Ethnography

Tsimafei Avilin BĚLORUSKÉ POVĚSTI A LEGENDY O SKVRNÁCH NA MĚSÍCI

by Tsimafei Avilin

ČESKÝ LID 98, 2011, 2

1. Předkřesťanské mýty o blížencích a jejich vztah k představám Bělorusů о původu skvrn nа Měsíci 1.1 Motiv bratrovraždy (A751, A751.1, A751.7, A751.9.)10
1.2 Моtiv měsíčního vodonoše (A751.8)
1.3. Skvrna na Měsíci – Pan Twardowski (A751.10)
1.4 Další představy о původu skvrn
a) Na Měsíci žijí lidé (A751.9)
b) Skvrna – tvář Měsíce (A751.9)
c) Skvrna – krev Ábela, krev zabitého bratra (A751.5.)
d) Skvrny na Měsíci – duše lidí a andělé (A751.9)
e) Skvrna – kdosi se tam napřahuje holí (A751.9)
f) Skvrny – tři bratři (A751.9)
g) Skvrna na Měsíci – dívka Luker’ja vyhozena nа Měsíc jelenem (A751.8)
1.5. Současné představy o původu skvrn na Měsíci (A751.9.)
2. Biblické motivy v představách Bělorusů o původu skvrn na Měsíci (A751,
a) Bohorodička, Bůh, duše Аdаmа a Evy (A751.10)
b) Noe a dva synové (A751.10)
c) Pavel a Havel (A751.10)
d) Kristus na kříži (A751.10.1.)
e) Bůh na Měsíci na koni (A751.10)
f) Svatý Jakub na koni zabíjí draka (A751.10.2)
3. Мotiv vzniku skvrn na Měsíci jako výsledek trestu zа práci ve svátek; spojení starých představ s tradičními kalendářními svátky (A751.1.2.)
a) Tři králové (19. ledna, resp. 6. ledna) (A751.1.2.)
b) Bogataja Kut´ja (Nový rok; 1. ledna) (A751.1.2.)
c) Velikonoce (A751.1.2.)
d) svátek (bez konkrétního určení) (A751.1.2.)
e) Stětí (Useknutí hlavy svatého Jana Křtitele; 11. září) (A751.1.2.)

Belorussian legends about Moon spots

Abstrakt: This article is focused on research of interaction and... more Belorussian legends about Moon spots

Abstrakt: This article is focused on research of interaction and interpenetration of
Christian and archaic mythologies and revealing of beliefs’ traits of another folks
in the etiological legends concerning Moon spots. To solve this problem the fol-
lowing issues are considered to systematization and classification of the complex
of etiological legends concerning Moon spots; detection of archaic origins and
Christian elements presented in the Moon spots legends; comparative analysis of
Belorussian Moon spots legends with such legends of other folks to show genesis
and relations of some legends. We used for analysis this sources: ethnographic
material from the 19th and 20th century, digital Polesie archive, “field”-materials
collected by the author and another researchers in 2005–2008. As a result we
show that some Moon spots legends could migrate to Belorussia region from Po-
land, Russia and Lithuania. Also archaic origins in the legends were revealed.

Key words: Belorussian folklore, Slavonic folklore, folk legend, Moon, Moon
spots, fratricide

Meteor Beliefs Project: More Belarussian meteor folklore

by Tsimafei Avilin

Some additional material collected since the author's first article on Belarussian meteor beliefs in 2006 is... more Some additional material collected since the author's first article on Belarussian meteor beliefs in 2006 is presented.

Meteor Beliefs Project Belarussian meteor folk-beliefs

by Tsimafei Avilin

Folk-beliefs from Belarus are given and discussed, concerning the supposed divinatory properties of meteors, often... more Folk-beliefs from Belarus are given and discussed, concerning the supposed divinatory properties of meteors, often relating to birth and death, and the powers thought resident in meteorites.

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2006JIMO...34..119A/0000119.000.html

Meteor Beliefs Project: East European meteor folk-beliefs

by Tsimafei Avilin

Some folk-beliefs about meteors and meteorites from various East European countries are discussed, illustrating the... more Some folk-beliefs about meteors and meteorites from various East European countries are discussed, illustrating the range of such matters, further to what has been presented in the Meteor Beliefs Project earlier.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2007JIMO...35..113A

Astronyms in Belarussian folk beliefs.

by Tsimafei Avilin

This article presents some known Belarussian "astronyms" and related beliefs based on folkloric-ethnographic... more This article presents some known Belarussian "astronyms" and related beliefs based on folkloric-ethnographic sources from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries together with material collected by the author and other researchers in the last decade.



