Tatjana Thelen | University of Vienna (original) (raw)
State by Tatjana Thelen
Kinship and statehood are central categories for describing and classifying social organization. ... more Kinship and statehood are central categories for describing and classifying social organization. They have accompanied the disciplinary development of anthropology since its formative years in the nineteenth century and also facilitated a general division of labor within the social sciences. Correspondingly, the study of allegedly traditional societies characterized by kinship in either stateless forms of political organization or hereditary power (e.g., king- ship) was to be the primary focus of social anthropology. In contrast, the political sciences and sociology were conceptualized as disciplines invested in the study of the “modern” state, envisaged as political order without kinship epitomizing the Weberian notion of rationalized bureaucracy. The jux- taposition of kinship and the (modern) state as mutually exclusive is thus so deeply ingrained in the Western worldview and in processes of knowledge production that decoding their coproduction poses a considerable challenge. In this introduction we argue that untangling this separation is fundamental to understanding contemporary processes of social organization, including boundary making that leads to diverse forms of marginalization. In a second step we focus on the concepts of embeddedness, citizenship, and belonging that are common to both research fields and have the potential to contribute to a more multilayered perspective that will facilitate interdisciplinary discussions.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoret... more The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoretical approach to the relation between local state formations and social security arrangements in rural areas. We argue that an analysis of these relations will enhance our understanding of the state in rural settings and of its interrelation to other networks of power. Social security is central for these relations. By adopting an anthropological definition of social security, we aim to overcome dichotomies of formal state and informal help as well as between state and non-state activities. We propose to address the topic by analysing and comparing access to the different kinds of resources distributed or mediated by local state actors. The paper starts with a general introduction to the theoretical framework and then gives an overview on existing research on the issues with special attention to postsocialist areas. Recent changes in the fields of state action have been especially profound in this region. Nevertheless we suggest that the proposed framework allows for fruitful application and comparison with other regions as well.
In this introduction, we propose a relational anthropology of the state as a way to bridge the g... more In this introduction, we propose a relational anthropology of the state as
a way to bridge the gap between images and practices. While acknowledging that anthropologists have often stressed the embeddedness of the social phenomena they research, we argue that this has not yet been fully explored in the analysis of the state. Making relations the starting point of analysis can offer new insights into the workings of the state.
Social Analysis, 2014
In this article, we analyze processes of kinning within state-initiated programs of elder care in... more In this article, we analyze processes of kinning within state-initiated programs of elder care in Serbia in order to explore how images of the state as an entity are cast as distinct from the domain of the family. We present data from the fieldwork we conducted in two settlements, in northern and central Serbia respectively. Contrary to the findings of many anthropological studies of the state, state actors in these cases surpass the expectations of citizens. Nevertheless, within complex processes of kinning between state-paid care workers and their clients, dominant images of an absent state as well as state-kinship boundaries are (re)produced. Placing this boundary work within the evolving relations at the center of the analysis underlines the merits of rethinking the interconnections between kinship and the state with a relational focus.
Keywords: anthropology of the state, boundary work, elder care, kinship, relational approach to the state, Serbia, state images, state kinning
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoret... more The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoretical approach to the relation between local state formations and social security arrangements in rural areas. We argue that an analysis of these relations will enhance our understanding of the state in rural settings and of its interrelation to other networks of power. Social security is central for these relations. By adopting an anthropological definition of social security, we aim to overcome dichotomies of formal state and informal help as well as between state and non-state activities. We propose to address the topic by analysing and comparing access to the different kinds of resources distributed or mediated by local state actors. The paper starts with a general introduction to the theoretical framework and then gives an overview on existing research on the issues with special attention to postsocialist areas. Recent changes in the fields of state action have been especially profound in this region. Nevertheless we suggest that the proposed framework allows for fruitful application and comparison with other regions as well.
