CCV - City Call Vienna: The Journey

CCV - City Call Vienna: The Journey https://youtu.be/bt0zpM90Nko via @YouTube. You are invited to see more on http://kck.st/2aiDkJV

CCV - City Call Vienna: http://kck.st/2aiDkJV

Okto: AnthrOkto?

Some weeks ago I attended lectures at Okto. Two colleagues of Social and Cultural Anthropology studies were there, too. We had a little talk about Ethnowelle, afterwards. The lecture held by Mr. Jungwirt focused on various forms of the application of rights in the media. Since I plan to start my own media projects in the near future - I got to make a living and pay my bills - I began to read about copyrights and more applied laws relating to visual media and boradcasting. We discussed some quite interesting points of publishing, i. e. YouTube content and copyright laws, or the causes of difference in European and U. S. laws, as for intellectual property rights. I plan to attend more lectures to start my program.

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FQS: Virtual Ethnography

The Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung released a new edition covering Virtual Ethnography in September. Complete texts are provided in English, German and Spanish. What is Virtual Ethnography?

The label "virtual ethnography" includes a broad range of methodological approaches aimed at answering the complexities of the object of research and the different ways in which this object has been constructed. Virtual ethnographers, ethnographers of the Internet or of cyberspace are faced with the need to answer very pressing questions such as how to use heterogeneous data (text, audiovisual data, etc.) in their analysis, or how to combine research in front of the screen and in the virtual field. (1 Beaulieu/Dominguez/Estalella/Gomez/Read/Schnettler 2007)

There is a chapter about Cyberethnography, whereas ethnography is "a written represenation of culture":

Cyberculture is a prolific area of research, and ethnography occupies a central position in studying cybercultures (BELL, 2001). In brief, ethnography is "a written representation of culture" (MAANEN, 1988). It strives to create descriptions of individual or collective subjectivities for the purpose of understanding different cultures. (2 Gajjala/Rybas 2007)

The authors develop ethnographic methods to investigate the internet by basing their research on the epistemologies of doing. In the conclusion they call for a "process-oriented multi-modal cyberethnographic engagement".

Several reviews and conference reports consummate the edition. All texts are available via *.pdf - download, publications date back to the year 2000.

____________________________________________________________

1 Domínguez, Daniel; Beaulieu, Anne; Estalella, Adolfo; Gómez, Edgar; Schnettler, Bernt & Read, Rosie (2007) Virtual Ethnography. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 8(3), http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-07/07-3-E1-e.htm

2 Rybas, Natalia & Gajjala, Radhika (2007). Developing Cyberethnographic Research Methods for Understanding Digitally Mediated Identities [33 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 8(3), Art. 35, http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-07/07-3-35-e.htm

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A Scientific Theory Of Culture

Malinowski´s language is quite antiquated. He uses terms like "primitve men", a phrasing not used in anthropology, anymore. The volume is easy to read and very interesting, Malinowski refers to many early anthropologists, like Lewis H. Morgan or James G. Frazer. He explains his view of science thoroughly and concedes a kind of scientific spirit to early human beings. Here are the contents for you:

Contents

Preface (Huntington Cairns)

A Scientific Theory of Culture

I. Culture as the Subject of Scientific Investigation

II. A Minimum Definition of Science for the Humanist

III. Concepts and Methods of Anthropology

IV. What is Culture?

V. Theory of Organized Behaviour

VI. The Concrete Isolates of Organized Behavior

VII. The Functional Analysis of Culture

VIII. What is Human Nature?

IX. The Derivation of Cultural Needs

X. Basic Needs and Cultural Responses

XI. The Nature of Derived Needs

XII. The Integrative Imperatives of Human Culture

XIII. The Instrumentalyl Implemented Vital Sequence

The Functional Theory

Sir James George Frazer

   Index

The book contains Bronislaw Malinowski´s outlines on the theory of culture. His approach is functional and in the chapter General Axioms of Functionalism he provides a list of axioms:

A. Culture is essentially an instrumental apparatus by which man is put in a position the better to cope with the concrete specific problems that face him in his environment in the course of the satisfaction he needs.

