This brief biography of the German ethnologist Fritz Krause (1881–1963) sketches his life story, some of the intellectual influences that impacted his work, and elucidates the scholarly context in which the article “Maske und Ahnenfigur: Das Motiv der Hülle und das Prinzip der Form” (1931) was written and published.
{"title":"A short biography of Fritz Krause","authors":"Erik Petschelies","doi":"10.1086/721541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/721541","url":null,"abstract":"This brief biography of the German ethnologist Fritz Krause (1881–1963) sketches his life story, some of the intellectual influences that impacted his work, and elucidates the scholarly context in which the article “Maske und Ahnenfigur: Das Motiv der Hülle und das Prinzip der Form” (1931) was written and published.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"97 1","pages":"598 - 602"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88538048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Building on anthropological observations of the Chinese state’s specific strategies and practices in the field of international diplomacy and engagement with the media, this article describes how the Chinese state aims to influence and shape the international court of opinion about its measures in Xinjiang. As such, it examines changes in the international political climate and the framework of human rights in which the discussion of adversities in Xinjiang unfolds. In doing so, it draws attention to several important processes of Chinese statecraft and foreign diplomacy, and identifies the reasons why the Uyghur crisis is met with so much ambiguity and uncertainty by the international public.
{"title":"“Crimes against sovereignty”","authors":"Ruslan Yusupov","doi":"10.1086/720565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720565","url":null,"abstract":"Building on anthropological observations of the Chinese state’s specific strategies and practices in the field of international diplomacy and engagement with the media, this article describes how the Chinese state aims to influence and shape the international court of opinion about its measures in Xinjiang. As such, it examines changes in the international political climate and the framework of human rights in which the discussion of adversities in Xinjiang unfolds. In doing so, it draws attention to several important processes of Chinese statecraft and foreign diplomacy, and identifies the reasons why the Uyghur crisis is met with so much ambiguity and uncertainty by the international public.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"42 1-8 1","pages":"382 - 391"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77816011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Contemporary life across the globe is awash with enterprises, programs, and practices that purport to foster self-alteration. Developing the self; self-care; transcending the self; self-actualization; expressing the self; empowering it: the myriad of terms testifies to myriad actions of the self on the self, facilitated by activities in a huge number of social domains. Anthropology as a discipline has an intense interest in the way that different societies constitute personhood or selves. Yet in itself the self has been of more central interest for certain other disciplines than it has been for anthropology. This essay sketches out an anthropological prolegomenon to the theme and practice of self-alteration. It concludes that the study of self-alteration should begin not with cultural models of the self but with the revealing of its new structures caused by modes of alteration themselves.
{"title":"Alternative me? Anthropology and self-alteration","authors":"Christopher Houston","doi":"10.1086/720356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720356","url":null,"abstract":"Contemporary life across the globe is awash with enterprises, programs, and practices that purport to foster self-alteration. Developing the self; self-care; transcending the self; self-actualization; expressing the self; empowering it: the myriad of terms testifies to myriad actions of the self on the self, facilitated by activities in a huge number of social domains. Anthropology as a discipline has an intense interest in the way that different societies constitute personhood or selves. Yet in itself the self has been of more central interest for certain other disciplines than it has been for anthropology. This essay sketches out an anthropological prolegomenon to the theme and practice of self-alteration. It concludes that the study of self-alteration should begin not with cultural models of the self but with the revealing of its new structures caused by modes of alteration themselves.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"70 6 1","pages":"482 - 498"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77252198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since 2017, it has become increasingly undeniable that crimes against humanity are occurring in the area now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This article examines the particular ethical dilemmas posed to China-focused academics by these events. A generation of researchers who began their careers engaging with a “rising power” now face a state openly engaged in genocide. Academics who have come to see their jobs as “understanding” China now face realities beyond comprehension. Speaking honestly is the only dignified option, but it is at the same time also the most difficult path, on account of the Chinese state’s aggressive monitoring of public commentary, control over research access, and extraterritorial harassment of critics. How are research and academic discourse on China impacted by these developments? And what can academics do, or not, to live up to the urgent challenges of this historical moment?
