Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers
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Still an Awkward Class: Central European Post-Peasants at Home and Abroad in the {Era of Neoliberalism
praktyka 177 teoretycna 3(9)/2013 CHRIS HANN Still an Awkward Class: Central European post-peasants at home and abroad in the {era of neoliberalism The paper builds on the author’s intimate knowledge of East- ern European village life over four decades. Before, during, and after socialism, villagers (“peasants” ) have always been incorporated into wider structures, while at the same time challenging standard social science theories. Their greater ability to reproduce themselves “outside the market” is the basis of their distinctiveness; this corresponds to a persisting distinction between town and countryside and has implica- tions for political mobilization. The paper develops binary comparisons at two levels: first, between capitalist and social- ist paths of rural development; second, within the latter, between the productive symbiosis accomplished in socialist Hungary and the stagnation of non-collectivized Poland. Some of these latter contrasts have persisted in new forms in the era of EU membership. Finally, the author expresses some personal nostalgia for the days when rural community { studies constituted the bedrock of ethnographic writing about this region. Keywords: peasants, anthropology, households, globalization, agribusiness, migra- tion, reproduction. praktyka teoretycna teoretycna teoretycna 3(9)/2013 178 Introduction One of the problems I have with the vast scholarly literature on “neo- liberalism” and “globalization” is that grassroots investigations of more remote, marginalized communities tend to be neglected. This applies with particular force in social anthropology, a discipline that has tradi- tionally specialised in penetrating remote communities and uncovering realities that are not visible in the aggregate statistics which absorb the attention of other social scientists. -
Trebizond and North-Eastern Turkey
TREBIZOND AND NORTH-EASTERN TURKEY BY DENIS A. H. WRIGHT A lecture delivered to the Royal Central Asian Society on Wednesday, October 24, 1945. In the Chair, Admiral Sir Howard Kelly, G.B.E., K.C.B., C.M.G., M.V.O. The CHAIRMAN, in introducing the lecturer, said: Mr. Denis Wright is going to speak to us about the port of Trebizond, whose poetical- sounding name suggests the starting-point of the " Golden Road to Samarkand." I had the pleasure of serving with Mr. Wright in Turkey. From September, 1939, to February, 1941, he was British Vice-Consul at Constanta. After the rupture of diplomatic relations with Rumania he went to take charge of the British Consulate at Trebizond. There, for almost two years, he and his wife were the only two English people; for part of that time he was the only British representative on the Black Sea. From May, 1943, until January of 1945 Mr. Wright was our Consul at Mersin. Although he and I had no direct dealings with each other, I know he was one of the most co-operative of all the British officials in Turkey, and that he did everything he possibly could to help the Services. WHEN in February, 1941, I passed through Ankara on my first visit to Trebizond I was told three things about the place: firstly, that it was the centre of a very large hazelnut-producing area, probably the largest in the world; secondly, that my British community there would be a very small one; and, thirdly, that Trebizond had for many hundreds of years been the transit port of a most important trade to and from Persia, that that trade still flourished, and that I should see camels arriving daily from Persia loaded with all the exotic merchandise of the East. -
Downloaded License
