Archive for the ‘Anthropology’ Category
To Busy 4 Blogging
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on februari 21st, 2010
I am sorry to say that my time has been spent on other spheres than this site lately. I am working with an extensive project – making an anthropological documentary while working full time as an administrator. So have patience. Anthromodernity takes a break and will be back.
Denim Diplomacy?
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on december 10th, 2009
There has been a denim debate in Sweden recently as well as internationally. The debate is regarding new Swedish designers who produces their jeans in a north Korean factory. According to NoKo jeans website their interest and curiosity in North Korea, a nation closed off from the rest of the world for 60 years made them want to invest and make business with the people of North Korea. This business cooperation is called Denim Diplomacy in The Guardian.
The jeans were produced after 2 years of “diplomacy” negotiations between NoKo jeans and North Korea. But only days before the jeans were premiering at department store PUB in central Stockholm, the store management refused the opening of NoKo jeans museum due to the dichtator origin of the denims. Hence the jeans became a hype, apparently people feel bad for these poor designer who cant sell their jeans at PUB, and maybe feel that NoKo are brave young people who managed to settle relations with one of the closed countries in the world. And apparently the NoKo jeans people think that it is beneficiary for North Korea that they, a small Swedish company are doing business over there.
I disagree I see this “Denim diplomacy” as highly problematic. And as far as politics go, I think that trade loyalty is important. I would never ever buy a product that I know was produced in North Korea. That is my consumer power. I believe that the people of North Korea are deprived of many basic human rights, as the right to vote, and freedom of speech.
According to the Swedish Goverment’s Human Rights report Quote: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has a collectivist social order in which respect for Human Rights (HR) are exposed to serious, comprehensive and systematic violations. North Korea has one of the world’s most repressive political regimes.”
Denim Diplomacy, maybe if there was a friendship between NoKo and North Korea, yeah. but I think you should think again before producing product in a country which violates human rights. I will not support it.
The friendly spirit of New York
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, Global on december 8th, 2009
I have been to the states, and hence afk for a couple of weeks now. It was was my first visit and it was something like a cultural shock for me actually. I am European and I did not really expect a cultural shock when visiting the states. I will give you examples in a comparative anthropological perspective during December in my blog. Today I will tell you about the friendly and welcoming spirit that hits the New York visitor.
I landed at night-time and just went to the hotel to get some sleep. The first morning and my first impression in New York was when I headed down to Starbucks to get my morning coffee. The staff was overwhelmingly polite and cheerful at the early morning hour. Very friendly and when I had placed my order, and paid for my Soja latte, the barista asked for my name. A couple of minutes later another staff member calls out “Soja latte for Johanna is ready” and a Starbucks cup with my name written on it is placed in my hand.
This was such a nice gesture, I thought of all the stressed people in this million dollar city who rush off to work with a paper cup in hand, with a homely spirited handwritten name on their cups. I was just amazed. I think this is a rally neat and polite gesture to treat your costumers and name their cups. To bring a familiality to the multinational coffee shop is just very clever technique to serve the costumers. I kept returning to Starbucks during my stay in US, never an unfriendly face there. And actually, everyone, everywhere was really friendly and talkative, quite the opposite to my hometown where the “mind your own business” ethos is imbuing the Stockholm city culture. The service people in Stockholm are never overly friendly and I do not expect them to be either. My impression is that the Stockholm general spirit is VERY different from New York.
Desi Girls – MA thesis available
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, Gender, India on november 10th, 2009
My MA dissertation on Delhi girls “Desi Girls – a stydy of young urban middle class girls’ expressions and negotiations of gender” is now to be found online, feel free to download and spread! Thank you.
Just click on this link, and you need to search for the title Desi girls in the first field.
Abstract:
This thesis attempts to understand how gender is expressed and negotiated in the everyday lives of young urban girls in South Delhi. To approach the topic of gender I engaged in participant observation including semi-structured interviews and spending time with young middle-class girls during two months in Delhi at the end of 2008. The girls I encountered in the field are all college students in a phase of transition; being young, educated and of marriageable age.
In constructing a body of knowledge with a foundation in the theoretical framework of discourse analysis, I illustrate how institutions like marriage, family, societal norms, space, and relations between the sexes are juxtaposed in the area of gender. This thesis reveals how gender identity is constructed not as individual accounts, but as juxtapositions of perspectives of individual agency and manifestations of discourses.
Marriage in Delhi is commonly arranged by the parents and is considered a union in which gender needs to be re-negotiated. Aware of the patriarchal ethos imbuing their society, the informants are preparing for the after-marriage talk. After marriage their individual freedom lies in the hands of their husbands, therefore they intend to negotiate with their husbands-to-be to have a marriage based on equality.
Being a Desi girl is a paradox: on one hand they want to be good girls – subservient, humble and obedient – but on the other hand they are negotiating and challenging the normative behaviour when it comes to issues like marriage, go out pubing, or to talking back to their parents. In this thesis, I investigate the societal femininity discourse and the possible discrepancy between the discourse and the actual behaviour. I have concluded that the concept of negotiation plays a key role in the Delhi girls’ constructions of gender.
Key words: Delhi, Gender, Girls, Middle class, Discourse analysis
PhD in Vampire cults
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, Popular culture on november 3rd, 2009
For students of anthropology everywhere, its time for a television series. The series “Moonlight” from 2007 features in its first episodes an eclectic professor of Social Anthropology, who achieved his PhD in Vampire cults. In the series he has started his own “Study group” in the basement of the University where he teach, but this study group is a cover for his very own blood cult. The Professor believes he is a vampire, even though he is not. So take this as an example; tooo much engaging in your PhD dissertation and you can become the study!
Restaurant Culture: America
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on oktober 11th, 2009
It recently came to my awareness that in the Us there is a special type of restaurant called “BYOB:s”. BYOB means Bring Your Own Bottle. And you actually bring your own bottle of alcohol and you can drink it at the restaurant. These restaurant may not have a permit to sell alcohol, so they encourage the costumers to bring their own alcohol, you need to pay a special corkage fee, symbolically they will open your bottle and you pay for this service. Interesting restaurant concept, a piece of restaurant culture to you.