Key words: astronyms stars, folk astronomy, Belarussian folk-beliefs, ethnoastronomy, constellations

How to Become an Iconic Social Thinker: The Intellectual Pursuits of Malinowski and Foucault

by Dominik Bartmanski

Published in European Journal of Social Theory

The present article develops a new approach to intellectual history and sociology of knowledge. Its point of departure... more The present article develops a new approach to intellectual history and sociology of knowledge. Its point of departure is to investigate the conditions under which social thinkers assume the iconic reputation. What does it take to become ‘a founding father’ of a humanistic discipline? How do social thinkers achieve the status of a trans-disciplinary star? Why some intellectuals attract tremendous attention and ‘go down in history’ despite personal and professional failures, while others enjoy only limited recognition or simply sink into oblivion, even if they have met all the standards of their day? Quite a few sociologists have tackled this elusive issue. Pierre Bourdieu, Michele Lamont and Randall Collins are among those who fleshed out strong explanatory frameworks. This project adds to this body of knowledge by emphasizing cultural factors that these authors downplayed in their seminal accounts, despite being aware of their significance. By showing why these underdeveloped aspects of their works need to be incorporated into the debate and how this can be achieved, this article introduces a new theorization of the iconic, lasting intellectual reputation substantiated by evidence from the lifeworks of Bronislaw Malinowski and Michel Foucault. As such, it aims, minimally, to make sociology of knowledge decisively ‘cultural’. Maximally, it seeks to demonstrate that the iconic success of intellectual intervention in social theory depends on carefully performed and contingently mediated engagement with the binary systems of symbolic classification.

Emir Mahieddin, « Vingt-cinq ans après Writing Culture. Retour sur un "âge d'or" de la critique en anthropologie » ; James Clifford, « Vérités partielles, vértiés partiales »

by Emir Mahieddin

Traduction de l'introduction de Writing Culture (Clifford & Marcus, 1986) en langue française. Précédée d'un article et préfacée par James Clifford. Publié dans le "Journal des Anthropologues" 126-127 (2011).

Beyond “Dudecore”? Challenging Gendered and “Raced” Technologies Through Media Activism

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

This article follows media activists trying to transform the media system by broadening access to technology and... more This article follows media activists trying to transform the media system by broadening access to technology and skills. These activists intend for tech- nological engagement to be compatible with a range of social identities, but their hopes are not always achieved. It is difficult to cultivate forms of technical affinity and expertise not associated with White masculinity, though the activists are more successful with regard to inclusion of women than of people of color. This case study provides an opportunity to analyze how social and personal identities may shape, and be shaped through, interactions with communication technologies, as well as the ramifications of technologically- oriented activism in the wider array of efforts to secure a more democratic media environment.

Free the spectrum!' Activist encounters with old and new media technology

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

This article contextualizes discourses surrounding new media technologies by examining activism around community... more This article contextualizes discourses surrounding new media technologies by examining activism around community media, using as a case study an activist group that has advocated for greater citizen access to low-power FM (LPFM) radio since the mid-1990s. It argues that the significance of new and emerging communication technologies can be grasped most effectively when emerging technologies are considered in a dynamic field that includes older technologies; emerging technologies are often viewed through the lens of patterns of use and interpretation of older technologies, at least initially.The article follows the activists’ assessments of not only FM radio but emerging internet-based technologies, including webstreaming and wi-fi networks. In practice, the activists circumspectly negotiate expanding their efforts to encompass community wi-fi networks, while trying to retain the vision, flavor and organizing strategies from their LPFM campaigns.

Geeks, Meta-Geeks, and Gender Trouble: Activism, Identity, and Low-power FM Radio

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

In this paper, I consider the activities of a group of individuals who tinker with and build radio hardware in an... more In this paper, I consider the activities of a group of individuals who tinker with and build radio hardware in an informal setting called ‘Geek Group’. They conceive of Geek Group as a radical pedagogical activity, which constitutes an aspect of activism surrounding citizen access to low-power FM radio. They are also concerned with combating the gendered nature of hardware skills, yet in spite of their efforts men tend to have more skill and familiarity with radio hardware than women. Radio tinkering has a long history as a masculine undertaking and a site of masculine identity construction. I argue that this case represents an interplay between geek, activist, and gendered identities, all of which are salient for this group, but which do not occur together without some tension.