B.  It is a system of objects, activities, and attitudes in which every part exists as a means to an end.

C. It is an integral in which the various elements are interdependent.

D. Such activities, attitudes and objects are organized around important and vital tasks into institutions such as the family, the clan, the local community, the tribe, and the organized teams of economic cooperations, political, legal, and educational activity.

E. From the dynamic point of view, that is, as regards the type of activity, culture can be analyzed into a number of aspects such as education, social control, economics, systems of knowledge, belief and morality, and also modes of creative and artistic expression. (Malinowski 1964: 150)

Further on Malinowski states a cultural process, in which human beings are involved. He names three dimensions of this cultural process, which are artifacts, organized groups and symbolisms, whereas Function and form are related (Malinowksi 1964: 155 ff.) In his chapter Function defined, it is a very short one, Malinowski explains his approach through concepts of use or utility and relationship. Later Malinowski speaks of functional isolates, he values legitimate for cultural analyses.

   Malinowski, Bronislaw (1964) A Scientific Theory Of Culture. And Other Essays. New York: Oxford University Press

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Will the "West" become the universal modell of mankind?

The following text is going to line out important parts of Maurice Godelier´s lecture, the name of whom I will be abbreviating with G. Professor André Gingrich translated G.´s "Wiener Vorlesungen", id est Vienna Lectures, from the French language into German. I attempt to translate the important parts into English. The bibliographic data - for students and librarians - published in the German edition are:

Godelier, Maurice (1991) Wird der Westen das universelle Modell der Menschheit? Wien: Picus Verlag, ISBN 3-85452-304-1

The Vienna Lectures were - and are - a series of events to present research in relation to the future of society, progress and tendencies in social issues, and the opportunities of cultural and social developments. Having started in spring 1997, these series of lectures became an intellectual jour fixe. Opinion leading and innovative texts were furthermore published in print to serve a wider audience.

Godelier speaks about his work as an anthropologist, which he conducted from 1967. He observed the transformations to be imposed on the Baruya, a tribe living in Papua - New Guinea. These changes in everyday life and the way of thoughts started 1951, when the Baruya were found on the island. Later, namely 1960, the Australian government colonized them. In 1975, the Baruya were declared independent and UN membership turned them into witness bearers of westly progress in this part of the world. Godelier asks then,

But did not the fall of the Berlin wall initialize a new westernizing progress from November 9, 1989 on?

Godelier argues, that the westernizing process of expansion not only comes from the West, but he also names Japan and four or five little dragons as factors. Japan and these dragons, he mentions, have preserved their political sovereignity and cultural identity; whereas Buddhism has played a decisive role. The westernizing progress goes on and on without transporting all elements that are associated to it. Godelier queries

What is the West in its deeper sense today? What are the underlying elements of it?

Godelier means elements associated with the West, that could be dissociated and combined anew - in social and cultural reality and in other parts of the world. As for Godelier, the West is a mixture of the real and the imaginative, of facts and normative forms, of modes of action and modes of thought; all of which result in an affecting and scuffing pool of energy to move around three axes. These axes are three institutional blocks inheriting their own logic: Capitalism, parlamentary democracy and Christianity. The westly strenghts apply to a combination of three realities, that appeared in different times in history and paired rather late. The West is not a modell without flaws, in contrary, complaints come from all over the world: The West colonizes, conquers, is rich and sucks resources; eyes are closed, when liberties are absent, in case regimes serve or ally with the West; in the West coexist rights and disparity, and some are of the opinion still, that capital accumulation base on the legal exploitation of work. Godelier then focusses on tribal societies by asking

What is a tribe?