Care by Tatjana Thelen
During the last decades, the world has been facing tremendous political transformations and new r... more During the last decades, the world has been facing tremendous political transformations and new risks: epidemics such as HIV/Aids have had destabilizing effect on the caretaking role of kin; in post-socialist countries political reforms have made unemployment a new source of insecurity. Furthermore, the state's withdrawal from providing social security is taking place throughout the world. One response to these developments has been increased migration, which poses further challenges to kinship-based social support systems. This innovative volume focuses on the ambiguous role of religious networks in social security and traces the interrelatedness of religious networks and state and family support systems. Particularly timely, it describes these challenges as well as social security arrangements in the context of globalization and migration. The wide range of case studies from various parts of the world that examine various religious groups offers an important comparative contribution to the understanding of religious networks as providers of social security. © 2009 Carolin Leutloff-Grandits, Anja Peleikis and Tatjana Thelen. All rights reserved.
In this article, we examine the ways that elderly care generates political belonging. Our approac... more In this article, we examine the ways that elderly care generates political belonging. Our approach builds on studies which argue that nurture and care create kinship, but takes that argument further by suggesting that care generates membership in numerous social formations, across scales. We suggest that elderly care helps illuminate key aspects of political belonging, particularly the temporality of political membership, because elderly care entails mutuality and reciprocity over a long period of time. In addition, elderly care is an interactive process in which older persons, their caregivers, the state and other actors negotiate modes of political belonging that entail affect as well as rights. Furthermore, elderly care has been used to construct representations of ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ families which are ideologically connected to particular political formations. These representations generate difference and ‘Othering’ of internal and external populations. Ultimately, we argue that a focus on elderly care collapses domains that are usually kept artificially separated, like kinship and the state, and private and public, in ways that are productive for social analysis as a whole.
Focaal, 2007
This article examines the ways in which different actors in eastern Germany incorporate socialist... more This article examines the ways in which different actors in eastern Germany incorporate socialist veteran care into the new economic and organizational framework of the trade union, the housing cooperative, and the reformed state enterprise itself. The complexities of the different meanings of this care are linked to the rapid socioeconomic changes in eastern Germany, which have challenged both expectations of the future as well as personal identities. The analysis describes the complex shifts in the source of provision and its regulation, which go beyond simple state/nonstate or formal/informal dichotomies. With unification social security practices have lost their previous material significance for former employees, but simultaneously have gained emotional value because they help to assure biographical continuity. These processes (re)create familiarity and community amid the profound economic restructuring after socialism.
Social security in religious …, Jan 1, 2009
Chapter 1 Social Security in Religious Networks An Introduction Tatjana Thelen, Carolin Leutloff-... more Chapter 1 Social Security in Religious Networks An Introduction Tatjana Thelen, Carolin Leutloff-Grandits andAnja Peleikis Human being always have to deal with insecurity and risk. 1 Rather then jump-ing into the emptiness as Yves Klein on our cover photograph ...
In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of... more In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of former socialist countries, Zagreb and Berlin. We describe the scope and variety of grandmaternal care practices both eld sites and then contrast two grandmotherly interpretations of their intensive caring for grandchildren The different appraisal of their similar practice as self-sacri ce and natural donation respectively is embedded in different life course experiences of these two women. Both grandmothers lived in socialist states and made the experience of profound change with political and economic restructuring. But while socialist eastern Germany and Croatia had many similar traits they also differed in important aspects. While our interlocutors attributed their practice generally to post-socialist developments, they based their judgements on different aspects of state responsibility. While demographic developments might create similar opportunities for child care, national and local contexts vary and local actors attribute different meanings to their action.
Ethnologie française, 2012
ABSTRACT
The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 2006
Property, Comparison by Tatjana Thelen
Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist eine leicht überarbeitete Version meiner gleichnamigen Antrittsvorles... more Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist eine leicht überarbeitete Version meiner gleichnamigen Antrittsvorlesung vom 27. Oktober 2014 an der Universität Wien, in der ich für eine neue relationale Anthropologie plädiere. Nach einem kursorischen Überblick über die Entwicklung der relationalen Perspektive folgen zwei ethnographische Beispiele zur Koproduktion von Verwandtschaft und Staat. Beide Beispiele verweisen sowohl auf die relationale Forschungspraxis als auch auf den Ausgangspunkt in der Untersuchung von Beziehungspraktiken, über den schließlich die konzeptionelle Ebene neu in den Blick genommen werden kann. Da die Trennung von Verwandtschaft und politischer Organisation zentral für das westliche Selbstverständnis ist, lassen sich hier die Konsequenzen einer binären Konstruktion für lokale wie wissenschaftliche Diskurse besonders gut nachzeichnen. Diese Verbindung von methodischer wie theoretischer Ausrichtung unterscheidet die relationale Anthropologie von ähnlichen Ansätzen in den Nachbardisziplinen.
