Asking Gramsci’s question #crisis
Some object to the word ‘crisis’. However, it is useful for describing the sense that what seemed to be an understandable present and a plausible future have become…
Tag: Stuff
#Crisis on the opposite shore – Notes from the field on #crisis, revolution, and the possible
This piece is a from-the-field reflection on the ways in which grand events and processes such as global financial crises and revolutionary upheavals come to intersect – often…
#Crisis, Gender, Time
Economic crises are especially hard on women (Bettio et al. 2013, Manganara 2014, Seguino 2009, UNICRI 2014, Walby 2009) and the Greek crisis is no exception (Athanasiou 2011,…
#Crisis in focus
This week we are featuring a series of posts curated by Dimitra Kofta on a very current theme: CRISES. Etymologically deriving from the Greek infinitive κρίνειν (krinin), crisis…
Dis-orientalizing & Ethnographic Journeys #Fieldnotes
I conduct fieldwork among young Hindus in Amsterdam, the city where I have lived for nearly six years. Amsterdam lends itself to compartmentalisation as it is neatly divided…
Shoes, walking and reflections on subtle conflicts within social movements #Fieldnotes
In my research, I have found myself walking constantly, primarily because the city where my field site is set breathes with mobilizations these days. Choice of shoes has…
Buses, Metros, Shoes & Confusing Journeys #Fieldnotes
This week we continue our thread on fieldnotes via four posts that all in their own way elaborate this thread’s overarching theme: journey. As is familiar to all…
Aftertaste: memories of #postsocialism
Allegra’s thematic thread on #postsocialism is coming to its end. We hope that the eight delicious specialties Allegra served you over the past two weeks have pleased your…
REDUX: Rethinking Refugees: Afghan Traders and Exiles in the Former Soviet Union #postsocialism
This piece explores the activities of Afghan merchants in the former Soviet Union especially Tajikistan in Central Asia and Russia and Ukraine. It brings attention to the problems…
REDUX: Russian and Polar Bears Unite! A Follow-Up.
What is 19cm high, 20cm wide, weighs only 680grams but carries a President? Right – it’s the Russian Bear! And what is flying high into the sky? Right…
REDUX: Simulacrum Crimea (Anthropoliteia Virtual Roundtable PART 2) #UKRAINE
Today we re-post our conversation with Judith Beyer from a joint virtual roundtable with Anthropoliteia. In her commentary, Judith answers the question: “What has struck you the most,…
The Art of Being IN: Road tripping, photographing and hanging out in post-soviet Russia #INTERVIEW
Yesterday we opened the AVMoFA’s first summer exhibition – Die SommerWende – and today we are very pleased to meet the artist, Axel Schön, in person and talk…
Breaking walls and exploring #borders in the context of #postsocialism
Today we are very excited at Allegra – we continue our experimentation with serving you, dear readers, exotic and delicious slow food for thought. This time we created…
Poignant Pasts and Uncertain Futures in the Greek Crisis: Ethnographic Snippets from ATM Queues
July 2nd 2015, it is 4.30pm and the temperature is touching 40’c. I am standing in a queue of some twenty-five people outside Ethniki Bank in central Trikala,…
Life Goes On. Banalities and Sociabilities of Crisis Greece
“Grecia, prove di un’economia di guerra”. (Corriere della Sera, June 30, 2015) “The Real Story Behind Greece’s Debt Crisis,” MSNBC with Chris Hayes (6/30, 2015) “The decision to…
That buried secret of ours! non-fiction and fiction on memories of violence, death politics and the economy of silence in post-revolution Iran
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi is an acclaimed and respected writer in Iran. A post stamp has recently been produced in his honor. One of his latest novels, The Colonel, was…
Buses in South and North Teheran: Education and Schooling #Fieldnotes
The bus I was riding on my way to Tajrish (north Tehran) was beyond maximum capacity with its passengers. We were cramped and people stood and sat in…
Cultivating Childhood #EmergingDigitalPractices
Samira and Amna visit me in the afternoon after finishing Quran school (madrasa). After they have taken off their buibuis (long black overdress) and head scarves Samira continues…
REDUX: Dimitris Dalakoglou on State, Violence, Infrastructures and Public Spaces in the European periphery
Worried by the current crisis affecting the Eurozone and many other parts of the world, we also sometimes feel disempowered by our lack of deeper understanding of the…
REDUX: Tim Ingold on the Future of #AcademicPublishing
Tell me in what journal you publish and I will tell you who you are! As social and human scientists we are caught in the midst of conflicting…
REDUX: Journeys within and beyond the City – Part 1 #Fieldnotes
“That’ll be $1.09.” I hand over the last two dollars of my stipend in exchange for my favorite kind of cookie, a gingersnap, while the bakery owner and…
physical and metaphorical journeys through #fieldnotes
This week, we’re sharing some of our recently-acquired fieldnotes with you, dear reader, in addition to two installments from our reviews section. Journeys can be single or multi-fold,…
REDUX: What does Humanity look like? Ethnography of the CIA – with Carole McGranahan
It has been a while since I have last encountered her – I wonder if I will still recognize her. Sure, she could disguise herself, to become instantly…
REDUX: Going Native at Home – Explorations in Method- and note-ology #FIELDWORK
I’m from here. Well, sort of. When I was 18 months old, we moved to this small town on the Connecticut River, in the shadow of Mt. Ascutney.…