Political Anthropology clips

Iran renews campaign against Barbie dolls

2012-01-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

Sara and Dara dolls promoted as substitutes for Ken and Barbie

see the excellent article by Farzaneh Milani: “The Deportation of Barbie from Iran,” Iris: A Journal About Women, no. 38, Winter/Spring 1999, pp. 16-20.

Excellent Overview of the Despair of Arab Youth and the Arab Spring

2012-01-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

This issue paper is by M. Chloe Mulderig, a Boston U. ABD who is working on Morocco.

2011-12-15T09:59:00.001-08:00

Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

From the field: Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

Somalia's Shabab flock to Twitter

2011-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

LIke other insurgent groups, the Shabab have adopted social media.

Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

2011-12-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

From the field: Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

What happens when boys break girls swimming records?

2011-11-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

Silly question? Not when boys swim on "girls teams".

Nakhleh and Norton on the Egyptian election

2011-11-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

From the field: Nakhleh and Norton on the Egyptian election

Mona Eltahawy beaten and assaulted after arrest in Tahrir Square

2011-11-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

Mona Eltahawy:

On her Twitter account, she wrote, “5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers.” She said the beating and assault stopped once she was transferred from the police to the military, though military interrogators kept her blindfolded for hours.

Col. Islam Jaffar:

“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”

So, it would have been fine for her to be assaulted if she were "simply" a woman, or suspected spy?

SCUSA: November 2-5, 2011 at West Point

2011-08-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

West Point hosts SCUSA every fall. It is the largest, oldest, and most prestigious undergraduate conference of its type in the world. Approximately 200 undergraduate student delegates from over 100 colleges and universities worldwide attend SCUSA. Throughout the conference, the student delegates and cadets will discuss and debate the impact of past and recent events on the national political strategy of the United States and attempt to formulate policy recommendations for the future. The highlights of the four-day conference include the opening senior panel discussion on the evening of November 2nd, an evening keynote banquet address, four roundtable sessions, and a closing-report session on November 5th. Recent keynote speakers have included Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Dr. Leslie Gelb, and Admiral James Stavridis.

The theme this year is “Thinking Beyond Boundaries: Contemporary Challenges to U.S. Foreign Policy”. The goal is to get the cadets and undergraduate delegates to consider the boundary-spanning nature of the policy problems that they will face as future policymakers and implementers.

For comments by prior BU participants see this earlier post.

Revolutionary Fashion

2011-08-27T22:14:00.001-07:00

See "Youth Quake" from the NYTimes.

Arab Spring Career Ops

2011-07-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

Start-ups in Egypt.

Sister Olga Yaqob: from Iraq to Boston University

2011-06-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Boston Globe article.

Muslim Superheroes in comics

2011-06-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

Article and slide show.

Social media, #Saudieggs and social protests in Saudi Arabia:

2011-06-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Retweeting, driving and Twitter debates. (See relevant letter to the editor.)

Conservative You-tube channel mentioned in piece: CH905 (critical of women's demonstrations).

#Saudieggs.

Formula One race is now OFF in Bahrain: due recompense for brutality

2011-06-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

From the field: Formula One race is now OFF in Bahrain: due recompense for brutality

Cyber protests play a part.

Gulen Schools in Texas

2011-06-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

(Photo from the NYTimes, June 7, 2011.

Front page NYT story with lots of detail.

See the 2009 lecture by Berna Turam at BU.

Alain Gresh on the Palestine Spring

2011-06-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

From the field: Alain Gresh on the Palestine Spring

Village Councils (khap panchayats) in India

2011-06-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

In northern India, the khap panchayats are often the final word on law and acceptable behavior in the village.
See : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/world/asia/05india.html?ref=world

Mubarak family no longer immune?

2011-04-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

From the field: Mubarak family no longer immune?

Poppycock, Bahrain-style

2011-03-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

From the field: Poppycock, Bahrain-style

Gaza

2011-03-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

From the field: Gaza

The Great Upheaval

2011-03-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

From the field: The Great Upheaval

BU's own Lael Adams

2011-03-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

From the field: BU's own Lael Adams

Hisham Matar is a talented Libyan novelist, now living in London

2011-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

New Yorker Interview.

"Naima", a skillfully crafted short-story about exile, Cairo, and dissidence.

