This dissertation investigates how residents of Gdańsk, Poland, create alternative social networks centred around collective food procurement (CFP). My research highlights the tension between these... Show moreThis dissertation investigates how residents of Gdańsk, Poland, create alternative social networks centred around collective food procurement (CFP). My research highlights the tension between these grassroots initiatives and the broader neoliberal economy, demonstrating how these groups navigate and redefine their cultural identity. This dissertation contributes to the discussion on contemporary Poland from the perspective of active citizens, meaning those who engage in the social, economic, and architectural aspects of city life. I specifically explore how trust and participation are cultivated within these networks amidst urban (re)development and processes of gentrification.The key themes of my dissertation include: the dynamics of urban agriculture, the transformation of traditional food markets, the role of vegan food communities in fostering inclusivity and political expression, the resurgence of fermentation practices as a critique of the industrial food systems, and the evolving role of women in CFP networks.I also challenge the conventional view of Poland as a ‘post-socialist’ state, arguing instead that Poland is a country ‘in transformation’, shaped by ongoing global influences and local traditions. My research critiques the continued use of post-socialism as an analytical framework, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of Poland’s socio-political evolution. This dissertation offers a complex and hopeful image of contemporary Poland, emphasizing the role of inclusive spaces and solidarity networks in fostering social participation and addressing the needs of marginalized groups. Show less
In the 19th century an African possession cult called zār arrived in Egypt and became hugely popular. Jewellery formed an integral part of this cult. Currently, zār jewellery items are sought-after... Show moreIn the 19th century an African possession cult called zār arrived in Egypt and became hugely popular. Jewellery formed an integral part of this cult. Currently, zār jewellery items are sought-after collectors’ items for both private collectors and museums. Silver of the Possessed places jewellery of the Egyptian zār in its cultural and historical context and addresses Egyptian zār jewellery from multiple angles. First, it analyses how our current understanding of this jewellery has evolved through collecting and publishing. Examining its cultural background in African possession cults results in a new insight of the many roles jewellery played in zār, observing jewellery as a financial asset allows us to grasp its implications for household economy dynamics, while looking at jewellery in a diachronic perspective may even reveal changes in the ritual itself. Finally, this study explores its potential as an actual historic source: these jewellery items shed light on the world view of their wearers, and as such form an unexpected additional source for late 19th and early 20th century Egypt. Show less
This photo-ethnography explores traces of war in Burundi. Bringing into view young people of Burundian heritage in Belgium and the Netherlands, the book reveals how war and (lost) homes reverberate... Show moreThis photo-ethnography explores traces of war in Burundi. Bringing into view young people of Burundian heritage in Belgium and the Netherlands, the book reveals how war and (lost) homes reverberate in people, places and through ‘war repertoires’. Yet the young people in this photo-ethnography also show how their traces make for new ways of belonging and connectedness. The book consists of photos, interview excerpts, and analyses. With the publication, the authors hope to seduce readers interested in art and academia to listen to the experiences of those born after war, showing how there/here and then/now and are interconnected. Show less
A popular explanation for governments’ persistent enthusiasm for evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) is its expected capacity to solve policy conflict. However, research is divided on whether or... Show moreA popular explanation for governments’ persistent enthusiasm for evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) is its expected capacity to solve policy conflict. However, research is divided on whether or not EBPM actually has a positive impact on conflict. On the one hand, EBPM is said to introduce a set of principles that helps overcome political differences. Simultaneously, EBPM has been criticised for narrowing the space for democratic debate, fuelling the very conflict it is trying to prevent. This article explores how EBPM structures policy conflict by studying the example of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) in policy processes through reconstructive interviews and ethnographic observations. It argues that, although EBPM channels conflict in a way that prompts engagement from stakeholders, it also escalates conflict by misrepresenting the nature of policy processes. As such, the findings suggest that managing process participants’ expectations about what evidence is and can do is key in fostering productive policy conflict. Show less
