Documentary on migration to the EU (in French and Italian)

I recently discovered this series of videos about recent state approaches to migrants in Europe. I recommend it because it traces the origins of different policies and strategies to control and repress migrants in Europe - especially in France, Italy and Greece. Each video is well edited and brings to light issues that are often hidden in public debates. Scholars activists civil servants explain very clearly the state of the art of migration policies in Europe. A series of life stories told by people who recently migrated to Europe make it an invaluable sources for anyone interested in migration.

The episode below is about 'administrative retention' and it sheds light on the history of camps for civilians in France, first in the colonial territories (Algeria) and then in the metropoles. Highly recommended (and linked to the forthcoming panel at RC21)


 La rétention administrative по Osons_Savoir

Cultural fundamentalism. A step forward

"cultural fundamentalism/essentialism does not reify culture, but it is in reality about relationships between cultures as understood and bounded, internally homogeneous, integrated and exclusive sets of values, behavior and meanings which are thought to be inevitably threatened by foreigners who by definition have a different culture" (V. Stolcke, "Comment on Ralph Grillo, 'Cultural Essentialism and Cultural Anxiety'", Anthropological Theory, 3(2):175-77.

This makes all my reflections on cultural fundamentalism more nuanced, deeper, and finally more useful. When I talked about nationalism - the construction of the nation - in the State's very act of talking about Roma (i.e. producing discourses about Roma) I should have made a theoretical premise about performativity.This quote helps me understand with great clarity one fundamental step that is missing in my theoretical reasoning, namely the juncture between nationalism and policies and discourses vis-a-vis Roma. This applies to the Italian context. In the Romanian context, I would say, as well, but with different accents and linking a bit more tightly culture and morality...
I took that quote from an article by Gregory Feldmam (2005). Sometimes I wonder why I haven't read a certain article four or five years ago. This is exactly the case.

Urban camps. A conference session

After having reflected so much on the conditions and the history of camps for Roma in Italy (and France...), I decided to expand my reflections globally and comparatively.

'URBAN CAMPS FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: resources, livelihoods and governance'

is the title of a session I am co-organizing at the next RC21 conference (Berlin, end of August)

The last day for sending abstract is January 31, 2013!!

At the turn of the twenty-first century, camps constitute an increasingly prominent feature of urban landscapes across the world. There are refugee camps in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia; there are camps and ‘villages’ for Roma/Travellers in Europe; and there are camps and centres for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in Europe, the United States, and Australia. These are but some examples of urban sites, which, although planned as emergency devices for the management of displaced or unwanted people, have become enduring socio-spatial formations. The aim of this session is to explore how camps interact with the broader structure and infrastructure of the city, how they are governed, and how they operate as sites of everyday life. To this end, we seek papers that look at urban camps: (1) from above, by focusing on the ruling agencies and exploring forms of urban and international governance; and (2) from below, by examining strategies of access to material and symbolic resources among camp inhabitants. We welcome papers addressing questions such as: are camps shaping an emerging type of urban social order? What type of resources and what kind of discourses do ruling agencies mobilize in planning and managing urban camps? Under what conditions do camps from emergency devices permute into permanent socio-spatial formations? What types of subjectivities, understandings of citizenship, and forms of politics emerge in these camps? We particularly welcome papers that look at camps in minor or large cities, thus generating new insights, questions and perspectives for comparative urban research.

Writing on writing

hErE - a very good piece by Les Back...Take your reader there

Favorite Anthropology Blogs

Here you can find the list of the most popular anthropology blogs. This was a good discovery for me, and it was also rewarding to see that Gopk was included in the competition. I could not compete with such 'sacred sources' as the ones that won the competition...but I was pleased of having been recognized as a 'anthropology blogger'. I think my blogging work during my Ph.D. was a good job and it will hopefully help me write up my first manuscript.

Writing Culture at 25: James Clifford

This video is helping me currently in writing up my paper on Cluj. Yes, finally I am writing an article - not just a paper - on Cluj.
This helps me in a very peculiar way. Clifford is not giving me practical tips. His way of speaking, rather than what he speaks about, helps me. It helps me approaching my data with a nice distance which allows irony and urges me to step back from a too deep involvement into my data, just for getting back from them understanding that my interpretations were simply fantasies on what I wanted to find. Projections, in other - less anthropological - words.
I admit, when I see these people, when I watch this gathering after 25 years of Writing Cultures, for example, I feel more than just good. Even my heartbeating feels relaxed.

What is happening to Europe (or to its Nation-States)?

A year after Sarkozy’s contested decision to expel EU citizens (Romanians and Bulgarians) from the French soil on the basis of their alleged threat to public order, a recent measure of the Spanish Government raises attention. The measure will probably have a less outstanding echo than the French one, but the assumptions from which it stems are not so different. From Thursday August 11, 2011 Romanian citizens without a Spanish legal work contract and intended to have it, cannot enter Spain. The practical implication of such measure is clear: Romanian will only enter Spain as tourists, since it is more likely to become part of the British Royal Family rather than to find a job in Spain without being there. Why this measure? According to the government, about a third of Romanians in Spain is unemployed. Add to that unprecedentedly low employment rates, the African political crises, and the global recession, and you get to the crystallization of a principle that comes from a far-away (because apparently forgotten) past. The European Commission approved, the Commissioner of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, saying: 'We give our support because of the particular situation of Spain'.

