Download Key words

Zbigniew Jasiewicz
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY/ETHNOLOGY IN FACE OF THE DUALITY OF
GLOBALISATION. GLOBALISATION AS AN ELEMENT OF OBJECTIVE WORLD
AND GLOBALISATION AS IDEOLOGY
(Summary)
On the one hand globalisation and its consequences create an objective reality and on
the other – a subjective reality, which transforms into ideology, i.e. globalism. The author
notices both the separateness and autonomy of globalisation as a process and socio-economic
state and globalism as ideology and the relations between them. He poses a question about the
chronology of the globalisation process, also as regards the evolution of global science,
including global cultural anthropology. He is aware of the delays in modern anthropological
research on globalisation, but he tries to discover their provenance in earlier studies. In his
opinion the involvement of anthropologists in studies on globalisation and development of a
programme of such studies not only creates an opportunity for better understanding of the
phenomenon but also for further development of anthropology.
Key words: cultural anthropology, globalisation, globalism, history of anthropology,
ideology
Aleksander Posern-Zieliński
GLOBALISATION IN THE „FOURTH WORLD”
AND NEW INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS
(Summary)
Processes of globalisation have their centres and peripheries but they spread
systematically without avoiding any area. They also reach the areas of the “fourth world”, i.e.
regions inhabited by indigenous peoples pushed by colonial conditions and post-colonial
politics to the margin of economic, social and civil life. In these areas, at least from the final
decades of the 20th c., a new community of indigenous peoples has been formed, mainly
thanks to the organisations that are established there, their leaders and the new ideas reaching
them, external aid and solidarity support. The aspirations of indigenous peoples include the
defence of their own territory and the natural environment, attempts at empowerment and
legal recognition of their rights, parity in public life, and autonomy, at least cultural
autonomy. Attempts at preserving their ethnic identity and cultural heritage and support for
the ethnodevelopment of indigenous groups are important aspects of their efforts. The
establishment of a network of indigenous peoples and organisations and the formation of the
ideology of the “fourth world” is an emancipatory achievement of post-colonial indigenous
groups, achieved to a large extent thanks to globalisation. However, globalisation poses a
serious threat to the indigenous peoples, mainly because of the economic expansion targeted
at the areas which they inhabit, strong impact of the global popular culture, labour related
migration, and eco- and ethnotourism. Indigenous peoples oppose these conditions, often
stressing their anti-/alterglobal attitude. Their commitment to defend their own interests
shows that these communities are better and better prepared to the new living conditions in
the world of global dependences, relations and flows.
Key words: globalisation, indigenous peoples, new indigenous movements, new ethnic
movements, ethnicity
2
Wojciech Dohnal
GLOBAL CITIES AND THEIR INHABITANTS.
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
(Summary)
The article discusses global cities – the economic, political and financial centres of the
modern world. However, the author does not focus on the economic importance of global
cities but on their socio-cultural uniqueness. In this perspective cities are perceived as the
most advanced evolutionary form of urban organisms, which developed during post-industrial
globalisation. The latter made modern global cities centres with free movement of people and
migrations as their inalienable features. By reference to Ulf Hannerz’ concept of transnational
connections the author discusses four main social categories that make up global cities:
representatives of international business, populations originating in the Third World, the
people of culture and tourists. While describing all four of them, the author draws attention to
the consequences that the presence of these groups have in the cultural, social and spatial
dimensions.
Key words: city, global city, urbanisation, globalisation, transnational connections
3
Waldemar Kuligowski
ETHNICITY IN THE INTERNET ECUMEN. IS DIGITAL SOLIDARITY POSSIBLE?
(Summary)
The author has analysed forms of presence of selected ethnic groups in the Internet.
The typology of modern ethnic groups formulated by Thomas Hylland Eriksen has been used.
Eriksen has identified four types of ethnic groups: 1. urban ethnic minorities, 2. indigenous
peoples, 3. proto-nations and 4. ethnic groups in plural societies.
