The anthropology of policy processes: Making sense of the Bangladesh health and education 'reality check' initiative

Transkript

1 Plenarföreläsningar/Keynotes Professor David Lewis, London School of Economics and Political Science The anthropology of policy processes: Making sense of the Bangladesh health and education 'reality check' initiative David Lewis is Professor of Social Policy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. An anthropologist by background, he has worked mainly in Bangladesh, undertaking research on issues that include rural development, politics and local power structures, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society. His books include Technologies and Transactions: A Study of the Interaction Between New Technology and Agrarian Structure in Bangladesh (1991, Dhaka University), Anthropology, Development and the Postmodern Challenge (1996, Pluto, with Katy Gardner), NGOs and Development (2009, Routledge, with Nazneen Kanji) and Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society (2012, Cambridge University Press). Professor Susan Reynolds Whyte, University of Copenhagen The Durability of Engagements Susan Reynolds Whyte, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, carries out research in East Africa on social efforts to secure well-being in the face of poverty, disease, conflict, and rapid change. She uses concepts of pragmatism, uncertainty, and temporality to examine relationships between people, institutions, ideas, and things. For two decades she has worked with African colleagues on Enhancement of Research Capacity projects. One result of that collaboration is a forthcoming book, Second Chances (Duke University Press), which is a polygraph (not a monograph) by four Danish and four Ugandan scholars on the first generation of AIDS survivors. Professor David Price, St. Martin's University Counterinsurgency by Other Names: Complicating Humanitarian Applied Anthropology in Current, Former, and Future Warzones David H. Price is Professor of Anthropology at St. Martin's University in Lacey, Washington. He has conducted research in the United States and Palestine, Egypt and Yemen. He is writing a three volume book series using examining anthropologists' interactions with intelligence agencies: Threatening Anthropology (2004, Duke University Press), examines McCarthyism's effects on anthropologists; Anthropological Intelligence (2008, Duke University Press), documents anthropological contributions to World War II, and he is completing a third volume documenting anthropologists interactions with the CIA and Pentagon during the Cold War. His most recent book is Weaponizing Anthropology: Social Science in Service of the Militarized State (2011, CounterPunch Books). 1

2 Panelsamtal: Antropologiska Engagemang/ Round-Table on Anthropological Engagements Dr. Chris Coulter, Indevelop Chris Coulter holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Uppsala University. Her research specialized on gender, conflict and post-conflict in Sierra Leone. Based on her dissertation Chris Coulter wrote the book, Bush Wives and Girls Soldiers: Women's lives through war and peace in Sierra Leone (2009, Cornell University Press). Today Chris Coulter works as a consultant at Indevelop, a Swedish consulting company in development. Before joining Indevelop she was an independent consultant and a lecturer in Social Anthropology at Stockholm University. Chris Coulter has also worked as lecturer and coordinator for a master's degree level course on peace, conflict and humanitarian assistance at Uppsala University. Dr. Katarina Graffman, Inculture Trained as an anthropologist (Ph.D. Uppsala University), Katarina Graffman has studied Swedish culture and business for almost 15 years. She founded and runs Inculture, a Stockholm-based consultancy that provides ethnographic research and anthropological analysis on contemporary culture, trends and branding, and has worked for many organizations including IKEA, Volvo, Skanska, Sveriges Radio, DN, Bonnier. She has explored this way of working as an anthropologist in a book: Konsumentnära Varumärkesutveckling: Effektivare varumärkesstrategi med kommersiell etnografi. This year Katarina and Jacob Östberg (Ph.D. in economy) are publishing a book about human behavior in contemporary society. Dr. Shahram Khosravi, Stockholm University Shahram Khosravi is Associate Professor at Stockholm University and the author of two books: Young and Defiant in Tehran (2008, University of Pennsylvania Press) and The Illegal Traveler: an auto-ethnography of borders (2010, Palgrave). His current research is on undocumented migrants in Stockholm. Professor Karsten Paerregaard, University of Copenhagen Karsten Paerregaard is Professor in Social Anthropology at School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg. His research is focused on Peruvian migration in the US, Spain, Italy, Japan, Chile and Argentina and, more recently, climate change, water scarcity and indigenous cosmologies in Peru. His publications include Linking Separate Worlds. Urban Migrants and Rural Lives in Peru (1997, Berg), Peruvians Dispersed. A Global Ethnography of Migration (2008, Lexington), The Question of Integration. Immigration, Exclusion and the Danish Welfare State, co-edited with K. F. Olwig (2011,Cambridge Scholars) and Return to Sender. The Moral Economy of Peru s Migrant Remittances (forthcoming, Stanford University Press). 2

3 Panel 1A Ethnography in the 21 st century: Personal security, uncertainty and conflict in research, part 1 Chairs: Steven Sampson, Anna Hedlund and Anna Berglund, Lund University Anna Hedlund, Lund University Difficult Ethics: Doing research with rebels in the Eastern Congo In the paper I will discuss some ethical challenges that I encountered during my fieldwork in a rebel camp in the Eastern Congo. Many of my informants participated in the Rwandan genocide in After the genocide the rebel s crossed the Congolese border and made the mountainous forests of Congo their base for operation where they are still active participants in the war. To highlight atrocities that rebels undoubtedly have committed is an important task for determining human rights violations, war crimes, and bringing war criminals to justice. But anthropologically, our task is to analyze narratives and acts of violence as social practice and not through legal frameworks. However, how do justify our own participation, and how do we resist manipulation of informant s and the pressure to take sides in conflict situation? In the presentation I will discuss issues related to ethics and seduction, propaganda, and friendship with perpetrators. Steven Sampson, Lund University Solidarity with the powerful? Ethnography with elites Anthropologists have a long history talking about what we should do when we research less powerful or subordinate groups. We build rapport, we give them voice, we describe their world to others, we describe their problems and how they find solutions. With subaltern groups, we are encouraged to build a kind of solidarity with them. But more of us are now researching elties: groups with autonomous resources and power. I myself have been with NGO elites, planners and consultants, global anti-bribery activists and most recently, compliance professionals promoting business ethics. None of these people are subaltern. Our project is to tell their story, but their project is to make sure their story is a good one. While we do not simply want to expose them, we want to tell the truth about how such powerful groups operate. What kind of ethical obligations and methodological issues arise when we do research with the powerful? What kind of solidarity should we have with them? Whose side should we be on here? How many 'sides' are there? Ruben Andersson, London School of Economics and Political Science Anthropology unfenced: Borderline ethnography in Europe s illegality industry Illegal migration into southern Europe is a highly politicised phenomenon with large consequences. Starting with a field visit to the anti-migration fence around Spain s North African enclave of Melilla, this paper delves into the workings of Europe s illegality industry and the problems and possibilities associated with studying this industry ethnographically. The fence implicates a range of sectors long relegated to the margins of ethnography border police, policymakers, the media and defence industries while targeting anthropologists traditional informants : the formerly colonised natives, reimagined by the industry as a security threat. Conflict, secrecy and symbiosis are key to the relations between the industry and migrants, as well as between the industry s actors one marginal such actor being the awkward 3