He explains, that a tribe is a local society, that comprises of ensembles of kinship groups. These groups of kin feel unified by social organisation, modes of thought, rules of marriage and defense and utilization of rescources in a specified territory. So the tribal identity is a blended identity, compound by social and cultural endowment, as well as by identification of conquered or heritable territory, which has to be given to descendents. Generally, Godelier classifies two criteria in relation to tribal societies: 

a. Tribes, who lived sovereign or were already integrated in a precolonial state under the governance of a predominant tribe.

b. Via the segmentation of power, namely allocated between more or less equivalent groups, or in the hands of some on top of a given society and hereditary.

The Baruya found in 1951 were sovereign rulers on their territory. Ritual and political power was massed in the hands of associations, which traced their descent to conquerer - groups. Godelier focuses his method on the formulation of processes, that describe the westernizing; its stages and forms, which are easily traceable and reproduced somewhere else. The Baruya live in the center of New Guinea, in the mountains 2000m high. 1951 they were 1800 people having lived in approximately 12 little villages. Twelve clans, eight of them belonged to and were descendends of the conquerer group, cultivated their grounds using slash-and-burn. Additionally, irrigations on terraces and pig breeding, as well as trading salt from plants, supported them. Women cared for the pigs, men went hunting to strengthen their predominance. The society was classless, but not egalitarian organised. The westernizing process covered four stages under the influence of several forces.

Already before 1951, the Baruya acquired steel axes from Sheffield and Solingen without knowledge of the industrial Europe and led to economic and material dependence. A plane and some troops led to the imagination of a big fire bird in which divine entities looking like human beings lived. 1951, when Jim Sinclair and his troops entered the woods nearby, the Baruya were subjected to military forces. In 1960, an officer and his troops entered the valley of Wonénara to build trajectories and the local tribes were registered and deprived their right to fight each other. The officer introduced the new order in the name of Her Majesty Queen of England. Many incidents led to the fact, that the Baruya lost their right to apply their own laws on their own territory; they lost their political sovereignty and cultural autonomy. As soon as peace was instituted, they were counted and systematically controled. They were confronted with the state, a sign of civilisation and human evolution.

In 1966, Christianity was established by missionaries, which brought schools and education for the Baruya. In 1965, the administration recruited 30% of the local men to send them to work at the coastal plantations. In 1967, when the troops arrived, an anthropologist arrived. An academic representing the West; the West was complete, so Godelier states. After modes of power established, there was going to be the power of knowledge.

The Brauya society changed and some of these transformations were accepted positively by the Baruya, like having peace, living in other places than the valleys, travelling by plane or driving trucks. Some women married to live in the cities. Godelier emphasises the change of basic structures of Baruya society in gender relationships: Men fear female impurity little and women the symbols of male predominance, nowadays. To the Baruya white people are no divine entities no more, but they stay predominant. In post-colonial times the Baruya refuse to accept commands or violence.

This transformative processes will go on and change the whole world without implying its three elements, after Godelier. Christianity is not the only intrinsic religion and there is none. Political democracy should be transformed into social democracy. Capitalistic economy and its wealthiness should be distributed more efficiently and juster. The West will triumph first in Europe, later expand to the East. Godelier finishes his argument with some questions:

Do we have to accept the negative, which we recognize in the West? Do we have to applaud or should we steal away on the tips of our toes? Why should we be contented with our situation? Do we know the end of history has come and we live in the best of all worlds?

 

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Is: Cultural Diversity

The multi-cultural project has become a synonym for social failure and halfhearted sissyness of politicians, that rather restrict, than support social and cultural variety. I dwell, that I use mutli-culturalism and the multi-culturalist project in reference to miscarried politics in this (con-)text. If people use the term multi-culti or call for a multi-cultural leadership, something else is meant, as far as I am concerned. To me, they mean the playful and winning variety of a society from an emic view, from the inside, that lives in peace and who does not question for civics to prove who one would be; or which color of skin one had; or which religion one had chosen to believe in; or to which nation one belonged to; or which language one spoke; or how much money one had; these are all signs and symbols used to make a difference. I do not want to spin my discussion into Eco - istic semiotics, now.

