• Class conflict in Spain
An article in the New York Times describes class conflicts in a time of austerity and joblessness and demonstrations in rural areas that echo the civil war years. José Luis Solana, a professor of social anthropology at the University of Jaén, was quoted as saying that even if some of the claims made by the farm unions were questionable or exaggerated, ”an agrarian reform and proper land distribution in Andalusia is one of the missing elements of our transition to democracy” – both in terms of social justice and improved economic efficiency.

• Lessons from the Hadza
Herman Portzer contributed an op-ed to the Sunday New York Times in which he reports on findings from a study of their everyday energy expenditure. Results suggest that Hadza energy expenditures are not markedly different from those of people who live in modern, sedentary contexts, pointing more toward diet as the cause of obesity in many developed, Western populations. Portzer is an assistant professor of anthropology at Hunter College and co-founder of the Hadza Fund which supports the Hadza people of East Africa.

• Low-end globalization
The South China Morning Post carried an article about China-Africa trade ties, noting that Hong Kong will play an important role in the emerging relationships. The article focused, however, on the cultural gap between Chinese and African people and the lack of attention to interpersonal relationships between Chinese and African people. It mentioned the work of Gordon Mathews, an anthropology professor at Chinese University and author of Ghetto at the Centre of the World, a book on Chungking. Mathews, who coined the term “low-end globalization,” estimates that at least 20 per cent of the mobile phones sold in Africa have passed through Chungking.

• Healthcare tourism south of the border
Matthew Dalstrom published an article in the Huffington Post on health care tourism from the United States to Mexico. Dahlstrom, assistant professor of anthropology at Rockford College, points out that, in the United States, rising health care costs, decreasing insurance coverage, and the great recession have made it increasingly difficult to afford health care, especially for elderly retirees. Dahlstrom is researching the growing number of U.S. retirees who travel to Mexico for health care. One of the most popular locations is Nuevo Progreso, in northeast Mexico. Nuevo Progreso has bars, restaurants, and stores selling tourist items as well as over 70 dental clinics, 60 pharmacies, and 10 doctors’ offices that advertize low prices, high quality health care, and English-speaking employees.

• Forensic anthropology of migration attempt failed
Argentinian forensic experts have traveled to southern Mexico to exhume 96 bodies thought to be those of Central Americans who died as they tried to get to the United States. Six experts from the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) are working with local and federal authorities in the cities of Tapachula and Ciudad Hidalgo in the state of Chiapas.
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 08/27/12” →

• Complexities of the conflict in Mali

AllAfrica’s coverage of a large peace rally in Bamako, Mali, included commentary from Kassim Koné, a social anthropologist. In his view, the demonstration is proof that Malians see the current crisis as a political rather than a military problem: “Political groups in the south are all positioning themselves, and are doing what they can to hang on to power. And they all want to have a major say in the government…” He added that the fact that the rally occurred during Ramadan “…is very significant. It means it [the crisis in the north] is both religious and political.”

• Take that anthro degree and…

…become a successful organic farmer. The Toronto Star ran a story about the rise of young, educated women in farming in rural Ontario. One of the farmers mentioned is Leslie Moskovits who earned a degree in anthropology and environmental studies at the University of Toronto. After doing an internship on a farm as part of her studies, she was inspired to take a different career path from working in an NGO. She is now the  owner of a 38-hectare pesticide-free vegetable farm and feels she’s saving the earth from the ground up. Moskovits said farming is empowering for women:  as a farmer, you can be your own boss and make creative decisions.

• Street views of Maya ruins

Google is adding interactive images of dozens of pre-Hispanic ruins to the “Street View” feature on its Google Maps website. Google Mexico and Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History announced that 30 sites have been added to Street View. Dozens more will be coming online this year with the eventual goal being 90 sites. The feature allows users to click on map locations to obtain 360-degree, interactive images composed of millions of photos taken at street level by specially equipped vehicles. Sites online include Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan and Monte Alban.