Through a correspondence between two scholars, this paper explores and critiques various ways in which scholars working in ethnography and cultural analysis frame and construct their methodology... Show moreThrough a correspondence between two scholars, this paper explores and critiques various ways in which scholars working in ethnography and cultural analysis frame and construct their methodology and object of study. Through the close reading of theoretical accounts of methodology in ethnography and cultural analysis, we examine how these accounts construct the relationship between the scholar and her object of study. We read these scholarly practices as protocols, referring to the ways in which accounts of methodology may be understood as rules/guidelines by which scholars in these fields conduct research. Protocol etymologically refers to protos (first) and kolla (glue). Through the figure of the protocol, we delineate how scholars in ethnography and cultural analysis themselves become implicated in giving accounts of their research methodologies. Show less
Multimodality offers anthropologists an inflection on the way we do research, produce scholarship, teach students, and relate to diverse publics. Advancing an expanding array of tools, practices,... Show moreMultimodality offers anthropologists an inflection on the way we do research, produce scholarship, teach students, and relate to diverse publics. Advancing an expanding array of tools, practices, and concepts, multimodality signals a change in the way we pay attention and attend to the diverse possibilities for understanding the human experience. Multimodality recognizes the way smartphones, social media, and digital software transform research dynamics in unprecedented ways, while also drawing upon long-standing practices of recording and presenting research through images, sounds, objects, and text. Rather than flatten out ethnographic participant observation into logocentric practices of people-writing, multimodal ethnographies diversify their modes of inquiry to produce more-than-textual mediations of sensorial research experiences. By emphasizing kaleidoscopic qualities that give shape to an emergent, multidimensional, and diversifying anthropology, multimodality proposes alternatives to enduring and delimiting dichotomies, particularly text/image. These new configurations invite unrealized disciplinary constellations and research collaborations to emerge, but also require overhauling the infrastructures that support training, dissemination, and assessment. Show less
The article investigates urban gardening in Turin with ethnography, historical analysis and photography, using both the authors’ photography and sources from social media and private archives. The... Show moreThe article investigates urban gardening in Turin with ethnography, historical analysis and photography, using both the authors’ photography and sources from social media and private archives. The authors collaborate to analyse ‘community’ gardening through a critical anthropological perspective which centres on the hegemonic power of aesthetic assumptions about the urban green. As a post-industrial, multicultural city, Turin illuminates the dialectic of gentrification vis-à-vis socioeconomic and cultural diversity, which is a crucial dynamic of many urban renewal trends towards ‘green cities’. We highlight the homogeneity of an aesthetic regime vis-à-vis the diversity of ‘skilled visions’ of social actors and its restraining effects on participatory governance. We contribute to ongoing debates in urban anthropology and visual studies, concerned with urban regeneration agendas in the de-industrializing cities of the Global North. Show less
Himalayan environments have changed, and are changing, due to the ways in which people have interpreted, sourced, and utilised them. Scholarly analysis of the transformations induced, be it in... Show moreHimalayan environments have changed, and are changing, due to the ways in which people have interpreted, sourced, and utilised them. Scholarly analysis of the transformations induced, be it in deforestation, dam building or glacial melt, foreground how man is shaping the world in the Anthropocene. Alternatively, multispecies studies have shown how people invariably depend on, and are being shaped, by the dedicated environments in which they find themselves. Rather than people existing independent of these, their lives are the product of ‘co-becoming’ (Country et al 2016: 1) or ‘becoming-with’ (Haraway 2008: 12) a variety of spaces and species. In relation to the Himalayas, the two angles of enquiry outlined above have so far seldom been combined. In an attempt to engage with this lacuna, the contributions to this special issue scrutinise the changing framing and interpretation of human and non-human relationships, and the way these find expression in everyday life. At the same time, the contributions explore how large-scale interventions instigated by state making, development initiatives and the expansion of commercial ventures have transformed, and continue to transform, mountain spaces and species, generating new societal contexts in which these acquire new meanings. Show less
