A failing anthropology of colonial failure: following a driver's uniform found at Amani research station,Tanzania

The remains of Amani, a century-old scientific laboratory in Tanzania, are quintessential modern relics. When anthropologists turn to such infrastructures of, originally colonial, knowledge-making, their own implication with the object of their study – and with its epistemological and political-economic origins and order – becomes part of the ethnographic pursuit. This entanglement between researcher and research material should challenge familiar realist modes of ethnographic writing ‘about’ such places that elude the anthropologists’ own, compromised position within them. Matters are complicated further when the studied knowledge-making sites already are broken, having failed their purpose – as in the case of the vestiges of an abandoned colonial institution. In this essay, I wonder how such ruins of knowledge-making might transform the knowledge made by anthropologists working within them. Instead of just adding ‘reflexive’ confessions to realist accounts, could writing take part in the defeat that the scientific station's remains seem to embody – writing not ‘after/beyond’ but ‘going along with’ failure? Drawing on non-representational ethnography, and poet-anthropologist Hubert Fichte's embrace of epistemic defeat as anticolonial method, I trace my engagements with just one fragment of the scientific station – a driver's uniform. In doing so, I experiment with an object ethnography that ‘fails’ to detach author and object, or settle the question of failure, and instead foregrounds performativity, ambiguity, and mirth as starting points for an ethnography of, and in, our modern ruins.     

How Malinowski sailed the Midnight Sun: the academic conference as ethnographic performance

Anthropology's scope is broader than its public, often limited to other anthropologists, while those who share their knowledge in the field with the ethnographer are too often cut off from anthropological debates about that knowledge. The anthropology conference, seen as research practice, proves successful in readmitting ethnographic subjects into anthropological dialogues. A symposium held in 2015 in Alotau, Papua New Guinea, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Malinowski's arrival in the Massim region, demonstrates how Massim peoples transcend anthropologists’ discursive presentations by using images, objects, and performances, diluting, along the way, anthropology's hierarchical control.     

The history of visual anthropology in India and the task ahead

This paper is a brief history of the earliest efforts of anthropological film making in India. It includes documentation of ethnographic films, the international body in India, and seminars at Delhi and Jodhpur. The filming of the rich cultural heritage of the country; stock‐taking; realistic fiction films; national, regional, and global networks; educational, archival, and research activities are explored. Additionally, the author looks to future tasks to be undertaken by visual anthropologists in India.     

Body mass index and chronic energy deficiency of adult males of Central Indian populations

Data on body weight, height, and sitting height from 11,496 adult males, age 18-62 years, belonging to 38 different populations of five major social groups (scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, "other backward castes," general castes, and Muslims) of Central India were taken for our analysis to assess the nutritional status of these groups. Cormic index and body mass index (BMI) were computed, and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out among different populations as well as among social groups separately on Cormic index and BMI. Shape, size, and generalized distances among the different social groups were computed and dendrograms were drawn. The level of malnutrition is the lowest among the general castes. The opposite is the case with the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Comparison of the coefficient of variation shows that there is variation in weight and BMI but that there is no marked variation in the other anthropometric variables. The ANOVA on Cormic index and BMI suggests that the people within a population are more homogeneous than the people between populations. There is a positive but statistically insignificant correlation between Cormic index and BMI. The five social groups differ more in size distance than in shape distance. According to the dendrogram of generalized distance values, the Muslims and the general castes can be grouped into one cluster and the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward castes can be grouped into another cluster.     

Harmonic Dissonance: Reflections on Dwelling in the Field

Focusing on the idea of dwelling in the field, this paper explores the moral grammar of living with others in field settings, including the texture of membership in one's own family and host families. Through a comparative analysis of two ethnographic research contexts – one on transnational Christian non-governmental organizations in the US and Zimbabwe in 1996 –97, and the other on orphans and philanthropy in India in 2004–05 – I interrogate what it means to inhabit the field. In the world of multi-sited ethnography all research sites are not created equal; both in terms of the kinds of data one can collect and the types of observations one can make. How ethnographers are situated in a web of affliations affects their experience in the field, what they observe, and their research practice. I propose renewed attention to how anthropologists live in the field, including how relationships are interpreted in the field by ethnographers and their informants.     

