El espacio como producto social: variables arqueológicas para un análisis de la organización social en prehistoria

El espacio social es un concepto ambiguo cuyo componente material está determinado por el carácter del componente social, puesto que la organización de los objetos en el espacio y el espacio mismo, responden a las normas sociales del comportamiento humano. Partimos de la premisa que los residuos generados durante el proceso de producción y del consumo tienden a tener una distribución relativamente regular en el espacio físico. La ausencia de la aleatoriedad en la dispersión de estos restos solo significa que habían sido acumulados y depositados como restos de acciones previamente planificadas no-aleatoriamente. En este trabajo planteamos estudiar la organización y la producción del espacio social de una sociedad cazadora-recolectora concreta – la sociedad yámana - a través del análisis de las actividades cotidianas que figuran en las fuentes etnográficas y en el registro arqueológico. Con este fin creamos una metodología de trabajo interdisciplinaria, basada en un enfoque etnoarqueológico, y a través del estudio de las fuentes etnográficas, los trabajos etnoarqueológicos previos y el registro arquelógico concreto, descubrimos cuáles son las posibilidades y limitaciones de este tipo de estudios. Pudimos reconocer la regularidad espacial de los procesos de producción y reproducción social y a resolver algunas preguntas acerca del estudio de la organización social en prehistoria trabajando con los datos etnoarqueológicos obtenidos en los yacimientos Lanashuaia y Túnel VII (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina), analizando el registro extraido y trabajado en varias campañas de excavaciones arqueológicas en ultimos 25 años. El presente trabajo al fondo es un experimento etnoarqueológico estándar: partiendo de la observación etnográfica registramos unas recurrencias específicas entre algunas variables (por ejemplo: mujer/lugar/tipo de trabajo), intentamos extraer las variables definitorias de esas recurrencias, y finalmente las buscamos en el espacio definido arqueológicamente.  

Appropriation of technology in "non-western" societies: an approximation to the case of Bulgaria

The principal focus of the PhD thesis lies in the Social Software area and the appropriation of technology in "non-Western" societies taking the example of Bulgaria. The term "non-Western" is used to explain places considered technologically underdeveloped. The aims have been to capture how Bulgarian users creatively interpret and appropriate Internet identifying the sociocultural, political and subjective conditions in which that appropriation occurs, to identify emerging practices based on the interpretation and use of Internet and the impact they had on society and what conditions could influence the technological interpretation and the meaning these practices had for both users and social configuration of Internet as media in Bulgaria. An ethnographic approach has been used simultaneously in different online and offline contexts. On the one hand, this study is based on exploration of the Bulgarian Internet Space through online participant observation in forums and websites reviews and on the other hand, on semi-structured interviews with different types of users of the virtual platforms found, made both face to face and online and finally online participant observation at the same platforms. It is based on some contributions of the ethnographic work of Christine Hine in virtual environments and the notions of time and space of Barbara Czarniawska contextualized in the modern form of organization that occurs in a network of multiple and fragmented contexts across many movements.

Opisthorchiasis in infant remains from the medieval Zeleniy Yar burial ground of XII-XIII centuries AD

We present a paleoparasitological analysis of the medieval Zeleniy Yar burial ground of the XII-XII centuries AD located in the northern part of Western Siberia. Parasite eggs, identified as eggs of Opisthorchis felineus, were found in the samples from the pelvic area of a one year old infant buried at the site. Presence of these eggs in the soil samples from the infant’s abdomen suggests that he/she was infected with opisthorchiasis and imply consumption of undercooked fish. Ethnographic records collected among the population of the northern part of Western Siberia reveal numerous cases of feeding raw fish to their children. Zeleniy Yar case of opisthorchiasis suggests that this dietary custom has persisted from at least medieval times.

