Raul Acosta | Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (original) (raw)

Books by Raul Acosta

Urban ethics as research agenda: outlooks and tensions on multidisciplinary debates, 2023

This book provides an outline for a multidisciplinary research agenda into urban ethics and offer... more This book provides an outline for a multidisciplinary research agenda into urban ethics and offers insights into the various ways urban ethics can be configured. It explores practices and discourses through which individuals, collectives and institutions determine which developments and projects may be favourable for dwellers and visitors traversing cities. Urban Ethics as Research Agenda widens the lens to include other actors apart from powerful individuals or institutions, paying special attention to activists or civil society organizations that express concerns about collective life. The chapters provide fresh perspectives addressing the various scales that converge in the urban. The uniqueness of each city is, thus, enriched with global patterns of the urban. Local sociocultural characteristics coexist with global flows of ideas, goods and people. The focus on urban ethics sheds light on emerging spaces of human development and the ways in which ethical narratives are used to mobilize and contest them in terms of the good life. This timely book analyses urban ethical negotiations from social and cultural studies, particularly drawing on anthropology, geography and history. This volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers and practitioners interested in ethics and urban studies. Raúl Acosta is a social anthropologist specialized in urban and environmental governance. He has conducted fieldwork in Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela and Peru. He is the author of Civil Becomings (2020) as well as numerous articles and chapters. He carried out research in Mexico City as part of the Urban Ethics Research Group.

ABSTRACT Includes bibliographical references. Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2003.

NGOgraphies - University of Alabama Press, 2020

Activism and advocacy have drawn academic interest as alternative ways of achieving collective en... more Activism and advocacy have drawn academic interest as alternative ways of achieving collective ends outside established political institutions. However, there has been very little theoretical attention aimed at the interconnections between the two spheres. In Civil Becomings: Performative Politics in the Amazon and the Mediterranean, Raúl Acosta examines the manner in which progressive nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and activists act in a more intermingled and processual way than scholars have previously acknowledged.

Acosta focuses on networks from the vantage point of two NGOs: one in Brazil that concentrated on environmental issues in the Amazon and another in Barcelona called the Mediterranean Social Forum. The focus of this research is not on organizational aspects of collaboration, but rather on the practices and contexts in which such cooperation occurs. Three major aspects of activist and advocacy networks are analyzed: their communicative characters, their collective performances of the political, and the negotiations they engage in between vernacular and cosmopolitan values.

This volume theorizes the cooperative actions of activist and advocacy networks as legitimating processes for the work of participating groups. In doing so, Acosta argues, they address the issues that justify a joint campaign or effort and also crucially underpin each participating collective as a worthy organization of civil society.

"El tema de este libro es oportuno en la época actual. Su pertinencia se explica por una tendenci... more "El tema de este libro es oportuno en la época actual. Su pertinencia se explica por una tendencia predominante en las relaciones sociales en México: la tensión. En este contexto y en los aspectos de la vida cotidiana en general, es relevante el estudio de un proceso comunicacional básico como es el diálogo. Como bien lo apuntan los autores, no toda comunicación es diálogo, aunque cualquier diálogo es comunicación.

En esta obra se plantea que en ámbitos distintos al nuestro, con periodos más prolongados de paz social y estabilidad política, se han desarrollado investigaciones en torno al diálogo como herramienta comunitaria para mejorar las políticas públicas o para mejorar la comprensión y apropiación pública del conocimiento científico.

En ello radica su aportación principal, pues este volumen ofrece al lector una variedad de aproximaciones al diálogo y a su calidad: su significación, su carácter pedagógico, el sentido sobre lo social, la comunicación intercultural e interreligiosa, las mediaciones tecnológicas, la convivencia social y la política. Útil para investigadores, académicos y profesores, así como para quienes integran o analizan asociaciones, organismos públicos autónomos y redes de organizaciones ciudadanas."

Anthropology is more relevant than ever before to making sense of the constant intercultural enco... more Anthropology is more relevant than ever before to making sense of the constant intercultural encounters taking place around the world. Even though the discipline was born out of the need to understand the way humans interact, it had for decades been trapped in a counter-cultural stance that effectively disarmed it of any direct influence on public affairs. Recent global trends, however, have brought this academic discipline to the attention of governments, agencies, and social entrepreneurs, because of its capacity to create bridges of understanding between people of contrasting cultures. This ability is today more necessary than ever before in facing the challenges posed by the shrinking of our world. This volume provides reflections on what anthropological research can offer through its 'thick' analyses. We are convinced that ethnographic research can contribute to a better understanding of social phenomena in our global times.