{"title":"The crisis of China research in an age of genocide","authors":"Kevin Carrico","doi":"10.1086/720512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720512","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2017, it has become increasingly undeniable that crimes against humanity are occurring in the area now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This article examines the particular ethical dilemmas posed to China-focused academics by these events. A generation of researchers who began their careers engaging with a “rising power” now face a state openly engaged in genocide. Academics who have come to see their jobs as “understanding” China now face realities beyond comprehension. Speaking honestly is the only dignified option, but it is at the same time also the most difficult path, on account of the Chinese state’s aggressive monitoring of public commentary, control over research access, and extraterritorial harassment of critics. How are research and academic discourse on China impacted by these developments? And what can academics do, or not, to live up to the urgent challenges of this historical moment?","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"38 1","pages":"405 - 412"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78549736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Activities undertaken during everyday commutes have often been studied to prove the inherent value of travel time to the commuters. Women commuters using the ladies’ compartments of the Mumbai local trains use this time to eat and share food, shop, chitchat, and watch sitcoms on their phones. Undertaken in a gender-segregated space, these activities make women’s mobility an avenue for the performance of their femininities. Thus, while the association between masculinity and mobility stands questioned, what merits enquiry is whether mobility for women is premised on their effective performance of hegemonic femininities.
{"title":"Travel time activities","authors":"Arundhathi","doi":"10.1086/720816","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720816","url":null,"abstract":"Activities undertaken during everyday commutes have often been studied to prove the inherent value of travel time to the commuters. Women commuters using the ladies’ compartments of the Mumbai local trains use this time to eat and share food, shop, chitchat, and watch sitcoms on their phones. Undertaken in a gender-segregated space, these activities make women’s mobility an avenue for the performance of their femininities. Thus, while the association between masculinity and mobility stands questioned, what merits enquiry is whether mobility for women is premised on their effective performance of hegemonic femininities.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"16 1","pages":"565 - 579"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87402593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Regional differences in religious opinions are a major issue in Islamic banking. The Islamic contract of bay’ al-‘inah (a sale and repurchase agreement), which was commonly practiced in Malaysia but unacceptable in the Middle East, represents these differences well. This study traces the process by which the legitimacy of bay’ al-‘inah was constituted in Malaysia and examines how actors related the local practice to Islamic tradition. Through interviews and archival research, this study reveals that first adopters of bay’ al-‘inah selected it as an exceptional means for house financing with some ambivalence; however, the choice consequently enabled this contract to prevail through a long-term reproduction process, which obscured the religious dilemma of the first adopters. This study demonstrates the usefulness of process-tracing analysis for anthropological studies of the institutional formation of local Islamic practices to identify their causal configuration and trace the changes of religious normativity and everyday practices.
{"title":"The historical contingency of religious normativity","authors":"Hideki Kitamura","doi":"10.1086/720511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720511","url":null,"abstract":"Regional differences in religious opinions are a major issue in Islamic banking. The Islamic contract of bay’ al-‘inah (a sale and repurchase agreement), which was commonly practiced in Malaysia but unacceptable in the Middle East, represents these differences well. This study traces the process by which the legitimacy of bay’ al-‘inah was constituted in Malaysia and examines how actors related the local practice to Islamic tradition. Through interviews and archival research, this study reveals that first adopters of bay’ al-‘inah selected it as an exceptional means for house financing with some ambivalence; however, the choice consequently enabled this contract to prevail through a long-term reproduction process, which obscured the religious dilemma of the first adopters. This study demonstrates the usefulness of process-tracing analysis for anthropological studies of the institutional formation of local Islamic practices to identify their causal configuration and trace the changes of religious normativity and everyday practices.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"2006 1","pages":"513 - 524"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86969124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scholars of life in Xinjiang have faced unprecedented stakes and uncertainty in recent years. Access to the region and its people is curtailed, and the information coming out of it is limited both by state efforts to obfuscate the details of conditions there and by the need for researchers to protect their informants. Despite these impediments to research, however, anthropology and anthropologists have played a uniquely important role in revealing and interpreting the details of the recent crisis. Here, I outline both the importance of anthropological approaches to making sense of the Xinjiang crisis, and the implications of the discipline’s engagement with it for debates on professional ethics and the role of anthropologists in the face of human suffering.
