This article explores the symbolic significance of numbers in Vietnam's underground lottery game, đề, based on ethnographic fieldwork in Ho Chi Minh City. It investigates how players interpret everyday events and dreams through numbers, creating a unique blend of personal and cultural symbolism. These number symbols function both publicly within the game's subculture and personally, resonating with broader anthropological discussions on the role of symbols in life narratives and cultural performances. By attaching numerical significance to mundane occurrences, players gain a sense of agency and foster shared cultural understanding. The article situates the lottery game within the broader context of Vietnamese culture, emphasizing the crucial role of numbers in daily life and calling for further exploration of numerical practices in Vietnamese society.
This comment critically examines the legacy of Chinese anthropologist Fei Xiaotong and its implications for understanding China's approach to non-Chinese peoples on the territory that became modern China. The author argues that Fei's concept of ‘pluralistic unity’ has been misinterpreted and actually represents a continuation of China's imperial ideology of absorbing conquered populations. The piece links this ideology to current Chinese policies, particularly the treatment of Uyghurs and other non-Chinese peoples. It contends that the Chinese Communist Party abandoned its original anti-imperialist stance in favour of continuing imperial practices, resulting in the transformation of multiple nations into nominal ‘minorities’ and then their erasure under the guise of national unity. The author calls for a reassessment of China's anthropology through the lens of colonialism, racism and imperialism, arguing that China's imperial legacy must be critically examined to understand its current policies and actions. The article situates this discussion within the broader context of emerging literature on Chinese settler colonialism. It emphasizes the need for a comparative approach in studying China's past and present imperialism.
This article examines the worship of Dr José Tomás Sousa Martins, a 19th-century physician revered as a lay saint and healer in Portugal, attracting devotees from diverse backgrounds. Some devotees come in search of healing and leave votive offerings at his statue in front of the NOVA Medical School in Lisbon. Others view him as a spirit guide who manifests through mediums in Umbanda practices and the healing rituals of the Spiritualist Christian temples of the Vale do Amanhecer in Brazil. Dr Sousa Martins bridges the domains of spirituality and biomedicine. This article explores the materiality of devotional practices through the circulation of things and images and the intersection of therapeutic itineraries in shaping places of worship. It examines how healing is sought through devotion during health crises, emphasizing the importance of the senses and religious and diagnostic images in devotees’ healing narratives.
This article explores the use of camera traps as novel research agents in studying human-animal interactions and animal behaviour. Drawing on case studies from ecological research in India and ritual practices in Thailand, the authors examine how camera traps transform methodologies across the natural and social sciences and ask what these technologies reveal about animal responses to human presence and the cognitive underpinnings of their behaviours. Using Actor-Network-Theory frameworks and more-than-human philosophy, the authors argue that camera traps are not passive recording devices but active participants that shape the multispecies realities they observe. The case studies illustrate how animals learn to recognize and respond to camera traps, demonstrating situational awareness, evaluative cognition and adaptive learning. The authors advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to studying human-animal interactions that accounts for the agentive capacities of both humans and nonhumans, including technological agents like camera traps. This article contributes to ongoing discussions in ethology, anthropology and cognitive science about the use of remote imaging in field research and the conceptual and ethical implications of technological interventions in more-than-human lifeworlds.
The Vietnamese public increasingly attribute the rise in cancer and chronic diseases to factors such as environmental pollution, food safety issues and contemporary lifestyles. This article examines these perceptions through interviews with individuals living with chronic conditions, their caregivers, and adherents of a macrobiotic diet − an alternative health approach. The study reveals a prevailing belief that illnesses manifest anthropogenic impacts within the human body, signifying the detrimental effects of human-induced environmental changes. The advocated solution, encapsulated in the macrobiotic diet, is viewed as a ‘return’ to more natural living. This approach is not merely dietary but also symbolizes a broader philosophical shift towards ‘de-anthropogenizing’ – a concerted effort to cleanse the body of environmental impurities caused by human actions. The macrobiotic practice, therefore, represents more than a health strategy; it embodies a profound desire to realign human activities with natural processes. This study underscores an emergent narrative in Vietnam where health recovery and environmental stewardship converge, advocating for a respectful, harmonious coexistence with nature. The findings highlight the complex interplay between public health, environmental consciousness and the search for alternative solutions in the face of mounting concerns over the impact of modernization on individual and collective well-being.
This guest editorial critically examines the current landscape of European politics and reassesses anthropology's role in deciphering contemporary social and political dynamics. It analyzes the surge of populism, epitomized by leaders like Hungary's Viktor Orbán, and challenges prevailing narratives on migration, the Ukraine conflict and European integration. The editorial argues that anthropologists must engage more intimately with grassroots perspectives and the notion of ‘peoplehood’ to grasp the intricacies of national identity and sovereignty in our globalized era. By questioning the dominant liberal cosmopolitan worldview, it proposes an alternative anthropological approach that considers both the advantages and pitfalls of open borders and supranational entities like the EU. This call for a more holistic anthropological perspective aims to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay between local, national and global forces shaping contemporary European societies.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：