The World Social Forum has become a space for organized citizens to come together for different p... more The World Social Forum has become a space for organized citizens to come together for different purposes (support, updates, education, coordination, campaigns, etc.). It has also become a sign of a massive aspiration for the global spread of democratic principles. Its intercultural complexities have not deterred participant organizations from experimenting with new forms of participation and action. The way in which populations from distant corners of our planet have engaged in an open dialogue within the WSF calls also for new ways of understanding such political engagements. This work offers an insight through an anthropological perspective, which suggests a way to observe and analyze complex intercultural dialogues on our common future.

Papers by Raul Acosta

Maritime Studies, 2024

Urban life is crisscrossed and affected by events and matter in various scales, of which the micr... more Urban life is crisscrossed and affected by events and matter in various scales, of which the microscopic has been only partly addressed in scholarship and policymaking. In this article, I propose that it is urgent to incorporate new materialist ethics for a better urban governance of technomolecular flows, that is the multiple ways anthropogenically induced microscopic elements are affecting cities. Chemicals, minerals, fungi, viruses, bacteria, and other forms of life and matter affect human and environmental health as well as the shape and materials of the built environment. Coastal cities are particularly prone to such flows of chemical-, mineral-and bio-materials because of their location between sea and land. Existing legal and institutional frameworks tend to lag behind the uses of microscopic elements by industry and urban dwellers. A new materialist ethics would help rethink institutional architectures and responses to existing entanglements and the emerging risks they pose.

Roadsides, 2023

Cities rely on numerous infrastructures to support life: pipes, cables, antennas, roads and other... more Cities rely on numerous infrastructures to support life: pipes, cables, antennas, roads and other technologies facilitate the distribution and use of water, energy, information and people. Current theories of urban flows undergirded by infrastructural systems, however, often focus on the perseverance of human life at the expense of other lifeforms. But does this conceptualization of life limit our understanding of the true liveliness of urban infrastructure? The contributions to this themed collection interrogate urban infrastructure as sociobiological configurations that not only sustain life in the city but in turn are constituted, patterned and modified by it.

Roadsides, 2023

Roadsides collection no. 010 • Urban Bioinfrastructures Urban river restoration has been paraded ... more Roadsides collection no. 010 • Urban Bioinfrastructures Urban river restoration has been paraded in the last few years as a strategy through which cities may gain green credentials alongside benefits like climate change mitigation and public health enhancement, as well as the promotion of tourism and commerce. As cities continue to grow in size and significance-especially in the Global South-green and blue areas, referring to plant and water ecosystems, are increasingly appreciated among city-dwellers and policymakers as nature-based solutions to urbanization problems. One of the key characteristics that is sought in blue and green infrastructures-that is, the uses of other-than-human lifeforms to support human-centred systems-is their capacity to filter out materials, sounds and sun rays. I contend that by enhancing fluvial ecosystems, which are relational life systems, the resulting filtering capacities may go beyond the intended utilitarian purposes and also filter outcome-based planning, thus opening up possibilities for fertile ecological chaos. Top-down urban design often envisions gentrification processes to produce highly desirable urban developments in order to attract affluent individuals and investment. Recent bottom-up initiatives, on the other hand, tend to prioritize ecosystems in order to spur healthier interspecies relations in the pursuit of ecological and social justice.

Ethnologia Fennica, 2023

Cycling in Mexico City is dangerous. But over the last two decades it has become less so. New cyc... more Cycling in Mexico City is dangerous. But over the last two decades it has become less so. New cycleways, a large public bicycle-sharing scheme, various government cycling promotion projects and an abundance of official signalling demanding respect for cyclists have made bicycles visible as worthy vehicles on city streets. For cycloactivists, however, such improvements are not enough. Cyclists are frequently harassed, attacked or run over by motorists. Cycloactivists thus demand more and better cycleways as well as increased measures to address injustices in mobility issues across the city. They do so through protests, information campaigns, public performances and academic debates, and crucially, by cycling through city streets. This means that they use their bodies as symbols, to highlight their vulnerability. Along the way, they often break existing traffic rules to highlight how unfair they are and to draw attention to other demands. I refer to their efforts as experiential cycloactivism, which highlights cyclists making themselves vulnerable as a means of denouncing illegitimate rules and policies that need to be changed. I conclude the analysis by suggesting that their style of rule-breaking is a type of ritual with which they seek to improve the city, not burn it down.

Global Environment

Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces of human achievement. Te... more Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces of human achievement. Technological developments and the constant reorganisation of materials and infrastructures have contributed to a widely shared conception of nature as something outside of urban areas. Our age, framed by the Anthropocene and the sixth wave of extinction, has shattered such vision. Novel reflections across the natural sciences, the arts and the humanities have chosen to focus on relational entanglements instead of separating the city from the environment. In this short collection, we offer a series of reflections about multiple urban natures that often remain unknown or concealed. Each of us does so from a unique disciplinary perspective, ranging from anthropology to history and geography over urban ecology, urban studies and landscape architecture. We hope to point towards a multidisciplinary articulation of urban nature as in itself diverse, complex and de-centred.

