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Umbenenung: “Institut für populäre Kulturen” statt “Volkskundliches Seminar”

Published on July 27, 2006 by lorenz Posted in Ethnologie allgemein, Ethnologie Sozialanthropologie Kulturanthropologie

Ethnologie statt Voelkerkunde. Sozial-/Kulturanthropologie statt Ethnologie. Namensaenderungen widerspiegeln Aenderungen im Fach. Nun hat sich auch das “Volkskundliche Seminar” an der Uni Zuerich umbenannt und heisst nun “Institut für Populäre Kulturen“.

Ueli Gyr, Leiter des Institutes, und Ingrid Tomkowiak, Leiterin der Abteilung Populäre Literaturen und Medien, erklaeren im Uniblatt uniforum die Gruende fuer den Namenswechsel:

Ende der 1960er Jahren setzte im deutschsprachigen Raum eine grosse Debatte über den Namen des Faches ein. Man war sich einig, dass der Begriff «Volk» ungenau und ideologieanfällig ist. Er war nicht zuletzt im Nationalsozialismus für politische Propaganda missbraucht worden.
(…)
Die damalige Volkskunde betrachtete das «Volk» als eine organisch gewachsene, homogene Einheit, die gleichsam aus sich selbst heraus kulturelle Phänomene wie beispielsweise Märchen und Bräuche hervorbringt. Diese Vorstellung ist so nicht haltbar, hielt man damals fest. Die Alltagskultur wächst nicht nur von «unten», sondern entsteht durch vielerlei gesellschaftliche Impulse und wird beispielsweise auch von der Kulturindustrie geprägt. Dementsprechend begann auch die Volkskunde in der Schweiz ihren Gegenstand komplexer und breiter zu definieren und verstand sich fortan als Kulturwissenschaft.

Mit dem Namenswechsel hat es offenbar eine Weile gedauert. Die Zeit sei nicht reif für einen solchen Schritt gewesen.

Interessant: Der Namenswechsel hat das Fach in die Oeffentlichkeit gebracht und wird auch von den Medien ernster genommen:

Seit wir Institut für Populäre Kulturen heissen, bekommen wir auch Medienanfragen rund um Bestseller in Literatur und Film oder anlässlich der Fussball-WM zum Beispiel zum Gebrauch der nationalen Farben im Alltag. Obwohl wir durchaus auch Brauchforschung betreiben, freut es uns natürlich, dass wir nun vermehrt als Fach mit einer breiten kulturwissenschaftlichen Ausrichtung wahrgenommen werden.

>> zum Interview in Unipublic

PS: In Basel heisst die Volkskunde seit einem knappen Jahr “Seminar für Kulturwissenschaft und Europäische Ethnologie”.

Ethnologie statt Voelkerkunde. Sozial-/Kulturanthropologie statt Ethnologie. Namensaenderungen widerspiegeln Aenderungen im Fach. Nun hat sich auch das "Volkskundliche Seminar" an der Uni Zuerich umbenannt und heisst nun "Institut für Populäre Kulturen".

Ueli Gyr, Leiter des Institutes, und Ingrid Tomkowiak, Leiterin der Abteilung…

Sosiologiens blendende hvithet

Published on July 24, 2006 by lorenz Posted in antropologi allment, globalisering transnajonalt, individ og samfunn, master-/ hovedoppgaver, modernitet, sosialantropologi i Norge, Sverige og Danmark, vi og de andre

Sosiolog Ida Hjelde etterlyser i en fersk masteroppgave globale perspektiver innen sosiologien, melder nettstedet Kilden. Ved hjelp av postkolonial og feministisk teori har hun synliggjort sosiologiens blendende hvithet:

– Jeg mener at god sosiologi konsekvent må operere med en global referanseramme for analyse. Dette er en forutsetning for å kunne se når, og i hvilken grad, globale relasjoner er relevant for å forstå et lokalt fenomen. Det er et paradoks når viktige internasjonale handelsavtaler som WTO og GATS ikke kommer inn i analysen av det norske samfunnet og at global ulikhet ikke blir behandlet i et masterkurs om ulikhet.

På samme måte som kjønn ble kjempet fram som et sentralt perspektiv i sosiologien må de globale maktrelasjonene som vestlige samfunn er en del av bli en naturlig del av sosiologien!

Hjelde har studert sosiologi både ved Det amerikanske universitet i Kairo og Universitet i Oslo. Der oppdaget hun dramatiske forskjeller:

– Det postkoloniale perspektivet var en selvfølge på universitet i Egypt, mens jeg med min norske utdanning knapt visste hva det var, sier Hjelde. Med postkolonial teori mener hun teorier som ser på maktforholdet mellom tideligere kolonier og kolonimakter, og hvordan maktforholdet videreføres og legitimeres selv kolonitida er over.