Each of the types of ethnic groups identified by Eriksen is illustrated with one
example. The urban ethnic minority is represented by the Assyrians, indigenous peoples – by
the Mapuche from Chile, proto-nations – by the Tamils and the ethnic groups in plural
societies by the Garifuna in Belize. The question about the “Internet versions of ethnic
identities” is also a question about the nature of the groups and their online relations, the
relations between the real and virtual culture as well as about the “digital solidarity”, its
potential and limitations.
Key words: identity, solidarity, ethnicity, Internet
4
Agnieszka Chwieduk
GLOBALISATION VERSUS GROUP IDENTITY.
BETWEEN THE TEXT AND RESEARCH PRACTICE
(Summary)
The article discusses the contradictions between the general scientific reflection on
globalisation present in social sciences and the attempts of the anthropologist who tries to
interpret the phenomenon of globalisation and its social and cultural consequences in a
specific local space. Two opposing scientific discourses appear against this background – one
is theoretical, rather poorly rooted in empirical research and focused on the attempt to capture
universal features of globalisation, detached from a specific place and time, and the other,
more anthropological, primarily focused on the phenomenon of glocalisation, which is
engaged in field research. Our understanding of the globalisation/glocalisation processes
depends on how these phenomena are conceptualised and on the adequate research method
chosen.
The author discusses the character of relations linking globalisation to the identity
building processes and makes references to the concepts of such researchers as Roland
Robertson, Ajrun Appadurai, Ulf Hannerz, Manuel Castells, James Clifford, and Zygmunt
Bauman. She shows examples of the empirical research of globalisation processes, presented
in Polish anthropological texts. The author emphasises the need to conduct profound studies
aimed at capturing the sense that local communities associate with the globalisation impacts,
thus reorganising their particular world and reconstructing their identity.
Key words: globalisation, glocalisation, group identity
5
Elżbieta Kostowska-Watanabe
“I AM AFRAID OF DANAÄNS, EVEN WHEN THEY BRING GIFTS”.
GLOBALISATION IN THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
–
THE CASE OF JAPAN
(Summary)
In the context of the debate about the globalisation processes, the author describes
Göran Therborn’s theory of globalisation phases and Immanuel Wallerstein’s arguments
about European universalism as a concept strongly connected with the colonial, post-colonial
and neo-liberal discourse of power. The second part of the article contains reflections on the
contacts between Japan and the external world, mainly Euro-American world, and particularly
in the Meiji period. Processes of economic and social transformation of Japan under external
influence have been explained. This was the time of profound transformations in the cultural
space and everyday life (the reform of the calendar and holidays, introduction of Shinto –
state religion). Examples taken from the Japanese history clearly show how the so-called
Westernization (i.e. globalisation) has become a factor of destruction of traditional systems.
On the other hand, Western (global) ideas have been transformed and adapted to the local
cultural conditions.
Key words: globalisation, European universalism, Japan, holidays, lunar calendar
6
Danuta Penkala-Gawęcka
ON GLOBALISATION AND GLOCALISATION OF BIOMEDICINE
– THE EXAMPLE OF KAZAKHSTAN
(Summary)
The article deals with the processes of globalisation and glocalisation, i.e. adaptation
of global ideas and emergence of their local forms, with reference to biomedicine in Central
Asia, particularly in Kazakhstan. The author analyses the problems of penetration and
adaptation of Western medicine in Central Asia from the historical perspective, using written
sources. While presenting contemporary glocalisation of biomedicine, she relates to her long
time field research conducted in Kazakhstan in the second part of the 1990s.
The expansion of Western medicine in Central Asia is connected with the conquest of
these lands by Tsarist Russia. This period was characterised by the lack of a clear border
between biomedicine and traditional medicine – the former adapted to a large extent to the
local conditions. It was not a strong rival to the traditional forms of healing, which still
satisfied most of the health needs of the population. On the other hand in the first period of
Soviet rule very strong propaganda was directed against traditional medicine as based on
superstitions, reactionary, and opposing progress. Nevertheless, biomedicine adapted to the
local socio-cultural conditions, also in the Soviet period. The trends to bring together
biomedicine and different unconventional therapies intensified particularly when Kazakhstan
and other states in the region gained their independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Some unconventional methods were incorporated into biomedicine (e.g. acupuncture or
manual therapies), others, especially those originating from Kazakh folk medicine, were
recognised and recommended by the state as good supplement to biomedicine. The author
analyses these processes, drawing attention to the close relation between the growing
importance of complementary medicine and the political and socio-cultural situation of that
period.