Urban Research & Practice, 2020

The constitution of environmental subjects by governments and civil society organizations around ... more The constitution of environmental subjects by governments and civil society organizations around the world has taken place within a framework of neoliberal urbanization. This entails promoting an individual sense of responsibility over urban environments among city dwellers. The approach used is not so much governmentality as environmentality, because of its focus on environmental matters. We claim that the tools used in this process are designed to generate among urban dwellers an imaginary of the cities they inhabit as ecosystems. Using qualitative methods, we examine cases in Auckland and Mexico City regarding water management.

Global Environment, 2023

Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces of human achievement. Te... more Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces
of human achievement. Technological developments and the constant
reorganisation of materials and infrastructures have contributed
to a widely shared conception of nature as something outside of urban
areas. Our age, framed by the Anthropocene and the sixth wave of extinction,
has shattered such vision. Novel reflections across the natural
sciences, the arts and the humanities have chosen to focus on relational
entanglements instead of separating the city from the environment. In
this short collection, we offer a series of reflections about multiple urban
natures that often remain unknown or concealed. Each of us does so
from a unique disciplinary perspective, ranging from anthropology to
history and geography over urban ecology, urban studies and landscape
architecture. We hope to point towards a multidisciplinary articulation
of urban nature as in itself diverse, complex and de-centred.

Urban Research & Practice, 2022

Comunicar ciencia en México: Discursos y espacios sociales (De la Academia al Espacio Público), 2015

En años recientes, miles de iniciativas ciudadanas alrededor del mundo han buscado influir en las... more En años recientes, miles de iniciativas ciudadanas alrededor del mundo han buscado influir en las políticas públicas de sus países con base en una combinación de conocimiento experto y expectativas de la población. Al hacerlo, quienes están a cargo no sólo retan a sus gobiernos a modificar su forma de trabajar, sino que buscan una reapropiación de lo que aquí llamo ‘conocimiento público’. A este proceso le llamo activismo práctico, pues busca la aplicación de saberes hacia un bien común. Temas como la defensa del medio ambiente, de los derechos humanos, de la justicia, o del desarrollo urbano, han pasado a ser arenas de debate público a pesar de los esfuerzos de autoridades gubernamentales por presentar sus propuestas como la última palabra. Este fenómeno se ha consolidado gracias a una convergencia de desarrollo tecnológico (tecnologías de la información y comunicación) y de emprendedurismo político (esfuerzos por participar en decisiones políticas).

International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2021

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to point to the significance of temporally charged imaginari... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to point to the significance of temporally charged imaginaries of neglected places and their residents in the context of slum tourism research. It examines the way in which tour guides draw on specific temporalities to recast the poverty and stigma of the Mexico City barrio of Tepito and thus design narratives to alter long-held imaginaries of this neighbourhood. Design/methodology/approach Two tours are analysed through an anthropological lens using ethnographic methods. Authors took part in the tours, registering the guides’ discourse and interventions, as well as the places and situations observed. The insights of this paper stem from the empirical evidence and reveal how diverse imaginaries are enacted through tour guiding. Findings Without necessarily following a single, coherent narrative, tour guides link different moments in time to simultaneously generate and contest slum tour imaginaries. The guides in this case study not only challenge...

Comunicación y Sociedad, 2015

Este artículo presenta cómo se discutió la posible realización de una obra pública en Guadalajara... more Este artículo presenta cómo se discutió la posible realización de una obra pública en Guadalajara. La obra, que no fue realizada, enfrentó a actores políticos y sociales. La investigación estudió cómo se construyó el diálogo público en cuatro diarios. A través del análisis de contenido de notas y opiniones publicadas y de los argumentos vertidos en ellas, los autores dan cuenta de la baja calidad del diálogo público.

The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 2018

En el otoño de 2013, una red de activistas en Guadalajara, México, montó una exhibición en un mus... more En el otoño de 2013, una red de activistas en Guadalajara, México, montó una exhibición en un museo, realizó intervenciones en las calles de la ciudad, y organizó eventos para persuadir a los habitantes urbanos y a oficiales de gobierno a remediar los problemas de la metrópolis. En su mayoría miembros de la clase media, los activistas usaron el nombre "Toma-la Ciudad" para alentar a la población de la ciudad a involucrarse en esfuerzos de la sociedad civil organizada que tendrían el potencial de remodelar Guadalajara. Con base en trabajo etnográfico entre grupos involucrados, este artículo presenta el concepto "activismo intersubjetivo" y lo utiliza como medio para analizar los usos y las referencias a las experiencias sensoriales de la ciudad. Al estimular respuestas empáticas hacia cómo otros viven la ciudad, los activistas buscaron reducir las desigualdades en México. También parecieron aprender lecciones de activistas que les precedieron, cuyas protestas violentas no alcanzaron las metas deseadas. [ciudad, México, movimientos sociales, ciclismo, movilidad, intersubjetividad, experiencias sensoriales]