Social rationality and scales of action: inter-ethnic relations in cockfighting and game-fishing, Raiatea, French Polynesia

This article challenges the notion of economic rationality as a criterion for explaining ethnic boundary maintenance. It offers an ethnographic analysis of inter-ethnic relations in the context of games (cockfights and game-fishing contests) in the island of Raiatea (French Polynesia). Although all players engage in the same basic gambling practices, money is differentially scaled and mobilized by the Tahitian and Chinese participants. Building on recent pragmatic approaches to rationality, it is shown that the players' rationalities differ not from the point of view of economic maximization, but only in so far as they participate in social relations at different scales.

Voiko totuutta tavoittaa? : direct cinema -tyylisuunnan käyttö dokumenttielokuvassa

The subject of this study is the use of direct cinema style in documentary film. The main purpose of this thesis was to the research the ways in which direct cinema style attempts to show and achieve truth in documentary films. The following questions were posed: Is it possible to depict reality in a documentary film; how does the choice of using this style affect the final documentary? The essential purpose of this study was to try to see whether the direct cinema style works when trying to achieve truth in a documentary film. This work consints of two elements, the theoretical part and the short documentary. The theoretical part deals with the history, the truth, and the direct cinema- style in documentaries. The theoretical information of direct cinema has been used when making the short documentary. In the documentary Tuloaula 2 I have studied the way in which using direct cinema -style works in practise. The documentary has followed as strictly as possible the direct cinema style. I was the director, the cameraman and the editor of my documentary film. In the documentary film Tuloaula 2 it appeared that the direct cinema style works best when filming everyday life. By using this style it is easy for the director to observe and leave his own persona in the background. The strength in using the direct cinema style is that it enables the viewer to build his/her own impression on the subject. Even though the direct cinema style aims to achieve objectivity the director has to make numerous subjective choices during both the filming and the editing process. These subjective choices automatically effect the "truth" of the documentary film. The difficulty in a direct cinema style is the large amount of material. This often leads to a long editing phase, which is not often possible in the busy production schedules. The direct cinema style is not at its best when shooting people who are passive because their attention often focuses too much on the camera. In general, the best way to make a documentary film would be to use many documentary styles in one film and not to srictly concentrate on only one style.

Gènere i immigració en les narratives visuals de les noies dels països del sud d’Àsia escolaritzades a Catalunya

Aquesta recerca aborda la interpretació de les relacions entre escolarització, immigració i gènere de forma complexa mitjançant la construcció d’una recerca visual narrativa i d’històries de vida amb el grup de noies/dones immigrades procedent dels països del sud d’Àsia que viuen i han estat escolaritzades –totalment o parcialment– a Catalunya. La investigació dóna visibilitat a les trajectòries d’èxit escolar de les noies/dones immigrades al seu pas per l’escola secundària, tot narrant: les seves expectatives i desitjos, els moments i canvis, les identitats i relacions, així com els aprenentatges assolits i les perspectives de futur. La recerca s’ha portat a terme a partir d’observar, entrevistar i conversar amb diversos grups de noies immigrades (principalment de la regió del Panjab de l’Índia i el Pakistan) en 4 centres educatius i 1 entitat, de l’àmbit de Barcelona i la seva àrea metropolitana. La investigació reconstrueix la trajectòria de 20 noies immigrades com a protagonistes. El treball de camp etnogràfic i la construcció de les històries visuals de vida culmina amb l’edició d’un documental audiovisual. De forma resumida, l’anàlisi de les dades realitzada a partir del treball de camp etnogràfic, de les entrevistes en profunditat i les converses en els cinc contextos presentats, s’organitza d’acord amb els següents eixos temàtics: 1. Migracions, espacialització i mobilitat en un context transnacional i local; 2. La construcció de les subjectivitats i del gènere de les adolescents/adultes immigrades; 3. Processos d’escolarització i formació a Catalunya de les noies/dones immigrades; i 4. Visibilitat, visualitat i representació en la recerca.