_full_journalsubtitle: 0 _full_abbrevjournaltitle: ILS _full_ppubnumber: ISSN 0928-9380 (print version) _full_epubnumber: ISSN 1568-5195 (online version) _full_issue: 1-2 _full_issuetitle: 0 _full_alt_author_running_head (change var. to _alt_author_rh): Jaraba _full_alt_articletitle_running_head (change var. to _alt_arttitle_rh): The Practice of Khulʿ in Germany _full_alt_articletitle_toc: 0 _full_is_advance_article: 0 Islamic Law and Society 26 (2019) 83-110 Islamic Law The Practice Of Khulʿ In Germany and 83 Society brill.com/ils The Practice of Khulʿ in Germany: Pragmatism versus Conservativism Mahmoud Jaraba Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg [email protected] Abstract In this article, I examine how Muslim women who ae religiously-married in Germany might initiate no-fault divorce in the absence of a German registered civil marriage. Because there is no Muslim state authority to consult, local imams and Islamic leaders can resort to a community-led practice known as khulʿ (divorce initiated by the woman) to dissolve an Islamic marriage (nikāḥ) that is not recognized by civil authorities. In this article, which is the culmination of three years of fieldwork in Germany, I analyze and interpret the views and practices of two groups of religious actors - conservatives and pragmatists - towards khulʿ in cases of nikāḥ. I find that conservatives only permit a woman to divorce through khulʿ with her husband’s consent, whereas pragmatists use Muslim minority jurisprudence (fiqh al-aqalliyyāt al-Muslima) to argue that -
Declining Europe: a Reply to Alessandro Testa Chris Hann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Germany
Declining Europe: A Reply to Alessandro Testa Chris Hann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Germany I thank Alessandro Testa for his erudite engagement with various pieces published over the last decade in which I have broached the concept of Eurasia.* I am glad that he recognizes the continuity in my usage, and that he agrees with me concerning the importance of historical Eurasia since the Bronze Age, as discussed by Jack Goody. We disagree concerning Europe. Testa sometimes writes as if I were trying to eliminate Europe altogether and theorise solely at the level of Eurasia. This is not the case: for me Europe is one important macro-region of Eurasia, an entity which includes the multiple macro-regions of “Asia” and also North Africa. I argue that Europe should not be viewed as a separate continent, the equivalent of Asia. Such a position to my mind epitomises Eurocentrism, which has pernicious effects in many fields and should have no place in anthropology. The Eurocentrism of Alessandro Testa is a rather strong variant since he gives a clear precedence to the Catholic and Protestant West. Given its traditional area remit, it is generous of this journal to give so much space to an author who evidently considers Europeans with an eastern Christian background to be at best second class, latching on as latecomers to an identity that, in the narrative that Testa endorses, has its “cradle” in the Latin Christianity of the Middle Ages. Testa is right to note (63) my reluctance to formulate any general “hypothesis” of Eurasian interconnectedness to be tested in empirical research. -
Hans-Jürgen Sasse (*30.04.1943 – †14.01.2015)
2019 LINGUA POSNANIENSIS LXI (1) OBITUARIES DOI: 10.2478/linpo-2019-0009 Hans-Jürgen Sasse (*30.04.1943 – †14.01.2015) Zuzana Malášková & Václav Blažek Department of Linguistics & Baltic Studies Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University, Brno Czech Republic [email protected], [email protected] Hans-Jürgen Sasse studied general linguistics, Balkanic, Indo-European and Semitic studies at the universities in Berlin, Thessaloniki and Munich. He graduated from the University of Munich in 1970 when he successfully defended his dissertation Linguis- tische Analyse des arabischen Dialekts der Mhallamiye in der Provinz Mardin (Südost- türkei) (Linguistic Analysis of the Arabic Dialect of Mhallami in Mardin Province, South- ern Turkey), see 1971a. Between 1972 and 1977, he worked as a research assistant at the Institute of General and Indo-European Linguistics at the University of Munich. Here he habilitated in 1975 in the field of general linguistics with his work on the morphoph- onology of the Galab language (also known as Daasanach; see 1974a), and already in 1977 he was appointed a full professor of general and typological linguistics. In the 1970s, he travelled to Ethiopia and Kenya where he performed field research on the languages Quimant, Daasanach (Galab), Boni, Dullay and Burji. In the 1980s, he studied the Albanian dialects of Northern Greece where he gained both material for a unique monograph (1991a) and a wife. In 1987, he accepted an offer from the University of Cologne and went there to lead the Institute of General and Comparative Linguistics, where he would remain for the next 21 years. He replaced prof. -
The Role of Religion in the Formation of Ukrainian Identity in Galicia?