International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2021

La participacion civil en forma de redes civicas de apoyo (advocacy networks) trasnacionales ha s... more La participacion civil en forma de redes civicas de apoyo (advocacy networks) trasnacionales ha sido objeto de estudio reciente desde distintas disciplinas. Este texto presenta una reflexion sobre la estructura de red que facilita lograr acuerdos complejos en negociaciones dificiles al interior de la misma. El hecho de que sean de apoyo tambien es clave en sus acciones y relaciones. El enfoque antropologico de la investigacion en que se basa esta reflexion ofrece vinetas etnograficas de dos juegos de este tipo de redes: una dedicada a asuntos ambientales y de desarrollo en la selva amazonica de Brasil; y otra a organizaciones y movimientos sociales varios en el Mediterraneo. Se ofrece una reflexion sobre los usos que distintos tipos de actores pueden hacer de las redes, asi como sobre sus aspectos positivos y negativos.

Urban ethics as research agenda: outlooks and tensions on multidisciplinary debates, 2023

ABSTRACT Includes bibliographical references. Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2003.

NGOgraphies - University of Alabama Press, 2020

Maritime Studies, 2024

Roadsides, 2023

Ethnologia Fennica, 2023

Global Environment

Urban Research & Practice, 2020

Global Environment, 2023

Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces of human achievement. Te... more Since the Enlightenment, cities have been considered as exemplary spaces
of human achievement. Technological developments and the constant
reorganisation of materials and infrastructures have contributed
to a widely shared conception of nature as something outside of urban
areas. Our age, framed by the Anthropocene and the sixth wave of extinction,
has shattered such vision. Novel reflections across the natural
sciences, the arts and the humanities have chosen to focus on relational
entanglements instead of separating the city from the environment. In
this short collection, we offer a series of reflections about multiple urban
natures that often remain unknown or concealed. Each of us does so
from a unique disciplinary perspective, ranging from anthropology to
history and geography over urban ecology, urban studies and landscape
architecture. We hope to point towards a multidisciplinary articulation
of urban nature as in itself diverse, complex and de-centred.

Urban Research & Practice, 2022

Comunicar ciencia en México: Discursos y espacios sociales (De la Academia al Espacio Público), 2015

International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2021

Comunicación y Sociedad, 2015

The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 2018

International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2021

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2014

ABSTRACT New migration flows to Mexico are challenging long-established sociocultural configurati... more ABSTRACT New migration flows to Mexico are challenging long-established sociocultural configurations. So far, most studies on immigrants in Mexico have focused on singular ethno-national groups rather than paying attention to the intermingling of people. This paper presents an examination of diversification processes occurring in Guadalajara, Mexico. We contend that these are particularly strained because of the continuing frictions with which the country has to deal due to its already-existing diversity. The many forms of discrimination and racism that many Mexicans are subjected to by their co-nationals are often extended to new arrivals. The increasing complexity of migrant inflows challenges established forms of prejudice in everyday interactions. We argue in this paper that the use of superdiversity as a lens to study diversification processes allows us to better understand the changing dynamics currently taking place in Mexico.

Revista Electrónica Sinéctica, 2005

Focaal Blog, 2020

After activists have positioned urban mobility in Mexico City’s political arena, some peripheral ... more After activists have positioned urban mobility in Mexico City’s political arena, some peripheral groups have raised concerns about government promises. On the one hand, they point out that most of the new projects and policies benefit well-off areas. On the other, they draw attention to the disjuncture between local authorities’ discourses and the massive investment that is dedicated to infrastructure for automobiles. According to a government survey from 2017, 55 per cent of urban dwellers use public transport on a daily basis, and yet only 6 per cent of the mobility budget is dedicated to it. Three-quarters of such funds are devoted to infrastructure for cars, even though only 16 per cent of the population use a private vehicle as a form of transport. The increasing attention that mobility has garnered is often focused on matters related to environment, health, and congestion. Little attention is paid to its role in perpetuating socioeconomic inequalities. Recent studies show how the poorest urban dwellers spend the highest proportion of their income and the longest times in their daily commute. They also bear the brunt of risks of accidents and insecurity. In this context, some activists working in the peripheries of Mexico City have established coalitions with non-governmental organizations and expert activists, developing a sophisticated form of technomoral discourse. This combines technical knowledge regarding urban design, law, and transport, with a moral compass addressing local injustices and inequalities. With these alliances, peripheral activists navigate policymakers’ promises and stated good intentions with an informed scepticism.