In this textbook introduction, I outline first the development of anthropological theorizing abou... more In this textbook introduction, I outline first the development of anthropological theorizing about property. Then I turn to my own research in Hungary to exemplify the connection between specific ideas about objects and the formation of social relations around them. The overall aim in this chapter is to delineate why property relations are not “just about economy”, but significantly affect most realms of everyday life. Property, as a way to conceive and regulate social relations, links such realms as gender, kinship and politics to ideas about jus- tice and morality, as well as about collective and individual subjectivities. In consequence, property relations constitute enormously important elements of social reproduction as well as of change.
Kinship and statehood are central categories for describing and classifying social organization. ... more Kinship and statehood are central categories for describing and classifying social organization. They have accompanied the disciplinary development of anthropology since its formative years in the nineteenth century and also facilitated a general division of labor within the social sciences. Correspondingly, the study of allegedly traditional societies characterized by kinship in either stateless forms of political organization or hereditary power (e.g., king- ship) was to be the primary focus of social anthropology. In contrast, the political sciences and sociology were conceptualized as disciplines invested in the study of the “modern” state, envisaged as political order without kinship epitomizing the Weberian notion of rationalized bureaucracy. The jux- taposition of kinship and the (modern) state as mutually exclusive is thus so deeply ingrained in the Western worldview and in processes of knowledge production that decoding their coproduction poses a considerable challenge. In this introduction we argue that untangling this separation is fundamental to understanding contemporary processes of social organization, including boundary making that leads to diverse forms of marginalization. In a second step we focus on the concepts of embeddedness, citizenship, and belonging that are common to both research fields and have the potential to contribute to a more multilayered perspective that will facilitate interdisciplinary discussions.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoret... more The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoretical approach to the relation between local state formations and social security arrangements in rural areas. We argue that an analysis of these relations will enhance our understanding of the state in rural settings and of its interrelation to other networks of power. Social security is central for these relations. By adopting an anthropological definition of social security, we aim to overcome dichotomies of formal state and informal help as well as between state and non-state activities. We propose to address the topic by analysing and comparing access to the different kinds of resources distributed or mediated by local state actors. The paper starts with a general introduction to the theoretical framework and then gives an overview on existing research on the issues with special attention to postsocialist areas. Recent changes in the fields of state action have been especially profound in this region. Nevertheless we suggest that the proposed framework allows for fruitful application and comparison with other regions as well.
In this introduction, we propose a relational anthropology of the state as a way to bridge the g... more In this introduction, we propose a relational anthropology of the state as
a way to bridge the gap between images and practices. While acknowledging that anthropologists have often stressed the embeddedness of the social phenomena they research, we argue that this has not yet been fully explored in the analysis of the state. Making relations the starting point of analysis can offer new insights into the workings of the state.
Social Analysis, 2014
In this article, we analyze processes of kinning within state-initiated programs of elder care in... more In this article, we analyze processes of kinning within state-initiated programs of elder care in Serbia in order to explore how images of the state as an entity are cast as distinct from the domain of the family. We present data from the fieldwork we conducted in two settlements, in northern and central Serbia respectively. Contrary to the findings of many anthropological studies of the state, state actors in these cases surpass the expectations of citizens. Nevertheless, within complex processes of kinning between state-paid care workers and their clients, dominant images of an absent state as well as state-kinship boundaries are (re)produced. Placing this boundary work within the evolving relations at the center of the analysis underlines the merits of rethinking the interconnections between kinship and the state with a relational focus.