Key words: globalisation, glocalisation, biomedicine, traditional medicine, complementary
medicine, medical pluralism, Kazakhstan
7
Natalia Bloch
CAN A YAK EATER BECOME A VEGETARIAN? A GLOBAL ANIMAL RIGHTS
DISCOURSE AS THE “INVENTED TRADITION” IN THE TIBETAN DIASPORA
(Summary)
The article tries to answer the question about the incorporation of globally spread
socio-political categories by groups from outside the Western cultural circles. The author aims
to explain the reasoning behind these ideas and how they are translated into the practice of
everyday life. As an illustration of the problem she has chosen the discourse on animal rights
and vegetarianism as the “new Tibetan tradition”, since during several years of field research
in the camps of Tibetan refugees in India she had the opportunity to follow the birth of the
idea and its development.
Refugees are an interesting group to analyse such phenomena, because they are part of
what is called the “international refugee regime” and are forced to engage in a dialogue with
the dominant discourses. The article shows that although the participants of the dialogue do
not have equal rights, it can be the source of the group subjectivity, and the group uses it to
accomplish their own objectives. Eric Hobsbawm’s concept of “invention of tradition” has
been used to analyse the process.
Key words: Tibetan diaspora, India, Dharamsala, Dalai Lama, invention of tradition, animal
rights, vegetarianism
8
Ryszard Vorbrich
AN IRON POT AND A CLAY POT OR THE TRIBAL SOCIETY CLASHED WITH THE
NATIONAL AND GLOBAL SOCIETY. THE CASE OF CAMEROON
(Summary)
The article deals with the transformations of the tribal society, its structures and tribal
mentality in African post-colonial states, shown from the perspective of Cameroon, where the
author conducted field studies for a few years. The author discusses the relations between the
state and the tribe and between the new elites and the people who continue to live in the tribal
community. The strategy aimed at the marginalisation of tribes pursued by the elites of postcolonial states was met with defence and adaptation reactions, which helped to retain many
elements of the tribal tradition in the new national order. At the same time representatives of
tribal communities discovered new possibilities of involvement, resorting to the ideological
discourse and developmental solutions offered by the external world, especially by different
global institutions.
Key words: tribe, globalisation, post-colonialism, post-tribal society, development,
witchcraft, Africa, Cameroon
9
Halina Rusek
GLOBALISATION AND BORDERLAND – THE SPECIAL CASE OF CIESZYN SILESIA
(Summary)
Globalisation under the conditions of the ethnocultural borderland assumes a special
form. The article illustrates the problem using Cieszyn Silesia, i.e. the Polish and Czech
borderland as an example. In this territory the problem of identity of individuals and social
groups, who live on the border of many cultures, in constant contact with the “other”, is
particularly evident. An intensive exchange process of cultural elements in the course of
constant and direct contacts is also characteristic. In this way a specific transborder
atmosphere is created, with various cultural, social and economic contacts over the political
borders of the neighbouring states. Cultural syncretism of the inhabitants of such an area and
the ability to freely move in both cultural spaces is one of the features of these transborder
relations. A change of attitudes, including the shortening of the ethnic distance between both
neighbouring national groups, is the result of the “open border” after the accession of Poland
and the Czech Republic to the European Union. These phenomena have been favoured by the
continuous local border traffic, which leads to transgressive behaviour, i.e. transgressing
many existing ethnic, cultural and social barriers. Against this background the author presents
a new function of the Polish-Czech border as an important factor linking rather than dividing
people.
