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Papers by victoria bernal

Conclusion. Feminisms and the NGO Form

Cultures of Doing Good: Anthropologists and NGOs

Anthropological field studies of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in their unique cultural an... more Anthropological field studies of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in their unique cultural and political contexts.Cultures of Doing Good: Anthropologists and NGOs serves as a foundational text to advance a growing subfield of social science inquiry: the anthropology of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Thorough introductory chapters provide a short history of NGO anthropology, address how the study of NGOs contributes to anthropology more broadly, and examine ways that anthropological studies of NGOs expand research agendas spawned by other disciplines. In addition, the theoretical concepts and debates that have anchored the analysis of NGOs since they entered scholarly discourse after World War II are explained. The wide-ranging volume is organized into thematic parts: “Changing Landscapes of Power,” “Doing Good Work,” and “Methodological Challenges of NGO Anthropology.” Each part is introduced by an original, reflective essay that contextualizes and links the themes of each chapter to broader bodies of research and to theoretical and methodological debates. A concluding chapter synthesizes how current lines of inquiry consolidate and advance the first generation of anthropological NGO studies, highlighting new and promising directions in this field.In contrast to studies about surveys of NGOs that cover a single issue or region, this book offers a survey of NGO dynamics in varied cultural and political settings. The chapters herein cover NGO life in Tanzania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Peru, the United States, and India. The diverse institutional worlds and networks include feminist activism, international aid donors, USAID democracy experts, Romani housing activism, academic gender studies, volunteer tourism, Jewish philanthropy, Islamic faith-based development, child welfare, women’s legal arbitration, and environmental conservation.The collection explores issues such as normative democratic civic engagement, elitism and professionalization, the governance of feminist advocacy, disciplining religion, the politics of philanthropic neutrality, NGO tourism and consumption, blurred boundaries between anthropologists as researchers and activists, and barriers to producing critical NGO ethnographies

O’Kane, David, and Tricia Redeker Hepner (eds.): Biopolitics, Militarism, and Development. Eritrea in the Twenty-First Century

Anthropos, 2011

Deadly serious: Pandemic humour, media and critical perspectives

Journal of African Media Studies

COVID-19 is the most mediated pandemic in history thus far. COVID-19 humour, much of it circulate... more COVID-19 is the most mediated pandemic in history thus far. COVID-19 humour, much of it circulated online, is a global phenomenon, but it takes different forms in different settings. This Special Issue brings together articles that add to our understanding of how Africans have experienced corona pandemic conditions, as well as contributing to the scholarship on media in African contexts, while focusing on humour. I suggest that we understand humorous responses to the COVID-19 crisis as discourses on contemporary conditions, and a means of highlighting the ongoing crises that precede the pandemic and contribute to the impact of the virus. In that sense, humour can be quite serious.

1. The Aesthetics of Cyber Insecurity: Displaying the Digital in Three American Museum Exhibits

The Aesthetics of Cyber Insecurity

Futureproof, 2020

The Cultural Construction of Cybersecurity: Digital Threats and Dangerous Rhetoric

Anthropological Quarterly, 2021

Introduction: The NGO Form: Feminist Struggles, States, and Neoliberalism

Conclusion: Feminisms and the NGO Form

Diaspora and the Afterlife of Violence: Eritrean National Narratives and What Goes Without Saying

American Anthropologist, 2017

This article explores the legacies of political violence, the workings of state power in mobilizi... more This article explores the legacies of political violence, the workings of state power in mobilizing identities around collective suffering, and the effects of political culture that reside in people even after they have left the time and space of war. I interrogate the silence on Eritrean diaspora websites regarding personal suffering related to the war that produced Eritrea as an independent nation, elevated its current president and ruling party to government leadership, and established the Eritrean diaspora. I argue that national narratives of the Eritrean state that celebrate sacrifice for the nation operate on Eritreans as a secondary form of violence that renders their personal losses unspeakable. Eritrean websites reveal complex communicative terrains where power is constructed and contested in ways that cannot be captured by the opposition between the diaspora and the homeland, between online and offline, or between silence and speech. [political violence, suffering, diaspora, internet, war, Eritrea]

Northeast African Studies, 2001

Any "peace" involves a reworking of power relations, not just between nations or parts of nations... more Any "peace" involves a reworking of power relations, not just between nations or parts of nations, but between women and men.