Keywords: anthropology of the state, boundary work, elder care, kinship, relational approach to the state, Serbia, state images, state kinning
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoret... more The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of a new research agenda on and theoretical approach to the relation between local state formations and social security arrangements in rural areas. We argue that an analysis of these relations will enhance our understanding of the state in rural settings and of its interrelation to other networks of power. Social security is central for these relations. By adopting an anthropological definition of social security, we aim to overcome dichotomies of formal state and informal help as well as between state and non-state activities. We propose to address the topic by analysing and comparing access to the different kinds of resources distributed or mediated by local state actors. The paper starts with a general introduction to the theoretical framework and then gives an overview on existing research on the issues with special attention to postsocialist areas. Recent changes in the fields of state action have been especially profound in this region. Nevertheless we suggest that the proposed framework allows for fruitful application and comparison with other regions as well.
During the last decades, the world has been facing tremendous political transformations and new r... more During the last decades, the world has been facing tremendous political transformations and new risks: epidemics such as HIV/Aids have had destabilizing effect on the caretaking role of kin; in post-socialist countries political reforms have made unemployment a new source of insecurity. Furthermore, the state's withdrawal from providing social security is taking place throughout the world. One response to these developments has been increased migration, which poses further challenges to kinship-based social support systems. This innovative volume focuses on the ambiguous role of religious networks in social security and traces the interrelatedness of religious networks and state and family support systems. Particularly timely, it describes these challenges as well as social security arrangements in the context of globalization and migration. The wide range of case studies from various parts of the world that examine various religious groups offers an important comparative contribution to the understanding of religious networks as providers of social security. © 2009 Carolin Leutloff-Grandits, Anja Peleikis and Tatjana Thelen. All rights reserved.
In this article, we examine the ways that elderly care generates political belonging. Our approac... more In this article, we examine the ways that elderly care generates political belonging. Our approach builds on studies which argue that nurture and care create kinship, but takes that argument further by suggesting that care generates membership in numerous social formations, across scales. We suggest that elderly care helps illuminate key aspects of political belonging, particularly the temporality of political membership, because elderly care entails mutuality and reciprocity over a long period of time. In addition, elderly care is an interactive process in which older persons, their caregivers, the state and other actors negotiate modes of political belonging that entail affect as well as rights. Furthermore, elderly care has been used to construct representations of ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ families which are ideologically connected to particular political formations. These representations generate difference and ‘Othering’ of internal and external populations. Ultimately, we argue that a focus on elderly care collapses domains that are usually kept artificially separated, like kinship and the state, and private and public, in ways that are productive for social analysis as a whole.
Focaal, 2007
This article examines the ways in which different actors in eastern Germany incorporate socialist... more This article examines the ways in which different actors in eastern Germany incorporate socialist veteran care into the new economic and organizational framework of the trade union, the housing cooperative, and the reformed state enterprise itself. The complexities of the different meanings of this care are linked to the rapid socioeconomic changes in eastern Germany, which have challenged both expectations of the future as well as personal identities. The analysis describes the complex shifts in the source of provision and its regulation, which go beyond simple state/nonstate or formal/informal dichotomies. With unification social security practices have lost their previous material significance for former employees, but simultaneously have gained emotional value because they help to assure biographical continuity. These processes (re)create familiarity and community amid the profound economic restructuring after socialism.
Social security in religious …, Jan 1, 2009
Chapter 1 Social Security in Religious Networks An Introduction Tatjana Thelen, Carolin Leutloff-... more Chapter 1 Social Security in Religious Networks An Introduction Tatjana Thelen, Carolin Leutloff-Grandits andAnja Peleikis Human being always have to deal with insecurity and risk. 1 Rather then jump-ing into the emptiness as Yves Klein on our cover photograph ...
In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of... more In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of former socialist countries, Zagreb and Berlin. We describe the scope and variety of grandmaternal care practices both eld sites and then contrast two grandmotherly interpretations of their intensive caring for grandchildren The different appraisal of their similar practice as self-sacri ce and natural donation respectively is embedded in different life course experiences of these two women. Both grandmothers lived in socialist states and made the experience of profound change with political and economic restructuring. But while socialist eastern Germany and Croatia had many similar traits they also differed in important aspects. While our interlocutors attributed their practice generally to post-socialist developments, they based their judgements on different aspects of state responsibility. While demographic developments might create similar opportunities for child care, national and local contexts vary and local actors attribute different meanings to their action.