4 anthropologist escorted around Melilla s fence. Drawing on interface analysis and a rethinking of multi-sited methodology, the paper suggests an eclectic borderline ethnography approach to bridging the fenced-in domains of insiders and outsiders, of the local and the global, and of researcher and researched. Despite the ethical and practical concerns illustrated by my fence visit, it concludes that fence-sitting might not be a second-best option for anthropologists in the world of complex, secretive networks it can also be an ethnographic and analytical virtue. Ivana Maček, Uppsala University Ethnographic Enmeshment and "Frames" This presentation has its starting point in the suggestion by the panel conveners that in an ever more complex and insecure world, the 21st century ethnography might get too complicated. Ethics, strategy, intellectual, professional, and personal get easily intertwined, entangled, or, as psychodynamic theory would call it, enmeshed. In the presentation, I will address the conveners' question: "How do we cope with ethnography?" in this context. I will give some examples of my own enmeshment and dilemmas as a half-native anthropologist working in Bosnia during the 1990s, and in Sweden with Bosnian diaspora today. I will specially dwell upon the dynamic relation between the private/personal aspects in ethnographic work, and their relation to our general/professional aims. As a contrast to anthropological field with war-related sensitive issues, I will give an example of a psychologist's work in a similar setting. The lesson, I believe, that an ethnographer can learn from a psychologist, lies in what in psychodynamic theory is known as "frames". Consequently, I will develop the concept of "frames" to fit the 21st century ethnography, and in this way hopefully contribute to answering the question of how can we best conduct ethnographic research in the increasingly complex and sensitive global contexts. Torbjörn Friberg, Malmö University Ethnography and discovery Today anthropologists seem to, at an increasing rate, study phenomena in their own societies. Many have a focus on policies in organizations and an interest to explicate cultural phenomena constituted by power and governance. Consequently, a recent interest has emerged in regard to Michael Foucault's philosophy, especially as an inspiration for the ethnographic analysis. However, such a type inquiry is problematic, because the Foucaultian perspective contributes to a pre-established idea of social reality, hence distorting essential aspects of the process of discovery. This paper aims to provide an alternative to recent trends in Foucaultian inspired analysis by showing how Eric Wolf's anthropological project can contribute to a more discoveryoriented ethnography. Wolf's concept formation of, 1) structural power, 2) tactical power, 3) chain of signification, and 3) ritual studies are closely examined in relation to studying organizational phenomena. In particular, an analysis based upon Wolf's concept can be useful for an increased understanding of policy processes in the field of higher education. 4

5 PANEL 1B Genus, plats och engagemang Ordförande: Thaïs Machado-Borges och Lena Gemzöe, Stockholms universitet Fanny Ambjörnsson, Stockholms universitet Öppenhet i det samtida Sverige: Förhandlingar om synlighet och osynlighet bland hbtqpersoner Frågan om öppenhet och synlighet har varit central och omstridd i hbt-rörelsens historia (Sedgwick1990, Jagose 1991). Från att, i början av förra seklet ha betraktats som i det närmaste en omöjlighet att leva öppet samkönat, har diskurser om öppenhet växt sig allt starkare, såväl i majoritets- som i hbtq-samhället. Vissa forskare menar att de ökade förväntningarna att vara öppen kan kopplas till ett samtida krav på autenticitet att hitta sig själv blir liktydig med att vara öppen med vem man är (Lundahl 1998). På så sätt blir den autentiska individen liktydig med någon som kommit ut med sin sexualitet. I dagens Sverige, präglat av en ökad tolerans och just öppenhet gentemot sexuell avvikelse (Rosenberg 2001, Lindholm 2003), blir således den person som väljer att dölja sin sexualitet eller leva s.k. dubbelliv tämligen svårbegriplig. I detta paper ska jag, med utgångspunkt i en studie av livsvillkor och motståndsstrategier bland två generationer hbtq-personer i urbana miljöer i Sverige, diskutera olika förhållningssätt till öppenhet och synlighet. Framför allt tar jag fasta på den yngre generationens kritik av öppenhetsdiskursen samt deras försök att skapa andra möjliga sätt att förhålla sig till synlighet och autenticitet. Vad säger oss deras erfarenheter om föreställningar om integritet, synen på det offentliga och politiskt engagemang? Åsa Eriksson, Stockholms universitet Prekära arbetsvillkor och motståndsstrategier bland lantarbetare i Sydafrika I den här presentationen kommer jag göra några preliminära reflektioner över genus, plats och engagemang hos lantarbetare i Sydafrikas frukt- och vinindustri. Paternalistiska relationer har traditionellt präglat arbetet i vin- och fruktindustrin i Sydafrika, där icke-vita lantarbetare bott i arbetarbostäder på sin vita arbetsgivares mark, och varit i stark beroendeställning till denne när det gäller allt från arbetsvillkor till bostäder, transport, skolor och möjlighet att ta emot besök av fackrepresentanter. Maktrelationerna mellan lantarbetare och gårdsägare kan ses som reglerade genom kontroll och tillgång av platser, såsom marken, gården, bostad och skolor, men också de platser där motstånd kan organiseras. Sedan 80-talet och efter apartheids fall har miljontals arbetare vräkts från lantgårdarna, och flyttat till informella bostadsområden, varifrån många fortsätter arbeta på osäkra villkor i form av korta kontrakt, säsongsvisa anställningar och arbete via bemanningsföretag. Nyligen genomfördes en historisk strejk av lantarbetare, som initierades och leddes främst av arbetare med osäkra anställningar, som inte bor på gårdarna, och som i hög grad organiserade sig utanför fackföreningarna. Frågor kopplade till genus och plats är centrala, såsom boendevillkor och tillgång till service och sociala trygghetssystem, men även vilken form av motstånd och organisering som är möjlig för exempelvis säsongsanställda kvinnor. I presentationen ställer jag frågor kring hur maktrelationer kopplade till genus, klass och rasifiering samverkar med en ökande andel otrygga arbeten (precarious work) och hur det påverkar engagemang och motstånd. 5

