Ramadan as an anthropologist
By Lilian Ebbelaar Ramadan to me was always something that was so interesting. It had this kind of mysterious feeling and always felt strange to me. Why are…
Tag: participant-observation
Fieldwork story Stammler 1: Yamal, participation over observation is a health risk
participation over observation is a health riskThis was my first cold night ever in a chum in the Yamal tundra. It’s a story of ‘lesson learned’ early on…
#Fieldwork among comedians: A Danish anthropologist trying to be funny
“Why are stand-up comedians better anthropologists than I am?” A few years ago, I started asking myself that question. As an anthropologist, I am supposed to know about…
Trace ethnography: a retrospective
Stuart Geiger @staeiou continues our edition of ‘The Person in the (Big) Data‘ with a reflection on his practice of ‘trace ethnography’ that focuses on the trace-makin…
Why abstinence-only drug education doesn’t work—in fact, it backfires spectacularly.
I talked to a lot of middle-class recreational drug users for my research. None of them had any idea when they were younger that they’d end up dropping…
The intangible narcotic: What does ‘vibe’ mean, really?
There’s a term that comes up pretty frequently when talking about electronic music events. A search within my interviews (excepts from which are quoted here) and field notes…
For anthropologists, is interdisciplinarity ever truly a meeting of equals?
I recently read a Twitter post which asserted that interdisciplinarity was never a meeting of equals. As an anthropologist working outside of an academic department I met this…
Feelings into words: Harvest Festival Part 2
Describing, in words, what it’s like to be at a rave is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do for my research. How can one…
The jacket
I’m trying a new strategy at work to raise my oomph and improve my legit appeal. I’m no slouch when it comes to sparring about ideas, concepts and…
Surviving the Holidays, Anthropologist Style
As the holidays inch closer, and you’re beginning to dread joining the bag of mixed nuts you call your family, consider approaching them with anthropologists’ eyes this year.…
How does an Anthropologist add value in the workplace?
At work I’m not employed as an anthropologist. Not directly anyway; my skills in research and higher education certainly helped…
The Anthropologist’s Disclaimer
Many people I meet, even people I talk to on a regular basis, do not have background knowledge of anthropology, and I think that is fairly typical. Anthropology…
What Anthropologists Do
The strength of anthropology is that we are always learning, gathering data isn’t something we do in a lab or even something we can easily shut off. We…
“Drugs are bad,” he said, sipping his beer: Legality vs. social acceptability
I’ve found it highly interesting to hear drug users trash talk other drugs, even while they’re high on their own preferred substance. Gina* thinks that alcohol is the…
A state of trance: Inner peace rising from chaos
The experience of getting inside Sound Academy for Armin van Buuren was the low point of the night. After an evening of rain and dancing at the electronic…
A happy ending for 30,000 mollyed-out kids running around Toronto.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I first saw the announcement. Fireworks and junk during Zedd’s finale. “You’re welcome for this 3-second photo op,” thought the cleanup…
Psytrance, a world unto itself
Most of what I knew about psytrance (psychedelic trance) raves before I actually went to one came from this article in Vice: Psytrance really is a counter-culture in…
Field Notes: This data collection is interfering with my dancing.
The following is a selection of some of the more entertaining notes from my first official field research night. (The last post was a preliminary getting-a-feel-for-things outing.) I…
Eat, sleep, anth, repeat: It begins
Sunglasses in the darkness. White shorts, no shirt. Perspiration shining on his skin in the wild, flashing lights. A familiar-looking backpack on his shoulders, strapped over his muscular…