Ethnologie française, 2012
ABSTRACT
The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 2006
Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist eine leicht überarbeitete Version meiner gleichnamigen Antrittsvorles... more Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist eine leicht überarbeitete Version meiner gleichnamigen Antrittsvorlesung vom 27. Oktober 2014 an der Universität Wien, in der ich für eine neue relationale Anthropologie plädiere. Nach einem kursorischen Überblick über die Entwicklung der relationalen Perspektive folgen zwei ethnographische Beispiele zur Koproduktion von Verwandtschaft und Staat. Beide Beispiele verweisen sowohl auf die relationale Forschungspraxis als auch auf den Ausgangspunkt in der Untersuchung von Beziehungspraktiken, über den schließlich die konzeptionelle Ebene neu in den Blick genommen werden kann. Da die Trennung von Verwandtschaft und politischer Organisation zentral für das westliche Selbstverständnis ist, lassen sich hier die Konsequenzen einer binären Konstruktion für lokale wie wissenschaftliche Diskurse besonders gut nachzeichnen. Diese Verbindung von methodischer wie theoretischer Ausrichtung unterscheidet die relationale Anthropologie von ähnlichen Ansätzen in den Nachbardisziplinen.
In this textbook introduction, I outline first the development of anthropological theorizing abou... more In this textbook introduction, I outline first the development of anthropological theorizing about property. Then I turn to my own research in Hungary to exemplify the connection between specific ideas about objects and the formation of social relations around them. The overall aim in this chapter is to delineate why property relations are not “just about economy”, but significantly affect most realms of everyday life. Property, as a way to conceive and regulate social relations, links such realms as gender, kinship and politics to ideas about jus- tice and morality, as well as about collective and individual subjectivities. In consequence, property relations constitute enormously important elements of social reproduction as well as of change.
Bereits seit mehreren Jahrzehnten wird die Flexibilisierung oder auch Destandardisierung von beru... more Bereits seit mehreren Jahrzehnten wird die Flexibilisierung oder auch Destandardisierung von beruflichen und familiären Lebensläufen in der so genannten „Post-“ oder „Zweiten“ Moderne postuliert (Musner 2002, Kohli 2003). Im Verlauf der Diskussion sind neben überwiegend positiven Bewertungen im Sinne der Loslösung aus traditionellen Abhängigkeiten und der Entfaltung individueller Lebensentwürfe (Thien 2002: 19, siehe auch Beck/Beck-Gernsheim 1994) in den 1990er Jahre
In this paper, we make three interrelated points. First, while much of the recent literature on n... more In this paper, we make three interrelated points. First, while much of the recent literature on new forms of citizenship has focused on the diversity of large cities and new forms of migration, we seek to establish rural sites as important arenas for negotiating citizenship. We stress that far from being homogeneous, villages in their struggles over belonging are affected by long-standing diversity as well as global discourses. Second, we seek to complicate the interpretation of the demise of socialism as a radical break manifested in a diminished role of the state. We show that if the central state retreats, local state actors may gain in importance for local negotiations of citizenship. Third, we explore how the local state actors sometimes use their new powers over social rights to recreate boundaries of belonging through public performances tied to the administration of these rights. We go on to explore the normative basis for these performances and indicate that membership is still based on a contribution of work to the common good. This can best be conceptualised as a shifting continuity rather than a sharp break after 1989.
Theorien der Flexibilisierung teilen häufig die fundamentale Annahme eines sozialen Wandels hin z... more Theorien der Flexibilisierung teilen häufig die fundamentale Annahme eines sozialen Wandels hin zu mehr Bewegung, Reflexivität und De-Traditionalisierung. Im Gegensatz dazu argumentieren wir, dass Flexibilisierung auch neue Prozesse von Traditionalisierung fördern kann. Anhand von Fallbeispielen aus Ostdeutschland beschreiben wir, wie flexibilisierte Kinderbetreuung sowie ein flexibler Arbeitsmarkt zur Traditionalisierung familiärer Arbeitsteilung beitragen.
