ethnography – Page 2 – Philbu's Blog

Visual/Media/Digital Anthropology at 14th EASA Conference

2016/01/29 philbu No Comments

Here is a list of panels at the 14th European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Biennial Conference entitled “Anthropological legacies and human futures” (Milan, 20-23 July 2016, #EASA2016) which deal with visual and digital media technologies and related issues. If you are interested to participate to one of those panels, please keep in mind that the deadline for paper abstract submissions is 15 February and that you have to be member of EASA.

Panels are listed in order of appearance on the conference website. If I missed relevant panels, please let me know.

Continue reading Visual/Media/Digital Anthropology at 14th EASA Conference

CfP: “Media anthropology’s legacies and concerns”

2016/01/04 philbu No Comments

The EASA Media Anthropology Network is organizing a panel entitled “Media anthropology’s legacies and concerns” at the 14th European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) conference in Milan (20-23 July, 2016). Please find the detailed call for papers below. To propose a paper, please navigate to http://nomadit.co.uk/easa/easa2016/panels.php5?PanelID=4286 and http://www.easaonline.org/conferences/easa2016/cfp.shtml
Deadline for paper proposal submissions is February 15th.

Media anthropology’s legacies and concerns
(Media Anthropology Network)

Convenors
Philipp Budka (University of Vienna)
John Postill (RMIT University Melbourne)
Elisenda Ardevol (UOC, Barcelona)

In line with the theme of the 14th EASA conference the EASA Media Anthropology Network panel seeks to put fundamental concerns of media anthropology back into the centre of attention. Central themes of media anthropology have already been identified and discussed in earlier works: e.g. the mediation of power and conflict, media related forms of production and consumption, the relationship between media and religion, and the mediation of knowledge and forms of expression (e.g. Askew & Wilk 2002, Ginsburg et al. 2002, Peterson 2003, Rothenbuhler & Coman 2005). These topics can be connected to questions about hierarchies, power relationships, norms and political agency in media contexts; the materiality of media (technologies), exchange and reciprocity, media work; media rituals and the ritualization of media practices and events; the construction of histories and traditions in relation to media practices and the meanings of media communication for oral culture(s).

By (re-)focusing on such topics in a contemporary context, this panel invites contributions also to discuss broader questions. What has been “the point of media anthropology” as an anthropological subdiscipline and as an interdisciplinary field of research (Postill & Peterson 2009)? What are media anthropology’s legacies so far and what are its historical roots? What role does ethnography play in the anthropology of media and how has this relationship changed from a methodological and epistemological perspective? Thus, this panel contributes to the constitution of media anthropology as one of anthropology’s most thriving subdisciplines. Secondly, it adds to the understanding of media anthropology’s legacies, epistemologies, theories, methodologies and possible futures.

Askew, K., Wilk, R. (eds.) 2002. The anthropology of media: A reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Ginsburg, F., Abu-Lughod, L., Larkin, B. (eds.) 2002. Media worlds: Anthropology on new terrain. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Peterson, M. A. 2003. Anthropology and mass communication. Media and myth in the new millennium. New York & Oxford: Berghahn.
Postill, J., Peterson, M. A. 2009. What is the point of media anthropology? Social Anthropology 17(3): 334-344.
Rothenbuhler, E., Coman, M. (eds.) 2005. Media Anthropology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Seminar: Media & visual technologies as material culture – students’ projects

2015/11/02 philbu No Comments

The following joint student projects are conducted in the seminar “Media and visual technologies as material culture” at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Vienna:

Team A: Non-Use of Smartphones
-> Which impact does the non-use of smartphones have for the private and working life? Why do people decide against using smartphones?
Team B: Meaning of Cellphones for Refugees
-> What is the meaning of cellphones for refugees in Austria?
Team C: Crowd-sourcing & Labor
-> How are subjective meanings of “team work” shaped by the inter-dependencies between freelancers and the website Capacitor?
Team D: Sharing of Visual Media, Art & Cultural Identity
-> In what aspects have the Japanese art forms of dance and painting changed through the sharing of visual media/material?
Team E: Access to Internet & Power Relations within the Family Home
-> What are the effects of internet usage on children and young adults in respect to power relations in the family home?
Team F: Conversion/Discussion about Digital Content
-> What is the difference between usage of commentary sections of Serbian and German online newspapers?
Team G: Self-Identification through Visual Communication & Social Media
-> How do people identify/define themselves through visual communication via social media (websites (blogs), video blogs and Instagram)?
Team H: Ayahuasceros – Making of Ritual Community on Facebook
-> What is the relevance of Facebook in the community building process of Austrian Ayahuasca ceremonies?
Team I: Bicycle Movement & Digital Media in Vienna
-> How are digital media technologies utilized in relation to the social network BikeKitchen?

