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Anthropology News December: Comparative studies of flood management in neoliberal, social-democratic states needed

Published on December 7, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, ecology nature, journal articles / papers, politics

One month before Katrina resulted in floods in New Orleans, a similar “natural” disaster occurred in Mumbai, India. Judy Whitehead, associate professor at the University of Lethbridge in Canada ~~the United Kingdom~~, has conducted disaster research in partnership with an NGO that brought together organizations working with slum dwellers. In Anthropology News December, she sums up some similarities between the disaster in Mumbai with the Katrina disaster in Florida.

Both disasters reveal “common problems in both neoliberal states’ disaster management”:

States that minimize public safety, leaving “civil society” and the market to meet social needs, may well be ones that are deficient in safety planning and provisioning.

Similarities:

– Like New Orleans, Mumbai has de-industrialized in the past two decades. The city’s textile industry has closed down under competition from the power loom sector.

– Like New Orleans, Mumbai, too, has a vulnerable topography.

– Like New Orleans, the vacuum created by state inaction was filled by the press who excelled in Mumbai in “speaking truth to power.”

Her conclusion:

Since economic reforms were installed in India in 1991, “good governance” has come to mean that state and municipal governments should be pared down, while social services are contracted out to non-governmental organizations. The notion of a state that relies on “civil society” to meet its social programs ignores long-term investment in infrastructure to prevent disasters and long-range planning that focuses on preparedness for the worst-case scenarios.

Comparative studies of flood management in neoliberal, social-democratic states provide important insights in resulting problems in disaster management.

>> read the whole article

When applied anthropology becomes aid – A disaster anthropologist’s thoughts

New website: Understanding Katrina: Perspectives from the Social Sciences

Fired from Yale, anarchist professor points to politics

Published on October 23, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, politics, University / Academia

Well written story in Newsday on anarchist anthropology professor David Graeber who was fired from Yale. He’s described as “one of the brightest minds in his field”, but with his job prospects uncertain, Graeber didn’t renew a lease on his apartment, and splits his time between his New York co-op where he grew u and apartments in New Haven where friends let him sleep. >> read the whole story

UPDATE (8.12.05): Graeber drops appeal, leaves Yale this spring

Solidarity with David Graeber – Webpage

In wake of Graeber uproar, up to six anthropology professors may go

Review of Graeber’s book: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology / download the whole book

Well written story in Newsday on anarchist anthropology professor David Graeber who was fired from Yale. He's described as "one of the brightest minds in his field", but with his job prospects uncertain, Graeber didn't renew a lease on his…

In wake of Graeber uproar, up to six anthropology professors may go

Published on September 26, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, politics, University / Academia

Just months after the Anthropology Department at Yale University voted not to renew sociocultural anthropology professor David Graeber’s contract based on his political views, rumors are swirling that the department may lose as many as six additional professors by the end of the academic year, Yale Daily News reports

SEE ALSO:

Solidarity with David Graeber-Webpage

Review of Graeber’s book: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology / download the whole book

Just months after the Anthropology Department at Yale University voted not to renew sociocultural anthropology professor David Graeber's contract based on his political views, rumors are swirling that the department may lose as many as six additional professors by the…

News on Graeber: Fired anarchist anthropologist appeals decision

Published on September 8, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, persons and theories, politics, University / Academia

Yale anthropologist David Graeber has been recently fired for his anarchist activism. For a long time, there were no news, and the Graeber solidarity blog hasn’t been updated either. Now, Yale Daily News writes that Graeber has formally appealed the decision amid suspicion the denial was based on his political views.

According to Yale policy, Graeber is allowed to remain at Yale for one year to allow time for him to find another job. And this semester, the location of Graeber ‘s lecture course had to be moved to accommodate an unexpectedly high enrollment of about 80 students, Graeber said.

>> read the whole story

SEE ALSO:

While the blog is dead, the Solidarity with David Graeber-Webpage has lots of information

Review of Graeber’s book: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology / download the whole book

Yale anthropologist David Graeber has been recently fired for his anarchist activism. For a long time, there were no news, and the Graeber solidarity blog hasn't been updated either. Now, Yale Daily News writes that Graeber has formally appealed the…

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…