• Very old tomb in Oaxaca

The tomb of a high-ranking member of Zapotec society was found at a 1,200-year-old funerary complex in Mexico’s  southern state of Oaxaca, according to the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH).

The burial chamber contains human remains that are likely those of a male, according to INAH archaeology coordinator Nelly Robles Garcia. She further explained that the site of Atzompa, a small satellite city of Monte Alban, “…changes the perception we had in the sense that it was not as similar to Monte Alban as had been thought but, instead, developed its own architectural expressions.

• Very old seal showing man-lion combat

Tel Aviv University researchers recently uncovered a seal, measuring 15 millimeters (about a half-inch) in diameter, which depicts a human figure next to a lion. The seal was found at the site of Beth Shemesh, located between the Biblical cities of Zorah and Eshtaol, where Samson lived, according to the book of Judges. The scene engraved on the seal, the time period, and the location of the discovery all point to a probable reference to the story of Samson, whose adventures included a victory in combat with a lion
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 08/20/12” →

• It’s religion, stupid

What we don’t understand about religion just might kill us says cultural anthropologist Scott Atran in an article in Foreign Policy:   “In an age where religious and sacred causes areresurgent, there is urgent need for scientific effort to understand them. Now that humankind has acquired through science the power to destroy itself with nuclear weapons, we cannot afford to let science ignore religion and the sacred, or let scientists simply try to reason them away. Policymakers should leverage scientific understanding of what makes religion so potent a force for both cooperation and conflict, to help increase the one and lessen the other.” Atran holds appointments at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, the University of Michigan, John Jay College, and ARTIS Research. He is author of two books, Talking to the Enemy and In Gods We Trust.

• Listen to the farmers

In an opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor,  Daniel Bornstein, a junior at Dartmouth College majoring in anthropology and environmental studies, argues for investments in traditional food crops so that farmers in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from advances in agricultural productivity. He says that so-called orphan crops  – sweet potato, cassava, and millet – will be crucial for strengthening the poorest farmers’  livelihoods and improving nutrition.  Bornstein has visited smallholder farmers in Kenya and learned from them that, decades ago their families grew a diverse array of crops valuable for local nutrition.  Now they focus on maize production because of its promising market opportunities.  They now see the problems from neglecting traditional crops. Bornstein, and others support giving farmers a voice in conveying their traditional knowledge though, for example,  the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and a recent citizens “jury” in Mail convened by the International Institute for Environment and Development.  Bornstein has been in Kenya researching farming  as an intern with the World Agroforestry Center, which is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

• To praise or not to praise

Cultural anthropologist Elisa Sobo published an article in The Huffington Post that is based on her ongoing research of Waldorf education in the United States, specifically pre-K through grade 3. She discusses the nuances and implications of a practice of not specifically praising children’s accomplishments in the Waldorf system. Sobo is a professor of anthropology at San Diego State University and author of the forthcoming book, Dynamics of Human Biocultural Diversity: A Unified Approach and two earlier books.

• India’s coastal fishing in danger

The livelihood of India’s traditional coastal fishermen is endangered, said Dr. P. Vijay Prakash, former head of the Department of Anthropology at Andhra University. At a seminar in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, he argued that the fishing community is being encroached upon by government-initiated projects under the public-private partnership such as Pharma city, by the sea itself which is creeping into their settlements, and by the dramatic recent reduction in fish species due to industrial pollution. Prakash and his team have carried out field  research in 190 villages on behalf of National Maritime Foundation-Visakhapatnam Regional Chapter and sponsored by the Visakhapatnam Port Trust.
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 08/13/12” →