El tema de este libro es oportuno en la época actual. Su pertinencia se explica por una tendencia... more El tema de este libro es oportuno en la época actual. Su pertinencia se explica por una tendencia predominante en las relaciones sociales en México: la tensión. En este contexto y en los aspectos de la vida cotidiana en general, es relevante el estudio de un proceso comunicacional básico como es el diálogo. Como bien lo apuntan los autores, no toda comunicación es diálogo, aunque cualquier diálogo es comunicación. En esta obra se plantea que en ámbitos distintos al nuestro, con periodos más prolongados de paz social y estabilidad política, se han desarrollado investigaciones en torno al diálogo como herramienta comunitaria para mejorar las políticas públicas o para mejorar la comprensión y apropiación pública del conocimiento científico. En ello radica su aportación principal, pues este volumen ofrece al lector una variedad de aproximaciones al diálogo y a su calidad: su significación, su carácter pedagógico, el sentido sobre lo social, la comunicación intercultural e interreligiosa...

Capacity infrastructure in Brazil: Legacies of participation in Christian base communities Raúl A... more Capacity infrastructure in Brazil: Legacies of participation in Christian base communities Raúl Acosta Soon after it was launched within Catholic ranks, as an historic necessity in the light of prevalent inequalities around the world, liberation theology reached faraway corners of the planet in the form of Christian Base Communities (CEBs, after their Portuguese name). These prayer groups were set up in churches to follow guidelines that centred on three basic principles: individual faith, awareness of injustice and oppressive situations, and action to revert such oppression. The discussions that ensued within each of these groups helped thousands of people grow aware of their historical circumstances, and become active agents to change them. In Latin America, however, these groups have not altered a regional configuration that is still one of the most unequal in the world. The CEB development in each nation-state differed due to a variety of reasons, among them the support from bishops and the Catholic hierarchy. Brazil has been recognised as one of the countries where CEBs flourished. It is suggested here that among their legacies in the South American giant, a 'capacity infrastructure' has been of instrumental importance to numerous leaders, who moved on to work in civil society organisations. The implication of this legacy is an enhancement of Brazil's democratisation, through the professionalisation of civil society organisations that has taken place since the 1980s (Smith 1994; Cavendish 1994). The term 'capacity infrastructure' is used here to designate the relational character ('infrastructure') of acquired skills ('capacities'), which makes them easy to apply in political engagements. CEBs are religious organisations, but their design includes an enhancement of conscientisation (Freire 1993). "What begins as a spiritual insight can easily have consequences intentional and unintentional in the world of public discourse and collective decision-making" (Smith 1994, p 122). By instilling a call to principled action in participants, CEBs tend to stimulate the ethical imagination (Moore 2011, p 15). The 'capacity infrastructure' may not have been intended, but in hindsight appears to have been crucial for the burgeoning of civil society organisations. There is widespread agreement about the positive influence of CEBs to Brazil's democratisation. Liberation theology and social change As a theological project, liberation theology sought "an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor's suffering" (Berryman 1987, p 4), as many previous movements within the Catholic Church

This book is not another reification of the global, nor an attempt to set out what such a concept... more This book is not another reification of the global, nor an attempt to set out what such a concept-metaphor brings to social analyses. It is, rather, an engagement with a dialogue among anthropologists about our discipline‘s contribution to understanding contemporary global developments. Social phenomena over recent decades have turned out to have a wide range of links to analyses either from academics or in tune with academic production. There is now a constant feedback of terms, concepts, analytical metaphors, and general information, which is allowing for constant social innovation. With this volume, we aim to call our colleagues‘ attention to the need to ―make sense of the global.‖ This effort is not intended as a defence of our academic discipline against others, but rather to point to the potential benefits that deep and thick analyses, such as the ones presented in this book, can bring to ongoing worldwide debates. Our take on the ―global‖ seeks to demystify the scale of globa...

Viralizar la esperanza en la ciudad: alternativas, resistencia y autocuidado colectivo frente al COVID-19 y a la crisis socioambiental, 2022

Este texto estaría enfocado en la labor de los grupos ciclistas autogestivos, que considero lleva... more Este texto estaría enfocado en la labor de los grupos ciclistas autogestivos, que considero llevan la batuta de empujar una agenda de resiliencia desde la base. Docenas de grupos de cicloactivistas han buscado concientizar a la ciudadanía de la necesidad de mejorar el equilibrio entre justicia social y ambiental. Un ejemplo claro fue la movilización ante el sismo de 2017, cuando muchos ciclistas se organizaron para distribuir alimentos, herramientas, e información. En tiempos sin urgencias han propuesto medidas como "Yo te cuido", con la que activistas acompañan a interesados en usar la bicicleta para ir al trabajo para darles consejos sobre rutas y prácticas seguras para hacerlo. Con éstas y otras medidas, los activistas buscan promover una reducción en el uso del automóvil y un enfoque en diseño urbano más a la medida de las necesidades de los habitantes de las ciudades. La bicicleta es utilizada por estos activistas como símbolo y herramienta en búsqueda de justicia social y ambiental.