Diese Prozesse haben eine deutlich gender-spezifische Komponente, die sich in den Überzeugungen und Praxen insbesondere junger Familiengründer widerspiegelt. Während bisherige Studien eine relativ hohe Stabilität alter DDR-Muster bezüglich weiblicher Erwerbstätigkeit und öffentlicher Kinderbetreuung beschreiben, konnten wir in unserer Forschung Tendenzen feststellen, die auf einen langfristigen Wandel dieser habituellen Muster in Ostdeutschland hindeuten. Sowohl im ländlichen als auch städtischen Umfeld finden wir unterschiedlich hohe Grade der normativen Angleichung an ein (westdeutsches) Familienideal des männlichen Brotverdieners, das je nach Zugang zum Arbeitsmarkt differenziell in die tägliche Praxis umgesetzt wird. Diese Umorientierung wird unterstützt durch Institutionen wie Arbeitsagenturen, freie Träger im Bereich der Wohlfahrt sowie durch Arbeitgeber mit einem eher traditionellen Familienverständnis.
Although specific food items have been a recurrent theme before and after German unification, we ... more Although specific food items have been a recurrent theme before and after German unification, we know little about eating habits as a relational idiom in the course of transformation. This article argues that studying patterns of commensality can contribute to our understanding of how social relations change with the imposition of a new economic system. With this approach the author argues also for a broadening of traditional anthropological studies on food consumption in the household towards the inclusion of other settings, such as the semi-institutional environment of the enterprise. The article starts with an historical overview of the development of canteens and their interpretation in East and West Germany. In the subsequent case study, taking part or not taking part in mid-day commensality mirrors social differences. Furthermore, people interpret eating habits in the light of past experiences and understand present developments as markers of East and West German differences.
Focaal , 2007
State frameworks for welfare and social security have been subject to processes of privatization,... more State frameworks for welfare and social security have been subject to processes of privatization, decentralization, and neoliberal reform in many parts of the world. This article explores how these developments might be theorized using anthropological understandings of social security in combination with feminist perspectives on care. In its application to post-1989 socioeconomic transformation in the former socialist region, this perspective overcomes the conceptual inadequacies of the "state withdrawal" model. It also illuminates the nuanced ways in which public and private (as spaces, subjectivities, institutions, moralities, and practices) re-emerge and change in the socialist era as well as today, continually shaping the trajectories and outcomes of reforms to care and social security.
Critique of Anthropology, 2011
... were to become highly influential, a development that can partly explain why ethnographies of... more ... were to become highly influential, a development that can partly explain why ethnographies of (post ... correct', the opportunity to perceive several configurations of the dichotomy is lost, as is ... Bell DP (1984) Peasants in Socialist Transition: Life in a Collectivized Hungarian Village. ...
Focaal, 2007
.State frameworks for welfare and social security have been subject to processes of privatization... more .State frameworks for welfare and social security have been subject to processes of privatization, decentralization, and neoliberal reform in many parts of the world. This article explores how these developments might be theorized using anthropological understandings of social security in combination with feminist perspectives on care. In its application to post-1989 socioeconomic transformation in the former socialist region, this perspective overcomes the conceptual inadequacies of the “state withdrawal” model. It also illuminates the nuanced ways in which public and private (as spaces, subjectivities, institutions, moralities, and practices) re-emerge and change in the socialist era as well as today, continually shaping the trajectories and outcomes of reforms to care and social security.
Journal of Rural Studies, 2012
Social History, 2005
ABSTRACT
Journal of Rural Studies, 2012
Flexibilisierung, 2008
Bereits seit mehreren Jahrzehnten wird die Flexibilisierung oder auch Destandardisierung von beru... more Bereits seit mehreren Jahrzehnten wird die Flexibilisierung oder auch Destandardisierung von beruflichen und familiären Lebensläufen in der so genannten „Post-“ oder „Zweiten“ Moderne postuliert (Musner 2002, Kohli 2003). Im Verlauf der Diskussion sind neben überwiegend positiven Bewertungen im Sinne der Loslösung aus traditionellen Abhängigkeiten und der Entfaltung individueller Lebensentwürfe (Thien 2002: 19, siehe auch Beck/Beck-Gernsheim 1994) in den 1990er Jahre
Horizontes Antropológicos, 2010
In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of... more In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of former socialist countries, Zagreb and Berlin. We describe the scope and variety of grandmaternal care practices both field sites and then contrast two grandmotherly interpretations of their ...