6 Anna-Klara Lindeborg, Uppsala universitet The situated researcher Carrying out ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Laos between 2008 and 2012 for my PhD thesis, my relation and position towards the people I have met and talked to and what I represent has affected these people, fieldwork, myself and my research. In this context, postcolonial perspectives from the very beginning of my fieldwork have been apparent, especially in the relationship between me, my interpreters and the respondents in the village. These kinds of relations were, however, integrated with sex, body, age and particular situations. As a female Western researcher, still quite uncommon in this context, I felt I was caught in between categories. It is not only one s place of origin that matters in this context, but one s material body and its social constructions in terms of age and ethnicity. This can be illustrated by a situation where I attained access to a space the local women did not, so in this sense I was treated as a man in a female body. But in another situation I was treated as a typical woman in a woman s body. The awareness of gender relations in fieldwork is something others have discussed and experienced as well (Silverman 2000), where female researchers sometimes get access to certain fields that males do not. Several families in HatNyao also said they regarded me as their own daughter. Furthermore, I felt that my status ranked higher when I got married before my second round of fieldwork in 2009 and then increased even further when I had a baby son. Nina Gren, Göteborgs universitet Vilda pojkar och pluggande flickor: Genus och engagemang i palestinska skolor Den här presentationen fokuserar på intersektionen mellan engagemang, plats och genus med utgångspunkt i fältmaterial från FN-skolor för palestinska flyktingbarn på Västbanken. I FNskolorna är genus långtifrån en oväsentlig fråga. De är till exempel könssegregerade; både elever och lärare arbetar nästan uteslutande med människor av samma kön. Dessutom har rapporter visat att pojkarnas skolresultat är anmärkningsvärt sämre än flickornas och idag är en klar majoritet av de elever som hoppar av skolan i förtid pojkar. Flickornas engagemang i sin skolgång verkar alltså vara betydligt större än pojkarnas. Detta tycks också vara ett mönster som går igen på många håll i världen, inte minst i Sverige. Även kvinnliga och manliga lärares förhållande till och engagemang i sitt arbete och sina elever skiljer sig delvis åt. I den här presentationen vill jag diskutera hur graden av engagemang i skolan hänger samman med palestinska föreställningar om flickaktigt och pojkaktigt samt kvinnligt och manligt men också med en pågående ekonomisk och politisk kris i det palestinska samhället där framtiden för de flesta tycks oviss. Jag menar att engagemanget i skolan har att göra med engagemang i andra platser som till exempel i hemmet, i sociala nätverk och i politiken. PANEL 1C Problematiska engagemang/autoetnografi som engagemang Ordförande: Loretto Linusson, Karin S. Lindelöf and Ulrika Persson Fischier, Uppsala universitet Anders Gustavsson, Oslo universitet Hur forskaren påverkar forskningsprocessen I mitt inlägg vill jag visa på hur den personliga bakgrunden spelar in vid ämnesval, både vad man väljer att studera och vad man medvetet väljer bort. Jag valde länge bort att undersöka jordbruk 6

7 som kulturform. Bakgrunden till mitt negativa val var att jag hade traumatiska upplevelser med mig från min uppväxt på ett lantbruk. Först långt senare i den akademiska karriären valde jag att skriva en bok som utkom 2009 med temat Bondeliv på 1800-talet. Då kunde jag dra nytta av mina tidigare praktiska erfarenheter av ett ålderdomligt jordbruk både mentalt och rent fysiskt. Något annat som forskare kan välja bort är det som upplevs bekant inom den kultur som man kommer ifrån utan att det har med något traumatiskt att göra. I stället lockar det obekanta som forskaren kommit i kontakt med. Jag har studerat folkrörelser som jag inte hade någon erfarenhet av från min uppväxt. Detta gällde både frikyrkorörelser och nykterhetsrörelser. Nykterhetsmänniskorna var lika obekanta för mig från början som frikyrkomänniskorna. detsamma gällde sommargästerna som väckte min nyfikenhet. Jag vill även problematisera forskarens kön med tanke på att jag utfört kvinnohistoriska studier och mött motstånd i vissa akademiska kretsar. Att forskaren inte bara samlar in material och registrerar vid fältarbeten har jag reflekterat över i mina undersökningar om döden. Hur skall man uppträda när man talar med sörjande människor? Vilka etiska hänsyn är nödvändiga att ta? Hur skall man klara av att visa empati och engagera sig i andras traumatiska upplevelser? Ett annat problem gällande forskarrollen är hur forskaren skall förhålla sig vid studier av kulturmöten präglade av konflikter. Forskaren står inte bara som en passiv och neutral åskådare utan blir lätt berörd och engagerad. Kan och skall man visa detta? Hur skall detta kunna kombineras med en vetenskaplig undersökning av kulturmötesprocesser där olika intressenter skall studeras på så lika villkor som möjligt? I detta sammanhang kan frågan om aktionsforskning aktualiseras. Loretto Linusson, Uppsala universitet There is an 'I' in 'objective': Auto-ethnography as a subaltern voice My personal connection to my field of research and topic of study has since the very beginning had the characteristics of the proverbial elephant in the room: I am a child of Chilean political refugees studying children of political refugees. I had to make the choice of whether to make the elephant an obstacle to my scientifically obliged objectivity or use it as part of my method and as a rich source material. My research project involves dealing with legitimacy of narratives within the discourse of Chilean post-dictatorship, in which the children of the political exiles remain silenced and shut off from the general narratives of oppression during the Pinochet regime of I see parallels between the lack of channels to speak about their experiences as children of exiles and the silent voices of the subaltern that are implied in Gayatri Spivak's rhetorical question: Can the subaltern speak? In my presentation I will discuss the possibilities of autoethnography as a method to voice subalterns and how it can challenge Eurocentric claims of objectivity within Western scientism. Samantha Hyler, Lunds universitet Planning integration: Social sustainability, multiculturalism, and autoethnography In a public lecture held in December 2012 at the University of Copenhagen, Thomas Hylland Eriksen offered the phrase zombie concepts, to refer to concepts that have become empty of meaning by overuse or multiple definitions, yet continue to live on, like popular notions of zombies as animate beings despite their loss of a soul or life-force. Included in his list of zombie concepts were: identity, integration, boundary, multiculturalism, exclusion, and change. Sustainability, I believe, also belongs on the list of zombie concepts, and in particular, social sustainability. In city planning, social sustainability has a particular contrived meaning that 7

