Row over corn rows hairstyle

By contributor Sean Carey

An 11 year-old African-Caribbean boy was refused entry to a Roman Catholic secondary school in North London in 2009 because he was wearing ‘corn rows’ (braided hair close to the scalp). Two years later, he has won a significant victory in the High Court.

Cornrow mohawk. Flickr/J Daniel Gonzalez.

The decision by St. Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Harrow to exclude him was ostensibly based on two reasons.

His hair style contravened the school dress code. Boys are obliged to wear their hair in a military-style “short back and sides.”
His hair style might encourage separatism, and possibly a “gang culture,” within the institution.

The judge ruled that the school’s decision was “unlawful” and encouraged “indirect discrimination” by not taking into account an individual’s cultural background and heritage.

“There are a number of Afro-Caribbeans for whom cutting their hair and wearing it in corn rows is a matter of their cultural background,” he said, “and can work against them on the basis of their ethnicity.”

Sewing in the braids. Flickr/Samantha Steele

The case is unusual in the U.K., although exceptions have been made in the case of male Sikhs. Because of their religious tradition of wearing turbans, they are exempt from wearing crash helmets while riding motorcycles and scooters.

But the new ruling on corn rows was based on secular customary behaviour — in this instance, family and a wider cultural tradition amongst some African-Caribbeans (and Black Africans).

A spokesperson for St. Gregory’s said that it is “naturally disappointed” (press release PDF) with the ruling and is considering taking the case to the Court of Appeal.

Temporary faculty position at Indiana University of PA

Position: The Anthropology Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania seeks to fill a full time temporary position during the 2011-2012 academic year. Teaching responsibilities will include sections of Contemporary Anthropology as well as Cultural Anthropology and Anthropology of Religion. There may also be opportunities for successful applicants to teach in their areas of specialization. All areas of specialization are welcome.

Qualifications: At or near PhD, teaching experience required. Candidate must communicate effectively and perform well during the interview. All applicants must be work eligible.

How to Apply: Send letter of application, CV, at least three letters of reference, transcripts, and evidence of teaching ability to Dr. Phillip Neusius, Chair, Anthropology Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705. Fax: 724-357-6478. Review of applications will begin as soon as received and continue until the positions are filled.

IUP is an equal opportunity employer M/F/H/V. IUP is member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Dirty work: take it or leave it

By contributor Sean Carey

I recently went to a car wash at a small, edge of town shopping area near where I live in an affluent commuter town around 10 miles north of London. It is located in rented space in the car park in front of Homebase and Argos, two of the U.K.’s biggest retail chains.

The car wash consists of a square metal hut resembling a small shipping container. Employees can stash their belongings in it and find shelter there during inclement weather.

Here is the routine at my local car wash: A driver parks behind other vehicles that are in the queue and then edges forward until a team of young men begin to perform their magical work. One employee uses a pressure water hose to remove most of the dirt and grime. Then two or three others use sponges and detergent to finish the job. The driver is still sitting behind the wheel.

After another move forward in the queue, a second group of men use chamois leathers to dry the car’s bodywork.

Now, for an extra fee the customer can request that the inside of the vehicle is cleaned. This choice entails getting out of the car. Which is what I did. As I stood and watched, three men began vacuuming and wiping interior surfaces.

I then went over to pay the owner, who I had briefly met on previous visits. It turns out that he is a Kosovar Albanian. “I have been living in the U.K. for 15 years,” he told me in response to my query about his background. “I go back Kosovo twice a year – it’s safe now – but this is now my home. My family is here.”
Continue reading “Dirty work: take it or leave it” →

Chagos conference report

Guest post by Sean Carey

The Chagos Regagne conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London on May 19 focused on the possibility of establishing an eco-village and research station on one of the outer islands of the Chagos Archipelago, part of the disputed British Indian Ocean Territory. It turned out to be extremely interesting.

Source: Chagos International Support. This is an historic image. The MPA was officially recognized in April 2010.

The event was the brainchild of bestselling novelist, Philippa Gregory, and conservationist and adventurer, Ben Fogle.

But this wasn’t just a “scientific” conference for marine and other scientists. Instead, there were conservationists, lawyers, development geographers, cultural anthropologists and a good number of former U.K. Foreign Office personnel, including David Snoxell, the former British high commissioner to Mauritius, as well as John MacManus, the newly appointed administrator of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mauritius High Commissioner Abhimanyu Kundasamy attended. Mauritius is host to the largest group of Chagossian exiles and their descendants, around 3,000 people, who live in the capital, Port Louis, and surrounding areas. Mauritius wants the return of the archipelago. In 1965, under international law, the archipelago was illegally excised from its territory by the U.K. in order to provide the U.S. with a military base on Diego Garcia.