Horizontes Antropológicos, Jan 1, 2010
In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of... more In this article we explore grandmaternal care and its interpretations in two European capitals of former socialist countries, Zagreb and Berlin. We describe the scope and variety of grandmaternal care practices both field sites and then contrast two grandmotherly interpretations of their intensive caring for grandchildren The different appraisal of their similar practice as self-sacrifice and natural donation respectively is embedded in different life course experiences of these two women. Both grandmothers lived in socialist states and made the experience of profound change with political and economic restructuring. But while socialist eastern Germany and Croatia had many similar traits they also differed in important aspects. While our interlocutors attributed their practice generally to post-socialist developments, they based their judgements on different aspects of state responsibility. While demographic developments might create similar opportunities for child care, national and local contexts vary and local actors attribute different meanings to their action.
Page 1. Tatjana Thelen Privatisierung und soziale Ungleichheit in der osteuro-päischen Landwirtsc... more Page 1. Tatjana Thelen Privatisierung und soziale Ungleichheit in der osteuro-päischen Landwirtschaft Zwei Fallstudien aus Ungarn und Rumänien Campus Forschung Page 2. Page 3. Privatisierung und soziale Ungleichheit ...
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 2018
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Sep 5, 2018
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Sep 5, 2018
Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 13, 2019
This chapter describes the impact of ethnographic methods on the study of transformation. Ethnogr... more This chapter describes the impact of ethnographic methods on the study of transformation. Ethnographic methods comprise a bundle of tools, the most important of which remains participant observation. In general, ethnographic methods aim at insights into processes of meaning making by actors in everyday life. They focus on the plurality of experiences within processes of change and ambivalences in specific contexts, as well as on historical depth. The openness of ethnographic research design allows for unexpected results and critical questioning of taken-for-granted theoretical concepts. The chapter starts with a short overview of the historical development of ethnographic methods in relation to shifting paradigms of transformation. Examples of ethnographic research of (post-)socialist transformations substantiate the potential (and pitfalls) of ethnographic methods. One important insight is that the great diversity of socialist as well as post-socialist transformations do not follow a modernization blueprint, demonstrating the potential of ethnography in generating innovative theoretical approaches.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 18, 2021
ABSTRACT
Berghahn Books, Dec 9, 2022
Böhlau Verlag eBooks, Dec 6, 2021
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 30, 2013
Routledge eBooks, Nov 18, 2021
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Social Security in Religious Networks
Politics and Kinship. A Reader., 2022
Politics and Kinship: A Reader offers a unique overview of the entanglement of these two categori... more Politics and Kinship: A Reader offers a unique overview of the entanglement of these two categories in both theoretical debates and everyday practices. The two, despite many challenges, are often thought to have become separated during the process of modernisation. Tracing how this notion of separation becomes idealised and translated into various contexts, this book sheds light on its epistemological limitations. Combining otherwise-distinct lines of discussion within political anthropology and kinship studies, the selection of texts covers a broad range of intersecting topics that range from military strategy, DNA testing, and child fostering, to practices of kinning the state.
Beginning with the study of politics, the first part of this volume looks at how its separation from kinship came to be considered a ‘modern’ phenomenon, with significant consequences. The second part starts from kinship, showing how it was made into a separate and apolitical field – an idea that would soon travel and be translated globally into policies. The third part turns to reproductions through various transmissions and future-making projects. Overall, the volume offers a fundamental critique of the epistemological separation of politics and kinship, and its shortcomings for teaching and research. Featuring contributions from a broad range of regional, temporal and theoretical backgrounds, it allows for critical engagement with knowledge production about the entanglement of politics and kinship.
The different traditions and contemporary approaches represented make this book an essential resource for researchers, instructors and students of anthropology.