Review: Europäisch-ethnologisches Forschen. Neue Methoden und Konzepte.

2014/09/30 philbu No Comments

Budka, P. 2014. Review of Hess, S., Moser, J. & M. Schwertl (eds.). Europäisch-ethnologisches Forschen. Neue Methoden und Konzepte. Berlin: Reimer Verlag, 2013; 332 pp. Anthropos, 109.2014/2: 694-696.

Mit dem Sammelband „Europäisch-ethnologisches Forschen. Neue Methoden und Konzepte.“ ist es den HerausgeberInnen und AutorInnen gelungen eine wichtige, und wie ich finde längst überfällige, Sammlung rezenter Methoden und theoretischer Konzepte nicht nur für die Europäische Ethnologie/Volkskunde zusammenzustellen. Auch wenn der Titel ein Naheverhältnis des Bandes und seiner Inhalte zur Europäischen Ethnologie nahelegt, ist dieses Werk durchaus auch VertreterInnen anderer kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen – von Kultur- und/oder Sozialanthropologie bis Soziologie – empfohlen. Insgesamt 17 AutorInnen geben in 12 Beiträgen einen einführenden Überblick zu methodischen und methodologischen Überlegungen sowie Konzepten, die in den letzten Jahren im einschlägigen wissenschaftlichen Fachdiskurs massiv an Bedeutung gewonnen haben: von Ethnographie und Feldtheorien über Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie bis hin zur Analyse visueller und materieller Kultur. Im Folgenden will ich mich einer subjektiven Auswahl an Buchbeiträgen widmen, um so zu versuchen die Bandbreite dieses Werkes und seiner Inhalte darzulegen.

Continue reading Review: Europäisch-ethnologisches Forschen. Neue Methoden und Konzepte.

Digital learning material for social & cultural anthropology

2013/10/04 philbu No Comments

Within a project different digital learning materials for the social sciences, particularly at the University of Vienna, were developed. This is a hypermedia learning and teaching document for introductory courses in social and cultural anthropology (in German).

“Diese Lernunterlage gibt einen einführenden Überblick zur wissenschaftlichen Disziplin der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie (KSA) mit besonderem Schwerpunkt auf die Situation und die Arbeit des Instituts für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie an der Universität Wien. Neben der Frage, womit sich Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie beschäftigt und wie sie sich theoriegeschichtlich entwickelt hat, werden ausgewählte Themenbereiche vorgestellt. Die Lernunterlage richtet sich vor allem an StudienanfängerInnen, kann aber ebenso als Informationsquelle oder Lehr- und Lernmittel für allgemein an der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie Interessierte dienen.”

Link:

http://www.univie.ac.at/sowi-online/esowi/cp/einfpropaedksa/einfpropaedksa-titel.html

Article: Digitale Medientechnologien aus kultur- und sozialanthropologischer Perspektive

2013/05/14 philbu 1 Comment

Budka, P. 2013. Digitale Medientechnologien aus kultur- und sozialanthropologischer Perspektive: Überlegungen zu Technologie als materielle Kultur und Fetisch (Digital media technologies from an anthropological perspective: Reflections on technology as material culture and fetish). Medien und Zeit, 28, 1/2013: 22-34.

Abstract

Dieser Aufsatz blickt auf digitale Medientechnologien aus Perspektive der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie. In einem wissenschaftstheoretischen und historischen Abriss werden einerseits Eckpunkte in der Entwicklung relevanter Forschungsfelder, wie die Anthropologie und Ethnographie der Medientechnologien, die Digitale Anthropologie sowie die Anthropologie der Cyberkultur behandelt. Andererseits werden zwei Fallbeispiele aus der ethnographischen Forschungspraxis vorgestellt, die digitale Technologien als materielle Kultur verstehen. Technologie als materielle Kultur erlaubt es die Materialität und die Normativität von Technologien ebenso zu fassen wie deren alltägliche Aneignung in wandelnden soziokulturellen, politischen und ökonomischen Kontexten. Der Aufsatz schließt mit einer Diskussion der Fetischisierung von Technologien, deren Bedeutung und Zusammenhänge.

Text (PDF)

Seminar: Identity, sociality and communality in times of digital media technologies

2012/09/19 philbu No Comments

In the winter term 2012/2013, I am teaching a seminar on “Identity, sociality and communality in times of digital media technologies” at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna. Students in this course learn about and to work with different forms of identity construction and processes of sociality and communality, which have been made possible through digital media technologies, such as the internet. Students get a brief overview about identity concepts and the possibility to deploy them within empirical research projects.

Find more information about this seminar here: http://www.philbu.net/courses.html

Concept map: Communicative ecologies

2012/09/05 philbu No Comments

This map visualizes the concept of “communicative ecologies” as introduced by Tacchi, J., Slater, D., Hearn, G. 2003. Ethnographic Action Research: A User’s Handbook. New Delhi: UNESCO, http://eprints.qut.edu.au/4399/. It was done by using the free CMap Tools (click to enlarge).