• You gotta shop around

A new study suggests that a woman who marries multiple husbands at the same time (polyandry) creates a safety net for her children. A research are the University of Missouri (MU) finds that multiple husbands ensure that children are cared for even if the fathers die or disappear. Although polyandry is taboo and illegal in the United States, certain legal structures, such as child support payments and life insurance, fill the same role for American women that multiple husbands do in other cultures. “In America, we don’t meet many of the criteria that tend to define polyandrous cultures,” said Kathrine Starkweather, doctoral student in MU’s Department of Anthropology. “However, some aspects of American life mirror polyandrous societies. Child support payments provide for offspring when one parent is absent. Life insurance allows Americans to provide for dependents in the event of death, just as secondary husbands support a deceased husband’s children in polyandrous societies.” Starkweather and her co-author, Raymond Hames, professor of anthropology at the University of Nebraska, examined 52 cultures with traditions of polyandry. “This research shows that humans are capable of tremendous variability and adaptability in their behaviors,” said Starkweather. “Human marriage structures aren’t written in stone; throughout history, people have adapted their societal norms to ensure the survival and well-being of their children.”

• It’s the Olympics stupid

Anthroworks contributor Sean Carey published a piece in The Independent about Olympian greatness, and he manages to bring Claude Lévi-Strauss into the discussion.

• A culture judged to be “boring”

The Baining, and indigenous group of Papua New Guinea, have the reputation among some researchers of being the dullest culture on earth. In the 1920s, the famous British anthropologist Gregory Bateson spent 14 months among them, until he finally left in frustration. He called them “unstudiable,” because of their reluctance to say anything interesting about their lives and their failure to exhibit much activity beyond the mundane routines of daily work, and he later wrote that they lived “a drab and colorless existence.” Forty years later, Jeremy Pool, a graduate student in anthropology, spent more than a year living among them in the attempt to develop a doctoral dissertation. He too found almost nothing interesting to say about the Baining, and the experience caused him to leave anthropology and go into computer science. Cultural anthropologist Jane Fajans of Cornell University studied the Baining in the late 1970s and again in the early 1990s. In an article in Psychology Today, Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston University, describes Fajan’s findings about child socialization among the Baining. [Blogger’s note: I wonder what a Baining person who came to my university for a year of participant observation would say about undergraduate culture and everyday life…]
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 08/06/12” →

• Dream on, Europe

An article in the Financial Times by cultural anthropologist Gillian Tett has attracted several responses. She argues that a sense of positive energy and mission is missing in Europe now.  One response notes that Europe has been dreaming for a long time. [LINK 2]

• It’s the debt, stupid

The Indian Express carried a review of cultural anthropologist David Graeber’s recent book, Debt: The First 5,000 Years:  “Graeber proposes that the notion that money was invented to simplify barter is an academic fiction. The record suggests that it was invented to quantify debt, which is therefore the foundational economic concept. Debt, created by the first agrarian empires, predated markets, he argues. And the rise of markets was powered by indebtedness, whose most extreme forms are indentured or bonded labour and slavery, a contract in which the slave owes everything, including life and limb. The role of slavery in the rise of empires, from Athens and Rome to the US before abolition, is well-documented. And the indebtedness that mercantile Europe visited upon Africa has lasted for over a century. Shamed by that legacy, Europeans like Bono and Bob Geldof are still trying to have Africa’s loans written off. ”

• Take that anthro degree…

…and become a tv and film star. Having slaved away for the past four years working on her doctorate from the Auckland University of Technology, television and film personality Ella Henry says the best part of the experience is simply getting it done. The 57-year-old has graduated with a Ph.D, in Maori Development. This is her third degree, having picked up a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology and a Masters of Commerce from the University of Auckland in the 1990s. Henry has a long history working in film, television and radio in New Zealand. She was a part of a group who established Nga Aho Whakaari, the association of Maori in film, video and television. Henry has worked at Radio Waatea and has appeared in Maori Television”s Ask Your Auntie programme. She is the chairwoman of the Association of Women in Film and Television NZ and was awarded the Mana Wahine award at the Mana Wa
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 07/30/12” →