Also in attendance were around 150 Chagossians. They had travelled from Crawley and Manchester where they have settled since leaving Mauritius and the Seychelles and becoming British passport holders in 2002.

I met David Vine, of American University in Washington, D.C., who gave an excellent and impassioned summary of his book, Island of Shame, as well as sharing his more recent thoughts on why the U.S. prefers isolated, unpopulated islands for its military bases. Put simply, it’s all a question of “no people, no problems.”

Continue reading “Chagos conference report” →

Must Read: Memorial Mania by Erika Doss

Guest post by Tristram Riley-Smith

Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America
by Erika Doss, University of Chicago Press (2010)

At the end of William Faulkner’s masterpiece, The Sound and the Fury, the castrated idiot, Benjy Compson, weeps when his black carer walks him the wrong way past the memorial to the Confederate soldier in Oxford, Miss. Honor-rites have been flouted, and through Benjy’s tears we sense the pent-up emotions of a defeated yet defiant, impotent yet proud, South.

This vignette points to a wider truth. Memorials carry enormous emotional and symbolic freight, providing clues as to how people feel about their society. This is the subject of Erika Doss’s scholarly and readable book, Memorial Mania.

In responding enthusiastically to this work, I must admit to sitting in the center of its target audience “sweet spot.” As an anthropologist of art (having conducted doctoral research among the Buddhist “god-makers” of the Kathmandu Valley), I am partial to books that focus on the place of material culture in society. And in my recent incarnation as an anthropologist of America, I relish work that reveals new aspects of this complex and fascinating society.

But I believe Memorial Mania will appeal to a wide audience – both inside and outside academia – given the quality of the writing and the presentation of the material. The book is packed with information and insight as it documents the growing phenomenon of memorialization in America; and 160 illustrations can only enhance the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the subject. Doss also has an ear for the well-turned phrase: she describes memorials, for instance, as “archives of public affect” and “repositories of feelings and emotions.”

The author adds depth and structure to her work by examining her subject in relation to different feelings. Under “fear,” for instance, Doss explores the proliferation of terrorism memorials, linked to security narratives (with an interesting digression into the narrative of national innocence). Under “shame,” she describes memorials recalling racism, slavery and war relocation; she focusses this chapter on Duluth’s Lynching Memorial in Minnesota, that recollects a horrific act of mob violence from the 1920s that was new to me. Continue reading “Must Read: Memorial Mania by Erika Doss” →

Call for proposals for special edition of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry

The journal editors, Brandy Schillace and Atwood Gaines, are calling for proposals for a special issue to appear next June on anthropologies of clinical training in the 21st century (PDF).

A special issue includes the guest editor(s)’ introduction, peer-reviewed articles and a final commentary that reflects on the pieces included.

According to the editors:

It may perhaps come as a surprise that the editorial staff did not originally plan to release a special issue each June. Rather, these issues have grown somewhat organically into a feature of the journal, and have earned their proper place in the yearly cycle. Special Issues have a useful and informative function for Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry and for studies in anthropology, psychiatry and medicine more generally. They allow us to more deeply engage a subject than is possible with single articles and indicate their relevance beyond the indentified topic.

The Queen is not up for grabs

Guest Post by Sean Carey

Don’t kiss the Queen! Officials at Buckingham Palace instructed guests, who were due to attend the wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton, not to attempt to touch or kiss the British sovereign.

Queen Elizabeth II with the Obamas, 2009. Flickr/Creative Commons

Historically, almost all of those who have broken the taboo have paid a price.

In 1992, the British tabloids dubbed the then Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, the ‘Lizard of Oz’ after he placed a hand on the Queen’s middle back at a public reception. There was another rumpus when his successor, John Howard, was accused of a similar misdemeanour at Canberra’s Parliament House in 2000. Intriguingly, US First Lady Michelle Obama was not pilloried in the same way when she she put her arm around the Royal upper back at a Buckingham Palace G20 reception in 2009.

So when is it okay to touch the British sovereign?

The custom that prohibits touching or kissing the Queen is not an absolute. Whenever a transaction occurs, it seems that the crucial point is that it reflects and maintains the social status and social distance of both parties.

The night before the Royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton, a gala dinner was held at the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park for members of the British Royal family. Guests also included some of their counterparts from overseas – mainly royals from Europe, but also those from more distant parts of the world, including the Sultan of Brunei and his wife.

According to press reports, the Queen arrived “fashionably late” to meet members of her own flock and the other royals. When I watched the evening news bulletin on the BBC it was impossible not to notice the kisses bestowed on her cheeks by an immaculately coiffed, flame-haired woman in a long flowing robe. The kisses offered to the British monarch were followed immediately by a curtsy. Familiarity and subordination were thus simultaneously conveyed through the combination of gestures.