Herrera Lima, Susana, Carlos Enrique Orozco Martínez y Eduardo Quijano Tenrreiro (coords.) (2015) Comunicar ciencia en México: discursos y espacios sociales. Colección: De la academia al espacio público. Guadalajara: ITESO, Nov 2015

Beck, Sam & Carl Maida (eds) (2015) Public anthropology in a borderless world. New York: Berghahn Books, Aug 1, 2015

Just how public is public anthropology supposed to be? This chapter tells the story of a public a... more Just how public is public anthropology supposed to be? This chapter tells the story of a public anthropology research project on dialogue and civil society in Guadalajara. It offers an account of the underlying tension between an academic project and activists’ expectations regarding its analyses and proposals. Mine was not a militant approach, but members of the network that was the main object of my research constantly appropriated the reflections and concepts I used to analyze efforts like his for their own purposes. The focus on dialogue as an essential concept to explain their political aspirations influenced some of their actions and strategies, and some cases, analyses “went public” before being academically processed and written up. During the research and later writing-up stages, I had to wonder whether this haste affected the quality of further analyses or limited the reach of reflection.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2013

American Ethnologist, 2008

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2007

This emerges clearly when he discusses the supply and use of shell money among the Tolai, Book re... more This emerges clearly when he discusses the supply and use of shell money among the Tolai, Book reviews 1029

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2012

Mexican maquiladoras (manufacturing operations in a free trade zone) have long been identified as... more Mexican maquiladoras (manufacturing operations in a free trade zone) have long been identified as key sites of neoliberal capitalism. This means a lack of economic and even physical security for their mostly female workforce in order to boost competitiveness and profits. The term ‘feminicide’ was coined as a result of local and transnational advocacy that shed light on the brutal murders of women who make up most of the region’s formal workforce in an environment engulfed by drug violence, government corruption and impunity. However, nobody has paid attention to the personal affective experiences of women who defend their labour rights to improve the quality of life of maquila workers. Rosemary Hennessy does this through a fascinating immersion in the lives of women who stood up for their rights, sometimes at great risk to themselves and their families. For its innovative focus and theoretical depth, Fires on the border is a timely and valuable contribution to the scholarly study of the Mexican frontera, political mobilization and the transnational flow of economic goods and their cultural repercussions.

Are significant patterns emerging around the world in the way urban populations react to increasi... more Are significant patterns emerging around the world in the way urban populations react to increasing diversities produced by migration? The authors of this volume claim this is so. They put forth three socio-spatial patterns, substantiated with vivid
descriptions and rigorous analyses: route-ines, rooms without walls, and corridors of dissociation (briefly explained below). The book’s contents are the partial results of a large comparative study of highly diverse neighbourhoods in New York, Singapore,
and Johannesburg, carried out by a multidisciplinary team led by
Vertovec.

Anthropos, Sep 30, 2014

In this volume, Juris and Khasnabish have brought together authors that share an activist engagem... more In this volume, Juris and Khasnabish have brought together authors that share an activist engagement in the transnational networks they analyze. The book has three main objectives: (1) to demonstrate the advantages of ethnographic analyses of transnational activist networks, as opposed to other approaches; (2) to provide a critical assessment of the types of knowledge involved in such networks; (3) to explore the methodological and epistemological implications of researching multi-local, fluid collaborative efforts. These aims are addressed with an underlying understanding of the need for social transformation.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 19(4): 882-883, Dec 2013

This book is a continuation of the dialogue the authors established in their previous joint volum... more This book is a continuation of the dialogue the authors established in their previous joint volume The trouble with community (2002). That volume sought to explore the ways in which the concept of community had been used in scholarly texts and policy agendas, and the challenge its uses imply on liberal democracies. This book builds on that debate, using cosmopolitanism as a clear counterpoint to the concept of community. With this focus, Amit and Rapport highlight the underlying tension within anthropological studies between the interpretation of cultural systems of reference and the portrayal of processes of changes and influence every group experiences.

Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford-online New series IV(2): 214-215, 2012

This volume offers an enthralling collection of essays that address complementary views on the th... more This volume offers an enthralling collection of essays that address complementary views on the theories of social brain and distributed mind. As numerous branches of scholarship increasingly focus on human cognition, the views on its evolution that this book presents are a crucial contribution to a burgeoning multidisciplinary conversation. By bringing together studies in the fields of archaeology, psychology, philosophy, sociology and cognitive and evolutionary sciences, the volume is itself proof that contrasting approaches can be in a fruitful conversation and benefit from collaboration. The papers were presented at a two day conference in 2008, part of the activities organized by the British Academy’s Centenary Research Project ‘Lucy to Language’.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 18(1): 239-240, Mar 2012

In this carefully crafted volume, D’Avray offers a strong argument about how various rationalitie... more In this carefully crafted volume, D’Avray offers a strong argument about how various rationalities can be found in history and in populations around the world. By doing so, he discredits the association of formal rationality with modernity, and claims that instrumental reasoning is a human universal although it tends to be based on value rationalities that differ widely from each other. This last fact makes it hard to identify a particular rationality witnessed, as it is usually analysed with principles from a different value system.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 18(3): 728-729, Sep 2012

In times of gloom over our global future, this book is a refreshing reminder about the need for a... more In times of gloom over our global future, this book is a refreshing reminder about the need for analytical distance. If everything was as negative as numerous public intellectuals assume and predicate, then individual decisions and actions would simply not matter. But they do. In this volume, Moore seeks to return to the idea of culture as an ‘art of living’ in which hopes, desires and satisfactions play a crucial role. She does it through a provocative analysis of globalization from an anthropological perspective, rich in ethnographic cases from Africa to Japan to the virtual world of Second Life.

Journal of Peasant Studies 34(2): 344-345, May 1, 2007

This second edition of Lynn Stephen’s 1991 volume reflects marked changes in the political life o... more This second edition of Lynn Stephen’s 1991 volume reflects marked changes in the political life of women in and from Teotitla´n, a small Zapotec town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The response of the women from Teotitla´n to the 1998 Spanish version of the first edition inspired the author to follow up on the developments of the 1990s. This book, then, captures the fluidity of a community with deep historical roots and in a constant reinvention of ethnic definitions and traditional obligations. The transformation follows the complex scenario derived from neoliberal policies and the local effects of the Free Trade Agreement Mexico signed with the United States and Canada. It is a fascinating ethnography that spans more than 20 years in the community, with a thorough review of its history according to records from colonial times and since Mexico’s independence.

Journal of Peasant Studies 33(3): 363-365, Dec 1, 2006

By observing how Tepoztecans become involved in committees to make decisions which will affect th... more By observing how Tepoztecans become involved in committees to make decisions which will affect their collective interests over the course of almost two decades, JoAnn Martin provides a thorough analysis of local politics and its protagonists. This is a valuable ethnographic account of a community in central Mexico that has inherited historical struggles on land, identity and power structures. The volume provides insight into a complicated social fabric that holds together a community’s representing body which in turn participates in more formal political scenarios. She uses this to reflect about social movements’ claim of unity and the crucial role of peripheral members. Martin’s reflections on irony, gossip and distrust, for example, help understand attitudes towards political engagement and activism.

Journal of Biosocial Science 44(1): 127-128, Jan 2012

The enrichment of staple food crops with essential micronutrients, known as biofortification, is ... more The enrichment of staple food crops with essential micronutrients, known as biofortification, is a controversial topic due to its combination of transgenic research, centralized scientific knowledge generation and a model of ‘public goods’ to be disseminated internationally. In this book, Brooks calls for an appraisal of what this model of global science can entail for future technological pathways. She puts forward her case through a careful examination of two projects and an overarching research structure to fulfil the aspirations of biofortification as a means to tackle malnutrition, known as ‘hidden hunger’ in international policy circles.

Journal of Biosocial Science 41(6): 846-847, Nov 2009

Innovations in genetic health technologies bring about a whole set of social responses, from info... more Innovations in genetic health technologies bring about a whole set of social responses, from informed concerns on privacy and confidentiality to fears of a resurgence of eugenics. The many benefits that are announced as forthcoming by governments and pharmaceutical companies are thus joined by fears, scepticism or simple misinformation. Reconfiguring Nature offers a series of qualitative studies on the appraisal of advances and ongoing research, with their promises and risks. It proves the value of social scientists’ insights as the field of health genetics develops. Its main point seems to stress the need for further efforts in understanding misconceptions and communication failures from all parts involved. Reflections from the cases presented in this book can help improve not only professional guidelines but also the public understanding of related issues.

Journal of Biosocial Science 40(5): 798-799, Sep 2008

Jesus in Our Wombs describes the transformation that young women go through during the first year... more Jesus in Our Wombs describes the transformation that young women go through during the first year of religious training to become nuns in a Roman Catholic convent in central Mexico. Lester’s interpretation of the changes they undergo links them to two basic concepts that have long been discussed in different fields: the self and the body. It is therefore the embodiment of a creed. There are, however, two more layers to this mix: gender and modernity. The fact that the Catholic religion is practised so differently by men and women is key, Lester puts forward, to understanding it, as well as the portrayed order. Furthermore, the principles laid out by the founder of the order are a critical discourse with modernity and an outright effort to ‘heal’ Mexico in what he perceived as the country’s identity crisis in the face of international influence (especially from the US). The result is a fascinating tale of change: individual, religious and nationwide.