Elif Shafak is delivering the 2010-11 Campagna-Kerven Lecture on Modern Turkey this spring at Boston University

2011-02-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

From the field: Elif Shafak is delivering the 2010-11 Campagna-Kerven Lecture on Modern Turkey this spring at Boston University

No longer thwarted: Egypt's Hizb al-Wasat finally gains legal status

2011-02-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

From the field: No longer thwarted: Egypt's Hizb al-Wasat finally gains legal status

Valuable interactive map--protests across the region

2011-02-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

From the field: Valuable interactive map--protests across the region

Too many to arrest

2011-02-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

From the field: Too many to arrest

Some readers have looked here for a 2008 link to MIT-EJMES on the Palestinian Naksa.

2011-02-16T07:15:00.000-08:00

From the field: Some readers have looked here for a 2008 link to MIT-EJMES on the Palestinian Naksa.

Rapping Jan25

2011-02-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

From the field: Rapping Jan25

Speeding Dating by Muslims

2011-02-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

NYTimes.

From the field: Bassma Kodmani and others reflect on the role of youth and the immensity of what is happening in Egypt

2011-02-12T13:51:00.001-08:00

From the field: Bassma Kodmani and others reflect on the role of youth and the immensity of what is happening in Egypt

From the field: The Egyptian people have toppled Mubarak, an extraordinary moment, but the regime has not been toppled, not yet.

2011-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

From the field: The Egyptian people have toppled Mubarak, an extraordinary moment, but the regime has not been toppled, not yet.

From the field: The faces of those Egyptians who paid the highest price, some known by no more than their first names..

2011-02-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

From the field: The faces of those Egyptians who paid the highest price, some known by no more than their first names..

Conservative Muslims Target Women's Fashions in Iraq

2011-02-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

See NYT article.

Rumania takes on witches with taxes

2011-02-09T07:12:00.000-08:00

Press report includes video.

Nightlife in Kurdistan benefits from Baghdad bans on alcohol

2011-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

Stepping out in Kurdistan.

From the field: Sober and timely analysis by Eberhard Kienle

2011-02-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

From the field: Sober and timely analysis by Eberhard Kienle

From the field: Familiar Brutality in Tahrir Square

2011-02-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

From the field: Familiar Brutality in Tahrir Square

2011-02-03T09:39:00.001-08:00

From the field: Familiar Brutality in Tahrir Square

From the field: Notable images from Cairo

2011-02-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

From the field: Notable images from Cairo

Scholarly sentiments vs. advice.

2011-01-30T18:41:00.001-08:00

From the Field.

Solid work acknowledged

2011-01-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

40 Top Dissertations in Cultural Anthropology for 2010 with two from Boston University.

Weathering the Commons: Resilience and Heterogeneity in an Inland Fishery, Mweru-Luapula, Zambia, by Christopher M. Annear. Boston University. Advisor: James Pritchett.
This dissertation focuses on the multiethnic, mobile Mweru-Luapula population of fishers, traders, and farmers of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo, and the fishery it relies upon. I argue that the resilience of this fishery economy over time can be attributed to fluid social, ecological, and political relations among constituent groups. They have developed the ability to react to an environment that floods seasonally and changes its constitution annually. I examine how people living on this fishery maintain its sustainability as a shared resource; how laws, governance, and historical circumstances affect constituent behaviors and choices; and how this ecologically dynamic fishery constrains some groups, but endows others. Although many scientists and policymakers believe it to be collapsing, my fieldwork suggests otherwise.

Potters and Warlords in an Afghan Bazaar: Political Mobilization, Masterly Inactivity and Violence in Post-Taliban Afghanistan, by Noah S. Coburn. Boston University. Advisor: Thomas Barfield.
This dissertation is based on research in Istalif, a town in the Shomali Plain, with a strong craft industry and long history of violence. I describe how local politics in Afghanistan have shifted during the post-Taliban period and how strategies of inactivity can lead to a political theater that masks tensions and suppresses violent conflict. I look at potter lineages that cooperated politically and economically. I then analyze how groups strove to portray themselves as powerful, while avoiding public and violent conflicts. Simultaneously, the people in the town and government officials perpetuated a fiction of the state as bounded and rational, denying the ambiguous nature of state-rule based upon patrimonial networks. This fiction encouraged international donors to continue to inject aid into the area.

Pakistani women set out to work defying convention

2010-12-29T08:31:00.000-08:00

NYTimes.

Blending past and present in Syria

2010-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Preserving heritage and leaving space for mundane life and livelihood. Excellent piece by Nicolai Ouroussoff.

