HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
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Ethics, morality, and moralizing in anthropological research
No full textIn response to papers by Langlitz on the position of the devil’s advocate and Van Dinther on morality and advocacy, I try to parse ethics, morality, and moralizing in light of my two recent studies: of the rehabilitation of child sex molesters, and of the incorporation of Syrian refugees in Germany. I argue against any automatic politicizing or moralizing of our research objects, though this is not a categorical opposition. There are times when the anthropologist is thrust into a political advocacy role, and where avoidance in assuming this role would be unethical. That has indeed been the case for my work with and on refugees. However, ethical research with child sex molesters was possible only by depoliticizing and de-moralizing their location in contemporary culture. To study a subject widely assumed incorrigible and defined as evil, ethnographic research was possible only through empathetic understanding and the ability to situate the subject in a developmental frame to understand how he or she has arrived at the act of child molestation and what the possibilities for change of the self are
The rebirth of an old question: A comment on “Where are our ancestors? Rethinking Trobriand cosmology”
No full textJarillo et al. have offered an insightful rethinking of the role of baloma in reincarnation and the perpetuation of the dala lineage in Trobriand cosmology, based on an innovative and collaborative methodology, that counters the prevailing wisdom first published by Malinowski and reinforced in numerous disparate publications since. This comment reflects on Jarillo et al.’s argument and offers some additional comments about the role of rebirth in the contemporary Trobriand Islands
The alienating inalienable: Rethinking Annette Weiner’s concept of inalienable wealth through Japan’s “sleeping kimono”
No full textBased on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in Japan, this article focuses on collections of gifted kimono that have accumulated in the home, which are usually intended to be passed from mother to daughter and thus enable the perpetuation of family history. I argue that the kimono, as an inalienable possession, is now not as often passed down as it was intended to be, and that this causes a sense of alienation to occur: alienation from the kimono itself, but also alienation from the family and the self within the family. Further, this article scrutinizes elements of Annette Weiner’s theory, which has not been examined in depth—such as the context in which inalienable wealth occurs—and explores the workings of inalienability in a large-scale, capitalist society such as Japan. I argue that inalienable wealth in these societies is particularly vulnerable to sociocultural, economic, and generational change, and that this has an important impact on the inalienability of an object—in other words, an object cannot be fully inalienable without the social context at least in part supporting its inalienability. I pay particular attention to the emotional labor needed to care for and transmit inalienable wealth and what happens when inalienable wealth is not successfully transmitted
By means of squirrels and eggs: Kinship and mutual recognition among the Khmu Yuan of Northern Laos
No full textThis article explores the relevance of an ostensibly unpretentious gift exchange of squirrels and eggs in order to illuminate how asymmetric kin ties among the Khmu Yuan of Northern Laos are realized. Employing the concept of mutual recognition, it will be shown that this particular gift exchange amounts to an act of mutual recognition between asymmetric kin that makes the recognized relationship efficacious vis-à-vis observing others and spirits. The power of the spirits not only to observe but also to intervene in the aftermath of receiving the wrong gift points to the potential drawbacks that this efficacy might have
When ethics runs counter to morals
No full textIn the present conjuncture, Brazilian social anthropologists are facing a major challenge to their work. I suggest that this happens because of anthropology’s central dependence on the ethnographic method. The ethnographer’s direct contact with the people they study gives rise to an ethical response that moves the ethnographer beyond abstract moral principles. But, in the world of Jair Bolsonaro or Donald Trump, ethics counters morals: the objectivized, legalistic formulas favored by these autocratic ideologues (supposedly representing “tradition” and “identity”) turn out not to correspond to the actual conditions that face the persons that anthropologists meet in the field, who experience oppression and suffering in their lives
Is Mainland China the source of all of Hong Kong’s problems?
No full textIn the protest movement in Hong Kong in 2019, the growing influence of Mainland China was perceived to be responsible for the erosion of freedom of speech, skyrocketing housing prices, the dwindling of welfare resources, and other social issues. I suggest that assigning guilt to Mainland China for all of the frustrations of Hong Kong’s residents reproduces the mystique of the power of the authoritarian regime and takes attention away from the structural violence in daily life that has led to conflict, confrontation, fragmentation, and discrimination. This article traces the historical trajectory of Hong Kong’s colonial and post-handover governance and political economy to contextualize the structural violence in everyday lives. It then shows how the blame of such structural violence is put on immigrants from Mainland China, the victims of such violence
Review of Jens Kjaerulff. “Situating time: New technologies at work, a perspective from Alfred Gell’s oeuvre”
No full textWhere are our ancestors? Rethinking Trobriand cosmology
No full textReincarnation has been a fundamental tenet of anthropologists’ representations of Trobriand cosmology since Bronislaw Malinowski published “Baloma; The spirits of the dead in the Trobriand Islands” in 1916. Yet, during recent ethnographic fieldwork, many Trobrianders repeatedly denied the possibility of rebirth. Faced with a potential major shift in this fundamental belief, we used a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods to assess current Trobriand cosmological views. Drawing on a combination of structured and semi-structured interviews and focus groups, we tested the current validity of prior cosmological representations as found in the literature. In this article, we first analyze the results of the questionnaires. Second, we examine some of the implications that current beliefs have for Trobriand kinship and cosmology. And third, in light of the observed near universal negation of reincarnation, we discuss whether Trobrianders’ reported assumptions about the afterlife changed drastically in the last century or if Malinowski misrepresented them at the outset