Key words: globalisation, ethnic borderland, identity, transborder relations, interethnic
contacts
10
Anna Kwaśniewska
AN ETHNIC GROUP AT THE TIME OF GLOBALISATION
– THE EXAMPLE OF KASHUBIANS
(Summary)
The article discusses the situation of Kashubians in Poland against modern
globalisation processes. The Kashubian language, identified as one of the basic elements of
identity and the foundation of the culture of this group is gradually disappearing, particularly
as the everyday means of communication. Reluctance of the young generation to speak the
language and the diminishing role of the family as the enculturation group are among the
main reasons for this. On the other hand, an opposite trend is observed, namely revitalisation
of the Kashubian language in the public space, which is accompanied by the strengthening of
its legal status and its recognition as the regional language, having the status of an auxiliary
official language. The regional artistic creativity is also an important element of the
Kashubian identity. Today pride of one’s own cultural heritage, promoted by the local press,
television, radio, Internet, cultural events, organisations and institutions, is a significant factor
contributing to and strengthening the identity.
The author shows how the processes that strengthen the Kashubian identity overlap
globalisation phenomena. She presents Kashubia as a region whose inhabitants look for
equilibrium between globalisation trends and retention of their ethnoregional uniqueness.
Key words: globalisation, glocalisation, Kashubians, ethnic group, identity, regionalism,
regional languages
11
Zbigniew Jasiewicz
STUDIES OF FOLK LITERATURE, ETHNOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, AND
ANTHROPOLOGY. INTERESTS OF THE EMERGING POLISH
ETHNOLOGY/CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN MID 19TH CENTURY
(Summary)
The aim of the article is to discuss the importance of mid 19th century (1840-1865) for
the development of Polish ethnology and cultural anthropology. On the basis of publications
and archival materials from that time the author presents ethnological/anthropological
interests and studies. Using the terms applied at that time, the author identifies studies of folk
literature, ethnography, ethnology and anthropology and indicates the subject and problems of
those studies. Folk literature was no longer the main object of interest; it was more often
connected with a broader scope of folk culture, studied within the framework of ethnography.
A concept of ethnology that focused not on the people – a social layer, but on nationalities
and peoples – ethnic groups was developed. Ethnology understood in this way comprised
ethnography as an empirical science, aimed at collecting materials. The concept of
anthropology as a science with the broadest scope, i.e. comprising the human being belonging
to both the world of biology and culture was also known.
Polish ethnological/anthropological research was pursued on the basis of the
knowledge of the achievements of European science, mainly German and French. The
conditions connected with the lack of a national state were also important for the directions of
studies. Besides, the lack of the national state made establishment of scientific institutions
much more difficult, which, in turn, prevented professionalisation of researchers. Studies
pursued in mid 19th c. did not result in the identification of ethnology/cultural anthropology as
an independent scientific discipline. However, they created foundations for its emergence at
the turn of the 19th c.
Key words: ethnography, ethnology, anthropology, cultural anthropology, studies of folk
literature, history of Polish ethnology
12
Dorota Angutek
CANADIAN ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE SENSES
– AN ALTERNATIVE TO POSTMODERNISM
(Summary)
The author presents the orientation of the anthropology of the senses, which has been
developing in Canada since mid 1980s. She discusses the founding initiative, the role of the
critique of modernism, the consequences of the dominance of the sense of sight in Western
culture and the theoretical findings to date. She elaborates on the treatment of the senses as
the basic filter and creator of knowledge about the world, which conditions any other form of
man’s mental and physical activity.
Canadian researchers treat perception as the area of cultural processes; they detach
themselves from the error of treating sensory experience as a natural phenomenon. This
approach contradicts modernist, cognitive and postmodernist concepts of learning about the
world and its cultural interpretation. Using ethnographic data on “chemical” senses and the
tactile sense opens an entirely new field of experience for cultural anthropology. Canadian
anthropologists, using special research techniques, learn about different possibilities of
experiencing the world and interpreting it through the senses. With this data, they try to
overcome theoretical and epistemological limitations of contemporary anthropology, enrich
its theoretical instruments and change its quality. The project to create a completely new
research orientation, started by the anthropologists of the Concordia University in Montreal,
has not been completed yet. But it can be said that the Canadian anthropology of the senses
has initiated an important epistemological breakthrough in social sciences.