• Murder scene photos, journalism, and violating a taboo

Recently 12 black-and-white crime scene pictures of Michaela McAreavey appeared in the Mauritian Sunday Times. McAreavey was murdered in Mauritius while on her honeymoon in January 2012. Included were pictures the hotel room and bathroom where she was murdered and close-ups of the injuries to her. Sean Carey, anthropology works contributor, wrote for The Independent about how to understand the publication of the pictures. First, he points to a long-standing tradition of publishing gore in Mauritius by “la presse sensationnelle” to boost circulation. This factor may be particularly relevant for the Sunday Times which is a new entrant in an already crowded field. Carey points out that, “cultures differ in how pictures of the dead are perceived, but, by and large, murder victims are in a special category. Certainly from a mainstream European (and North American) perspective, graphic representations of the fatally injured or murdered are taboo. Even if available they are never published – witness the furore when the paparazzi photographed Princess Diana as she lay dying in a wrecked Mercedes in the Alma underpass in Paris in August 1997.” Second, he asks: who leaked the photographs?

• Very old bras

Turning from the present to the past, a discovery in Austria shows that 600 years ago, women wore bras very much like those of today. The University of Innsbruck said that archeologists found four linen bras dating from the Middle Ages in an Austrian castle. Fashion experts describe the find as surprising because the bra had commonly been thought to be only little more than 100 years old as women abandoned the tight corset. Instead, it appears the bra came first, followed by the corset, followed by the reinvented bra. Although the linen garments were unearthed in 2008, they did not make news until now says Beatrix Nutz, the archaeologist responsible for the discovery. [Blogger’s note: just wondering why it took four years to bring this finding to the public…]

• Pre-Roman olive trade and a fancy little pet dog

Britons were importing olives from the Mediterranean a century before the Romans arrived in 43 CE, according to archaeologists who have discovered a single olive stone from an excavation of a well Hampshire. Assuming that people did not import just one olive, more will likely be found. Professor Mike Fulford of Reading University, who is leading the excavation, reports another luxury import, the skeleton of a tiny dog: “It was fully grown, two or three years old, and thankfully showed no signs of butchery, so it wasn’t a luxury food or killed for its fur…It was found in the foundations of a very big house we are still uncovering…it may turn out to be the biggest iron-age building in Britain, which must have belonged to a chief or a sub chief, a very big cheese in the town.”

• Very old drought management

Excavations at the pre-Columbian city of Tikal, by a multi-university team led anthropologists at the University of Cincinnati, have identified landscaping and engineering feats, including the largest ancient dam built by the Maya of Central America. Findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research sheds light on how the Maya conserved and used their natural resources to support a populous, highly complex society for over 1,500 years despite environmental challenges, including periodic drought. The paper is authored by Vernon Scarborough, UC professor of anthropology; archaeologist Kenneth Tankersley, UC assistant professor of anthropology; Brian Lane, former UC master’s student in anthropology now pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Hawaii; John Jones, associate professor of anthropology, Washington State University; Fred Valdez, professor of anthropology, University of Texas-Austin; and several other researchers. A CNN blog post highlights the study’s relevance to contemporary drought management.

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 07/23/12” →

• Democracy in a new light
Rick Salutin, Toronto-based writer, is writing about democracy in a two-part essay called democracy disconnect. In part 1, he travels to talk with democracy protestors in Greece, then moves on to visit cultural anthropologist Sir Jack Goody, of Cambridge University, to ask him about the concept of democracy. True to his anthropologically informed, expansive thinking, Goody stretches out the term and notes that “our” [Western] conception of it has been “very narrow.” The article includes several paragraphs of Goody’s commentary.

