Based on multisited fieldwork in Kigali, Rwanda, Belgium, and the Netherlands following the political crisis in Burundi in 2015, we explore decisions and plans for the future among Burundians in... Show moreBased on multisited fieldwork in Kigali, Rwanda, Belgium, and the Netherlands following the political crisis in Burundi in 2015, we explore decisions and plans for the future among Burundians in exile. In this way, we contribute to research about future making and social reproduction in families in a transnational social field affected by crisis. Adding to the literature, we show the specific effects of crisis on transnational families’ practices and aspirations, such as parental efforts to prevent traumatic world views and the constant need for families to readjust their plans to ongoing crisis dynamics. We argue that as the violence has disrupted the migrant parents’ hopes for a better future for themselves, they redirect their efforts towards their children’s futures. We thus argue that not only future making practices but also aspirations should be seen as social and relational, particularly in times of crisis. In particular, the Burundians living in Rwanda, Belgium and the Netherlands seek to provide their offspring with the skills to become educated, social and moral beings, even it entails sacrificing their own lives and aspirations. Moreover, adding to debates on migrants’ efforts to reproduce their own cultural values and practices in host societies, we find that the Burundian parents attempt to change what they perceive as a ‘culture of hatred and vengeance’ with parenting practices. As such, we argue that many migrant parents explicitly pursue social transformation through their children. Show less
Long-Lived Sociality is an ethnographic account of the lives of older persons in Kerala. Through its detailed account of these highly educated, middle and upper class individuals, it challenges... Show moreLong-Lived Sociality is an ethnographic account of the lives of older persons in Kerala. Through its detailed account of these highly educated, middle and upper class individuals, it challenges many popular and academic stereotypical notions of the old. Contrary to such preconceptions for instance, their lives turn out to be interdependent, not at all stagnant, extremely mobile and as far as possible actively shaped by the older persons themselves. Cultural notions about sociality are furthermore explored to understand how meaning is given to social and care relationships with others. These relations are informed by strong expectations and a discourse that stresses the importance of duties. This discourse makes it possible for older persons to explicitly demand care when needed. The investigation of the possibilities and limitations of this discourse provides insights into the older persons__ appreciation of their social lives and their overall wellbeing. Show less
This dissertation describes Thangmi, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in eastern Nepal, primarily in the districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalcok, as well as in Darjeeling district of West Bengal,... Show moreThis dissertation describes Thangmi, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in eastern Nepal, primarily in the districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalcok, as well as in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. The grammar focuses on the Dolakha (Eastern) dialect of the language, although contrastive examples and specific features of the Sindhupalcok (Western) dialect are also discussed. While the Thangmi ethnic group number around 40,000, speakers of the language do not amount to more than 20,000. In terms of genetic affiliation, Thangmi appears to be closely related to Newar and Baram, which together form the ‘Newaric’ linguistic grouping. Thangmi is also related to the so-called ‘complex pronominalised’ Kiranti languages, which together with Newaric form the Mahakiranti group within Tibeto-Burman. The Thangmi refer to themselves as Thangmi, while shamans who are the sole religious practitioners in the community call themselves Thani. In Nepali the Thangmi community and their language continue to be referred to as Thami. This 862-page book contains a grammatical analysis of the Thangmi language, forty-five analysed texts with interlinear morpheme glosses and translations, a trilingual Thangmi-English-Nepali lexicon, a graphic representation of Thangmi kinship terminology and a comprehensive bibliography. The linguistic description is based on fieldwork conducted between 1997 and 2004 on a series of trips to Nepal and India. The grammar of Thangmi, which makes up the first third of the book, is divided into seven chapters. Chapter One deals with the changing historical classifications of Thangmi within the Tibeto-Burman language family, and particular attention is paid to lexical correspondences with Newar. Chapter Two offers an introduction to Thangmi culture and society, and addresses earlier research and scholarship on the Thangmi and their language. Thangmi toponyms, ethnonyms, clan names, kinship terms, mythology and history are all discussed in this chapter. Chapter Three deals with the Thangmi sound system and phonology, while Chapter Four addresses morphophonology. The fifth chapter focuses on nominal morphology, word classes and derivation. Thangmi nominals are characterised by a large number of postpositions. There is no grammatical gender in Thangmi and adjectives do not agree with the nominals they modify. A particularly interesting feature of Thangmi is the complexity of the verbal agreement system which is the subject of Chapters Six and Seven. Chapter Six offers a detailed morphological analysis of Thangmi simplex forms which are intransitive, transitive or reflexive verbal strings showing agreement with one or more actants and containing a tense morpheme. Complex verbal forms, including periphrastic constructions, imperative forms and other modals make up Chapter Seven. Gerunds along with the two intransitive verbs which correspond to the English verb ‘to be’ are also discussed in this final chapter. In common with other Tibeto-Burman languages, with the exception of Chinese and Karen, Thangmi exhibits SOV word order. Show less
On 26 October 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian Union, infuriating Pakistan and spawning one of the world's longest unresolved conflicts: Kashmir. India and Pakistan's half... Show moreOn 26 October 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian Union, infuriating Pakistan and spawning one of the world's longest unresolved conflicts: Kashmir. India and Pakistan's half-century of perpetual conflict has been punctuated by four full-scale wars waged over the Line of Control, forcing villagers to hinterland refugee camps that have fundamentally changed the structure of the families living in them. Show less