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe Volume 36 Issue 5 Article 5 10-2016 The Role of Religion in the Formation of Ukrainian Identity in Galicia? Jan Ladzinski University College London Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Eastern European Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ladzinski, Jan (2016) "The Role of Religion in the Formation of Ukrainian Identity in Galicia?," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 36 : Iss. 5 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol36/iss5/5 This Article, Exploration, or Report is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN THE FORMATION OF UKRAINIAN IDENTITY IN GALICIA? Jan Ladzinski Jan Ladzinski is a Polish second-year M. R. in East European Studies at the University College London. He graduated from the London School of Economics with a BA in History. He is interested in interactions between various identities of the borderlands. It could be argued that the Ukrainian identity proved to be dominant in Eastern Galicia, when West Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed in November 1918 and agreed to unite with the rest of Ukraine the following month. However, the Ukrainian identity, understood -
Money on the Silk Road: Debt, Gifts and Bribes Rune Steenberg Reyhé
Money on the Silk Road: Debt, Gifts and Bribes Rune Steenberg Reyhé Motivation Dealing with money matters takes up a large part of our lives and money enters into our conversations and thoughts on a daily basis. Yet, unlike another similarly big driver of our society’s imagination, love, we rarely take time to think about what money actually is, means and what function it fulfills in our lives. Is money a thing? Is it material? Is it virtual? Is it a measure of worth? Of objects? Of people? Is it credit or debt? Is it a unit for accounting? What does it count? How is money created? Does money have a creating force? If so, what does it create? What is its relation to trust, to authority, to violence? What is its relation to work? To happiness? Even more rarely yet do we consider how its meaning and content changes over time and how it varies in a cross-cultural perspective. The cross-cultural aspect of a reflexion on money has become increasingly necessary, as money today, unlike all other things, and especially unlike people, travels the world almost unrestrictedly by space and borders and largely uncontrolled at the speed of light. Niklas Luhmann, like many sociologists after Talcott Parsons, sees money as a medium in the system we call economy. But as Marilyn Strathern, Keith Hart and other anthropologists amply show, the relation of the so called economy to other areas of life like kinship, politics and culture varies widely across social contexts in time and space and hardly anywhere is there any clear and impenetrable division between money, relations, morality and power in practice. -
Background Paper
Dealing with Neighbors: In Search of Leadership: Fighting a Ring of Fire or A Critical Requirement for Governance, Building a Ring of Friends? Social Cohesion and Competitiveness? Trilogue Salzburg Trilogue Salzburg August 18 – 19, 2016 August 6 - 7, 2015 Background Paper Background Paper Trilogue Salzburg 2016 | Page 1 Table of Contents Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Fighting a Ring of Fire or Creating a Ring of Friends ................................................................. 6 I Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 II Neighborhood: Shifting over Time .......................................................................................... 6 III What’s in the Toolbox? ........................................................................................................... 9 1. The European Approach: Money, Mobility and Market .................................................. 9 2. The American Approach: To Intervene or not to Intervene? ........................................ 10 3. The Chinese Approach: Carrot and Stick ..................................................................... 11 IV The New Dilemma: Being Close but Not Dependent ........................................................... 12 V Recommendations ............................................................................................................... -
Gellner's Structural-Functional-Culturalism Hann, Chris
www.ssoar.info Gellner's Structural-Functional-Culturalism Hann, Chris Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Hann, C. (2001). Gellner's Structural-Functional-Culturalism. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 9(2), 173-181. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-53524 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses -
History in the Context of the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict*