If culture, after Geertz, is roughly a system of historically acquired/collected and interpreted symbols, the perception of variety and diversity supports people, who respect each other, because of differences explained, savored and respected. The multi-culti adjective stands for the joy and pleasure of respected differences. Authors or organisations calling for a multi-cultural society mean, that their and other cultures, societies and human beings should be accepted and respected and they speak from an emic view. From an emic view here, I mean, for instance, an author, who lives within a small-scale group within a dominating culture, who writes about a Multicultural Age. Id est Joana Bordas´s Salsa, Soul & Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age, that will be presented in a Signing Event September 26, 2007.

I stress, that with the muticultural project(-s) I mean the failed implemenations of coherent laws and institutions in - not only Western - societies, and therefore I suggest a new approach by the means of cultural diversity and variety. I think, that a broader perspective of variety should bear acceptance and respect corresponding to cultures and resulting social issues. The discussion is not about multi-cultural tolerance or the finding of differences: The quest goes for respect of differences, even if they were not uttered, and for acceptance of otherness, be it Black, white, religious, poor, gender-related or any other sign or symbol of otherness. If a model of diversity and variety counteracts single-minded lines of thoughts and weak agency, these categories will be good enough to allow debates. The fact or quality of being diverse connotes cultural diversity, which denotes a noticable cultural heterogeneity: Human beings do not have to follow ideologies of some theory, because there are Human Rights to hold egalitarian societies together. I want to refer to recent discussions about building mosques: The media did not inform the public, correctly, which is the case quite often. Take the Viennese example: A given house is to be refurbished. One room will be equipped to say one´s prayers. So why do parts of the local population demonstrate against renovation and a religious center? I think the following is an outline:

1. I think the public was informed wronlgy. It is not a big mosque they were talking about, it is a small place of spirituality.
2. Parts of the public do not know about democracy and the religious freedom so many people fought and died for.
3. Xenophobia: Fear from extremists and fanatics turned into hate of the mass (media).

To me the question arises, if enlightenment in all fields of society is at stake. It is, I am sure. I am looking forward to critique and comments. Moreover, I appreciate actions to support Human Rights and respect. Cultural diversity offers a range of possibilities, whereas mutliculturalism in my opinion rather limits opportunities by referring to only some notions of being human. So it matters, I assume, to talk about Cultural Diversity and manifoldness, and not to limit (endless) variety to multi, a countable number.

               

 

 

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Quote of the Day:
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. - Albert Einstein         

Addendum Breaking News 8.20 PM: Now, I saw Andrea was blogging about the Islamic Youth http://andreabenlassoued.at/?p=229, additionally there is an initiative out, by the Concerned Anthropologists!

Thought provoking 21st century

1 About 21st Century Anthropology

Please read this post on antropologi.info: Keith Hart and Thomas H. Eriksen: This is 21st century anthropology and the associated texts, like the speech.

2 About Mainstream

I would like to start my reasoning with a citation of the IG-History at the University Vienna. "In der Gesellschaft gilt das Dogma, dass Heterosexualität in allen Lebensbereichen die Norm darstellt und dass Abweichungen gegen diese Dualität nicht nur unerwünscht, sondern sogar bedrohlich sind. Gerade was die menschliche Sexualitaet anbelangt vertritt der Mainstream extrem verlogene Ansichten" (Institutsgruppe Geschichte under Antiheteronormativ). This says, that mendacious dualisms concerning sexuality adhere to the Mainstream of society.

I would not want to anthropologically investigate the mainstream. Society has enough of mainstream sources and testimonials, I think. And especially the Central European public I mean with it. I felt embarrassed having had a lecture about Swedish XMas decoration, some years ago. This is certainly not what I expect from Social and Cultural Anthropology. It is not, that I don´t like Sweden, I have learned Swedish for one semester, I admit - I only can read it, not speak - but: White, catholic or other christians and well living?