{"title":"Uyghur suffering, uncertainty, and academic interpretation","authors":"James McMurray","doi":"10.1086/721183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/721183","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars of life in Xinjiang have faced unprecedented stakes and uncertainty in recent years. Access to the region and its people is curtailed, and the information coming out of it is limited both by state efforts to obfuscate the details of conditions there and by the need for researchers to protect their informants. Despite these impediments to research, however, anthropology and anthropologists have played a uniquely important role in revealing and interpreting the details of the recent crisis. Here, I outline both the importance of anthropological approaches to making sense of the Xinjiang crisis, and the implications of the discipline’s engagement with it for debates on professional ethics and the role of anthropologists in the face of human suffering.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"23 1","pages":"335 - 340"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89788493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Given the predominantly secular approach towards religion by anthropologists and sociologists, we contend that a discussion of the researcher’s positionality with regard to faith and belief, as well as the autoethnographic approach in pilgrimage studies, is methodologically important. Drawing on years of volunteering at two pilgrimage sites, we explore what kind of methodological impact our role as volunteers and our private lives have had on both research at and interpretations of the pilgrimage sites. For one of us working as a volunteer was a personal choice motivated by faith, while for the other it was based on the pragmatics of doing research. In both cases gaining access involved the generation of social capital through the gifting of time and free labor within a hierarchical structure of power exchange. Our role as volunteers gave us an opportunity to explore the faith-based positionality and self-interest which informs pilgrimage volunteering and involves power exchange. Our article seeks to show how we address our own religious beliefs but, at the same time, stay grounded in ethnographic observations and analysis.
{"title":"The role of volunteers in pilgrimage studies","authors":"Mario Katić, J. Eade","doi":"10.1086/720901","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720901","url":null,"abstract":"Given the predominantly secular approach towards religion by anthropologists and sociologists, we contend that a discussion of the researcher’s positionality with regard to faith and belief, as well as the autoethnographic approach in pilgrimage studies, is methodologically important. Drawing on years of volunteering at two pilgrimage sites, we explore what kind of methodological impact our role as volunteers and our private lives have had on both research at and interpretations of the pilgrimage sites. For one of us working as a volunteer was a personal choice motivated by faith, while for the other it was based on the pragmatics of doing research. In both cases gaining access involved the generation of social capital through the gifting of time and free labor within a hierarchical structure of power exchange. Our role as volunteers gave us an opportunity to explore the faith-based positionality and self-interest which informs pilgrimage volunteering and involves power exchange. Our article seeks to show how we address our own religious beliefs but, at the same time, stay grounded in ethnographic observations and analysis.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"23 1","pages":"580 - 593"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90443364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reflects on relations between individual and cultural experience to illuminate how anthropologists and political scientists approach Uyghur narratives of genocide. Uyghur perspectives are often overlooked in global media coverage that represents them through narratives of China’s “restive region” or Western sanctions. The article analyzes my own role in analyzing experiences of violence in a public setting, the Uyghur Tribunal, committed to assessing the truth of Uyghur claims. The method is a reluctant autoethnography, in between Leon Anderson’s “analytic autoethnography” in which researchers are full members in a group setting committed to understanding a phenomenon, and Carolyn Ellis’s “heartful autoethnography,” which crafts evocative stories that create reality. The analysis of visual affect at the Uyghur Tribunal builds on Brian Massumi’s approach, which considers that researchers must be open to affecting and being affected by the world to understand it or to communicate the meaning of their findings, particularly in cases of genocide.
{"title":"What does genocide feel like? An autoethnography of visual affect","authors":"David Tobin","doi":"10.1086/720564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/720564","url":null,"abstract":"This article reflects on relations between individual and cultural experience to illuminate how anthropologists and political scientists approach Uyghur narratives of genocide. Uyghur perspectives are often overlooked in global media coverage that represents them through narratives of China’s “restive region” or Western sanctions. The article analyzes my own role in analyzing experiences of violence in a public setting, the Uyghur Tribunal, committed to assessing the truth of Uyghur claims. The method is a reluctant autoethnography, in between Leon Anderson’s “analytic autoethnography” in which researchers are full members in a group setting committed to understanding a phenomenon, and Carolyn Ellis’s “heartful autoethnography,” which crafts evocative stories that create reality. The analysis of visual affect at the Uyghur Tribunal builds on Brian Massumi’s approach, which considers that researchers must be open to affecting and being affected by the world to understand it or to communicate the meaning of their findings, particularly in cases of genocide.","PeriodicalId":51608,"journal":{"name":"Hau-Journal of Ethnographic Theory","volume":"133 1","pages":"357 - 366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86099670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}