The European project of unity and social cohesion, as developed by Delors, Monnet, Spinelli, seems to clash always more frequently with the cracks that it had tried to mend. Those of national borders. To blur them seemed at that time to be the more desirable direction, firstly through the economy and finance, then through politics. However, many facts today pose serious questions on the extent of the success of that project, and – perhaps more importantly – on the potential of those ideas of being alternatives to nationalism in times of fast capitalism. As discussed Douglas Holmes (2000) it seems that French technocratic principles of administration, and Catholic social doctrine, by which the founding fathers were inspired, have failed to weaken the national principle. Frankly, it was not easy, as that principle has been the condition of possibility for politics over the last three centuries. The issue at stake today is that it seems to be again crystallizing and radicalizing.

Working summer

Vara placuta! Have a good summer everyone! For me it will be a busy one. It seems I am getting used to that, as last time I spent two weeks at the seaside was in 1995. This year, two conferences, one seminar, and six weeks of fieldwork. In two two weeks I'm heading to Cyprus. In Nicosia there is a conference on RESPECT, tolerance and multiculturalism in European cities, and I am giving a comparative history paper I am currently writing on 'campi nomadi' and 'villages d'insertions'.

Few days later I'll be in Amsterdam at the RC21 Urban Sociology conference, where I'm going to give a paper on comparative ethnography, social theory and everyday nationalism.

And next week I'll be in Florence at EUI Summer School on Migration - where I'll be giving a presentation on Romani migration and policy making.

Then, the two last weeks of July in Pescara, and finally August back to Cluj-Napoca.

Le sort des tziganes en France et en Europe

A brief lecture by professor Asséo about "Roma policy" in Europe since the beginning of the 20th century, stemming from an analysis of evictions by the French government in summer 2010.

Imagining Pata Rat

Pata Rat is a place that I visited in 2008 and so far it is still the same. It is a garbage dump, on which or close to which about 1.000 people live and out of which they make their daily living. It is a place which does not look like any place in the world I have been to. It is a challenge to common sense ideas of how groups of children, mothers, fathers and grandpas live their everyday. It's Romania, yes, and Romania is of course not Pata Rat, but also Pata Rat. Saying this means just acknowledging public responsibilities and provide a partial explanation on something which is far from being imaginable until you get there.

New Blog!

Today I received an email by two postgraduates in anthropology, telling about a new blog where anthropologists write what they do, and how their work can be beneficial to different organisations.

Here's the email:

"Our concern about the state of higher education has spurred usinto thinking about career opportunities for anthropologists outside of the academy. In order to help publicise the work that anthropologists and ethnographers do, we have set up a blog:  http://whatanthropologistsdo.co.uk/
What Anthropologists Do will feature profiles of anthropologists, with descriptions of their jobs and the contribution that they make to their organisation".

Please take deep interest in Japan massive quake

As I am part of anthropologymatters.com mailing list, today I received this email, which I post here. It touched me as it more than speculative or empirical accounts of natural disasters is able to communicate the sense of disappointment of Japanese and it gives the world a fair glimpse on what is going on beyond media accounts. (For contacting the author of this letter, please post a comment)

Dear all,
 
I am a doctoral student at University of Tokyo, Japan.
All you may have known  that Japan was struck by the massive quake on 11th 
March.
I know that the media would love to report sensational images of Tsunami, but 
the reality is not so simply "shocking" or "spectacle" like "the Day After 
Tomorrow".
In Tokyo area, most things function as usual.  
My place is located 20km from central Tokyo, 150km far from the blasting nuclear 
plants. Still we have after-quakes day in and day out.
I would like to let you know that people living outside of the devastated area 
are in trouble with food, electricity and so on. Everybody around here goes to 
office as usual, but once you enter a supermarket,  we can find little stuff on 
the shelves. All gas, batteries, candles are sold out. Many people do 
speculative stocking of materials. This contrast is surreal in a way. And these 
"not-photogenic" things less interest mass media.
 
A few days have passed since the massive quake.  I would say that it is about 
time that we,some anthropologists, mentioned about this disaster from various 
angles.
So, those wishing to make donations, it is much appreciated if you would chip in 
for charity to some reliable accounts (it won't be appropriate for me to say any 
particular). 
 
Not only money, I would think it would be good chance to discuss a subject of 
anthropologists' possible involvement on new issue: a developed countries' 
complex disasters (stock market collapse, exposure to radiation, blackout, food 
shortage, multinational sufferers, conflict between the evacuees etc...). 
 