• Digital dividing London
Sean Carey, aw’s regular contributor, published an article in The Guardian discussing East London as the new economic center of gravity in the U.K.’s capital and showing how the poor are losing out in the process. In the Shoreditch area, which borders the City of London, a cluster of small digital firms has grown over the last decade. Why have they come to this part of the city? Carey offers insights and explores the implications of this move-in of largely white, professional firms into a previously more ethnically diverse area. Carey also manages to weave anthropologist Ernest Gellner into the report.

• Anthro major may be reinstated
According to an article in The Gainesville Sun, Florida State University trustees are expected to reinstate the school’s anthropology program and major. The university stopped offering the major following state funding cuts in 2009. Florida governor Rick Scott brought anthropology into the national spotlight in 2011 when he said that Florida didn’t need any more anthropology majors.

• Forensic anthropologist aids sexual abuse conviction
In Edinburgh, a High Court judge branded Alexander Mortimer, a former nursery worker, a danger to children and made an order preventing him from ever working with youngsters again. He was caught after intelligence led police to raid his home and seize computer and phone equipment. They found 17,967 photos and 582 video clips, some of which had been made by Mortimer, showing him abusing two young boys. Mortimer suffers from eczema and a slight deformity of one finger. Forensic anthropologist Professor Susan Black compared photos of Mortimer s hands with images from his computer and found similarities.

• Destructive collections
An article in The New York Times on antiquities collections, the elusiveness of provenance, and the challenge of long-term preservation of sites and objects, quotes Ricardo Elia, archaeology professor at Boston University, as saying:  “…artifact collecting destroys far more than it saves.”

• British Archaeology Awards
According to BBC News Cambridgeshire, a project exploring the prehistoric Fenland took the top prize in this year’s British Archaeological Awards. Discoveries at the Must Farm Excavation, made by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, include nine Bronze Age log canoes dating to the first millennium B.C.E. The Thames Discovery Programme won the Best Community Archaeology prize for “communicating an understanding and informed enjoyment of the historic Thames, the longest open-air archaeological site in London, to the widest possible audience” and for training more than 300 volunteers in archaeological techniques.
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 07/16/12” →

• Too soon to celebrate in Haiti
Mark Schuller, professor of cultural anthropology at CUNY, published an article in the Huffington Post reminding us that nearly 400,000 people in Haiti are still living in tattered tents: “For those who haven’t been to Haiti for a while, or for those who have never been but have seen the hell on earth portrayed in the media, the fact that Champs-de-Mars and other plazas in Port-au-Prince are no longer home to thousands of people is a symbol of progress. Celebrating this “liberation” of public spaces, President Martelly is planning a Carnival des Fleurs, a tradition under Duvalier, scheduled to begin July 29, a day after the anniversary of the 1915 U.S. invasion.” Schuller has conducted fieldwork in several tent camps.

• Putting global finance in perspective
The Guardian published an interview with Gillian Tett, U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times and a social/cultural anthropologist with a PhD. from Cambridge University. It reports that the banking world ignored Tett when she predicted the credit crisis two years ago. The interview probes how Tett’s training in social anthropology alerted her to the danger. She is quoted as saying, “I happen to think anthropology is a brilliant background for looking at finance…Firstly, you’re trained to look at how societies or cultures operate holistically, so you look at how all the bits move together. ..one of the reasons we got into the mess we are in is because they were all so busy looking at their own little bit that they totally failed to understand how it interacted with the rest of society.”

• The invisible anthropologist leading the World Ban
The New York Times reported on Jim Yong Kim‘s statement that the World Bank may have more to offer to struggling countries in terms of its expertise than monetary loans. His background as a social/medical anthropologist was not mentioned. [Blogger’s note: before Kim’s appointment, my sense is that the media wishing to damn him mentioned him being an anthropologist — this part of Kim’s education and experience was rarely brought up as a positive factor. Now that he has taken over the directorship, let’s watch to see how often his anthropological expertise is mentioned in the media — as a positive or negative factor.]