8 more often refer to particular classes of homogenized housing and retail-focused spaces rather than to community sustainability. From an ethnographic perspective, there is a disconnection between everyday life in multicultural cities and social sustainability as conceived in city planning projects. Planned space in cities may differ greatly from how it is used, and by whom, and its intended use by planners. Urban design and policy making maintains a top-down perspective on planning, and citizen participation remains limited. How are multicultural communities factored into socially sustainable planning? As a migrant to Sweden herself, the author intends to explore the use of autoethnography as a method (combined with other ethnographic fieldwork) for engaging with the zombie concepts of integration and social sustainability. This paper aims to explore multicultural communities in Helsingborg, Sweden, by investigating a specific community network funded by the city that aims to facilitate integration of new Swedes. Heidi Moksnes, Uppsala universitet Taking a stance: For whom? For many years, I have worked in Chiapas, Mexico the place for the indigenous Zapatista uprising that ignited broad indigenous and general leftist hopes for change towards a socially just society. Many scholarly texts about Chiapas and Maya peasant communities after the uprising have been highly politicized, the region sometimes becoming the projection screen for various political visions, making it difficult to distinguish the agenda of the author from that of the people described. However, I found it important, as a temporarily visiting foreigner, not to engage in political activity or influence people to make choices for which I would not have to bear any real consequences. Furthermore, there are various political positions among Mayas, and far from all find the open oppositional stance of the Zapatistas a wise or desirable choice, and I found it central professionally as well as ethically to try understand these, bracketing my own opinions and preconceptions. This implied that Mestizo friends in town commonly regarded me as a wish-washy and meek person. From old habits, I have regarded myself as a politically engaged anthropologist. But is a true anthropological position that of staying out of any clear-cut political position? And then what? Jan-Åke Alvarsson, Uppsala universitet Emic, Bias and Preconception: To Study One s Own Culture An anthropologist studying an exotic culture faces a set of difficult challenges: a new language, new thought patterns and the like. She or he struggles with misunderstandings, the bothersome role of always being an outsider, with shifting modes and challenging new perspectives. The person studying his or her own culture has quite a different set of challenges and needs another type of approach. This presentation discusses how to transfer emic knowledge into something that is possible to use in one s research; how to uncover and present one s own bias; how to integrate one s memory in the investigative process and discusses the use of preconception. The case study is the author s own fieldwork among the Pentecostals of his childhood, in the light of experiences gained from his first fieldwork among Amerindians in the Gran Chaco. The main objective is to examine the role of the researcher in the investigative process in a more general way, discussing the stages in which the research situation is influenced by personal choice, local scholarly traditions, gender bias, or just the present debate. 8

9 PANEL 2A Ethnography in the 21 st century: Personal security, uncertainty and conflict in research, part 2 Chairs: Steve Sampson, Anna Hedlund and Anna Berglund, Lund University Aje Carlbom, Malmö University A friend of Islam? I have conducted various types of empirical studies among Muslim activists in the city of Malmö since the 1990 s and through the years several political and scientific questions have become topical. In the presentation I will talk about how I as a researcher am used as a political instrument in the politics of Islam in Malmö. In contemporary bureaucratization of ethical codes for research the assumption is that the researcher is in possession of all power and therefore knowledge about the Other needs to be regulated. In the talk I will problematize this idea by showing that informants, in my case Muslim activists, are in a position of political influence visà-vis the researcher and through this has a leverage over production of empirical knowledge and, as an extension of this, may infringe career possibilities. Generally, the relationship between the ethnographer and informant is organized by a tacit contract where I as an ethnographer have signed up to be a friend of Islam in order to get access of informants. Susanna Persson, Lund University Being the bad guy: Another perspective on anthropology and the military Wake up early, do my morning arrangements, put on the uniform, gather my gear and weapons, walk over to the defack. Eat breakfast, make some sandwiches and fill up the thermos. Walk over to the office, double check and make the final arrangement with the gear, put on the body armor, mag to the AK 5 check, mag to the side arm check, hand grenades check, intercom check. The last words before the door closes, be safe and håll i hatten. Then out to the sand box During the last years there has been an ongoing debate about anthropology and the military within the discipline. To be an anthropologist and work within the military is probably perceived by many in the discipline as something more or less unethical. Based on my own experience a will with this paper problematize and bring forward a discussion about fieldwork, ethics and the mindset when working in a military context. Victor O. Okorie, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Living by torture: An ethnography of violent labor in postcolonial Nigeria Many discourses of conflicts in postcolonial Africa are couched in terms of identity and ethnicity as well as in rhetoric of birth and belonging. Although highly important for understanding cases of genocide and violent identity politics, these narratives ignore the nexus between war and work. Based on my ethnographic and archival research on the working conditions and the lived experiences of young ex-militias employed in quasi-legal torture centers in the Niger Delta, I argue that violence has become highly fluid and fungible while identity is comfortably contradictory, especially in the context of West African post-fordist regime characterized by outsourcing of violent labor and warring at the speed of light. Also I uncover how the Nigerian government reproduces citizens whose work is to wage war and structures social context in which war is work; and thereby fulfills its roles of securing conditions for the valorization of capital and reproduction of labor-power in post-fordist economy. In this way, I demonstrate 9

10 how labor of war and production of violence have become a globally interconnected phenomenon as well as an ethical dilemma for frontline ethnographers in the twentieth first century. Keywords: Violence, labor, ethnography, torture, and post-fordism Tova Höjdestrand, Lund University Komprometterande samarbete eller stängda dörrar? Några reflektioner över ett fält där man stämplas som spion. Jag forskar nu på ultranationalistiska, värdekonservativa gräsrotsorganisationer i Ryssland som slåss för familjevärderingar. Detta innebär motstånd mot dels nationell policy baserad på FN:s konvention om barns rättigheter, dels homosexualitet. Båda företeelserna ses som strategier från en västerländskt baserad världskonspiration att eliminera den traditionella ryska familjen och, därmed, även Ryssland som nation. Därför möts jag själv av stor misstänksamhet av gruppernas gatekeepers. Man har klargjort för mig att för att få tillgång till deras organisationer, så måste jag också tydligt positionera mig på deras sida genom att ställa min akademiska cred till förfogande, exempelvis genom att förse dem med västerländsk forskning som backar upp deras idéer om sakernas (och sexualitetens) tillstånd. Eftersom jag varken kan eller vill detta, så blir detta metodmässigt en inte särskilt antropologisk studie, men deras förfrågan väcker en rad frågor om akademisk integritet och forskarens roll i fältet. PANEL 2B Ethics and the environment: Anthropological perspectives Chairs: Gudrun Dahl and Mark Graham, Stockholm University Andrew Mitchell, Stockholm University The 'Scandinavian Wolf As the debate that surrounds the ethics of hunting wolves in Sweden becomes increasingly polemical, questions of how such perceptions are engendered and maintained come to the fore. This paper will consider how biological, environmental and ecological discourses are utilised in order to legitimise perceptions and actions amongst conservationists and hunters. The paper shall also consider how dogs have come to play a crucial role in the wolf hunting controversy, as being one reason the reaction to the presence of wolves in Sweden is both heated and emotional. In some instances hunting dogs have been killed or injured by wolves, ironically, however, according to the traditional definition of the biological species concept, dogs and wolves are essentially the same species as they can interbreed and produce viable offspring. With such thoughts in mind, what is a wolf, and in particular what is the Scandinavian wolf, where do the boundaries between wolves and dogs lie, and how are they constructed and maintained? Domestication is often cited as the process that separates dogs from wolves, however, what does this phenomenon mean in practice with regard to human-wolf, human-dog and wolf-dog interactions? Susann Ullberg, Stockholm University The moral life of forests in Argentina The role of forests for global environmental concerns makes the study of deforestation relevant. In Argentina deforestation has accelerating recently due to increased soybean and beef 10

