or Portuguese in Los Angeles are those of the invisible immigrants who live among the largest Korean population in the United States. Hailing from places like Argentina, Brazil and Uzbekistan,…

The complex relationship between culture and technology

Published on August 23, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, internet, technology

Telepolis

During the 4th conference on “Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication”, Internet researchers from about 30 countries focused on the differences, the potential conflicts and cultural discrepancies in cyberspace understood as a “urban metropolis”.

A special focus was laid on the investigation of the ICT access and usage by indigenous peoples. The ritual collective artwork of Australian aborigines seems to be endangered by a second expropriation in the anonymous global data worlds. On the other hand, a multi-lingual Internet could help to rescue small languages at the edge of extinction to survive in a kind of virtual reservoir.

Especially exciting were those presentations paying attention to alternative forms of Internet usage by the seemingly unprivileged and marginalized cultures. Thus the escape from spatially closed Internet-environments in South America or India underlined the potential creativity of these non-conventional solutions (Rodrigues). >>continue

(via ethno::log)

Telepolis

During the 4th conference on "Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication", Internet researchers from about 30 countries focused on the differences, the potential conflicts and cultural discrepancies in cyberspace understood as a "urban metropolis".

A special focus was laid on the…