Controlling Jinns in Iraq

2010-12-28T09:05:00.001-08:00

Faith healing, Kurdish style.

Afghan women who seek fiery end to miseries

2010-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

This front page NYT story deals with the sad stories of women so desperate to escape their torments that douse themselves in cooking oil and attempt suicide. This was the subject of an Iranian movie that I viewed in Tehran in 2003.

Mass wedding in Nablus, organized by the PA

2010-10-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

"Muslims Through Christian Eyes: From the Prophet to the Present" - Harvey Cox (Harvard)

2010-10-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Starts: 5:00 pm on Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Location: Kenmore Conference Room, 9th Floor, One Silber Way, Boston University

Harvey Cox is Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard, where he began teaching in 1965, both at HDS and in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. An American Baptist minister, he was the Protestant chaplain at Temple University, the director of religious activities at Oberlin College, an ecumenical fraternal worker in Berlin, and a professor at Andover Newton Theological School. His research and teaching interests focus on the interaction of religion, culture and politics. Among the issues he explores are urbanization, theological developments in world Christianity, Jewish-Christian relations, and current spiritual movements in the global setting (particularly Pentecostalism). He has been a visiting professor at Brandeis University, Seminario Bautista de Mexico, the Naropa institute and the University of Michigan. Dr. Cox is also a prolific author whose latest book is The Future of Faith (Harper Collins, 2009).

Sponsored by the Institute for Muslim Societies & Civilizations at Boston University .

http://www.bu.edu/smscinst/

Palestine's Hard Rockers subvert autocrats

2010-09-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Heavy Metal Revolution
Mark LeVine on Hard Rockers headbanging against subversive regimes (including China, Egypt, Iran and Indonesia, among other.

With thanks to Justin.

SCUSA, West Point, November 10-13 2010

2010-09-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Each Autumn a few students of my students at Boston U. attend the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs at the U.S. Military Academy. The annual conference has been going on for more than half a century and it brings together leading students from univerisities and colleges all across the U.S., as well as from some other countries. Here are comments on the SCUSA experience from students who have represented Boston University at the conference in 2009:

"SCUSA was invaluable to me, as it gave me a real-world application for diplomacy, debate, and my international knowledge. I spoke, discussed, and argued with some of the most intelligent people I had ever met and learned a lot from them. The connections I made, as well as the friendships, will last." Hillary, BU, Class of 2011.

"SCUSA is a great way to discuss current political policy with people from around the country, some of whom will probably one day be policy makers. You get to learn how policy is argued, and what parts of policy people deem most important--plus you get to have a lot of fun doing it!" Daniella Nahmias

"SCUSA was such an unparalleled experience for me because we, the delegates, were in a setting where we were able to discuss pressing issues in foreign policy, debate them, get exhaustingly frustrated over them, and ultimately reach a consensus and camaraderie over them. Everything-- the speakers, the roundtable, the USMA campus, the cadets, and the after hours conversations-- was exceptional!"--Kirsten Berg, BU, 2011.

Syrian Colony in New York City

2010-08-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Immigrants in New York near the World Trade Center, in simpler times.

(Tamed) Civil Society in Syria

2010-08-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Periodic moments of optimism in Syria have been accompanied by bursts of rights-oriented civil society, only to be suppressed shortly thereafter. This piece is about associational life well-short of the red lines, and with a significant element of self-censorship.

Indonesian Idol

2010-07-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Indonesian reality show seeks the best young imam.

Research paper ideas: Primary healthcare in Iran

2010-07-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Borrowing from Iran in Mississippi.

Saudi women threaten to breastfeed foreign drivers to make them kin

2010-06-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

In a bid to win the right to drive, Saudi women mock a fatwa.

Arab fans love Turkish soaps

2010-06-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Led by “Gumus” (“Noor” in Arabic), a wave of Turkish melodramas, police procedurals and conspiracy thrillers — “Yaprak Dokumu,” “Kurtlar Vadisi,” “Asmali Konak,” “Ihlamurlar Altinda” and now the steamy “Ask-i Memnu,” the top-rated series in Turkey (think Madame Bovary on the Bosporus) — are making their way onto Arab televisions, wielding a kind of soft power.

See the piece in the New York Times. Also see: this April 2009 video:

Citing Brown v. Board of Education Israeli Supreme Court orders end of religious segregation in education

2010-06-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Haredim protest.