11 production. The Province of San Luis in the Argentinean hinterland was historically a region of small scale farmers and cattle raisers. Currently, the cattle and agro industry, alongside tourism, are the principal economic activities here. Population growth has put pressure on local resources and changed the social structure. Against this backdrop, conflicts around the use and value of forests have emerged in certain areas. Involved actors (small and large scale farming companies, tourism entrepreneurs, local and provincial governments, and local and national environmental NGOs) position themselves in a field of social tension by justifying their own actions, and judging those of others, largely in moral terms. This research is planned to be carried out as a postdoctoral project and aims at examining how moral reasoning is used in these conflicts. How are the forest and the involved social actors construed as moral objects and subjects respectively? How are global environmental concerns versus national, regional and local interests framed and negotiated between different actors involved in the conflict? Gudrun Dahl, Stockholm University Constraints on collective accountability and moral self-representation This project looks at how moralizing arguments relating to human concerns or to environmental considerations are mobilized in environmental work and debate. Statements of right and wrong are often emotionally loaded by a connection to identity-making. They tell what kind of people we are or want to be seen as. Such issues arise when individuals reflect on themselves but also affect voluntary organizations seeking members or funds, companies seeking permits to carry out operations or branding themselves and authorities seeking political legitimacy. This paper is an attempt to delineate a framework for understanding moral debates relating to the environment from the point of view on the constraints that act upon different types of organizations in presenting themselves as morally engaged vis-à-vis the environment and/or socially conscious. Christer Norström, Stockholm University Brokers in the international aid industry: The blending of values in negotiations between non-governmental organizations This paper will discuss the blending of values in negotiations between NGOs and the importance of environmental identity construction for involved key actors and the outcome of environmental projects. This presentation is part of a wider project with the title The right to have a vision: Globalization and political space among small farmers in south India, based on fieldwork During the last ten years Swedish NGOs have supported watershed management projects among farmers through local NGOs in dry-land areas in Tamil Nadu. The cooperation is based on a general idea of aid through the exchange of, on the one hand, resources basically in the form of economic funds and knowledge from the donor country and, on the other hand, the beneficiaries fulfilling a role for accomplishing Swedish international aid policy. However, through an anthropological perspective, looking into the everyday negotiations, this paper suggests that less obvious values become important part of the outcome of these projects. I will discuss the importance of identity construction, trust and friendship between key actors (brokers) within the involved NGOs. 11

12 Örjan Bartholdson, Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences The making of a climate crisis: NGOs and media s moral framing of notions of climate change The climate crisis has emerged at the intersection of global and local ecosystems, politics, cultures, ethics and technologies. It is often perceived by the population at large via the framing by journalists and NGOs, operating within local political, economic, cultural and ethical contexts. This paper focuses on which types of stories and narratives that are constructed out of the sources of NGO-reports and science research, and which form of moral that permeates the narratives. Furthermore, the project aims at scrutinizing the interactions between NGOs and media, i.e. how NGOs work to attract media s attention for their reports on aspects of climate change, and how media draw on NGOs for their creation of specific narratives of climate change. The study comprises two distinct but related cases studies, one located in Sweden and one in Brazil, focused on a selected number of the largest newspapers and environmental NGOs in the respective countries. PANEL 2C Indigenous Futures: Anthropology and indigenous people present and future, part 1 Chairs: Kaj Århem and Ingrid Slotte, University of Gothenburg Anders Burman, Lund University Indigeneities of the Past, the Present, and the Future in the Bolivian Andes In this paper I explore the ever-shifting semantics and semiotics of the concept indígena (indigenous) in the Bolivian Andes. The paper puts an ethnographic focus on the changing discourse of the indigenous Andean organization CONAMAQ and its ambiguous relation with the government of president Evo Morales. It identifies a recent conflict in the Bolivian lowlands between indigenous organizations and the Bolivian state as a decisive moment when two divergent projects of indigeneity erupted in the Bolivian Andes: one governmentalized project and one counter-project. The conflict raises a number of questions and suggests that indigeneity is not a fixed thing with a definite meaning, but a floating signifier charged with different meanings by different actors in changing contexts of territorial and political struggles. Indisputably, the language of political protest has been indigenized in Bolivia during the last few decades. However, in this paper I argue that not only the language of political protest has been indigenized, but also the language of geo-political government, and even the language of political reaction. In the sense that indigeneity has surfaced as a core element and a fundamental but contested point of reference in national political debate, just about all political language has been indigenized. Dan Rosengren, University of Gothenburg Matsigenka modernity and projects for the future In common with many indigenous peoples the overwhelming majority of Matsigenka people live today what they themselves would describe as a modern life. Even though this life style shares some traits with life in the urban centres of the region that to local people represent the essence of modernity, Matsigenka modernity has a distinct flavour. Following Marshall Sahlins, Matsigenka modernity might be described as an expression of indigenous modernity, at least 12