But even more intriguing: who was the woman who was permitted to kiss the British monarch? It turns out that the evening’s host was Lady Elizabeth Anson, founder of the UK-based events company, Party Planners, and the Queen’s first cousin.

Continue reading “The Queen is not up for grabs” →

Celebrity anthro

The second issue of the new multidisciplinary journal, Celebrity Studies, has just been published. It is a special issue devoted to the subject of Michael Jackson.

michael-jackson-concert-2 — Credit: Flickr/kronicit

Surprise, surpise this era of economic strain including relentless library cutbacks for journal subscriptions (at least at my university), it is nothing short of amazing to see a new journal appear and one that is so narrowly niched.

Or maybe the niche is wider than I think. This journal could be academia’s answer to People magazine!

And don’t forget that cultural anthropologist Laura Nader told us, back in 1975, that anthropologists need to “study up.”

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not the third issue will be devoted to the royal wedding?

Anthro in the news 3/14/11

• Bedouin warriors not motley
Not just a “motley army of poorly armed civilian volunteers,” most of the Libyan opposition fighters are descendants of a long line of warriors. Philip Carl Salzman, professor of cultural anthropology at McGill University, makes this point in a letter to Canada’s National Post: “In the current uprising against the Gaddafi regime, we see a resurgence of the tribes and the reactivation of traditional Bedouin mobilization and martial values.”

• Rethinking tribal power in Libya
Another view, from Khalil Ali Al-Musmari, a retired professor of anthropology, says that foreign media have misrepresented tribal power in Libya. Educated, urban Libyans make their own decisions. In the desert outposts, however, tribes play an important role as villagers decide whom to fight.

• Another big drug from the San
Cultural anthropologist Sean Carey of Roehampton University published an article in the March issue of African Business about an anti-depressant herb known to the San people of southern Africa. The San prozac herb could be more financially successful than diet drug made from hoodia. Follow the money and hope the San get major financial rights and do a good job using the money for their own welfare.

• Last Neanderthals in Greece
Two sites in the Pindos Mountains, dated to between 50,000-35,000 years ago, contain hundreds of stone tools that may have been used by the last Neanderthals in Greece and perhaps Europe.

• Our southern African roots
An extensive genetic study of foraging populations of southern Africa supports the view that modern human origins lie in southern Africa. BBC news cites a co-author of the new study, Brenna Henn of Stanford University and Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London (not involved in the study). The paper appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Basques in Boise, Idaho
A DNA study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology reports on the loss of genetic diversity among Basques in Boise due to the founder effect (being descended from a small number of individuals).

• Bonobos: give peace a chance
More on our hippie relatives from Brian Hare of Duke University and Vanessa Woods. Hare and Woods report on our peaceful ancestors who now, sadly, live in the war-torn Congo. We humans should give them a chance.

• Darwin on the hand
Charles Darwin’s assertion that the human hand evolved as a result of tool is supported by experimental research. Stephen Lycett, senior lecturer in human evolution at Kent University, and Alastair Key, of the department of anthropology at Kent University, published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

• In memoriam
Mahmoud Rouh Alamini, a leading figure in establishing cultural anthropology in Iran, died on March 8 at the age of 82 years. He is the author of several books including Old Rites and Fests in Today Iran, Quest with a Lamp, Roots of Culture Studies, On Culture and Swear by Your Shakhe Nabat. He received a B.A. in social sciences in 1960 from the University of Tehran. He received a Ph.D. degree in 1968 from Sorbonne University.

Upcoming WAPA event

“Cultural Sameness” and “Cultural Otherness”: Benefits and Drawbacks in Applied Anthropological Work

When: Tuesday, March 1 at 7:00 pm
Where: Charles Sumner School
1201 17th St NW
Washington, DC

Presenters: Michael Cernea, Stan Yoder, more TBA

Throughout much of the history of anthropology, students were expected to conduct fieldwork in cultures and societies not their own. That expectation shifted somewhat several decades ago, and students are able to do fieldwork in their own culture and society as well as in others. This panel discussion, led by Michael Cernea and assisted by Stan Yoder, will consider what is gained and what is given up in working in one’s own culture and society, or in a quite different one, with an emphasis on exploring the effects of “Cultural Sameness” and “Cultural Otherness” in the professional work of applied and development anthropologists. The discussion will continue the examination of issues that were raised following the Memorial Lecture in honor of Ruth Fredman Cernea in November of 2009.Also participating in the panel will be several people who work in applied anthropology: at least one working overseas and the other working domestically. The panel will explore the situations in which the work and insights of an indigenous anthropologist would be most effective, and those in which an anthropologist from the outside would be most effective. A description of the background to the panel’s topic and its relevance may be downloaded here (pdf document).

More information: March 2011 meeting