Groundwork for the Anthropology of Belgium: An Overlooked Microcosm of Europe

Like the European Union itself, the anthropology of Europe has been slowly developing for decades. Yet compared to their colleagues working at more conventional non-Western field sites, ethnographers studying present-day Europe are focusing on a region that still exists at the margins of the discipline. Thus far, anthropologists have largely neglected Belgium as an opportunity to understand the sociopolitical culture of the European continent as a whole. Through a detailed examination of historical processes that have shaped modern Belgian society, the present article highlights how this tiny nation stands as a microcosm of Europe's past, present, and potential futures. Proffering a wide-ranging analysis of the various regional and supranational spheres that Belgians inhabit, this paper outlines how ethnographic studies of belgitude (or ‘Belgianness’) can shed light on pan-European topics that are of interest to anthropologists.     

Gene differentiation at the ABO locus in twenty castes and twenty-two tribes of Andhra Pradesh, India

Using gene frequency data for the ABO locus so far available, gene differentiation and gene identity between 20 castes and 22 tribes of Andhra Pradesh were determined. The interpopulation gene diversity is 1.4 and 1.6% of total genic variation in castes and tribes, respectively. Difficulties in interpreting genetic diversity using just one genetic system is discussed.     

Out of words: The æsthesodic cine‐eye of Robert Gardner: An Exegesis and Interview

Anthropological evaluations of the film work of Robert Gardner have been compromised by their reluctance to engage with it as art, and more broadly, to celebrate rather than vilify the aesthetic possibilities of the genre of ethnographic film. Even recent experiments with reflexivity have done little to challenge the realism that undergirds anthropological reception of non‐fiction film. By contrast, this article and interview considers Gardner's work as both anthropology and art. In particular, it addresses the evolving dialectic of the verbal and the visual in his films, from Bhinden Harbour (1951) to Passenger (1998). It also argues that recent efforts by anthropologists to rethink the concept of culture from a post‐semiotic perspective, foregrounding corporeal embodiment in the constitution of culture as much as the self, expand the theoretical boundaries of visual anthropology. In turn, it suggests that this reorientation towards sensation and perception should allow for a more approbatory understanding of Gardner's films.     

Phylogeography of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome haplogroups reveal asymmetric gene flow in populations of Eastern India

Polymorphisms in mitochondrial (mt) DNA and Y-chromosomes of seven socially and linguistically diverse castes and tribes of Eastern India were examined to determine their genetic relationships, their origin, and the influence of demographic factors on population structure. Samples from the Orissa Brahmin, Karan, Khandayat, Gope, Juang, Saora, and Paroja were analyzed for mtDNA hypervariable sequence (HVS) I and II, eight Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs), and lineage-defining mutations diagnostic for Indian- and Eurasian-specific haplogroups. Our results reveal that haplotype diversity and mean pairwise differences (MPD) was higher in caste groups of the region (>0.998, for both systems) compared to tribes (0.917-0.996 for Y-STRs, and 0.958-0.988 for mtDNA haplotypes). The majority of paternal lineages belong to the R1a1, O2a, and H haplogroups (62.7%), while 73.2% of maternal lineages comprise the Indian-specific M*, M5, M30, and R* mtDNA haplogroups, with a sporadic occurrence of West Eurasian lineages. Our study reveals that Orissa Brahmins (a higher caste population) have a genetic affinity with Indo-European speakers of Eastern Europe, although the Y-chromosome data show that the genetic distances of populations are not correlated to their position in the caste hierarchy. The high frequency of the O2a haplogroup and absence of East Asian-specific mtDNA lineages in the Juang and Saora suggest that a migration of Austro-Asiatic tribes to mainland India was exclusively male-mediated which occurred during the demographic expansion of Neolithic farmers in southern China. The phylogeographic analysis of mtDNA and Y-chromosomes revealed varied ancestral sources for the diverse genetic components of the populations of Eastern India.     

Patterns of social and geographical distribution of transferrin subtype polymorphism in India

Transferrin subtypes have been determined by isoelectric focussing of sera from 536 individuals belonging to 9 South Indian populations: Vaidic Brahmins and Vaysya from Andhra Pradesh; Havik Brahmin, Lingayat and Jenu Kuruba from Karnataka; Namboodri Brahmin, Ezhava and Urali from Kerala; and Kallan from Tamil Nadu. C1 and C2 alleles are present in all the populations, whereas C4 is totally lacking and D1 occurs only in 3 populations. The highest frequency of C1 gene (0.814) is found in Havik Brahmins while C2 shows highest incidence among the tribe Urali. C1 occurs in slightly higher frequencies among the Hindu castes (range 0.724-0.814) than the tribal populations (range 0.698-0.703). C2 is more common in the tribes (range 0.281-0.290) compared to the castes (range 0.186-0.269). Strikingly the C3 allele is absent in all the 3 Brahmin samples but is present in 3 non-Brahmin castes and a tribal population. An examination of all the available data on Tf subtypes in India reveals no clear-cut decreasing north-south gradient in C1 gene as suggested by Walter et al. (1983). Interestingly, however, the same is observed when tribal populations are considered separately. Among the castes, in fact, the opposite trend (increasing north to south) is seen. It is suggested that the basic postulate of Walter et al. (1983) will hold good only among the tribal populations of the country. The data do not fully support the observation of Kamboh and Kirk (1983) that C3 is a specific marker of European (Caucasian) populations.     