The Anthropology of Sibling Relations: Shared Parentage, Experience, and Exchange. Palgrave Macmillan: New York. 1-26, 2013
On what basis are sibling relations made and negotiated and how do they change over time? How do ... more On what basis are sibling relations made and negotiated and how do they change over time? How do siblings provide support, but also create pressure or conflict? Despite their importance as models for or contrasts to marriage, friendship, and nation, sibling relations have been largely ignored in anthropology. In this volume, tghe contributors provide a conceptualization of siblingship as shared parentage, exchange, and experience. They explore what makes these relations worth maintaining and how they contribute to wider community processes, material support, and emotional connections. The ethnographic case studies porvide detailed descriptions of lived sibling relations in various settings across the globe.
Reconnecting State and Kinship. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia. 1-37, 2017
Within the social sciences, kinship and statehood are often seen as two distinct modes of social ... more Within the social sciences, kinship and statehood are often seen as two distinct modes of social organization, sometimes conceived of as following each other in a temporal line and sometimes as operating on different scales. Kinship is traditionally associated with small-scale communities in stateless societies. The state, meanwhile, is viewed as a development away from kinship as political order toward rational, impersonal, and functional forms of rule. In recent decades, theoretical and empirical scholarship has challenged these notions, but the underlying presumption of a deep-rooted opposition between kinship and the (modern) state has remained surprisingly stable.
That this binary is so deeply engrained in Western self-understanding and knowledge production poses a considerable challenge to decoding their coproduction. Reconnecting State and Kinship seeks to trace the historical shifts and boundary work implied in the ongoing reproduction of these supposedly discrete or even opposing units of analysis. Contributors ask whether concepts associated with one sphere —including corruption, patronage, lineage, and incest—surface in the other. Policies and interventions modeled upon the assumed polarity can have lasting consequences for mechanisms of marginalization and exclusion, including decisions about life and death.
Reconnecting State and Kinship not only explores the boundary-related and classificatory practices that reinforce the kinship/statehood binary but also tracks the traveling of these concepts and their underlying norms through time and space ultimately demonstrating the ways that kinship and "the state" are intertwined.
Politics and Kinship: A Reader. Routledge: New York. 1-33, 2022
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters o... more This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the partitions as well as the investment in and challenging of their boundaries from the point of view of politics. It presents the emergence of Eurocentric classifications of polities, such as the contrast between ‘small-scale’ or ‘kin-based’ societies and ‘state-based’ societies purified of kinship. The book defines the trope of kin-based societies as a “mythological origin point” in the narrative of modernisation, tracing its naturalisation in the mid to late nineteenth-century United States (US). It shows how US military advisers and manuals use the concepts of Evans-Pritchard, Gluckman and other anthropologists. The book describes how kinship was established as a separate domain of human action, which went hand-in-hand with the development of classifications setting it in opposition to politics.
Soziopolis, 2021
https://www.soziopolis.de/entfesselte-verwandtschaft.html
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie ZfE/JSCA, 2021
Notions like ‘relations’ and ‘relationality’ have become key terms and common parlance in anthrop... more Notions like ‘relations’ and ‘relationality’ have become key terms and common parlance in anthropology, closely linked to Marilyn Strathern’s project of making ‘a topic from one of anthropology’s principal means and objects of study’ (Strathern 2018). In this contribution, we reflect on our joint discussion of the British social anthropologist’sbook Relations: An Anthropological Account (Strathern 2020). The book consists of a ollection of essays in which she simultaneously reflects on and contributes to the centrality of the term within anthropological debates. It offers a historical account of ‘relations’ as an often-valorized epistemological device in the natural and social sciences, notably
in Anglophone anthropology. Arguing that ‘comparison,’ which presumes similarities and differences, has become a kind of central relation in modern thinking, she examines how the notion is applied to particular sets of persons by comparing ‘friends’ and ‘kin,’ for example. She also shows how both the ‘art of comparison’ (Strathern 2020: 19) and a certain ‘compulsion of relations’, have shaped anthropology in relation to Anglophone thinking more generally. In the final part of the book, Strathern returns to the early modern period to describe the occlusion of alternative ways of European enlightenment thinking as a ‘drama’, with decisive effects for modern knowledge-making, kin-making and, of course, anthropology.