Ubehaget og undringen over forskjellene fikk henne til å skrive denne oppgaven. Hun har brukt empiriske eksempler fra to kurs ved Universitetet i Oslo, Sosiologiens klassikere på bachelornivå og Ulikhet: Klasse, kjønn og etnisitet på masternivå. Hjelde mener sosiologien konstruerer et syn på det moderne som er ensbetydende med vestlige samfunn og at vestlige samfunn kan forstås bare ut fra seg selv, utenfor et globalt rammeverk.

Som positivt eksempel trekker hun fram May-Len Skilbrei, Marianne Tveit og Anette Brunovskis studie av nigerianske prostituerte, leser vi:

De har studert de konkrete erfaringene og reiserutene til de nigerianske prostituerte. På grunn av stengte grenser må disse kvinnene betale i dyre dommer for å komme til Europa, og ender dermed i et avhengighetsforhold til bakmenn som de skylder penger.

– De tar utgangspunkt i konkrete erfaringer og setter dem inn i en global kontekst, og da blir virkelighetsbeskrivelsen helt annerledes enn hvis hun hadde tatt utgangspunkt i prostitusjon som et ordensproblem, sier Hjelde.

>> les hele saken på Kilden

>> last ned hele oppgaven

Det ville være interessant å undersøke eurosentrismen i antropologien. Kan Hjeldes funn overføres til vårt fag? På et seminar sa Ida Hjelde at det ikke går an å snakke om at vi lever i et postindustrielt samfunn når industrien lever i beste velgående – i lavkostland. Dette er påstander som også sirkulerer innenfor antropologien. Thorgeir Kolsrud avslørte eurosentrisme i antropologiens bruk av begrepet modernitet. >> les “Modernitet” ødelegger antropologien

SE OGSÅ:

Rethinking Nordic Colonialism! Nordisk kolonialhistorie fram fra glemselen

- Jeg mener at god sosiologi konsekvent må operere med en global referanseramme…

Participant rather than client – anthropologist studies new refugee integration programme

Published on July 24, 2006 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Europe, fieldwork / methods, journal articles / papers, migration, Us and Them

Refugees are no longer treated as clients but as ‘participants’. They no longer receive social benefits but a salary for learning Norwegian and jobtraining. All recognised refugees in Norway have ‘the right and duty’ to attend a two year full-day Introductory Programme. Anthropologist Oddveig Nygård did fieldwork in one of these introductury centers in a small town in Western Norway.

She found that the new program on the one hand had positive effects on the relationship between refugees and the caseworkers – partly because the introductory programme allows the caseworkers to focus on other things than merely payment of benefits:

The fairly cold and bureaucratic environment of the social security office, in which the caseworkers are placed behind their desks and the refugees come to receive their social benefits, now belongs to the past. Instead, the refugees daily attend a centre where they see the caseworkers on a frequent basis. (…) The new framework has created a better basis to see the individual behind the refugee label and to obtain a more contextual image of the client. (…) The frequent encounters in more than just one setting have led to a more subtle relation between the two parties.

But the closer relationship between caseworkers and refugees creates ambiguity. There is a short step to the caseworkers being conceived of as a helper or a provider. Careworkers have to balance between care and control:

My study demonstrates how the motivation/sanction intersection of the introductory programme involves an element of control. Yet, the authority role tends to be diverted by the ‘fellow-being’ as they seem to have some empathy for the participant and his personal situation.

A drawback of the program is its focus on future planning and job acquirement, she writes. The role refugees seem most familiar with and accustomed to is the student role:

The majority of the refugee informants said they found it somewhat difficult to plan their future. (…) The main reason seems to be an expressed scepticism towards what they regard as limited job opportunities. (…) Several referred to their poor chances of getting a desirable job because they were ‘foreigners’, and some pointed to how even Norwegians face difficulties on the current labour market. Other spoke with resignation of the long process it would take to complete possible re-training and higher education. (…) As a result, the vagueness of the future planner role is likely to curb the overall role as ‘the active participant’.

She also describes her research process. As often the case, the anthropologist’s role is unclear to people in the field:

My mingling with both the caseworkers and the refugees certainly involved some challenges, probably causing some confusion as to “where I actually belonged”. I attempted to balance my involvement with the two groups by spending most time with the caseworkers during the refugees’ daily classes, and socialising with the refugees before and after classes, and in their lunch breaks. As a result, I sometimes had an unusual feeling of being a ‘social butterfly’ trying to be everyone’s ‘friend’.