Nope. I prefer to learn and write about people, unheard and unseen, whelmed with bias. Well, just some thoughts... probably relationships and communication...

Center for 21st Century Studies: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/21st/index.shtml   2007-09-03 5:21 PM

Town Talk

Theory and research were presented in Vienna, July 17 - 19, 1982; the volume Town-Talk resulted from this coop to publish results on a worldwide level. Walter Dostal was the chair of the Vienna Institute, then, as is André Gingrich, today. The introduction prefigures The Global Approach, which is "the analyses of urbanism and urbanization on a worldwide level"  with regard to The National and Regional Processes of Urbanization and Aspects of Urban Culture (Ansari/Nas 1983: 3 f.). Several papers explain various scientific approaches, "The approaches of the contributors cover a wide range of the study of urban urban phenomena: action-behaviourist, politico-economic, dependency and underdevelopmental, world systems, symbolic and aesthetic." (Southall 1983: 6) Aidan Southall formulates his interest in "Cities in Time and Space" (Ansari/Nas 1983: 7), and later he writes, "I would argue that in the post-industrial age urbanization is still concentration, but in a new sense, at a new level. It is no longer a local concentration contrasting urban and rural areas, but a global concentration corresponding to the global scale of the world capitalist system, in which even socialist countries are partially involved." (Southall 1983: 19) The author then explains what he means, "The concentration is no longer one of buildings, or bodies, or even of face to face relationships, but rather a concentrated network of electronically mediated relationships."(Southall 1983: 19)

Oshomha Imoagene analyses 1 The nature of West African cities, 2 Patterns of migration in West Africa, and 3 Urbanization and underdevelopment in West Africa. West Africa has long history of cultures, and so in urbanization, where with i. e. Yoruba, "In this places land was communally rather than lineage owned and individuals had rights to their share as long as theirs crops grew."(Imoagene 1983: 68)

Joyce Aschenbrenner and Kathryn Skinner present a paper about art traditions in urban communities of the  U. S. A., where the suburbs were striken by poverty and development programs supported political and economic life, "For the artists in our research, the distinction between art and other areas of life is not clearly delineated; several noted the artistic values expressed in clothing and decorating onself and one´s house, in cooking and other mundane activities."(Aschenbrenner/Skinner 1983: 116).

***************************

Contents

Introduction (G. Ansari and P. J. M. Nas)

1. Towards a Universal Urban Anthropology (A. Southall)

2. New Directions in Urban Anthropology (P. C. W. Gutkind)

3. The Struggle for the Third World City (W. J. M. Prins and P. J. M. Nas)

4. Charcteristics of Urban Growth in the Gulf States (G. Ansari and I. Qutub)

5. Urbanism, Urbanization and Underdevolpment: The West African Experience (O. Imoagene)

6. From Pre-Industrial to Modern Igbo Towns (A. A. Dike)

7. Viable Traditions in Urban Japan: Matsuri and Chonaikai (K. Aoyagi)

8. Family Art Traditions in Contemporary Society (J. Aschenbrenner and K. Skinner)

9. Divorce and Development in Kuwait (A. H. Hussein)

10. The Historical Development of Urban Anthropology in Venezuela (M. Suárez and R. Torrealba)

11. Urban Anthropology in the U. S. A.: Current Work and Directions for the Future (L. Plotnicov)

12. Past, Present and Future of Dutch Urban Anthropology (P. J. M. Nas and W. J. M. Prins)

Contributors

***************************

Ansari, Ghaus/Nas, Peter J. M. (Editors) (1983) Town-Talk. The Dynamics of Urban Anthropology. Leiden: Brill.
  

Recently, I found some tests referring to Urban Legends: This is a field, which interests me lots. Talking about Urban Legends, I noted, that many of my friends reflect on some of these legends. Anyway, About.com has a domain on Urban Legends and Folklore, which suggests to research this vast field by applying scientific knowledge about mythology.