Starting a Family at Your Parent's House: Multigenerational Households and Below Replacement Fertility in urban Bulgaria

In societies with strong multigenerational links, economic uncertainty results in choosing to stay with one child, sometimes in association with postponement of first births (i.e. Italy) and sometimes in early childbearing (i.e. Bulgaria). The interaction between intergenerational family practices in lowest-low fertility contexts is likely to play a role on differences timing to parenthood. In this paper, we focus on the phenomenon of women who have one child in their early twenties in Bulgaria and do not intend to have a second child. We argue that the key to this process is the persistence of extended multigenerational households in the Bulgarian context and their effect on young couples' fertility decision making. We use semi-structured interview data from the project Fertility Choices in Central and Eastern Europe and ethnographic fieldnotes. The interviews were collected from a sample of 22 couples resident in Sofia and representing different permutations of educational level, marital status and number of children (0 or 1). The four-year ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in both rural and urban Bulgaria between 1997 and 2009. Results suggest that as long as the economic situation remains dire, and young Bulgarians hopes for the future remain cynical, multigenerational households represent the accepted practice of entering into parenthood for young families.

Pouvoir discrétionnaire et redevabilité de la bureaucratie de guichet : les taxateurs d'une caisse de chômage comme acteurs de mise en oeuvre

Résumé en français La thèse de doctorat porte, de manière générale, sur le rôle des acteurs administratifs dans la mise en oeuvre de l'action publique. En particulier, dans le contexte de l'implémentation de la politique suisse d'assurance-chômage, la recherche se focalise sur l'étude de la bureaucratie de guichet, à savoir un type spécifique d'administrations et d'agents publics situés aux premières lignes de l'action étatique et qui sont en contact direct et quotidien avec les usagers. La thèse a pour objectif principal d'obtenir une compréhension détaillée des impacts concrets dont sont porteurs deux types de réformes majeures du secteur public : les réformes de Nouvelle Gestion Publique (NGP) et les nouvelles technologies informatiques. Le questionnement central de la recherche consiste en une étude approfondie des effets de ces réformes sur les bureaucraties de guichet, et en particulier sur deux aspects centraux les concernant : d'une part, le niveau de pouvoir discrétionnaire que les agents publics de base disposent dans l'application de la loi fédérale sur l'assurance-chômage, autrement dit leur marge de manoeuvre ; d'autre part, les manières au travers desquelles ces mêmes agents sont appelés à rendre des comptes quant à leurs actions et leurs décisions, à savoir l'enjeu plus large de la redevabilité publique des acteurs administratifs. Ces enjeux ont été analysés au niveau empirique dans le contexte organisationnel d'une caisse publique cantonale de chômage ayant expérimenté les réformes évoquées ci-dessus. L'organisation choisie a été investiguée au travers d'une étude de cas ethnographique approfondie (observation directe du travail quotidien des agents, entretiens semi-directifs, analyse de documents) pendant une période de six mois environ entre 2008 et 2009. L'analyse empirique fournit quatre résultats : a) de manière générale, les taxateurs de la caisse de chômage disposent d'un faible niveau de pouvoir discrétionnaire ; b) le degré de pouvoir discrétionnaire varie selon le type de tâche ; c) les agents sur le terrain rendent des comptes auprès d'une multiplicité d'acteurs, sur une variété d'aspects de leur travail et au travers de différents mécanismes de contrôle ; d) les outils de NGP et les nouvelles technologies informatiques ont peu d'impact sur l'étendue du pouvoir discrétionnaire des agents mais contribuent à influencer le type de redevabilité publique pratiquée à ce niveau. Summary in English This PhD dissertation deals with the role of public administration in policy implementation. In the Swiss context of unemployment insurance policy, it focuses on street-level bureaucracy, a specific type of public organisations and agents located at the frontline of public action, that is to say low-level civil servants who are in direct, daily and face-to-face contact with citizens. The dissertation aims at a deep understanding of what are the concrete impacts of two main important changes touching public sector organizations : New Public Management reforms (NPM) and Information and Communication technologies (ICT). The main research question consists in assessing the impacts of those reforms on two central issues regarding street-level bureaucrats : on the one hand, the effective degree of discretion frontline agents do have in implementing the federal law on unemployment insurance ; on the other hand, the ways through which these bureaucrats are held accountable about their action and decisions, i.e. accountability regimes at the street-level. These issues have been empirically addressed in the organisational context of a cantonal Unemployment Insurance Funds having experienced the above mentioned reforms. The organisation has been investigated through an in-depth ethnographic case-study (direct observation of daily work, semi-structured interwiews, documentary analysis) in 2008 and 2009 for approximately six months. The empirical analysis indicates that a) in general, street-level agents do exert low degree of policy discretion; b) the level of discretion is variable from one specific task to another ; c) frontline workers are held accountable to many actors, on various aspects of their work and through different mechanisms of control ; d) NPM and ICT instruments have few impact on the issue of policy discretion but more on the type of street-level accountability which is concretely practised at this level.