"Honor" killing in Canada

2010-06-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

UPI

Kashmiri Pandits

2010-06-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

Deep Roots in Kashmir Tug Hindus Back Home - NYTimes.com

Incest in India

2010-05-27T03:03:00.000-07:00

Couple who share ancient relative elope and are murdered by clansmen.

From the field: Transnational Currents in the Gulf, conference videos now available

2010-05-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

Transnational Currents in the Gulf, conference videos now available

White House is meeting the concerns of U.S. Muslims

2010-04-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

As candidate, Barack Obama stayed arm's length from American Muslim communities, often to the point of insult. The Obama campaign was ultra-sensitive even to professional cranks' far-fetched accusations that it was soft on Muslim extremists. When Muslim baiters spoke, campaign aides were jettisoned not defended. In recent months, however, the Obama administration is moving to meet legitimate Muslim concerns and redress its skittishness about acknowledging Muslims as full-fledged citizens.

Noteworthy Morocco blog

2010-04-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

Anthony Mercurio is a Boston U. undergrad. http://anthonymercurio.wordpress.com/

Download PDF of the Boston Study Groups new book

2010-03-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

From the field: If not now, when?

If you have a Middle East interest, check this out

2010-03-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Aramco World is a glossy magazine with uncritical but often valuable material on Middle East literature, cuisine and architecture. The pictures are usually great. Link here for current issue and archives. It is free.

Available for Download

2010-03-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

From the field: Just released: Israel and Palestine - Two States for Two Peoples: If Not Now, When?

The Winter Thief

2010-03-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

Jenny White's Winter Thief in tomorrow's Washington Post.

Young militants in Pakistan and their networks

2010-02-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

“The situation now is quite confusing,” said Tariq Parvez, director of the National Counterterrorism Authority in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. “We can no longer talk in terms of organizations. Now it’s a question of like-minded militants.”

Palestinians borrow from Avatar and dress as Navi

2010-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

Protesters dressed as characters from the movie Avatar march in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah.

The collegiate majority

2010-02-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

The female majority on campus.

Quail Fighting in Afghanistan by Seamus Murphy

2010-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

From Harpers, February 2010.

Thwarting the censors in China

2010-01-16T10:26:00.001-08:00

A Few Internet Users in China Find Ways Around Filters - NYTimes.com

tags: China, internet, web, censorship, software

Hindu-Muslim Punk Bands

2010-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

The Kominas have helped launched a small, but growing, South Asian and Middle Eastern punk rock movement that is attracting children of Muslim and Hindu immigrants and drawing scorn from some traditional Muslims who say their political, hard-edged music is "haraam," or forbidden.

The movement, an anti-establishment subculture borne of religiously conservative communities, is the subject of two new films and a hot topic on social networking sites.

The artists say they are just trying to reconcile issues such as life in America, women's rights and homosexuality with Islam and old East vs. West cultural clashes.

"This is one way to deal with my identity as an Arab-American," said Marwan Kamel, the 24-year-old lead guitarist in Chicago-based Al-Thawra. "With this music, I can express this confusion."

On the Net:

http://www.myspace.com/thekominas

http://www.myspace.com/althawra

http://www.taqwacore.com/

Feud in the Karzai clan

2009-12-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

Afghan Killing Bares a Karzai Family Feud - NYTimes.com

“In Islam, I have the right to kill him....” In fact, customary law is often described by clan members and tribesmen as rooted in religion, but feudal vengeance is in fact rooted in traditional law not in shari'a.

End of semester anonymous poll on political anthropology texts

2009-12-10T18:51:00.001-08:00

27 of 30 students returned a questionnaire on course texts. The students were asked to vote thumbs up or down and vote yes or no on using the text next year. Here are the results:

Anderson, Imagined Communities--three thumbs down
Barth, essay on ethnicity--nine thumbs down
Abner Cohen, Two Dimensional Man--six thumbs down and one person could not make up her mind
Lewellen, Political Anthropology--seven thumbs down.
Gledhill, Power and its Disguises--five thumbs down
Mahdavi, Passionate Revolution--three thumbs down, but six people would not use the book again
Norton, Hezbollah--no thumbs down
Venkatesh, Gang Leader for a Day--one thumb down
Vincent, Political Anthropology reader (only read by grad students)--two thumbs down from a total of six grad students

Initial thoughts on the votes:
The Barth essay is difficult (but important) and it probably needs to be taught differently. Lewellen should be switched to a recommended text (some students find it a useful primer). Mahdavi was disappointing and it will not be used again. One student recommended an alternative to Mahdavi, which I will explore. Vincent probably should be replaced by individual reading selections.