At the same time, I may have been perceived as a somewhat curious element, primarily among the refugees, in the sense that that I was a young woman apparently having lots of time, and being more than willing to talk to people. I believe my relatively young age and my perceived student role may have made me less “threatening” and arguably made it easier to get in contact with people.

>> read the whole paper by Oddveig Nygård: “Between care and control: Interaction between refugees and caseworkers within the Norwegian” (pdf) (Working paper 32, Sussex Centre for Migration Research)

Refugees are no longer treated as clients but as 'participants'. They no longer receive social benefits but a salary for learning Norwegian and jobtraining. All recognised refugees in Norway have 'the right and duty' to attend a two year full-day…

Anthropologists on the Israel-Lebanon conflict

Published on July 23, 2006 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, Middle East, politics, Us and Them

(post in progress) “Strangely, you rarely see anthropologists on the front lines at times like these”, anthropologist Maria Teasdale Brodine wrote at anthropology.net on the war in Lebanon nine days ago:

It seems that anthropologists might have the tools to go into a place like this and help opposing sides understand one another. After all, being a cultural anthropologist takes both a lot of diplomatic skill, and being able to respect and attempt to represent the people you’re working with.

Since then, some (not many, though!) anthropologists have raised their voice or have been asked to do so by journalists.

Gabriele Marranci, lecturer in the Anthropology of Religion, is one of the authors at the anthropology blog on the Middle East called Tabsir. He makes some comments that are typical for anthropologists (in a positive sense – in my view):

First, it is important to deconstruct one point. “Israel is not ‘the Jew’”, my very religious Rabbi friend repeated again and again to me. I have no problem to believe him: a state cannot be a person or represent what today is a very heterogenic faith: Judaism. (…) Zionism is not Israel; leave aside ‘the Jew’. An ideology can help to build a state, but a state cannot be an ideology, leave aside the personification of a person, ‘the Jew’.

Hence, to really understand what is happening today (…) means to stop observing the antithesis (terrorist vs. non-terrorist, axis of evil vs. axis of good, pro-Israeli vs. anti-Israeli and so on) and focus on more complex macrostructures.

He goes on and explains his thesis: “We are witnessing this carnage because of secularism in action.”

>> read the whole post: Secularism in action?

Also on Tabsir, anthropologist Daniel Martin Varisco commented several news reports f.ex in the posts The Lobby and Lebanon and Impudence, Impotence and Impunity where he comments an “fascinating article” Indonesia and Malaysia Ready to Send Troops to Mid-East:

Those who are informed by the likes of Daniel Pipes, Bernard Lewis or Sam Huntington would assume that the headline refers to the readiness of the Muslim nations to go fight jihad in support of the Hezbollah. And they would be WRONG! Instead the article talks about how these nations are encouraging the UN Security council to take quick action to end the active fighting and to establish a peacekeeping force. And when that peacekeeping force is established, they will send troops. If we really were locked in a Clash of Civilization, at this point, Hezbollah would be receiving reinforcements from all over the Islamic world.

>> read the whole post: Indonesia, Malaysia Ready to Send Troops

William Anthropologist O. Beeman, explains in an article at New American Media why Iran could play a role in bringing about peace”. Last month, the anthropology professor of Brown University has started blogging >> visit his blog “Culture and International Affairs”

A similar point is made by political scientist Bahman Baktiari and anthropologist Augustus Richard Norton. They argue that “the latest Middle East war underlines the need for an effective structure for dialogue, even with adversaries like Iran” >> read the whole text: Beyond the war in Lebanon. Norten is also interviewed in the Harpers Magazine

There are lots of stories about people escaping from Lebanon. Among them, of course, are anthropologists, f.ex. Rosemary Sayigh. Maybe also typical for anthropologists, she says, she “would not have left had it not been for pressure from her children”:

I’ve never left in any war before. I’ve lived in Lebanon for 50 years, we’ve had a lot of war in that time, and I’ve stayed usually. (But) they said that they would worry too much about me. And I’ve been planning to come to Cyprus for a holiday, so I thought I’d take it now instead of later, and rationalise it that way.

>> read the whole BBC story “Safe in Cyprus, worried about home”

Efstratios Sourlagas another tough anthropologist. He has no plans to postpone his fieldwork on Greek Orthodox communities in Beirut, he says:

I think it’s important to do my research here and I guess, when I decided to come here to do research, I knew perfectly well … the history of the place and the conditions of being here. I’m not going to be intimidated by the attacks.

>> read the whole story: Princeton students are caught in hiatus

At Electronic Lebanon, Sourlagas tells us more about doing fieldwork in this situation – and his doubts:

I came to Lebanon two weeks ago to start my own fieldwork, slightly optimistic that having being before in the region and country several times, feeling as a Greek more at home here with the way of life than in the US where I spent the last three years, possessing a knowledge of Arabic (admittedly poor as it is), and especially my girlfriend being Lebanese, I would not face such problems. (…) However, I find myself now feeling helpless and questioning the purpose and the feasibility of my research here one day after the first Greek nationals have been evacuated from Lebanon via Damascus.