The Genesis and Effect of French Anti-Doping Policies in Cycling

This paper focuses on the transformation of French public policy on doping and its effects on the life of cycling professionals. We first focus on the emergence and the evolution of French public policies against doping in cycling. Then the article attempts to qualitatively observe the effects of policies on cyclists. The objective is to understand how the cycling culture is evolving. This article is based on 39 interviews with new and seasoned professionals, as well as ethnographic observations over a dozen years .

Staying With the Tension: “Estranged Intimacy” and Gendered Expectations in the Field

The position of the anthropologist in the field is discussed, in this article, as a position of “estranged intimacy”, that is to say, the anthropologist occupies an ambiguous position of becoming intimately involved whilst concurrently standing back. This definition derives from reflections upon fieldwork, conducted in the north of Portugal, with Cape Verdean migrant young women and their experiences as mothers. The article discusses two aspects related to the fieldwork. Firstly, the way in which diverse strategies of establishing relations in the field placed me in a position of “estranged intimacy” which reconfigured the meanings I had initially attributed to the term “Cape Verdean women”. Secondly, how becoming unexpectedly involved in a situation of intense conjugal conflict led me to reconsider my understanding of Cape Verdean gender relations. Both cases demonstrate how the endeavour to produce analytical and ethnographical knowledge was shot through with an unstable mix of detachment and involvement and how coming up against the unexpected may contribute towards the reconfiguration of ethnographic knowledge, in this specific case, with regard to the dynamics of gender relations.

The State of the Immigrant Body and the Body of the State: Negotiations at the Interface

Using an ethnographic analysis of the social interfaces between state agents and Cape Verdean students in Portugal, observed through participant observation in medical appointments, social work, immigration services and legal support to immigrants, this article aims to examine disciplinary state practices and the negotiations and power struggles that take place. The ethnographic cases discussed demonstrate how the idea of a fair and neutral state is simultaneously reproduced and denied in practice, thus elucidating the state as a symbol of union of an effective disunity. The ethnographic examples also indicate other dimensions of state practice, besides micro-disciplinary powers, which create room for flexibility and adaptation. And it is in this sense that ethnographies of interfaces between state and citizen offer a more relative perspective of excessively systematic interpretations of governmentality, illustrating how the effects of contradictory state practices are as unpredictable as human action itself.

L'autonomie obligatoire : analyse sociologique des dispositifs scolaires de l'autonomie