Article: “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations Online Social Environment in Northern Ontario

2012/07/26 philbu No Comments

Bell, B., Budka, P., Fiser, A. 2012. “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations online social environment in northern Ontario. In A. Clement, M. Gurstein, G. Longford, M. Moll & L. R. Shade (Eds.), Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics (pp. 237-254). Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.

“In 2000, one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal community networks, the Kuh-ke-nah Network, or K-Net, was on the verge of expanding into broadband services. (For more on K-Net, see chapter 14.) K-Net’s management organization, Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council, had acquired funding and resources to become one of Industry Canada’s Smart Communities demonstration projects. Among the innovative services that K-Net introduced at the time was MyKnet.org, a system of personal home pages intended for remote First Nations users in a region of Northern Ontario where numerous communities have lived without adequate residential telecom service well into the millennium (Fiser, Clement, and Walmark 2006; Ramírez et al. 2003). Shortly thereafter, and through K-Net’s community-based Internet infrastructure, this free-of-charge, free-of-advertising, locally supported, online social environment grew from its core constituency of remote First Nations communities to host over 30,000 registered user accounts (of which approximately 20,000 represent active home pages). …”

free chapter download: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120193

Vortrag: IKT als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität

2012/05/27 philbu No Comments

Vortrag im Rahmen der 7. Tage der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie: “Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität” (PDF)

Aus dem Inhalt:

Indigene in Kanada & im Nordwestlichen Ontario
Sitation von First Nations im Nordwestlichen Ontario
Indigene IKT im Nordwestlichen Ontario: KO-KNET
Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität durch IKT
IKT-Anwendungspraktiken: Isolation vs. Sozialität
Indigene IKT: Ergebnisse aktueller Studien

Indigene IKT: Ergebnisse aktueller Studien:

IKT-Praktiken beeinflussen …
a) (kulturelle) Identitätskonstruktion & -verhandlung
b) (soziale) Vergemeinschaftungsformen & -prozesse
c) Kommunikationspraktiken

Entscheidend sind …
a) Kontrolle von & Bezug zu IKT
b) Soziokulturelle, geographische & politische Kontexte/Rahmenbedingungen/Möglichkeiten

Vortrag: Indigene Medientechnologien

2012/04/24 philbu No Comments

Gastvortrag im Rahmen der Vorlesung “Einführung in die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie” (Sommersemester 2012, Leitung: Elke Mader): “Indigene Medientechnologien – Produktion & Anwendungspraktiken aus medienanthropologischer Perspektive“: Teil 1 / Teil 2 (PDF)

Aus dem Inhalt:

Medientechnologien aus kultur- und sozialanthropologischer & ethnographischer Perspektive
Indigene Medien:
Indigene?
Indigene IKT: „outreach“ Praktiken z.B. EZLN in Mexiko, „inreach“ Praktiken: z.B. KO-NET in Kanada
Indigene Medientechnologieproduktion: Beispiel „Internet für First Nations in Kanada“
Indigene Medienanwendungspraktiken: Beispiel „MyKnet.org: Social Networking für First Nations in Kanada“ – Identitätskonstruktion, Vergemeinschaftungsformen, ethnographische Felderforschung

Ethnographie als theoretischer & epistemologischer Ansatz

2012/01/10 philbu No Comments

Ideen und Anmerkungen zur Ethnographie als theoretischer und epistemologischer Forschungsansatz, die im Rahmen eines Jour Fixe der Gruppe Internetforschung am 09.01.2012 diskutiert wurden. Dabei wurde vor allem der Frage nachgegangen wie Ethnographie in der Internetforschung Verwendung finden kann.

Ethnographie ist eine Theorie des Beschreibens (Nader)
→ Kontext
→ Holismus → Imagination von Gesamt- oder Ganzheit

Ethnographie ist keine Methode (Ingold)
→ Ethnographie = beschreibende Integration (durch Kontextualisierung)
→ Ethnographie = Praxis verbaler Beschreibung

Praktische Aspekte / Probleme einer Ethnographie
→ Prozess der teilnehmenden Beobachtung
→ Inklusion der Forscherin / „Wir & die Anderen“
→ Wandel in Zeit & Raum
→ Hierarchien von Kontexten

Ethnographie & Interdisziplinarität (Strathern)
→ Interaktion von Disziplinen
→ Kontextspezifika entscheiden über Ethnographie → Schaffung von Kontext
→ Multi- → Inter- → Transdisziplinarität → von „information-sharing“ zu „knowledge-creation“

Literatur:
Ingold, T. 2008. Anthropology is not ethnography. In: Proceedings of the British Academy 154: 69-92. Online: http://www.proc.britac.ac.uk/cgi-bin/somsid.cgi?page=154p069&session=825683A&type=header

Nader, L. 2011. Ethnography as theory. In: HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1(1): 211-219. Online: http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/34

Strathern, M. 2005. Experiments in interdisciplinarity. In: Social Anthropology 13(1): 75-90.