So, if you are just starting to look for your anthropological field to research, 
please think about it. Possibly this study of Japan should contribute to a 
disaster prevention planning in your countries.  I know some Japanese 
anthropologists studying about disaster-resistant city, and they are looking for 
international network with those who are interested. 
 
So, if you get interested in studying about Japan in after disasters, please 
contact me.

(Unfortunately, I have been studying about walking pilgrimage in Santiago de 
Compostela,  and just started to write the doctoral thesis, so will take time to 
get involved in this matter.)
 
I posted this message maybe because I am very upset, and apologies in advance if 
this posting is not appropriate for this mailing list.
Raising a discussion here is not my intention. 
It is wonderful if you keep in mind that one of the Japanese anthropologists ask 
you to get interested in various sides of this disasters, and think about suburb 
of Tokyo as your potential field to research (aside from your own countries or 
former colonies).
 
Thank you so much for reading this, 
 
warmest regards,
 

PhD candidate
department of cultural anthropology
University of Tokyo
Japan,

Changes

...that world from which we are used to hear almost no news. That world which is seen as intrinsically "foreign", "strange", or hostis by "us": guest workers, nomads of the presents, are its citizens. That world is under siege by an inner social force against its political élite. Its changes are going to re-design power relations everywhere, and what's next is to be understood. Here one of the first critical reflections about that.

EN 2011

Follwoing the successful experience of last year, I am going to teach again a seminar within Political Sociology of Europe - MA Social Anthropology - University of Milan Bicocca. "Embodied Nationalisms", this is the title of the seminar, will explore the banal ways in which the nation as cultural fiction is perpetuated in everyday life, and how the state is promoting itself as a pure, immutable, eternal reality. In four classes I cannot do much, so I will focus on preparing and analyzing a field experience with students as we did last year, when we went to the marriage and birth municipal offices in Milan, and talked with bureaucrats.
With the Italian 150th adniversary of national unity, this year our field experience might touch on the commemorative side of nationalism...

Today

With this new shape, I am going to be blogging more frequently with short posts (posts, still, not tweets...:). For my current research I find much inspiration in Anthropology Today, a scholarly journal which is not as sophisticated as the standard academic publications. It provides insights on how anthropology and civil society can get together, without the former to renounce to its cultural critique and the latter to its passionate voice.

Conversation

A conversation with Michael Herzfeld (podcast) on bureaucracy, comparison, and the role of anthropology in our neoliberal world.

Michael Burawoy For Public Sociology

This is one of a series of videos of a 2009 lecture (all videos can be accessed here). In this video he lucidly explains the internal divisions of "sociological labour", and argues that public and critical sociology are as necessary as the professional and policy sides of doing sociology. Amazing lecture and intertaining show. (MB is professor of sociology at Berkely). Here his writings on the issue.

 I was thinking that intersecting this four-item scheme with the dychotomy deconstruction-positivism suggested by Herzfeld as basis of his "militant middle ground" would be an interesting excercise. Actually, there would be unbalance relaitons, as policy, professional and public sociology would fall into the "positivist" side of Herzfeld's dychotomy, while only critial sociology would be considered as deconstructivist. This adds complexity to Herzfeld's simplistic argument, in my view, and expand the need for critical sociology to continue resisting an unbalanced relation with the other three fields.

I’m not racist, but...

Racists’ favorite device, in one form or another, is the elegant regret of a humanism wounded and betrayed. It takes on an air of bafflement at how reasonable people can find the speaker’s best intentions so evil, and it invokes a respect for clean individuals, as opposed to the stinking crowd. In claiming to preclude categorical prejudice altogether, it proclaims that very stance: „I’m not racist, but...” (M. Herzfeld, 2007)

Camps etc.

It is not a new topic for me, but I keep on finding new inspiration and sources relating to that. 'The camp' is a very interesting topic as such, as well as a lens through which looking at the spatial organization of sociality and politics. When it comes to Roma in the Italian context, the relevance of the camp goes without saying. It is particularly useful, imho, to contextualize the analysis of nomad camps within the broader semiotic and historical relevance of other kinds of camps, such as refugee camps, nazi and fascist camps, and temporary camps for migrants. Here is one of the reflections by a leading scholar in the study of contemporary forms of power and subjugation, especially in postcolonial contexts, Michel Agier (EHESS). Worth reading. And here a podcast of his recent lecture at Cambridge: Camps, Humanitarian Government and the Idea of Humanity.

It is nonetheless weared that googling "nomad camps" in Google photos, one get pictures of Iranian, North African, Tibetan and other populations living and travelling within certain regions. If you want to see Italian nomad camps, you should google "campi nomadi", and you arrive to quite different images.

little by little...

It is not always easy to wait a long time for feedback from reviewers, at least for me. Yet once I receive good quality reviews I value them a lot, since they are one of the very few things I have access to now, for growing professionally. And they do make a difference in relation to what I used to think and to the way I used to formulate ideas and findings before receiving them. I recently got three reviews of different works and this considerably helps me. Great!