• Scandinavian buns and more
The Times (London) carried a playful article about Signe Johansen , “the Nordic Nigella, or the Stieg Larsson of Scandi baking,” connected to her forthcoming cookbook, Scandilicious. AW mentions this coverage because Johansen, at age 18 years, left Norway for Cambridge where she  did a B.A. degree in social anthropology and then an M.A. in food anthropology.

• Oldest cave art in Wales
Dr. George Nash, from Bristol University’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology  discovered a cave engraving by chance. He found 14,505-year-old cave art while taking students on a field trip in Cathole, South Wales. What looks like a child’s stick drawing of a stag or a reindeer can be seen in scratched red lines on the limestone wall of the cave. He said: “…I was just very lucky and I think that’s what all discoveries are..I had been going there for 20 years and never seen this engraving.”

• Very old skeleton in Sri Lanka
Colombo welcomes archeologist Jay Stock who will conduct studies on a pre-historic human skeleton recently discovered at Pahiyangala in Kalutara district of Western Province. Stock is professor in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Cambridge. He will lead the research on the skeleton which is believed to be 37,000 years old, along with a team of Sri Lankan archaeologists led by Dr. Shiran Daraniyagala. The skeleton is considered as the oldest human skeleton found in South Asia. It is believed to be of a woman aged between 18 to 30 years.
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 07/09/12” →

• Poverty and black market in organs
The New York Times reported on the rise in human organ trafficking in eastern Europe as being related to economic stress in the region. It mentioned the work of Nancy Scheper-Hughes, professor anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, and founder of Organ Watch.

• U.S. middle class stuff
The New York Times carried an article about the U.S. middle class and possessions. It draws on a study conducted from 2001 to 2005 of 32 middle-class families in Los Angeles, led by the U.C.L.A. Center on the Everyday Lives of Families. The article includes an interview with Anthony Graesch, assistant professor of anthropology at Connecticut College, who was a graduate student when the study was conducted. The households in the study are all dual-earner households in a range of ethnic groups, neighborhoods, incomes and occupations, with at least two children. Findings are presented in a book coming out this week, called Life at Home in the 21st Century, by Graesch and co-authors Jeanne Arnold, Enzo Ragazzini, and Elinor Ochs. One finding is that women’s stress-hormone levels spiked when confronted with family clutter more than men’s. And another: there is a direct relationship between the number of magnets on the refrigerator and the amount of stuff in a household. [Blogger’s note: my house is overloaded with stuff including books, wall art, pottery, and countless odds and ends collected/accumulated over decades; however, not a single fridge magnet…my lovely stainless-steel looking fridge does not allow magnets to adhere!].

• Visual anthropologist at work
The Jakarta Post provides an interview of Yogyakarta-based anthropologist Muhammad Zamzam Fauzani. For him, movies are an effective tool to promote positive social change. Zamzam attended Gadjah Mada University, then received a Ford Foundation scholarship for a Master’s degree at the University of Manchester. Zamzam said he chose Manchester because he regarded the city as the starting point for social revolution in the world. Zamzam returned to Yogyakarta to put the theories he learned at university into practice. Together with his longtime anthropologist friend, Dian Herdiany, he founded Kampung Halaman, Indonesia’s Youth Community Media in 2006. The organization aims to empower the younger generation in the use of media. Now a doctoral candidate in a Dutch university, he hopes to continuously ignite positive change in society as an anthropologist and researcher who works with visual media. So far, he has won many awards, including the prestigious U.S. National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, which was handed to him directly by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in 2011. In 2012, he won the Young Researcher Award from the Indonesian Academy of Sciences.

• Landmark lecture in Lagos
Sandra Barnes,  Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered a public lecture in Lagos, organized by the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy in collaboration with the Lagos State University. The lecture was on Mushin in Lagos: The Past and the Present. Serving and former governors, traditional rulers, local government officials, academics, students and Lagosians were expected to attend the lecture. Professor Barnes has deep and extensive Nigerian experience, beginning with her prize-winning 1986 book, Patrons and Power: Creating a Political Community in Metropolitan Lagos.