13 in the sense that it is a life influenced by extensive contacts with modern society and its representatives and, consequently, it is regarded as different from both pre- and early contact society. In order not to end up in the ahistoricism that commonly is implicated in the modern / traditional distinction we need to explore the significance that indigenous peoples give to the concept of modernity. Thus, in this paper I examine Matsigenka people s notions of modernity and social change in relation to local conceptions of development. Karsten Paerregaard, University of Gothenburg Bare Rocks and Fallen Angels: Global Warming, Local Counterpoints and Anthropocenetic Dilemmas in the Peruvian Andes One of the many dimensions of globalization is climate change that in recent years has caused much concern in the developed world. The aim of this paper is to explore how people living on the margins of the developing world conceive climate change. Drawing on ethnographic field data from the 1980s and today it examines ritual practices and the religious belief of a rural community in the Peruvian Andes before and after the villagers became familiar with the global discourse on climate change. The paper argues that this discourse articulates an anthropocene world-view and presents an image of the world as divided into one global and many locals. By contrast Andean people traditionally conceive the world through a universal/particular paradigm that pictures humans as one among many beings co-inhabiting the environment. However, the paper also suggests that rising temperatures and water scarcity in the Andes have caused a shift in the world-view of Andean people who now view the relation between nature and humans through a universal/local paradigm. It concludes that this paradigm offers a new perspective on climate change in Peru that is being used by environmental movements to practice so-called cosmopolitics. Maria Gonzalez, University of Gothenburg IF THE PLANTS ARE NO LONGER THERE: Knowledge and learning among the Indigenous Shipibo-Konibo of the Peruvian Amazonia Plants are central in the acquisition of personal qualities, knowledge and skills among the Shipibo-Konibo in the Peruvian Amazonia. The juices of plants are drunk, poured into eyes and massaged onto bodies to make persons dream, learn and live in specific and desirable ways. Plants teach people how to be successful in all sorts of activities, from fishing and painting, to finding lovers and having good relations with authorities. Each plant is associated with a specific kind of knowledge or situation and, as might be imagined, the number of plants that are used is large. This paper explores the Shipibo-Konibo practice of learning from plants and the worry often expressed by members of this community of loosing the base of their lifestyle if the plants that they were able to learn from are no longer there. Many important plants are said to have disappeared already and with them knowledge that the Shipibo-Konibo so highly value and depend upon. Keywords: plants, knowledge, dreaming, indigenous, Shipibo-Konibo, Amazonia, Peru. 13

14 Nicholas Waller, University of Gothenburg Adopting the past, adapting the future: Crow idealism and the narration of a fortunate people Plenty Coups, last traditional war chief of the Crows had said about his people s life on the reservation, After this nothing happens. His people were left in waiting for the good life to return. There is no denying the significant change in lifestyle and livelihood for all Native Americans once the reservation era was in place. The tribes were heaved into a system of poverty and assimilation that has left its mark on Native American communities still today. Yet even in this period of despair, Plenty Coups gathered strength through his vision of the future, his knowledge of survival for his people was guided by the blessings of a spirit being that once visited him. His strategy was to learn how to think like the whites in order to challenge them. Today, Crow Indians interpret themselves as at the point of turning away from poverty through recent settlements regarding disputes of land ownership and water rights. With those issues nearly resolved, it has paved the way for Crows to broker their own deals in the coal mining industry. These major developments are reflected upon to fit the narratives provided by leaders and heroes of the past that are essential in guiding a Crow way of life and living on their own terms. This paper discusses the ways in which Crows attempt to shape their futures through lessons of the past found in the visions of the old generations, and how the idea of the past guides the present tribal leadership and its choices for the future. PANEL 2D Masters of Engagement, part 1 Chair: Eren Zink, Uppsala University Obaidur Rehman, Uppsala University Practicing Islamic Ritual of Salat in Secular context The basic premise of this paper is the reinvention of the role ascribed to Islamic ritual of Salat in the secular context. The paper will explore the experiences of young Muslims; participation in Islamic ritual of Salat and religious pedagogical activities to learn Islamic ritual in the mosque of Uppsala. The involvement of young Muslims is obvious both in performing religious rituals collectively (congregational prayer) and attending different religious learning pedagogical activities to learn these rituals correctly. These activities include gathering in groups for the sake of learning religious knowledge and to cultivate virtues and habits required to practice Islamic principle in everyday living. Ritual of Salat is used by young Muslims living in Uppsala, as a mean to develop a sense of self consciousness to deal with their mundane activities. The relationship among ritual and mundane activities are examined with the help of ethnographic case study in Uppsala Mosque Aïdas Sanogo, Uppsala University Urban planning and populations moves: behind the scenes. Study case of 1 st September 2009 flood s management in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso The majority of studies carried out on displacements all over the world have proved that despite the range of reasons for displacements, the movement of population can be attributed to common features. In most cases, displacements are characterized as being unprepared, under- 14

15 financed and they occur without policy standards. Both host populations and displaced people s livelihoods are more likely to become impoverished rather than safeguarded. The relocation case of flood victims in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2009, is no exception to the rule. Three years after being relocated in a non flood zone in the outskirts of Ouagadougou, displaced populations struggle to make a decent living and nearly half of them returned to their former informal settlements in flood risky zones in town, in spite of State s ban. The paper addressed here demonstrates, through several life stories, how the relocation process has been a headlong rush for communal authorities, an attempt to solve the thorny issue of informal settlement that Ouagadougou has been facing for a couple of decades now. Arlena Liggins, Uppsala University 'The doubled burden: Diabetes Mellitus in Uganda': Realities and challenges among Ugandan diabetic patients Diabetes is regarded as one of the most challenging health problems in the 21st century (Sicree/Shaw/Zimmet 2010: 1). It is estimated that 346 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes, more than ten times as many than in 1997 [World Health Organization (WHO) 2011]. There is evidence that the numbers will grow further in the next centuries and is epidemic in many developing and newly industrialized nations. The paper seeks to present the major findings of a fieldwork conducted between September and December 2012 in Uganda examining the perceptions and the knowledge of diabetes among diabetes patients in four district hospitals. Hereby I will refer to diabetes as part of the so-called double burden Uganda is facing, however questioning the status of diabetes as a 'new' disease. By giving a picture of the circumstances evolving around the treatment of diabetes (e.g. shortage of pharmaceuticals, access to health care etc.), I want to give an impression, which challenges diabetic patients in Uganda face daily especially in remote areas and which strategies they have developed to cope with the chronic disease. Recommendations of further research opportunities/questions in the field of diabetes in Uganda shall conclude my paper. Ismael Ibrahim Omer, Uppsala University Breaking the Ritual: Field Identity and the Rites of Passage in Ethnographic Research Fieldwork is one of the highlights of being an anthropologist. Many anthropological scholars stress upon the importance of fieldwork as an initiation rite for young student in coming of age into the discipline (Van Gennep 1960; Johnson 1984; Berger 1993; Robben and Sluka 2007). As Freilich (1970:16) and Tedlock (1991:70) respectively write fieldwork proclaims manhood and generates a major transformation: [where] a student of culture becomes an anthropologist, it is a necessary initiation a puberty rite, ritual ordeal, or rite de passage. Van Gennep (1960:28) states four unchanging patterns and sequences in which a stranger must go through in order to get access to a host society. The sequence involves stopping, waiting, a transition period and finally incorporation. Drawing upon my own two ethnographic research experiences, while studying identity transformation among illegal migrants in the small town of Isbergues and the port city of Calais France, I will discuss the impact of color, gender, nationality and religion of the anthropologist, on the liminal experience of ethnographic research. 15