Key words: anthropology of the senses, senses, oculocentrism, perception, postmodernism,
epistemological breakthrough
13
Ivan Peshkov
THE RUSSIANS FROM INNER MONGOLIA IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR PROJECTED
AND PRACTISED PAST. THE PITFALLS OF ”RETROSPECTIVE RUSSIANNESS”
ALONG THE RUSSIAN-CHINESE BORDER
(Summary)
The article offers a case study of a Russian borderline community living in Inner
Mongolia, China. The key cultural feature of the group is its retrospective orientation to the
”Russian” period of the region’s history. Its members’ cultural practice includes constant
references to the past and is based on the manifestation of public memory concentrated solely
on the Russian aspects of the group’s history. Simultaneously, the community keeps
generating fairly complicated references to the contemporary Russian culture. The latter in
turn has been dynamically adapting both the Soviet and emigrational models of
conceptualising the region’s past.
The juxtaposition of the two concepts of ”retrospective Russianness” has created a
unique situation of enchantment with the past expressed by both researchers and their
respondents. Consequently, the cultural needs of the post-Soviet society have considerably
influenced the methodology employed by the researchers studying the region in question. In
this context ”Russianness” – both the one projected by the Russians and the one represented
by the local community – constitutes, first of all, a significant obstacle to understanding the
social role of the group’s memory and, secondly, an instrument for conscious deformation of
the real situation in order to create an idealised image of the past.
Key
words:
Inner
Mongolia,
Russian-Chinese
borderland,
mixed
communities,
Transbaikalian Cossacks, local Russians, “retrospective Russianness”
14
Joanna Mroczkowska
MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE IN KYRGYZSTAN – THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME,
COLLECTIVITY AND VIOLENCE
(Summary)
The article discusses the practice of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. The article was
written on the basis of ethnographic studies conducted in Kyrgyzstan in summer 2005. The
author describes this controversial practice and analyses some of its aspects – violence,
temporal dimension and collectivity. This practice, common in modern Kyrgyzstan, although
many women have a very negative opinion about it, is an accepted form of marriage.
Bride kidnapping is a much diversified phenomenon, having many meanings and
representing different motivations of the actors. It also assumes many forms – from forceful
kidnapping of the girl who has been seen for the first time to an arranged meeting with the
fiancée, who is taken to the groom’s family home, in which case it can be a way of
circumventing the disapproval of the parents. The article describes marriage by capture as a
dramatic and multidimensional event, which radically changes the life of the kidnapped
victims.
Key words: Kyrgyzstan, marriage, marriage by capture, bride kidnapping, violence
15
Anna Maria Kijewska
KURBAN IN KYZ ANA TEKKE – MODERN TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE
SACRIFICE TRADITIONS IN THE MUSLIM SANCTUARY IN NORTH-EASTERN
BULGARIA
(Summary)
The article discusses the problems of Islam in modern Bulgaria and focuses on kurban,
i.e. a practice of animal sacrifice by the tomb of a Muslim saint, in the so-called tekke.
Bulgarian Islam is internally divided – there are the Sunnis and the Shiites, there is an
ethnic diversity and local diversity. The followers of Bulgarian Islam include Sunni Muslims:
Turks, Turkish Gypsy, Bulgarian Muslims (sometimes called Pomaks or Bulgarian
Mohamedans), Tartars and Bulgarian Aliani, who are believed to be Shia Muslims.
Religious organisations revived after the fall of the communist regime. Foreign
national models of Islam penetrated into Bulgaria as a result of the education of clergy in
Islamic states and as a result of globalisation processes. Many of these models are in
opposition to the local traditions of Bulgarian Muslims, which include, e.g. the pilgrimage to
tekke. The custom of blood sacrifice in tekke is becoming more and more popular, although
veneration of the saints is in contradiction with the principles of the institutional Sunni Islam
that gains in strength in Bulgaria. This article presents the changes in modern Muslim
religiosity in Bulgaria and the dissonance between the Islam represented by Muslim clergy
and the local variants of Islam. The material used in the article was collected during field
research conducted by the author in 2008-2010 in Kyz Ana Tekke (120 km west of Varna)
and in nearby villages.
