Becoming operators in factories as young women has brought about an unprecedented change for Tami... more Becoming operators in factories as young women has brought about an unprecedented change for Tamil women living in Penang (Malaysia). Devigai and Jayesh, today in their forties, have been unskilled workers since their teens. Their life embodies the tension that Tamil women feel today between their perception of their job as a basic individual resource and a whole set of life practices embedded in ethnic belonging, especially in the sphere of marriage strategies. The dichotomy these women experience between their life at work and their life in their “ethnic community” brings about confusion at a personal level in terms of self-perception. The difficulty these women have in perceiving themselves as workers is the consequence of Malaysian developmentalist politics, as well as one of the basic conditions for the country’s fast industrial development.
Typically, scholars approach migrants' religions as a safeguard of cultural identity, somethi... more Typically, scholars approach migrants' religions as a safeguard of cultural identity, something that connects migrants to their communities of origin. This ethnographic anthology challenges that position by reframing the religious experiences of migrants as a transformative force capable of refashioning narratives of displacement into journeys of spiritual awakening and missionary calling. These essays explore migrants' motivations in support of an argument that to travel inspires a search for new meaning in religion.
Quando, a un anno dalla scomparsa di Ugo Fabietti, abbiamo cominciato a lavorare a un numero dell... more Quando, a un anno dalla scomparsa di Ugo Fabietti, abbiamo cominciato a lavorare a un numero della rivista Antropologia a lui dedicato, ci siamo chiesti come essergli fedeli e come trasmettere attraverso queste pagine le sue qualita intellettuali e affettive di collega, amico e maestro, mantenendo integri la vitalita e il potenziale euristico della sua eredita intellettuale. La rivista e stata fondata da Ugo Fabietti nel 2001 come “progetto culturale (…) per riflettere in maniera pertinente, approfondita e circonstanziata sulle forme culturali della contemporaneita”. Ugo Fabietti l’ha diretta e trasformata, nel 2014, da collana di saggi tematici sull’antropologia della contemporaneita in pubblicazione a consultazione gratuita online con un sistema di revisione in doppio cieco. Negli anni Ugo Fabietti ha formato e si e formato con molte delle persone che vi hanno lavorato e vi lavorano, ha trovato i mezzi per fabbricarla e si e speso perche continuasse a vivere dentro alle continue t...
This article describes a vision of time (the past and the future) in post-industrial dynamics tha... more This article describes a vision of time (the past and the future) in post-industrial dynamics that the author and her co-researchers could gain through shooting a film in the region of Lhokseumawe, Aceh, a once fruitful site of extraction of natural gas subsequently planned to become a Special Economic Zone. It engages with the notion of “worlding” processes and pinpoints, in the ethnographic case of Aceh, the difficulty to access them through discourse because specific strategies of silencing and erasure are enforced throughout an emotional landscape. It is argued that it was the use of film-making as a relational tool aiming to create images that enabled the researchers to see through time and beyond regimes of invisibility. This is how they met ghosts on the gas scene. The steps in the making of an ethnographic film are used as a narrative lead. A scene is set up where the extractive economy of gas is linked to a global vision of development and prosperity as well as to present a...
This chapter looks into the imposed order and conflicting superdiversity of mixed religion enviro... more This chapter looks into the imposed order and conflicting superdiversity of mixed religion environments in Medan. It focuses on the historical change of practiced religious tolerance in line with the Tamil Hindu ritual carried in Medan. A specific analysis of moral values is needed to examine an enacted pluralism in a neighborhood. Hinduism was made to fit into the national framework through debates and specific policies rooted in Bali. Moreover, Reformasi and the ensuing lightning-fast liberalization and globalization of Indonesian multireligious environments have established and specified divinity and its consequent morality in respective religions. The chapter notes monistic values are hierarchically superior to pluralistic values.