La thèse traite des injonctions à l'autonomie dans le champ scolaire et des pratiques destinées à favoriser son développement chez les élèves. Elle se base sur une enquête ethnographique réalisée dans une école primaire genevoise, réunissant des observations menées durant deux ans et demi dans des classes allant de la 2° enfantine à la 3e primaire (2P-5P, selon HARMOS) et des entretiens d'enseignants, complétée par des observations dans les familles et des entretiens d'enfants et de leurs parents. Elle met en évidence le paradoxe auquel sont quotidiennement confrontés les enseignants qui doivent amener les élèves à découvrir et s'approprier les savoirs et les règles scolaires de manière autonome, tout en encadrant leurs pratiques afin que ceux-ci se conforment aux attentes de l'institution scolaire. La notion de dispositif, en tant qu'échelle intermédiaire d'analyse (Bonnéry, 2009), rend possible l'articulation des niveaux macro- et micro-sociologique dans l'analyse des pratiques. L'analyse des dispositifs scolaires de l'autonomie considère la traduction de la norme d'autonomie et des injonctions institutionnelles dans les pratiques individuelles. L'autonomie est ici définie comme un principe de socialisation, sur le mode de l'engagement : les dispositifs scolaires de l'autonomie visent à amener les élèves à choisir, vouloir, aimer ce que l'institution scolaire leur demande. Cette analyse permet de dégager plusieurs types de dispositifs et surtout de mettre en lumière leurs contradictions internes lorsque ne sont pas perçues ou partagées par les acteurs les attentes implicites ou explicites contenues dans les dispositifs. L'analyse des dispositifs porte également, dans une perspective plus interactionniste, sur les stratégies individuelles de gestion des contradictions et la retraduction des normes par les acteurs. Les dispositifs sont alors examinés sous l'angle des processus d'étiquetage réalisé par les enseignants et des formes de déviances qu'ils font apparaître chez les élèves et les parents. - The thesis deals with injunctions to autonomy in the field of education and practices used to facilitate its development in students. It is based on an ethnographic survey in Geneva elementary school, bringing together observations made during two and a half years in classes ranging from 2P to 5P (according HARMOS), interviews with teachers, observations in families and interviews with children and their parents. It highlights the paradox that teachers are daily confronted to, as they should encourage students to discover and acquire the knowledge and school rules independently, while framing their practices so that they conform to the expectations of the educational institution. The concept of dispositif as an intermediary level of analysis (Bonnéry, 2009) makes possible the articulation of the macro- and micro-sociological analysis in practices. The analysis of pedagogic dispositives considers the translation of the norm of autonomy and institutional injunctions in individual practices. In this perspective, autonomy is defined as principle of socialization, on the mode of engagement : pedagogic autonomy dispositives designed to encourage students to choose, want, love what institution demands. This analysis identifies several types of dispositives and highlights their internal contradictions when actors do not share expectations. In a more interactionnist perspective, the analysis also includes individual strategies to deal with contradictions and the retranslation of norms by actors. The dispositives are then examined in term of the labelling process conducted by teachers and forms of deviance among students and parents.

Património e memória: estudo de caso, a ilha de Santiago, Cabo Verde

O presente trabalho de pesquisa centrado na problemática do património e memória, tem como objectivo inventariar e analisar alguns elementos do património material e imaterial da ilha de Santiago Cabo Verde, procurando contribuir deste modo para um conhecimento mais rigoroso da memória e identidade cabo-verdiana. Para tanto, analisamos documentos da Direcção de Obras Públicas, do final do século XIX referente ao arquipélago de Cabo Verde, no Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, mais especificamente Cidade da Praia, revistas e publicações do século XX que reportam a situação da Igreja Matriz e do Palácio do Governo, bem como a questão da Cidade Velha e a evolução contextual das vozes a respeito das ruínas do património caboverdiano ao longo da história de forma atemporal. A história do arquipélago é marcada por intensas calamidades naturais e ecológicas que mobilizam constantemente autoridades, deixa a outros planos nomeadamente a valorização e preservação do património construído. Acerca do património imaterial, Batuque e a Tabanca, buscamos documentários a respeito deste elemento cultural que ainda hoje marca estrutura cultural e social da ilha de Santiago. Queremos pois entender e compreender o processo de construção de um património a partir do seu planeamento, sua génese de criação, em um território africano privilegiando o final do século XIX. Como é construído o património e a relação que o caboverdiano tem com a cultura que lhe foi transmitida? Por outras palavras, como se processou a convivência com um património imaterial, tradicional e de origem africana, contrapondo com a cultura do colonizador e fazendo emergir uma cultura mestiça que caracteriza hoje a sociedade caboverdiana que sobrevive além fronteira?