16 Jessica Kleveland, Stockholm University Religion som något annat : Om religion och sekularism i den svenska skolans undervisning. Den svenska skolans läroplan slår fast att undervisningen i skolan ska vara icke-konfessionell. Samtidigt står det att skolans arbete med att gestalta och förmedla grundläggande värden ska ske i överrensstämmelse med den etik som förvaltats av kristen tradition och västerländsk humanism (lpo2011:7). Vad som syns här är en motsättning mellan det sekulära (här i betydelsen det icke-religiösa) och det religiösa (framförallt kristna). Med detta som utgångspunkt diskuterar jag hur lärare och elever talar om religion och tro - hur religion kommer till uttryck samt vilken förståelse av religion som överhuvudtaget blir möjlig. Min diskussion förs utifrån två centrala teman: separation och reduktion. Etnografiska exempel från mitt fältarbete i en grundskola visar hur religion i skolan ständigt behandlas som något annat genom att separeras från andra kategorier så som kultur och tradition. Religion reduceras också genom att emotionella och fenomenologiska aspekter får stå tillbaka till förmån för det rationella. I klassrummet framträder religion därmed som något privat som går att bortse ifrån och som inte bör spela någon roll i skolan. Genom min diskussion vill jag väcka djupare frågor kring hur religion får och kan ta plats inom ramarna för en sekulär diskurs. PANEL 3A Anthropologies of the contemporary Chair: Sverker Finnström, Uppsala University Alexandra Kent, University of Gothenburg The Hybrid Khmer Rouge Tribunal and Social Justice in Cambodia A hybrid tribunal was inaugurated in Phnom Penh in 2006 to try those most responsible for the mass crimes perpetrated in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period However, since its very inception, it has been marred by antagonism between the international and national sides, reports of corruption and political interference, threats of bankruptcy and the impending risk that the remaining suspects will die of old age before the trials have been completed. Most Cambodians are deeply distrusting of their domestic legal system and although the hybrid court may deliver some valuable outcomes, it may also ultimately reaffirm popular perceptions of the court as a forum in which the strongman always wins. Many Cambodians continue to articulate yearnings for a just society in terms of Buddhist world order rather than in terms of the Rule of Law and it is upon Buddhism that hopes of moral accountability are frequently still pinned. Given that the Buddhist clergy was given no role in the establishment or procedures of the tribunal, this article considers what its legacy may be in terms of the kind of justice that many Cambodians today continue to hope for. Anna Laine, Dalarna University Ethnic Identity and the Art Market: An Example from the Tamil Diaspora This paper will demonstrate how a Tamil artist based in London explores issues of identity and belonging through his art practice, and how the local art scene responds to his works. Born in Britain, the artist has developed from a rejection of his Sri Lankan background and its negative attitude towards full time art practice to a close investigation of how his family history forms a continuation in his present life. He plays with the notions of nostalgia and a glorious past that 16

17 informs neoclassical Tamil aesthetics (Bate 2009) in combination with constructions of diasporic existence and painful experiences of loss. The resulting images embody creativity as well as destruction. The art works are formed in relation to the British art market, where certain gallerists argue for the full inclusion of artists with other ethnic belonging, but at the same time require visual references to that belonging in order to display any of the artists works. The paper will discuss how artists try to navigate in this ambiguous terrain. Åsa Bartholdson, Dalarna University Programming emotion: The conceptualization of anger in programs for social and emotional training in Swedish preschools and schools. This paper deals with the conceptualization of anger in manual based programs for social and emotional training used in preschools and schools in Sweden. The implementation of these programs is generally prescribed in some Swedish municipalities, and in others they are used on initiative of school principals or devoted teachers. There are some varieties in which and how many emotions to work with, but the programs take special interest in what is labeled strong emotions, and in particular problems concerning expressions of anger and ways of managing this emotion. The paper is based on material from participant observation in a preschool group (children 3-5 year olds) and a preschool class (children 6 year olds) within the Swedish educational system and on analysis of the text manuals of programs used in these settings. Björn Schwartz, Lund University The expressway to enlightenment: VIP Religion This paper will explore how an upwardly mobile social group in the media field in Beijing utilizes religion in its attempt to naturalize its newly acquired social superiority, or VIP status. It will link the group s religious efforts to its distinction work (Bourdieu, 1979) in the VIP sections of high end nightclubs, and in settings where service interactions allow group members to receive status affirmation in status rituals. The paper will show how becoming religious should be seen as a reaction to what anthropologist Amy Hanser has termed The emerging structure of entitlement (Hanser 2008), and it will discuss how positioning within this emergent hierarchy is carried out through the enactment of personal qualities believed to be contained in superior selves in Chinese cosmology, which is based on a narrative of morality, control, affluence and selflessness. In reverse, the paper will show how these enactments of social superiority construct the givers of deference as valueless or cheap. The paper is based on fieldwork conducted in a group which consists of young successful people connected to the private media field in Beijing, who have recently started worshipping a Tibetan Llama of the Vajrajana, or esoteric Buddhists school. Jan Ovesen, Ing-Britt Trankell, Uppsala University Engaging with Micro-Credit in Cambodia The idea that micro-loans to poor people are an efficient instrument for poverty reduction has gained wide acceptance among the general public; and it is, unsurprisingly, promoted by microfinance institutions (MFIs), in Cambodia as elsewhere. In the absence of concrete empirical evidence, however, the idea remains a postulate. Resulting from our engagement, through anthropological fieldwork, with a Cambodian MFI, we suggest that the counterfactual insistence 17