The infrastructure is destroyed, but…

…what leaves one feeling much more helpless and angry is that mainly civilians have to bear the onslaught of the Israeli army (many times with their own lives) as it ushers in its familiar tactic of collective punishment as a response to the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah.
(…)
How this scene of eerie quietness contrasted with the noises of thousands of Lebanese taking to the streets of downtown Beirut honking in their cars and waving Italian (and Brazilian!) flags in celebration after the World Cup Final just a few days ago!

>> read the whole story: Personal Thoughts From A Besieged Country

For more comments see Proxy War by Kevin Friedman and A protracted colonial war by Erkan Saka.

UPDATE 2 (8.8.06):

Hizballah: A primer by Lara Deeb, cultural anthropologist

Several new posts on Lebanon at Tabsir

UPDATE:
GlobalVoices analyses / sums up some interesting coverage by bloggers from Lebanon and the Middle East >> read Globalvoices: Lebanon Resistance & Unity

Book review: Ethnography in Unstable Places: Everyday Lives in Contexts of Dramatic Political Change (American Ethnologist)

Do anthropologists have anything relevant to say about human rights?

Live from Gaza: Blogger and journalist Mohammed Omer

(post in progress) "Strangely, you rarely see anthropologists on the front lines at times like these", anthropologist Maria Teasdale Brodine wrote at anthropology.net on the war in Lebanon nine days ago:

It seems that anthropologists might have the tools to…

New blog: Blogging anthropological fieldwork in Brazil

Published on July 21, 2006 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, development empowerment, fieldwork / methods, Latin- and Central America, Us and Them, websites

(via Gumsagumlao.dk) One more Danish anthroblogger: Rune Kier Nielsen is doing research on the black consciousness movement in Brasil. In his first post (three months ago) he writes:

I am writing this blog for me to reflect on an upcomming challenge in my life: Anthropological Fieldwork, and later retrace my path of knowledge. Hopefully the challenge will be met, and maybe, just maybe, this can be of some use to other students of anthropology or related -ologies.

This blog may also be of some interest as to the region of my fieldwork: The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, or the subject of my study: Narrative constructions of race in the black consciousness movement (o movimento negro) and what that path of life offers in opposition to other possibilities.

I’ve just scanned a few entries, but it seems that the blog is a quite detailed and interesting account of his fieldwork.

In his most recent blog post he tells us that he has “come a long way since my initial frustrations with lack of participation and canceling informants”:

The last couple of weeks have been full of participation, the kind I prayed for in Denmark and thought impossible at first in Brazil. The kind of participation where you follow one activist around, from one social setting to the other and watch the changes that occur. Family, friends, parties, hobbies, introductions, trusted conversations and confidence – and all the other stuff.

This has been great and a important part of my study (and I predict, a big part of my final paper), but it cannot be the only part – it cannot stand alone. For this reason I have stepped up my interview activities to widen the study a bit.

Some days ago he wrote enthusiastically:

I praise my decision to do a urban fieldwork. At the moment I don’t know how people can live in a longhouse in a small village on Java for three months without the possibility to withdraw once in a while.

Here, he reflects about having one’s girlfriend in the field: Will she hold you back from full participation? Rather not, it seems:

[Trust] is an important word in Anthropology, especially as the trust people give our discipline rests on the trust we gain from our informants, which in turn rests on the trust we give them, although by no means in a deterministic relation.

When I think back, all the times I have mentioned that my girlfriend was coming to visit, there has been enthusiastic responses. People have liked to talk about it and have expressed (repeatedly) that they would like to meet her. The requests have been more insistent than I would expect from politeness or common curiosity. And maybe this is not so strange.

Anthropologists often are the stranger arriving from some unknown land. (…) The anthropologist is alone! He usually has no family in the field, making him ‘matter out of place’ in a kinship society with strong family solidarity and mutual help. I imagine that here as elsewhere there is a common sensical assumption that if you know someone’s family you can trust them. It is quite common to threaten about ‘telling’ the family (mother, father, brother or sister). Being part of a known family makes you trustworthy and sharing that family with others is a show of trust.

>> visit Rune’s Blog: Blogging anthropological fieldwork in Brazil

(via Gumsagumlao.dk) One more Danish anthroblogger: Rune Kier Nielsen is doing research on the black consciousness movement in Brasil. In his first post (three months ago) he writes:

I am writing this blog for me to reflect on an upcomming challenge…