Medical big business vs. a woman standing on right, in Indonesia

2009-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

The trials (literally) of Prita Mulyarsari.

Black Iraqis In Basra Face Racism : NPR

2009-12-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Black Iraqis In Basra Face Racism : NPR: "The election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency was celebrated with special fervor by Iraqis of African descent in the southern port city of Basra.

Although they have lived in Iraq for more than 1,000 years, the black Basrawis say they are still discriminated against because of the color of their skin, and they see Obama as a role model. Long relegated to menial jobs or work as musicians and dancers, some of them have recently formed a group to advance their civil rights."

Next, reinstate black and white TV in Iran.

2009-12-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

Iran bans makeup for women on state-run television - The Boston Globe: "Local Search Site Search"

Albinos hunted for their limbs

2009-11-30T19:56:00.001-08:00

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2009/11/28/10000_e_african_albinos_in_hiding_after_killings

"Honor" Killings of Gay Men in Turkey

2009-11-26T11:02:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/europe/26turkey.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=turkey&st=cse

Shari'a in Aceh

2009-10-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Stoning instituted in Aceh as punishment for adultry!

From the field: Thugs attack Ayman Nour in Hurghada: standard--state encouraged--practice for dealing with dissidents in Egypt

2009-10-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

From the field: Thugs attack Ayman Nour in Hurghada: standard--state encouraged--practice for dealing with dissidents in Egypt

Professor Turam on "Muslim Politics, Secular Predicaments and State Transformation."

2009-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

From the field: Professor Turam on "Muslim Politics, Secular Predicaments and State Transformation."

From the field: BJ remembered

2009-10-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Samurai

2009-10-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Art Review - 'Art of the Samurai' - Way of the Artful Warriors, at the Metropolitan Museum - NYTimes.com

Reclaiming treasures

2009-10-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

A 3,500-Year-Old Queen Causes a Rift Between Germany and Egypt - NYTimes.com

Mapping the Global Muslim Population - Pew Research Center

2009-10-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Mapping the Global Muslim Population - Pew Research Center

World Distribution of Muslims Map.

Swat trying to return to "normal"

2009-09-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

In Pakistan's Swat Valley, an Eid Tempered by Recent Dangers - washingtonpost.com

Iran's numerous sex change operations, and a marial first

2009-09-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

"Iran is set to allow what is believed to be its first transsexual marriage after the would-be bride asked a court to override her father's opposition to the match."

There are several ways of "reading" Iran's legitimation of sex change operations. A positive reading might extol the use of ijtihad to legitimate a procedure that acknowledges that a person's genetic tooling does not always match their private parts. This would credit Shi'i clerics with a willingness to examine scientific evidence in a way that Sunni legal experts would not be prone to do. A negative reading would see the procedure as a form of imposed surgical disfigurement that homosexuals are pressured to suffer to comply with regime imposed norms.

Notwithstanding, the persecution of homosexuals in Iran, I am not inclined to see the prevalence of sex change operations in Iran simply as another example of repression in Iran. It is surprising to discover that the same author, Robert Tait, who reports a connection between Iran ban of homosexuality and sex change surgery, wrote a piece for the Guardian in 2005 drawing very different conclusions (in line with the first reading, above).

"The woman, named only as Shaghayegh, told Tehran's family court that she wanted to wed her best friend from school, who had recently undergone a sex-change operation to become a man, but was unable to obtain her father's blessing, as legally required.""

..........

"Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other country apart from Thailand after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, issued a religious fatwa approving the practice, which has government funding. Critics have suggested that some of those changing sex are not true transsexuals but gays or lesbians who feel forced into the operation by social pressure."

Meanwhile, in Iraq gays using cyber chat rooms are being pursued by Islamist goons.

Moroccan Rapper--barking softly

2009-08-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Muhammad Bahri "Barry"

Sikhs seeking religion in the U.S.

2009-08-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Religious adaptation for immigrant Sikhs.

Fear of the Muslim "other"

2009-08-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

Script-writing seminar for Muslims causes Hollywood flap, while hate crimes in Germany and right-wing politics provide grist for stories of human tragedy. Meanwhile, citing caution, Yale University Press won't show you images of Muhammad.