References and resources on online ethnography

2011/11/30 philbu No Comments

Literature on online ethnography collected through the EASA Media Anthropology Network Mailing List
to contribute to this collection go to the network’s project wiki: http://www.media-anthropology.net/index.php/projects

Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy 2000 The Cybercultures Reader. London : New York: Routledge.

Boellstorff, Tom: Coming of Age in Second Life, 2008. The volume, which is an ethnography by itself, has a full chapter on methods in online research.

Buchanan, Elizabeth A. 2004 Readings in Virtual Research Ethics : Issues and Controversies. Hershey, PA: Information Science Pub.

Hine, C. (2008). Virtual Ethnography: Modes, Varieties, Affordances. In Fielding, Lee, Blank (eds) THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF ONLINE RESEARCH METHODS.

Hine, C. 2005 Internet Research and the Sociology of Cyber-Social-Scientific Knowledge. Information Society 21(4):239-248.

Hine, Christine 2005 Virtual Methods : Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford, UK ; New York: Berg.

Hine, Christine 2000 Virtual Ethnography. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Littleton, K., and D. Whitelock 2004 Guiding the Creation of Knowledge and Understanding in a Virtual Learning Environment. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 7(2):173-181.

Markham, Anette: Internet Research. In Silverman, D. (Ed.). Qualitative Research: Theory, Method, and Practices, 3rd Edition. London: Sage.
Draft: http://www.markham.internetinquiry.org/writing/silverman2011draft.pdf

Markham, Anette: The politics, ethics, and methods of representation in online ethnography. In Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research, 3rd Edition (pp. 793-820). Thousand Oaks CA: Sage
Draft here: http://markham.internetinquiry.org/writing/denzingalleyproofs.pdf

Marshall, Jon (2010): Ambiguity, Oscillation and Disorder: Online Ethnography and the Making of Culture
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/mcs/article/view/1598/1859

Nardi, Bonnie: Night Elf Priest, prolog and first two chapters. Bonus: They can read it online for free: http://www.digitalculture.org/books/my-life-as-a-night-elf-priest

Pauwels, L. 2005 Websites as Visual and Multimodal Cultural Expressions: Opportunities and Issues of Online Hybrid Media Research. Media Culture & Society 27(4):604-613.

Preece, J., and D. Maloney-Krichmar 2005 Online Communities: Design, Theory, and Practice. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(4).

Schaap, Frank 2002 The Words that Took Us there : Ethnography in a Virtual Reality. Amsterdam: Aksant Academic Publishers.

Silver, D. 2004 Internet/cyberculture/digital culture/new media/fill-in-the-Blank Studies. New Media & Society 6(1):55-64.

New Book: Theorising Media and Practice (Bräuchler & Postill 2010)

2010/11/29 philbu No Comments

Bräuchler, B. and J. Postill (eds) 2010. Theorising Media and Practice. Oxford and New York: Berghahn.

From John Postill’s blog:

This book is very much a product of the numerous conversations we’ve had down the years on the EASA Media Anthropology Network on practice approaches to media. We’re really grateful to all chapter contributors and to all of network members who have helped us think through some of the key questions.

Synopsis

Although practice theory has been a mainstay of social theory for nearly three decades, so far it has had very limited impact on media studies. This book draws on the work of practice theorists such as Wittgenstein, Foucault, Bourdieu, Barth and Schatzki and rethinks the study of media from the perspective of practice theory. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from places such as Zambia, India, Hong Kong, the United States, Britain, Norway and Denmark, the contributors address a number of important themes: media as practice; the interlinkage between media, culture and practice; the contextual study of media practices; and new practices of digital production. Collectively, these chapters make a strong case for the importance of theorising the relationship between media and practice and thereby adding practice theory as a new strand to the anthropology of media.

More information: http://berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=BrauchlerTheorising

Video: About “doing anthropology”

2010/10/13 philbu No Comments

MIT anthropologists in this short video talk about doing anthropology, about their personal experiences with working as anthropologists and ethnographers.

From: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/315-doing-anthropology

“Thoughts on Fieldwork From Three Research Sites
Cultural Anthropology is a social science that explores how people understand – and act in – the world. But what, exactly, is it that Cultural Anthropologists do? How do they approach their research? In this short film, three members of MIT’s Anthropology Department, Stefan Helmreich, Erica James, and Heather Paxson, talk about their current work and the process of doing fieldwork.”

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