Vignettes

When I was in Finland, I had a lecture on political anthropology mostly based on fieldwork from Taiwan. I can’t tell you how interesting it was. He talked about game and other perspectives on politics, sovereignty and the legitimation of power and of course, about China, both the mainland and Taiwan. I was fascinated. I had been interested in China as a possible location for future field work and study, and this quite inspired me to look more into it.  So, it seems as if I might be taking a minor in China Studies and Standard Mandarin this year. It’d be 2 years – or perhaps just one and a half. I’m really hoping I can find a way to make it work with my studies and plans.  I’ll keep you posted. Right now I just have a lot of ideas and thoughts and I need to work on some more concrete plans…

Next semester, I’ll be finishing my Bachelor’s – in anthropology, for those new to the blog – and I have to do a major project and write a so-called Bachelor’s essay, even though it’s more like a mini-thesis; i.e. it should be research based. I’m constantly considering my options, and in doing so, I’ve got to thinking a lot about what anthropology is as a science and scholarly discipline and what it can contribute to the world. And what people write on the walls of public toilets. Read the rest of this entry »

So I went t Institutional Accommodation of Diversity, worried as I was about the course: Haphazard endorsement of multicultural policies and overly liberal (or naïve) idyllic images of a cornucopia of diversity… all the well-meaning and optimistic things that make conservative skin crawl. I mean, of course we’re not that bad – I’m just skeptical of overly liberal immigration and cultural policies for a number of reasons, and taking a course on how to make societal institutions more accommodating of immigrants seemed perhaps not quite to fit that well with my impression of what our policies should be toward immigrants and asylum seekers. But my worries were put to shame. The course seemed very interesting, my co-students were all well-prepared and seemed motivated and the level is appropriate and challenging. I am very well pleased. Perhaps I shouldn’t be such a worry wort?

Meanwhile: I’m writing the essay for Political Opinion. “Discrepancies in National Identity & Xenophobia” is the working title. As stated before, I’m talking about civic/ethnic identity, elite/popular perceptions and … stuff. It’s overdue, but for legitimate reasons like not being able to access the papers and materials I’ve needed.

On “radical critique”

As a student of anthropology and at the same time – perhaps paradoxically, some might say – what many would consider a right wing political activist, the matter of “radical critique” is one with which I am all too familiar.

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For a few weeks now I’ve been following a course called ”Societal Problems and Solutions” – a half applied, half-theoretical course consisting of a series of lectures, classes accompanying a project within health, social work, environmental affairs or education – Read the rest of this entry »