Becoming operators in factories as young women has brought about an unprecedented change for Tami... more Becoming operators in factories as young women has brought about an unprecedented change for Tamil women living in Penang (Malaysia). Devigai and Jayesh, today in their forties, have been unskilled workers since their teens. Their life embodies the tension that Tamil women feel today between their perception of their job as a basic individual resource and a whole set of life practices embedded in ethnic belonging, especially in the sphere of marriage strategies. The dichotomy these women experience between their life at work and their life in their “ethnic community” brings about confusion at a personal level in terms of self-perception. The difficulty these women have in perceiving themselves as workers is the consequence of Malaysian developmentalist politics, as well as one of the basic conditions for the country’s fast industrial development.
Typically, scholars approach migrants' religions as a safeguard of cultural identity, somethi... more Typically, scholars approach migrants' religions as a safeguard of cultural identity, something that connects migrants to their communities of origin. This ethnographic anthology challenges that position by reframing the religious experiences of migrants as a transformative force capable of refashioning narratives of displacement into journeys of spiritual awakening and missionary calling. These essays explore migrants' motivations in support of an argument that to travel inspires a search for new meaning in religion.
Quando, a un anno dalla scomparsa di Ugo Fabietti, abbiamo cominciato a lavorare a un numero dell... more Quando, a un anno dalla scomparsa di Ugo Fabietti, abbiamo cominciato a lavorare a un numero della rivista Antropologia a lui dedicato, ci siamo chiesti come essergli fedeli e come trasmettere attraverso queste pagine le sue qualita intellettuali e affettive di collega, amico e maestro, mantenendo integri la vitalita e il potenziale euristico della sua eredita intellettuale. La rivista e stata fondata da Ugo Fabietti nel 2001 come “progetto culturale (…) per riflettere in maniera pertinente, approfondita e circonstanziata sulle forme culturali della contemporaneita”. Ugo Fabietti l’ha diretta e trasformata, nel 2014, da collana di saggi tematici sull’antropologia della contemporaneita in pubblicazione a consultazione gratuita online con un sistema di revisione in doppio cieco. Negli anni Ugo Fabietti ha formato e si e formato con molte delle persone che vi hanno lavorato e vi lavorano, ha trovato i mezzi per fabbricarla e si e speso perche continuasse a vivere dentro alle continue t...
This article describes a vision of time (the past and the future) in post-industrial dynamics tha... more This article describes a vision of time (the past and the future) in post-industrial dynamics that the author and her co-researchers could gain through shooting a film in the region of Lhokseumawe, Aceh, a once fruitful site of extraction of natural gas subsequently planned to become a Special Economic Zone. It engages with the notion of “worlding” processes and pinpoints, in the ethnographic case of Aceh, the difficulty to access them through discourse because specific strategies of silencing and erasure are enforced throughout an emotional landscape. It is argued that it was the use of film-making as a relational tool aiming to create images that enabled the researchers to see through time and beyond regimes of invisibility. This is how they met ghosts on the gas scene. The steps in the making of an ethnographic film are used as a narrative lead. A scene is set up where the extractive economy of gas is linked to a global vision of development and prosperity as well as to present a...
This chapter looks into the imposed order and conflicting superdiversity of mixed religion enviro... more This chapter looks into the imposed order and conflicting superdiversity of mixed religion environments in Medan. It focuses on the historical change of practiced religious tolerance in line with the Tamil Hindu ritual carried in Medan. A specific analysis of moral values is needed to examine an enacted pluralism in a neighborhood. Hinduism was made to fit into the national framework through debates and specific policies rooted in Bali. Moreover, Reformasi and the ensuing lightning-fast liberalization and globalization of Indonesian multireligious environments have established and specified divinity and its consequent morality in respective religions. The chapter notes monistic values are hierarchically superior to pluralistic values.
Introduction to Antropologia's Special Focus on "Independent Children", Volume 4 (2) (Guest Edito... more Introduction to Antropologia's Special Focus on "Independent Children", Volume 4 (2) (Guest Editors: Giuseppe Bolotta, Silvia Vignato).
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All the articles in this Special Focus are accessible online: http://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/issue/view/91/showToc