Directional migration in the Hindu castes: inferences from mitochondrial, autosomal and Y-chromosomal data

Genetic, ethnographic, and historical evidence suggests that the Hindu castes have been highly endogamous for several thousand years and that, when movement between castes does occur, it typically consists of females joining castes of higher social status. However, little is known about migration rates in these populations or the extent to which migration occurs between caste groups of low, middle, and high social status. To investigate these aspects of migration, we analyzed the largest collection of genetic markers collected to date in Hindu caste populations. These data included 45 newly typed autosomal short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs), 411 bp of mitochondrial DNA sequence, and 43 Y-chromosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were assayed in more than 200 individuals of known caste status sampled in Andrah Pradesh, in South India. Application of recently developed likelihood-based analyses to this dataset enabled us to obtain genetically derived estimates of intercaste migration rates. STRPs indicated migration rates of 1–2% per generation between high-, middle-, and low-status caste groups. We also found support for the hypothesis that rates of gene flow differ between maternally and paternally inherited genes. Migration rates were substantially higher in maternally than in paternally inherited markers. In addition, while prevailing patterns of migration involved movement between castes of similar rank, paternally inherited markers in the low-status castes were most likely to move into high-status castes. Our findings support earlier evidence that the caste system has been a significant, long-term source of population structuring in South Indian Hindu populations, and that patterns of migration differ between males and females.     

Early Ethnographic Film in Britain: A Reflection on the Work of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf

A brief history points up the relative scarcity of ethnographic film made by British anthropologists in the 20th century. The reasons for this were the difficulty and expense of filmmaking until recent years, and a theoretical disinterest in filmmaking, leading to a limited opportunity to capture visually the last tribal worlds. The importance of Fürer-Haimendorf's collection of films thus stands out. The conditions which made his work in India, the North-East Frontier and Nepal possible are discussed, with an outline of his filming and written ethnographies. Why was he interested in film? Fürer-Haimendorf's technical ability with film and photography combined with an emotional sensibility are key. Not fully a man of his time, he avoided the abstract and anti-materialist phase in anthropological theory. An interview with Fürer-Haimendorf and his views on film are presented; and we see that the role of Betty Fürer-Haimendorf was crucial. We conclude with a brief consideration of his attitudes and, in his later life, the role of the BBC and the professionalization of anthropological filmmaking.     

Troubled landscapes,troubling anthropology: co‐presence,necessity, and the making of ethnographic knowledge

If ‘co‐presence is a condition of [anthropological] inquiry’ (Fabian), what sort of knowledge does it produce? I explore this question through an ethnography of a ‘troubled landscape’ in Malaysian Borneo: a lush, hilly region that has been the site of a dam construction and resettlement project since the late 2000s. My article uses the notion of co‐presence as both a lens through which to explore the predicaments of the four small communities affected by the scheme and a reflexive device that underscores the embeddedness of the ethnographic encounter in a larger relational field – one characterized as much by chance and necessity as it is by anthropologists’ intellectual agendas. In the process, I seek to trouble some of the methodological and ethical issues posed by anthropology's recent ‘ontological turn’, notably the long‐standing questions of what it means to ‘take seriously’ and how ethnography and the ethnographer are implicated in this project.     

Beyond the senses: perception,the environment,and vision impairment

The ‘sensory turn’ in anthropology has generated a significant literature on sensory perception and experience. Whilst much of this literature is critical of the compartmentalization of particular ‘senses’, there has been limited exploration of how anthropologists might examine sensory perception beyond ‘the senses’. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with people who have impaired vision walking the South Downs landscape in England, this article develops such an approach. It suggests that the experiences of seeing in blindness challenge the conceptualization of ‘vision’ (and ‘non-vision’). In place of ‘vision’ (as a sense), the article explores ‘activities of seeing’ – an approach that contextualizes the visual to examine the biographically constituted and idiosyncratic nature of perception within an environment. Through an ethnography of seeing with anatomical eyes and ‘seeing in the mind's eye’, it articulates an approach that avoids associating perception with anatomy, or compartmentalizing experience into ‘senses’.     