Key words: kurban, sacrifice, Islam, tekke, Muslim prayer, woman-hodja, Bulgaria
16
Anna Witeska-Młynarczyk
AUTOBIOGRAPHIC MEMORY OF POLISH “VICTIMS” AND “OPPRESSORS” FROM
THE COMMUNIST TIMES IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTORICAL POLITICS OF THE
LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY
(Summary)
The article is based on field research using the multi-sited ethnography method,
conducted during the rule of the Law and Justice party, which promoted the policy of
historical squaring. The studies comprised two main categories of informants: the former
political prisoners of the communist times and the former functionaries of the security police,
who live in a certain medium sized town in Poland. The author posed a question about the
impact that the changing policy of remembrance and in particular its distinctive character
during the rule of the Law and Justice party had on these two groups of people politically
involved during communist times on two different sides. She was interested in finding out
how the “bureaucratic culture of remembrance”, i.e. creation of official narration about the
past through institutionalised channels impacts on the identity of the individual, and in this
way on the experience of individual memory and on the process of rationalization of past
behaviours. Furthermore, the author puts forward a proposition of the adequate methodology
to study the processes of memory in the shaping of which state institutions are involved.
Key words: memory, politics of memory, communism, identity, narration, transformation,
Poland, Law and Justice party, Institute of National Remembrance
17
Mateusz Szubert
SANCTIFIED ILLNESS – THE CASE OF SISTER FAUSTINA
(Summary)
The article analyses Sister Faustina’s Diary – Divine Mercy in my Soul, which reveals
the exceptional ability of the author to transcend pain and sanctify it. Tuberculosis and the
related suffering were for Sister Faustina a sign of being chosen, called to accomplish the
mission of salvation. The teleologisation of the illness is an example of her Christian
interpretation where intentionality of physical suffering interweaves with the vision of the
Passion. From the perspective of psychopathology, one the other hand, the mission of the
saint is reduced to visual and auditory hallucinations with the sublimation of human drives
being at their source.
The experience of chronic health dysfunction leaves an open road to interpretation.
The illness can, as in the case of Sister Faustina, be subjected to cultural and religious
signification or stripped of any meaning. The author draws attention to the interpretation of
Sister Kowalska’s case from the perspective of medical anthropology. In this interpretation
the illness becomes a relativised text of culture, which implies the necessity for a holistic
approach. Cultural anthropology (and its subdiscipline, i.e. medical anthropology) overcomes
the limitations of biomedical paradigm, showing that the illness is a phenomenon at the
intersection of many discourses and ideologies.
The main aim of the article is to show the worldviews which orientate contemporary
reflection on the problem of health and illness, discussed in both the contextual and general
theoretical dimensions.
Key words: suffering, illness, sanctity, craziness, scientism, soteriology, mysticism, Sister
Faustina
18
Rafał Korczak
PRZYWOŁYWKI FROM SZYMBORZE
– A UNIQUE PHENOMENON OF THE REGIONAL CULTURE IN KUJAWY
(Summary)
Easter Monday calls (przywoływki) is a custom practised in Kujawy, in preparation for
the traditional dousing of the girls with water (dyngus). The names of the local young girls for
whom the young men have paid a ransom are called out in public and the men say how much
water they will pour on the girls. Presently, the custom is practised only in Szymborze,
formerly a village and today one of the districts of Inowrocław. The Easter Monday calls
survived in Szymborze thanks to the Bachelors’ Club Association, which is officially
registered, has its own seal, statute and “minutes book”. The beginnings of this exceptional
organisation which groups local bachelors go back to the times of Poland’s partition. Earlier,
more complex social functions of the custom of “przywoływki” have disappeared while their
entertainment functions have prevailed. Today “przywoływki” have a negligible impact on
the local life although they continue to be valued by the inhabitants of Szymborze as the
expression of the local tradition, worthy of sustaining, and an opportunity for entertainment.
The author presents transformations of the customs and the attitude of the inhabitants
of Szymborze to it, both the old and young generations. The article was written on the basis of
field research conducted in 2009-2010.
Key words: tradition, custom, regional culture, local community, Easter Monday calls,
dyngus, Szymborze, Kujawy
19