Migration, Modernity and Islam in Rural Sudan

Middle East Report, 1999

Cultural Anthropology, 2004

The May 1998 outbreak of war with Ethiopia over a disputed border generated an immediate outpouri... more The May 1998 outbreak of war with Ethiopia over a disputed border generated an immediate outpouring of nationalist sentiment and money from Eritreans around the globe. In June 1998, for example, Eritreans met in Copenhagen and pledged 1,000perhousehold;inRiyadhtheypledgedonemonth′ssalaryeach;inEdmonton,Canada1,000 per household; in Riyadh they pledged one month's salary each; in Edmonton, Canada 1,000perhousehold;inRiyadhtheypledgedonemonth′ssalaryeach;inEdmonton,Canada26,000 was raised on the spot at a single meeting. Jubilant reports of these and other meetings circulated via the Internet on the U.S.-based Eritrean website, www.dehai.org. A message reporting on a meeting held in St. Louis on June 14 where $55,000 was pledged in two hours stated, "St. Louis resident Eritreans made history and a lesson to share with other brothers and sisters. This is something that all Eritreans need to emulate." The author signed off, saying "Proud to be Eritrean!! !" and "Awet n hizbi Eritrea. Zikri nswat Ahwatnan Ahatnan" (transliterated Tigrinya phrases that translate as "Victory to the Eritrean people" and "Remember our martyred brothers and sisters"). In response to these efforts, the Eritrean government promptly set up a national defense bank account and the donations flowed in. It is worth noting, moreover, that these donations were not earmarked as humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering caused by war but were aimed at bolstering the Eritrean state's capacity to wage war. Tekie Beyene, governor of the Bank of Eritrea, described the contributions from the disaspora as "beyond anybody's imagination" (Voice of America, June 24, 1998). As these activities suggest, nationalism remains a burning passion for Eritreans and one that is not dimmed by their transnational mobility or participation in global circuits. While globalization is thought to render borders meaningless, transnationalism to render nationhood passe, and the Internet to have ushered in a new era of openness and connectivity, the activities of the Eritrean diaspora and the Eritrean state point to the ways that nations not only continue to matter, but how nations can be constructed and strengthened through transnational flows and the technologies of globalization. For Eritreans, nationalism and transnationalism do not oppose each other but intertwine in complex ways in the globalized spaces of diaspora, in cyberspace, and in new definitions of citizenship and state-citizen relations advanced by the Eritrean state.

Comparative Studies in Society and History, 1994

Have women in third-world societies been made second-class citizens by colonialism, incorporation... more Have women in third-world societies been made second-class citizens by colonialism, incorporation into the capitalist world economy, and class formation? Or are women relegated to less prestigious and less economically rewarding roles by patriarchal ideologies and practices the origins of which lie in indigenous cultures? Much of the anthropological scholarship on women can be divided between those who emphasize the relative importance of capitalism (for example, Leacock 1981; Nash and Fernandez-Kelly 1983; Boserup 1970) and those who emphasize culture (for example, Ortner and Whitehead 1981; Schlegel 1990; Rosaldo 1974) as determinants of gender roles and relations.

American Ethnologist, 2013

Parody possesses a kind of power that realist critique sometimes lacks. I explore why humor is so... more Parody possesses a kind of power that realist critique sometimes lacks. I explore why humor is sometimes used as a medium for addressing tragic circumstances and why parody in particular may be especially suited to communicating about dictatorship. The research presented here draws on a long-term project on Eritrean politics and on websites devoted to Eritrean politics created by Eritreans in diaspora. The core of the analysis dissects an online political parody of conditions under the regime of President Isaias Afewerki. So much of what is known and written about Eritrean history and current realities, whether by scholars, journalists, international organizations, or Eritreans online, is earnest, serious, and even heartbreaking. The uses of humor in this context seem to call for an explanation, and the analysis presented here sheds light on the mechanisms through which humor accomplishes important political work and fosters the development of new subjectivities.

American Anthropologist, 1990

African Studies, 2013

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content")... more Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

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Cultural Anthropology, 1997

T]he government . decided to reorganize their lands into a large agricultural project which the g... more T]he government . decided to reorganize their lands into a large agricultural project which the government itself, with all its power and authority would supervise. Suddenly they found their village alive with land surveyors, engineers, and inspectors. -Tayeb Salih, The Wedding ofZein While Evans-Pritchard was conducting his now-famous studies of the Azande and the Nuer in southern Sudan, changes were taking place in the great plains between the two Niles south of Khartoum that would forever alter the course of Sudanese history. In partnership with multinational capital, the British were turning millions of acres inhabited by farmers and pastoralists into a vast irrigation project dedicated to the production of cotton. The Gezira Scheme, which ultimately became the largest centrally-managed irrigation project in the world, started operations in 1925 and continues to operate today under the management of the Sudanese government. Although countless studies have focused on the economic organization and policies of the Gezira Scheme, this article yields a new understanding of the Gezira Scheme, and perhaps of development projects in general, by shifting attention to the symbolic dimensions of such monumental projects. If, following Mitchell (1988), one views the mission of colonialism as that of literally and figuratively creating a world order and ordering the world, the Gezira Scheme is a stunning exemplar. Its miles and miles of irrigation canals and uniform fields stretched out in a huge grid dominate space, its rigid schedules for agricultural operations command time, and above all, its hierarchy of inspectors and bureaucrats supervising, documenting, and disciplining strive to control the people of the Gezira. In Foucault's terms, the Gezira Scheme must be understood as a "disciplinary institution" (1979:139). For this and its implications to become clear, however, requires us to decenter the ostensible economic purpose Cultural Anthropology 12(4):447-479.