• Take that anthro degree and…
…become a latent fingerprint analyst. Lauren Zephro, who just earned a doctorate in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, has worked as the latent fingerprint examiner for the Sheriff’s Office of San Jose, California, since 2008. Her dissertation, “Determining the Timing and Mechanism of Bone Fracture,” tackled some forensic techniques that she felt could be improved. She earned a B.A. in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 07/02/12” →

• Global migration and remittances not in crisis
The Ghanaian Chronicle reviewed a new book on migration and remittances, published by the World Bank, on the effects of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. Findings are that migrant workers are not streaming back home, despite worsening employment prospects and anti-immigration rhetoric in some destination countries. The book is co-edited by Dilip Ratha, Manager of the Bank’s Migration and Remittances Unit, Ibrahim Sirkeci, professor of Transnational Studies and Marketing at Regent’s College, London, and Jeffrey Cohen, associate professor of anthropology at Ohio State University. Cohen is also co-author of the book’s first chapter on remittance flows and practices during the crisis.

• Asian immigration to the U.S. rising
A study from the Pew Research Center shows that Asian Americans are now the United States’ fastest-growing ethnic group, overtaking Latinos. Asian Americans are also the country’s best educated and highest-income ethnic group. The Pew study combines recent census and economic data with an extensive, nationally representative survey of 3,500 Asian Americans. An article in the Los Angeles Times discussing the study quotes Tritia Toyota, a former Los Angeles television reporter who is now an adjunct professor of anthropology and Asian studies at UCLA: “This really opens up a conversation and sheds light on a community that is extremely heterogeneous and very complex.”

• Ethnocentrism and University of Virginia leadership
Paul Stoller, professor of anthropology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, published an article in the Huffington Post linking the recent firing of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan to what anthropologists call ethnocentrism: “It is a clear example of how ethnocentric thinking produces devastating social, political and educational results. Most anthropologists say that you are ethnocentric when you use your own set of rules, procedures and beliefs to make judgments about other people who don’t share your view of the world.” Stoller goes on to explain his perspective on two kinds of ethnocentrism: (1) “my way or the highway” ethnocentrism which says: I more powerful than you, so you have to do things my way; and (2) “if only they’d leave me alone” ethnocentrism which works with this logic: I know you have more power (money, arms, influence) than I do, but I am morally superior to you, which means that I’ll just have to learn to live with your incredibly stupid life ways. Read his article and find out which variety applies to the University of Virginia situation.

• Take that anthropology degree and…
…become an online entrepreneur connecting services with people seeking services. With Spain’s crisis deepening, its citizens are not waiting for its institutions and leaders to deliver a recovery. They are turning to cooperative economic models: bartering, professional exchanges, ethical banking, and crowdfunding. Nurya Lafuente found her niche here. In 2008, with a degree in social education and anthropology, she could find no work. So she created an online company called Yo Voy (which translates to “I go”). Hundreds of people contact her and tell her what service they can offer, and she connects them with people who need that service. She charges an hourly wage for the time it takes her to make the connection or to do the work herself: filing immigration papers, paying a traffic fine, or organizing a party. She says, “I don’t know how to do anything, but I know where to find everything…I specialize in making things work for others.”

• Stonehenge the United Nations of its times
After 10 years of archaeological investigations, researchers conclude that Stonehenge was built as a monument to unify the peoples of Britain, following a long period of conflict and regional difference between eastern and western Britain. Its stones are thought to have symbolized the ancestors of different groups of earliest farming communities in Britain, with some stones coming from southern England and others from west Wales. The research teams, from the universities of Sheffield, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and University College London, all working on the Stonehenge Riverside Project (SRP), explored not just Stonehenge and its landscape but also the wider social and economic context of the monument’s main stages of construction around 3,000 BC and 2,500 BC.

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 6/25/12” →