Amber, Sybil (2007) Anthropo Logic Journals.   

A Riddle is a Paradox, indeed

Baumann localised his book on Rethinking National, Ethnic and Religious Identities, and states: "To solve the riddle, one needs to rethink what is meant by nationality or the nation-state, by ethnic identity or ethnicity, and by religion as a basis of culture." (Baumann 1999: vii) Multiculturalism for him is a riddle, "Having reviewed a multiculturalist vision uncritical of the nation- state and another seemingly multiculturalist one that reduces people´s culture to their religion at birth, let us turn to the third reification that must be overcome: the reduction of people´s culture to their ethnic identity." (Baumann 1999: 103)

I think, that multiculturalisms are theories, that are too weak to translate them into everyday practice. In reference to the fact, that human beings may be members of several cultures/cultural groups (rf. Baumann 1999: 99 f.), I think, that 1. people do (re-)define cultural communities, over and over;  2. (multi-)culturalisms of any kind and theory would not practically have an effect in reality, because people wouldn´t let themselves be reduced to their religion, nation or else. So the question arises, how is cultural identity constituted? To make a long story short by assuming, that culture is system of symbols (rf. Geertz), then groups of people would be better understood, if their symbols were socially understandable or explained. If the origins of identity are culturally influenced, because cultures are shared by many, then cultural identity has to do wih communication. From this it follows, that societies in nations or nation-like groups, like for instance the E. U., i. e. their representatives, should reduce their attempts to formulate what culture would be, in a way, that makes respect and tolerance complyable with an (individual´s) human condition(s) and the Human Rights, plus ammendments. A manifold society and multifaceted cultures would respect and accept particularities of individuals or groups. Cultural identities change permanently, communication filtered the cultural divide.

I don´t know how many Anthropologists are comissioned in the E. U. executive boards, I mean, how many Social and Cultural Anthropologists - specialists for cultures - are employed to solve problems relating to culture(s). And: How can tensions relating to culture(s) be resolved without specialists for culture(s)? "How can we award the same universal recognition to an ever-widening variety of mutually exclusive designs of authenticity and identity, especially when these involve a politics of (stressing) difference?" (Baumann 1999: 108)

As for Baumann pluralisms were inconclusive and the meaningful exclusivist in extreme. Professor Gingrich offers the dialogue as a medium to communicate social and cultural conflicts to achieve respect and tolerance. The Respect Project offers scientific and lawful standards, they have a database online.

***************************

Contents

1. "I Have A Dream" - but Who Os It For? Civil Rights, Human Rights, or Community Rights?

2. From Dreaming to Meaning: The Multicultural Triangle. National Culture, Ethnic Culture, Religion as Culture

3. The Nation-State, I: Postethnic or Pseudotribe? Why Nationa-States Are Not Ethnically Neutral

4. The Nation-State, II: Business or Temple? Why Nation-States Are Not Religiously Neutral

5. Ethnicity: Blood or Wine? Not Immutable Heritage, but Positioning in Context

7. Culture: Having, Making, or Both? From an Essentialist through a Processual to a Discursive Understanding

8. Multicultural Theory, I: The Sales Talk and the Small Print. Are You Same ENough to Be Equal?

9. Multicultural Theory, II: The Values and the Valid. What Is It Prof. Taylor Should "Recognize"?

10. Multicultural Praxis: The Banal and the Best. From Culti-Parading to Multi-Relating

11. From Dreaming to Meaning: A Summary. Multiculturalism Is A New Understanding of Culture

12. From Meaning to Practice: What Students Can Do. New Understandings Require New Projects

References

Index

***************************

Baumann, Gerd (1999) The Multicultural Riddle. Rethinking National, Ethnic, and Religious Identities. New York: Routledge.

  

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Quote of the Day:
If we find a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. - Ralph Waldo Emerson