Journal of Biosocial Science 39(6): 940-942, Nov 1, 2007

Environmentalism has experienced an impressive incursion into public life and political discourse... more Environmentalism has experienced an impressive incursion into public life and political discourse over the last few decades. It is, however, not a unitary understanding of nature and humanity’s impact on Earth, but rather a complicated mesh of different and sometimes conflicting lines of thought and action. Two examples of these are conservationism and the Brazilian concept of socioenvironmentalism. The former argues for closing off certain areas to human population in order to conserve the local biodiversity from any human impact, while the latter insists that some communities with historic and cultural roots in forests and other sites should be allowed to live in protected areas with the aim of achieving a balance between human life and environment protection. Argyrou nevertheless speaks of environmentalism as a single unitary movement comprising all understandings and changing perceptions of environment and human activity.

Renglones, Sep 2008

La filosofía política se ha planteado desde hace siglos pensar en la lógica del ejercicio del pod... more La filosofía política se ha planteado desde hace siglos pensar en la lógica del ejercicio del poder público. Pensadores de cada época han agregado temas a los debates sobre las decisiones colectivas que afectan directamente a aquellos que viven en comunidad. En la actualidad existe un malestar generalizado sobre el ejercicio del poder. Con su libro Good and Bad Power, Geoff Mulgan ofrece una muy oportuna reflexión sobre la calidad del ejercicio del poder con una perspectiva filosófica, histórica y antropológica. Esto no quiere decir que se limite a citar autores renombrados para explicar términos políticos. Lo que hace es mucho más provocador: se dedica a revisar la moralidad filosófica del ejercicio del poder a través de una minuciosa decodificación de los distintos elementos del poder político para el beneficio de la población. Lo hace con constantes referencias a hecho históricos, autores de muy diversas épocas y lugares (cita por igual a autores asiáticos que árabes, griegos y otros), así como a costumbres de grupos muy distintos al promedio que estamos acostumbrados quienes tenemos (a propósito o a regañadientes) a ‘occidente’ en el norte de nuestra brújula cultural.

Rescaling the Metabolic: Food, Technology, Ecology Research Network CRASSH, 2021

A new vision of biocontrol beyond what had been possible earlier … points to what I call a ‘techn... more A new vision of biocontrol beyond what had been possible earlier … points to what I call a ‘technomolecular city’, understood as a use of new technologies and scientific advances to harness the various microscopic processes at play in urban metabolic biochemical flows. … It is an innovative governance design to use information about flows in the microscopic scale in cities either for private profit or public good

As Latin America's middle classes have expanded considerably in the last few years, so have their... more As Latin America's middle classes have expanded considerably in the last few years, so have their aspirations for improved living standards, especially in metropolitan areas. Since 2007, Dr Raúl Acosta García of the University of Konstanz has been investigating the efforts of grassroots activists in Guadalajara, Mexico. During this time, he has witnessed a wave of activism through which people without any previous political experience have creatively challenged local government decisions. He has named their engagements 'aspirational activism' as they are not driven mainly by ideology, but by yearnings for a better quality of collective life.

International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences’ (IUAES) Inter-Congress “World S... more International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences’ (IUAES) Inter-Congress “World Solidarities”

August 27-31, Poznan, Poland

CfP for the panel ‘Urban struggles: governance, resistance and solidarity’

Across the globe, a growing number of urban dwellers struggle to meet even the most basic needs for housing, security and income. In response, governments showcase programmes like social housing, community policing, cash transfers, or professionalisation training. However, these programmes tend to be palliative, addressing merely the symptoms of inequalities rather than their causes. Meanwhile, policies implemented in the name of ‘good governance’, ‘participation’ or ‘crisis management’ risk reinforcing social exclusion of the most marginalised.
Cases include evictions, gated communities, securitisation, austerity measures, management of migrant populations, and the regulation of the informal sector. This panel addresses both the resistance to, and reproduction of exclusionary urban policies.
We are particularly interested in how residents and professionals alike engage urban programmes through activism, creative navigation of existing rules, or by way of withdrawal and outright sabotage. Our panel connects empirical studies to theoretical debates on the right to the city, activated and activist citizenship, and the idea of the city as an assemblage of productive tensions. We ask: how do defeatist visions of the city produced by accumulation by dispossession speak to more expectant notions of urban navigations and creativity? How does resistance transform neoliberal cities into sites for alternative imaginaries and new forms of inclusion, citizenship and solidarity? We welcome papers that present empirically rich anthropological analyses of urban dwellers’ opposition and resistance to urban governance, showing how people struggle for their place in the city while also generating forms of solidarity.