Huellas de la escritura materna en el español escrito como L2

Siguiendo los Nuevos Estudios de Literacidad y utilizando técnicas etnográficas (observación, entrevistas), criticamos varios aspectos de la concepción cognitiva de la “lectura en idioma extranjero” y proponemos una alternativa más sociocultural, que incorpora las particularidades reseñadas, que ofrece una visión más realista y completa y que pone el acento en el alfabetismo crítico. A partir de entrevistas a hablantes competentes del español como L2, que fueron alfabetizados en una lengua materna tipológicamente muy diferente y con un sistema de escritura distinto, exploramos el efecto que tienen las prácticas literarias escolares, en varias culturas, en el aprendizaje del español como segunda lengua.

Vers une gestion de la nature en termes d'action publique : analyse d'une dynamique d'appropriation des ressources végétales à Tobré, Nord Bénin

Cette étude se fonde sur des recherches ethnographiques menées autour de la mise en oeuvre d'une politique publique de gestion de la nature à Tobré, une région baatonu au Bénin. L'étude se place dans une dynamique d'appropriation des ressources naturelles en rapport avec l'entrée en jeu de multiples acteurs publics et privés dans l'arène locale de gestion de la nature. En effet, ces acteurs ont acquis ces dernières années de l'expérience et de l'efficacité à la faveur des changements institutionnels et politiques et s'incluent davantage dans le processus de décision au point de suppléer l'Etat dans les actions qui étaient ses prérogatives. L'étude met en lumière les rapports de conflits, de compétitions, de concurrence ou de compromis autour des enjeux sociaux, politiques et économiques de protection de la nature. Elle décrit et analyse les formes d'interactions entre les différents acteurs individuels, collectifs et institutionnels, afin de voir en quoi ces interactions participent du processus de mobilisation d'acteurs locaux et de confrontation de vision, qui finalement définit et oriente les politiques locales de protection de la nature. Pour atteindre cet objectif, l'étude mobilise des apports théoriques de plusieurs disciplines, notamment de la socio- anthropologie du développement, de l'histoire et de la sociologie politique. Elle repose également sur des données empiriques collectées à partir d'une combinaison d'outils techniques, des entretiens et des observations jusqu'au dépouillement de presse et des études de cas. Les principaux résultats montrent que les acteurs locaux, particulièrement les comités de gestion sont parvenus à inscrire la gestion des ressources naturelles dans l'espace public à travers les débats dans les médias, les forums, les marches de protestation, etc. De fait, ils ont été capables d'influer sur le processus de définition et de mise en oeuvre des politiques locales de protection de la nature et donc de reconfigurer l'arène locale de gestion des ressources naturelles. Ce qui amène l'Etat et ses services déconcentrés, en premier lieu les services des Eaux et Forêts et la mairie à pactiser avec ces différents comités, sans pour autant perdre de leur notoriété. Au contraire, ils participent de la gouvernance de l'ensemble des actions et permettent de mettre en place des formes de gestion négociée. - This is an ethnographic research on the implementation of a public policy for the management of natural resources in Tobre, a baatonu village in Benin. The study focuses on the dynamic of natural resources ownership in a context of multiple stakeholders in the public and private sectors. In recent years, these stakeholders have become more experienced and efficient as a result of several institutional and policy changes. The stakeholders are more involved in the decision making process to the point that they can complement the role of the State in natural resources management. This study highlights the conflicts, competition, or compromise associated with the social, political and economic constraints of nature conservation. The interactions between individual, collective and institutional stakeholders were analyzed, to understand their role in the process of mobilizing local stakeholders and confronting their visions. This process ultimately defines and guides local policies on the management of nature. To achieve this goal, this study combined theoretical approaches from developmental socio-anthropology, history and political sociology with empirical data collected using interviews, observations, newspapers analysis and case studies. The results show that local stakeholders, particularly the management committees, were successful at introducing the need for sustainable natural resource management in the mainstream public discourse through the media, forums, and demonstrations. They were able to influence the process of identifying and implementing local policies on nature conservancy. This has encouraged the State, through its forestry services, and the district mayors to collaborate with these committees in the shared governance of natural resources.