Language contact has presumably had an impact on all of the world’s languages. This Ph.D. dissertation provides a thorough description of the lexical outcomes of the contact between the arguably... Show moreLanguage contact has presumably had an impact on all of the world’s languages. This Ph.D. dissertation provides a thorough description of the lexical outcomes of the contact between the arguably young American Spanish and the youngest variety of Southern Hemisphere Englishes, thus closing a gap in the literature on Spanish and English as contact languages.Situated at the crossroads of toponomastics, lexical semantics, and language attitudes, and embedded within a theoretical framework of contact linguistics, this thesis addresses the contact history of Falkland Islands English with Spanish and examines to what extent such contact played a part in the shaping of the archipelago’s official language. To do so, an innovative mixed-methods approach is used to broaden the analytical depth of the results. Furthermore, a range of sources are used, i.e., archival research, literature reviews, and ethnographic fieldwork.The findings show that (i) Spanish-English contact in the Falklands has left two main linguistic products: loanwords and place names; (ii) even though the Falklands currently host an English-speaking community, the Islands have a long history of Spanish-speaking settlers; (iii) Spanish loanwords are mainly related to horse tack and horse types, and most words are tightly connected to gaucho vernacular but not exclusively with their equestrian duties, and (iv) Falkland Islands English hosts a handful of loanwords that are originally from autochthonous South American languages.This dissertation will be of interest to scholars working on language contact, toponomastics, world Englishes, and ethnolinguistic approaches to data collection. Show less
Westmoreland, M.R.; Pauwelussen, A.; van Diemen, S. 2022
This article critically engages with intersecting tropes of immersion central to both notions of ethnography and technologically-enabled “extended reality” (XR). The authors build on Pauwelussen’s... Show moreThis article critically engages with intersecting tropes of immersion central to both notions of ethnography and technologically-enabled “extended reality” (XR). The authors build on Pauwelussen’s experience of disorientation while doing research within the dynamic land-sea environment of the Makassar Strait in Indonesia by hacking 360° video technologies to juxtapose multiple scenes of ‘flat’ video. These techniques of spatial montage enabled the authors to destabilize the assumption of ‘omni-scopic’ spherical holism and reconceptualize the ontological complexity of these entangled lifeworlds. Unexpectedly, this multimodal assemblage of agencies offered a kaleidoscopic perspective on immersive ethnography comprised of dynamic perception and speculative thinking. Show less
This essay departs from my search to understand how (new/digital) media interact with society and vice versa, especially in relation to political communication and political change. These ‘effects’... Show moreThis essay departs from my search to understand how (new/digital) media interact with society and vice versa, especially in relation to political communication and political change. These ‘effects’ of changing media technology, however, not only touch the societies that we try to understand but also our own practice of ‘doing’ research. Especially in area studies, the ethnographic method, the relations with the field, with people is at the center of ‘knowing’. Hence changes in these relationships, such as caused by (digital/new) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), will also influence the ‘data’ gathering, the insights, in short, the knowledge production processes and outcomes. In this essay I compare my own presence as a researcher in the Sahel in the 1990s and now, and I reinterpret this presence in relation to the changing communication ecology in the Sahel. My lens to analyze this is the concept of mediatization and mediation. It offers an interpretation of the changing relations in the field that has expanded with the use of digital media. Hence, I try to understand changes in knowledge ‘construction’ in ethnographic practice in the digital age. Show less
Waldorf education is known for its outspoken ideas on personal development. The recent globalization of Waldorf education raises questions about how it is adapted locally. This article addresses... Show moreWaldorf education is known for its outspoken ideas on personal development. The recent globalization of Waldorf education raises questions about how it is adapted locally. This article addresses Eurocentric elements in the curriculum on the basis of a case study of history education in Grade 7 at a Philippine Waldorf school. Here, the students’ development is mirrored in stories about the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. But can Filipino students identify with Christopher Columbus or Ferdinand Magellan? Are they the discoverers or the discovered in these stories? These are precarious questions in the Philippines’s hybrid cultural context. Show less
Purpose Worldwide, more than 214 million people have left their country of origin. This unprecedented mass migration impacts health care in host countries. This article explores and synthesizes... Show morePurpose Worldwide, more than 214 million people have left their country of origin. This unprecedented mass migration impacts health care in host countries. This article explores and synthesizes literature on the healthcare experiences of migrants. Design A meta-ethnography study of qualitative studies was conducted. Methods Eight databases (Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science, Migration Observatory, National Health Service Scotland Knowledge Network, and Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment [ASSIA]) were searched for relevant full-text articles in English, published between January 2006 and June 2016. Articles were screened against inclusion criteria for eligibility. Included articles were assessed for quality and analyzed using Noblit and Hare's seven-step meta-ethnography process. Findings Twenty-seven studies were included in the review. Five key contextualization dimensions were identified: personal factors, the healthcare system, accessing healthcare, the encounter, and the healthcare experience. These five areas all underlined the uniqueness of each individual migrant, emphasizing the need to treat a person rather than a population. Within a true person-centered approach, the individual's cultural background is fundamental to effective care. Conclusions From the findings, a model has been designed using the five dimensions and grounded in a person-centered care approach. This may help healthcare providers to identify weak points, as well as to improve the organization and healthcare professionals' ability to provide person-centered care to migrant patients. Clinical Relevance The proposed model facilitates identification of points of weakness in the care of migrant patients. Employing a person-centered care approach may contribute to improve health outcomes for migrant patients. Show less