Soldering Toward Media Democracy: Technical Practice as Symbolic Value in Radio Activism

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

Journal of Communication Inquiry, 2012

This article follows radio activists engaged in a combination of policy advocacy and broadening access to technology... more This article follows radio activists engaged in a combination of policy advocacy and broadening access to technology and skills through hands-on work. In practice, this largely played out as a systematic elevation of “technical” work and downplaying of policy/advocacy expertise, even though both were salient features of their work. The article argues that radio activists cultivated a technical identity that served to mark boundaries between their group and others in the terrain of media democracy work. Technical identity also took on special significance as the group grappled with organizational maturation, mitigating the anxiety felt by workers as they experienced the shift from an inexperienced, though highly driven and successful activist collective, to a more sustainable nonprofit activist organization. The article concludes by naming technological activism as one strategy in the wider spectrum of work to promote media democracy and speculates on the consequences of technical identity within the wider movement.

[review] Performatieve etnografie

by Matthijs van den Bos

Van den Bos, M. 1996. "Performatieve etnografie [Performative ethnography]." Review of Fabian, Johannes. 1990. Power and performance: ethnographic explorations through proverbial wisdom in Shaba, Zaire. Amsterdams Sociologisch Tijdschrift 23 (2): 378-83.

Chambri endgame: history and anthropology in New Guinea

by Rena Lederman

Introduction: Children, Development and Education–A Dialogue Between Cultural Psychology and Historical Anthropology

by Michalis Kontopodis

Policing the Roads: Traffic Cops, 'Boy Racers' and Anti-Social Behaviour

by Karen Lumsden

'Policing and Society' (forthcoming)

This paper explores the policing and regulation of young motorists known in the United Kingdom as ‘boy racers’. It... more This paper explores the policing and regulation of young motorists known in the United Kingdom as ‘boy racers’. It demonstrates how police officers’ definitional decisions in relation to driving behaviours were influenced by a range of exogenous and endogenous factors, which subsequently shaped the landscape of enforcement and interactions with the community and drivers. A shift over time in the nature of the problem due to urban regeneration, innovations in the technology of the motor car, and the availability of anti-social behaviour legislation impacted upon the policing of urban space. The strategies employed in order to police the culture and the related urban space were reminiscent of a deeper policing tradition wherein managing incivilities and local problems is part of the community policing perspective. Data is presented from semi-structured interviews with police, residents, and ‘boy racers’, and ethnographic fieldwork with the drivers in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Sanctities, Blasphemies and the (Jewish) Nation: Commemorative Inscriptions at a National Memorial Site in Israel

by Chaim Noy

Uncorrected Insight: Metaphor and Transcendence "After Truth" in Qualitative Inquiry

by Timothy McGettigan

Yuen, Nancy Wang. 2004. "Performing Race, Negotiating Identity: Asian American Professional Actors in Hollywood." Pp. 251-267 in Asian American Youth Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity, edited by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou. New York: Routledge.

by Nancy Yuen

Reman

by Patricio Calderon

Patricio Calderon

'Political Activist as Ethnographer', Revisited

by Ian Hussey

Published in April 2012 in the Canadian Journal of Sociology 37(1): 1-23.

In   this   article   I   revisit   and   expand   upon   George   Smith’s   (1990)   landmark  article,  “Political... more In   this   article   I   revisit   and   expand   upon   George   Smith’s   (1990)   landmark  article,  “Political  Activist  as  Ethnographer.”  Political  activist  ethnography   (PAE)   is   a   specialized   form   of   institutional   ethnography   (IE)   that   has   not   received  nearly  enough  attention  in  the  twenty  years  since  the  original  publication   of  Smith’s  article.  In  an  effort  to  revisit  and  bolster  this  research  approach,  I  provide  an  overview  of  IE/PAE,  critically  engage  with  three  recent  commentaries  on   PAE,  and  offer  a  new  interpretation  of  this  approach  as  well  as  an  example  of  its   application  from  my  ongoing  research  on  fair  trade.