BRILL Iran and the Caucasus 18 (2074) 289-374 History in the Context of the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict* George Hewitt School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Abstract The 2014 disturbances in the Ukraine occasioned renewed discussion of the 2008 Russo- Georgian War. As the situation continued to worsen in eastern Ukraine, US President Obama announced on a visit to Poland at the start of June that the US and NATO would strengthen ties even with the non-NATO-member-states of the Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. This last has aspirations of membership, even though it does not control the re publics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which most of the world nevertheless regards as in tegral parts of Georgia. As long as the Georgian-Abkhazian dispute remains unresolved, there will be problems regarding inter-state relations with/for western Transcaucasia. And there can be no resolution of the Abkhazian issue without a proper understanding of Ab khazia’s history (both ancient and more recent); it was to try to ensure that the debate is not based on misconceptions, unsubstantiated assertions or even plain errors that this ar ticle was written, it is grounded on a consideration of a range of materials (from Agathias' Greek text through relevant discussions in Georgian, Russian and English). The toppling of Abkhazia’s democratically elected president (Aleksandr Ankvab) at the end of May 2014 makes the question of Abkhazia even more topical. Keywords Abkhazia, Georgia, Georgian-Abkhazian Dispute, Caucasian History Events during the spring of 2014 in the Ukraine (in particular Russia’s reacquisition of the Crimea) reawakened Western memories of the short Russo-Georgian war of August 2008. -
1 Calluna Vulgaris and Spiranthes Amoena in The
Calluna vulgaris and Spiranthes amoena in the Colchis mire flora: weeds or relicts? Arabuli, G.J., Connor, S.E. and Kvavadze, E.V. This is a draft version of a manuscript published in Acta Palaeobotanica 47: 469-478 (2007). Please note that there may be differences between this version and the final published version. The authors will be happy to provide copies on request. 1 Calluna vulgaris and Spiranthes amoena in the mire flora of the Western Caucasus: weeds or relicts? Giorgi J. Arabuli1, Simon E. Connor2 and Eliso V. Kvavadze3 1Botanical Department, National Museum of Georgia, 3 Rustaveli Ave., Tbilisi 0105, Georgia; e-mail: [email protected] 2Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; e-mail: [email protected] 3Institute of Palaeobiology, National Museum of Georgia, 4 Niagvris St., Tbilisi 0108, Georgia; e-mail: [email protected] Running title: Relict plants in Colchis 2 Abstract: Recent botanical discoveries in the Colchis lowland of Western Georgia have renewed interest in the extensive Sphagnum peat bogs along the Black Sea coast. This area has long been recognised as an important refugium for thermophilous, Tertiary relict plants, but is also home to some plants typical of the Boreal zone. In this paper, we present palynological and historical data that calls into question the idea that Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull and Spiranthes amoena (Bieb.) Spreng., the Euro-Siberian elements recently discovered in the Colchis Sphagnum bogs, are adventive. We argue instead that they are relicts of late Pleistocene age that elsewhere in the Near East were pushed out by afforestation and sea-level rise during the early-mid Holocene. -
The Uncertain Consequences of the Socialist Pursuit of Certainty: the Case of Uyghur Villagers in Eastern Xinjiang, China Antípoda
Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología ISSN: 1900-5407 [email protected] Universidad de Los Andes Colombia Hann, Chris The Uncertain Consequences of the Socialist Pursuit of Certainty: The Case of Uyghur Villagers in Eastern Xinjiang, China Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, núm. 17, julio-diciembre, 2013, pp. 79-105 Universidad de Los Andes Bogotá, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=81429096005 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative THE UNCertaIN CoNseQUENCes of THE SOCIalIst PUrsUIT of CertaINTY: THE Case of UYGHUR VIllaGers IN EasterN XINJIANG, CHINA* CHRIS HANN** [email protected] Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Alemania A BST ra CT The article is based on the author’s conviction that ethnographic analysis can illuminate big issues of world history. In the framework of substantivist economic anthropology, concepts of (un) certainty and social security are applied to Chinese socialism, which has outlived its Soviet prototype. Socialism is theorized in an evolutionist perspective as the transcendence of uncertainty in modern conditions. The case study of peasants in eastern Xinjiang highlights the problems of the Uyghur minority, who are attracted to the city but lack the networks and language skills to facilitate migration, and experience 79 discrimination in urban labor markets. China’s embedded socialism is currently successful in balancing forms of integration in such a way as to reduce existential uncertainty to a minimum for the dominant Han population, both inside and beyond the village.