The Social Life of Death on Delhi's Streets: Unclaimed Souls,Pollutive Bodies,Dead Kin and the Kinless Dead

ABSTRACT

How does the status of ‘street children’ in life inflect the narrative representation of their deaths? Street-dwelling children's interactions with death in North India reveal much about how their identities are produced in public domains. In this paper, I examine several instances of ‘homeless child’ death to illuminate the place of such subjects in society and urban space, and to interrogate the degree to which they can be rendered ‘recognizable’ or ‘grievable’, in Butler's (2010) terminology. In particular, I explore the presence or absence of kin in the ways that child death is narrated. I also explore the related question of how living ‘vagabond (aawara) children’ situate their status in narratives of death and loss. I conclude with discussions of how children negotiate their orientations towards death through ghost narratives, and of the space-, economy- and age-bound assignment of pollutive tasks once reserved for low castes to street-dwelling children.     

Managing alterity from within: the ontological turn in anthropology and indigenous efforts to shape shamanism

The ontological turn is gaining momentum among many anthropologists today, evidenced by multiple debates and symposia in recent years addressing the role of ontological approaches within the discipline. Equal to the force of the ontological turn are the growing number of passionate critiques that question everything from the ethnographic and historical integrity of this body of work to its intellectual motivations and political effects. This article commends ontologists for bringing greater attention to the crucial role of spirits in many people's lives and for their efforts to gain deeper understandings of different realities. Yet we also agree with critics in their identification of various troubling tendencies in prominent ontologists’ analyses. We highlight how many of these disturbing inclinations emerge through ontologists’ attempts to connect their ethnographic analyses to Eduardo Viveiros de Castro's theory of multinaturalist perspectivism. Finally, we analyse one of the favourite research topics of those associated with the ontological turn – shamanism – in one of the regions most often heralded as an oasis of radical alterity – the Amazon – in a way that specifically aims to avoid the problematic orientations we identify. Specifically, we describe a series of historical changes in the relationships between shamans and indigenous leaders to draw attention to how relationships to shamanic power/knowledge are unevenly distributed, actively debated, and co‐constructed through changing historical and political contexts.     

Lévy-Bruhl and Modes of Thought: A Re-Appraisal

In this paper I examine the relevance of Lévy Bruhl's work for contemporary anthropological theory. Starting with a brief summary of his writings, I go on to explore his concept of primitive thought, showing how his ideas were influenced by Durkheim and depended mainly on the notion of collective representations. However, Lévy-Bruhl's use of this concept, while Durkheimian in its sources, differed from Durkheim's original usage. It is this difference which I explore following suggestions by Waismann and other logicians interested in non-standard logics. I assess the response to Lévy-Bruhl's ideas both by his contemporaries and by more recent anthropologists, pointing out that much of their criticism is based on a misunderstanding of his position, combined with a lack of awareness on the part of most anthropologists of non-standard, alternative logics. Finally I argue the importance of Lévy-Bruhl's questions (but not his answers) for anthropologists interested in exploring modes of thought found in social structures which legitimate marked ambiguities in discourse and practice, and whose formal logical models do not conform to the aristotelian naradigm.     

Understanding Sign Language Bibles through Affective Audits in South India

This article analyses the role that the emic category of understanding plays in creating new forms of personhood and new worlds for sign language using deaf people in south India. As an ethnographic study of the production, dissemination, and circulation of Indian Sign Language Bible DVDs by an international non-denominational Christian missionary organization, this article analyses how the power of sign language as heart language lies in the potentiality of becoming a fluent signer and a member of a deaf sociality. Bringing the Anthropology of Christianity in conversation with the Anthropology of deafness/sign language studies, this article argues that anthropologists have ignored practices of verifying understanding in our interlocutors. In utilizing the concept of affective audits, this article analyses the practices by which understanding comes to take place. In addition, this article also argues that anthropologists must attend to how research on sensory formations might be presuming a ‘normal’ sensing body.     

Ethnography,Advocacy and Feminism: A Volatile Mix. A View from a Reading of Diane Bell's Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin

Ethnography may lie at the heart of anthropological methodology but its claims are contested. Feminist anthropologists in particular have debated the challenges a critical academic discipline poses for a consciously politicised positioning of the ethnographer, examining the constraints this might impose on the ethnographic project. Such dilemmas are compounded in the context of advocacy work. This critique of a feminist ethnography (Diane Bell's Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin), which emerged from advocacy work in a litigious Australian context, suggests that the truth demands of advocacy work sit uneasily with both the partiality of critical ethnography and the politics of the feminist project.