18 on micro-credit as an instrument of poverty reduction stems not (only) from an effort to whitewash MFI profitable practice, but (also) from a relative ignorance on the part of MFIs of the social and economic living conditions of the borrowers and prospective borrowers in the Cambodian countryside. In the paper we give some ethnographic background from the borrowers perspective. We accounted for our ethnographic findings in a dialogue with the MFI management, thereby influencing their lending policy. We also demonstrate that, contrary to the received opinion, the availability of micro-credit has by no means made private lenders redundant, but that in practical terms MFIs and private lenders engage in a symbiotic relationship vis-à-vis the borrowers. A general conclusion is that the poorer you are, in terms of economic and social capital, the larger the cost of loans and the less you are able to borrow. PANEL 3B Lisen Dellenborg, Göteborgs universitet Margaret Lepp, Göteborgs universitet Carola Skott, Göteborgs universitet Kristina Nässén, Högskolan i Borås Workshop om etnografiskt drama Etnografiskt drama har utvecklats i en aktionsforskningsstudie som bedrivs tillsammans med personal på en vårdavdelning vid ett sjukhus i Västsverige. Metoden är en förening av etnografi och dramapedagogik, vilka båda berör mänskliga situationer med utgångspunkt i deltagarnas levda erfarenhet. Vi använder oss av forumspel, en pedagogisk form av rollspel som syftar till att utveckla alternativa sätt att hantera konflikter och dilemman, i kombination med ett dramapedagogiskt och etnografiskt förhållningssätt för att både handleda vårdpersonal och utforska en vårdmiljö. Forskargruppen består av tre antropologer och en dramapedagog. Workshopen syftar till att presentera metoden etnografiskt drama. Under forskargruppens ledning erbjuds konferensdeltagare att delta i och pröva forumspel för att belysa och diskutera olika erfarenheter från etnografiska fältarbeten. PANEL 3C Indigenous Futures: Anthropology and indigenous people - present and future, part 2 Chairs: Kaj Århem and Ingrid Slotte, University of Gothenburg Bengt G. Karlsson, Stockholm University Recognition and Rights: Taking Stock of Contemporary Transnational Indigenous Activism The main question dealt with in this paper is what thirty years of indigenous activism has achieved. Indigenous peoples have a strong global presence today. They have gained recognition as right bearing subjects under international law. Still, in many parts of the world, indigenous peoples remains the poorest, most vulnerable and marginalized sections of the population. How are we to make sense of this? Should we claim the transnational indigenous movement a success story or are we up against a rather lame paper tiger? 18

19 Kaj Århem, University of Gothenburg The great transformation: Post-war development and the impact of forest policies on indigenous communities in the uplands of Central Vietnam Market-oriented economic development and forest conservation are both corner-stones of Vietnam s post-war state policies towards its indigenous upland peoples who tend to live in the country s remaining rich forest areas. Current forest policies, classifying all forest land into production forest aimed at industrial forest production and various types of protected forests excluding human forest use, increasingly enclose the indigenous upland population and dramatically reduce their access to traditionally used forest land. At the same time, statedevelopment policies push for an all-out transformation of the local sufficiency-oriented economies towards market-oriented cash-crop production and small-scale agro-forestry. An important step in this direction is the devolution of forest land to households and the conversion of swidden land into heavily subsidized small-scale rubber-plantations and other forms of industrial tree plantations. The paper examines the social and environmental consequences of these twin processes, seemingly opposed but unfolding side by side as parts of a single sustainable-development package, on a particular indigenous society in the uplands of central Vietnam. It argues that the state policies engender growing inequalities and the progressive erosion of local communities as well as, seemingly paradoxically, accelerating environmental destruction and deepening poverty. Nikolas Århem, Uppsala University The Lost Landscape: Hydroelectric development and landscape spirits in Maccoih Municipality (Vietnam) The hydro-power project in Maccoih municipality was initially hailed in Vietnamese media as a flagship of Vietnamese development interventions. With input and financial support from foreign donors, the dam was constructed in 2008 and all the municipality s villages were resettled. This paper, based on conversations with local people about the effects of the project, not only reveals that the locals suffered a great deal from the project (a fact that went largely unnoticed by the involved international development actors) but also interesting facts about the cultural landscape that was lost in the process. In particular, the paper explores the interplay between the local landscape spirits particularly two spirit hills and the dam project. The two hills were surrounded by important environmental taboos which contributed to maintain the biologically rich forests in the municipality. The effects of the dam, however, brought the protective landscape spirits to their knees, thus leaving the forest and its resources open to increasing commercial exploitation. The paper provides a poignant example of the subtle interconnection between cultural traditions and environmental conservation and its rapid erosion as a result of developmentalist intervention with grave consequences for the local indigenous population. Ingrid Slotte, University of Gothenburg Closing the Gap or Closing the Trap? Indigenous Perspectives on Government Intervention and Development in northern Australia This paper examines a government Intervention and development program among the Yolngu people of northern Australia, its consequences for the local population and the basis for indigenous opposition. This is a case where Government development goals stand in contrast with indigenous aspirations. What will the future hold for the Yolngu? Can they be successful in their struggle for self-determination? Ronald Niezen, in his book The Rediscovered Self, 19

20 Indigenous Identity and Cultural Justice (2009), suggests that the future of indigenous peoples depend on their ability to make use of international declarations to claim their rights and gain sympathy and support on a transnational level for their causes. This paper argues that indigenous protest against government Intervention in Australia is developing according to the pattern perceived by Niezen where on the one hand transnational activism becomes more important, and, on the other hand there is an increasing ethnic formalism. Yolngu leaders now lean on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and turn to the United Nations for support. At a local level, Yolngu have established a Yolngu Nations Assembly to represent the Yolngu Nation and Yolngu law has been formally written down and published over the internet. PANEL 3D Masters of Engagement, part 2 Chair: Eren Zink, Uppsala University Ann-Marie Karcsics, Uppsala University Knowing that somebody is there for you : Exploring different forms of friendship among young adults in Sarajevo Several recent studies on former Yugoslavian countries indicate that young people confronted by challenges of risk and uncertainty in the current post-war and post-socialist arena are turning away from the national and political sphere. Rather, they often seek trust and opportunities from their networks and relationships at a personal level (Bozic, 2007; Perasovic, 2008; Obradovic, 2008). This paper seeks to present findings from my qualitative study conducted in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina during I will open by giving a brief introduction and background of the framework of the observed personal communities in my fieldwork. I will thereafter continue giving personal examples from my interviews of how different forms of friendship are developed, differentiated and instrumentalised as resources in order to get access to benefits and support. Finally, by drawing upon previous sections I will conclude my paper with a discussion of what these forms of friendship can tell us about the contemporary Bosnian society in a broader socio-economical perspective. Alexander Salberg, Uppsala University Platos temple as liminal space "But he who, having no touch of the Muses' madness in his soul, comes to the... he, I say, and his poetry are not admitted; the sane man disappears and is nowhere when he enters into rivalry with the madman. -Socrates I am interested in discussing the space which south-chinese modern artists from the city of Kunming create their art in and especially this space seen as Plato s temple, a liminal space. Artists, have a licence to, and, a space from which they break conventions, turn morals and concepts on their heads in order to get their message across. A liminal space entered at will by means of artistic licence but also a space which represents a transition period, a creative process within which change is potential-if not expected. From my fieldwork I find that artists not only have a clear notion of such a sacred space, but that they experience the creative act as a transitional period, during which they are neither here nor there, solely beholden to their art 20