Esse estudo examina diferentes abordagens das comparações etnográficas e analisa debates recentes e antigos sobre como comparar evidências etnográficas, bem como mostra de que modo epistemologias... Show moreEsse estudo examina diferentes abordagens das comparações etnográficas e analisa debates recentes e antigos sobre como comparar evidências etnográficas, bem como mostra de que modo epistemologias comparativas mudaram durante momentos políticos específicos (colonialismo, descolonização e fim da Guerra Fria). Recentemente emergiram novas formas reflexivas de comparação com raízes na epistemologia interpretativa. O fim da Guerra Fria estimulou formas de comparação e reflexividade que deram surgimento ao que chamo de comparação por serendipidade: uma abordagem comparativa baseada em uma epistemologia interpretativa que abraça serendipidade, reflexividade e relevância como mais importantes que controle.This study examines different approaches to ethnographic comparisons and analyses recent as well as older debates on how to compare ethnographic evidence. It shows how comparative epistemologies have changed during specific political moments (colonialism, decolonization, and the end of the Cold War). Recently, new forms of reflexive comparison have emerged that are rooted in an interpretative epistemology. The end of the Cold War stimulated new forms of comparison and reflexivity that gave rise to what I call serendipitous comparison: a comparative approach that is based on an interpretative epistemology that embraces serendipity, reflexivity, and saliency as being more important than control. Show less
Dekker, N.L.; Gysels, M.; Steen, J.T. van der 2018
The research project is a comparative ethnographic study into the usage, perceptions and attitudes towards digital financial services (DFS) in four selected countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic... Show moreThe research project is a comparative ethnographic study into the usage, perceptions and attitudes towards digital financial services (DFS) in four selected countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal and Zambia. The results presented give a voice to users of DFS, giving insight into why people are motivated to use DFS and why they might not be using specific mobile phone-related monetary transfer systems. They also contextualize these motivations through a cultural understanding and reveal that the specific socio-economic and political contexts in which monetary transfer systems function play an important role in the decisions consumers make. Show less
Anthropologists have been studying the various phenomena associated with states and ‘state-like’ structures for a long time (cf. Fortes 1940, Leach 1954). It was only in the last decade of the 20th... Show moreAnthropologists have been studying the various phenomena associated with states and ‘state-like’ structures for a long time (cf. Fortes 1940, Leach 1954). It was only in the last decade of the 20th century, however, that ethnographers began to specifically define a new field for the study of the contemporary forms, functions, and actions of state apparatuses.Critical of both anthropological and political science approaches studying the state in African contexts, this volume’s stated objective is to shift focus from the “margins or interstices” of the state (cf. Das and Poole 2004) and towards the very core of bureaucratic processes and state actors. Show less
Nubia, located in what is now the northern part of the Republic of the Sudan and Upper Egypt, is among the most excavated corners of the world. Here, for over a century, there have been ongoing... Show moreNubia, located in what is now the northern part of the Republic of the Sudan and Upper Egypt, is among the most excavated corners of the world. Here, for over a century, there have been ongoing large-scale archeological rescue operations spurred on by an extensive program of damming the Nile, which is leading to the gradual disappearance of the territory under water. If this trend is not reversed, museums will become ‘the only and sole alternative’ venues where Nubian culture can still be admired and understood. The objective of this research is to analyze how, as a concept and archeological presence, ‘Nubia’ has been dealt with so far, and with what battles it has to contend now that museums are changing their identity and trying to adapt themselves to the political trend of this century which is all about conflict of identity. The ‘analytical tour’ of Nubian collections, presented in this research, includes museums within and beyond the boundaries of Nubia. It sheds light on how Nubia has been understood, created and silenced in the most important venues and smaller contexts and if and how modern Nubians are involved in this process Show less
