Complex Society Archaeology

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
William J. Mayer-Oakes

AbstractSeveral currents of anthropological research specialization are historically important for the development of a modern approach to the study of ancient, complex societies. These currents are: (a) Taylor's conjunctive approach; (b) developmentalism; (c) settlement-pattern studies; (d) human ecology; and (e) urbanization studies. A case study of the writer's “dirt archaeology” approach in the Valley of Mexico indicates the nature of sampling, as well as typological and basic theory problems encountered in studying complex societies. This sort of field work and interpretation implies need for a new kind of basic field-observational work oriented to a theory of ancient social structure and utilizing techniques of intradisciplinary team research.

Politeia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiba Yayah

The agency of women in most African countries is often affected by the socio-economic and political policies that are almost always disadvantageous to women, especially women who have little to no knowledge of their rights. Using the shea industry in Ghana as a case study, I chronicle the challenges as recounted by rural women involved in this home-based work in the Northern Region of Ghana and critically analyse these challenges and their implications. Focusing mainly on the results of my recent field work, I present some of the accounts relating to the lack and exclusion of recognition of and respect for the experiences of rural women who are in fact the linchpin of the shea industry in Ghana. Initiatives and strategies of non-governmental organisations and some governmental policies have attempted to address these challenges that have implications for the livelihoods of rural women. Research and policies have only offered “band-aid solutions” to the economic disempowerment of rural women in the shea industry in Ghana as they have not dealt with the causes. This article seeks to refute the claim that equity exists by indicating the lack of equity and justice in the policies in the shea industry. In an attempt to provide an understanding of the economic disempowerment of women in this industry, I consider my field work as a good source as it exposes the experiences and everyday practices as narrated by rural women in the industry. This article seeks to analyse the existing discourses especially those pertaining to the contributions and experiences of rural women in the shea industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14(63) (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Maria Popescu ◽  
Lidia Mândru

"The paper addresses to the Public Administration (PA) from the management perspective. The first part of the study defines the conceptual framework of the two management doctrines, generically called the New Public Management and New Public Government. The second part of the paper reviews the transformation movement in PA management and governance in Romania in the last two decades. The methodology of the study consists in the analysis of the recent theoretic studies on PA modern approach, and official documents, national and European reports, and other publications related to the PA reform in Romania. "


1962 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-60
Author(s):  
Robert Textor

The purpose of this article is to describe a methodological adventure in the use of the survey technique to investigate shamanism. At the outset I must state my belief that the anthropologist should use structured techniques, if at all, only after he has used unstructured ones. Structured data-gathering is a valuable supplement to, but never a substitute for, unstructured interviewing and observing. This article describes the use of a structured technique as a supplementary means of understanding shamanism, an area which, to my knowledge, has heretofore been studied only by unstructured techniques.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 105-136
Author(s):  
Dawid Kobiałka

This article discusses the results of archaeological and anthropological research concerning material remains of a prisoner of war camp in Czersk (Pomeranian province, Poland) (Kriegsgefangenenlager Czersk). In the first part, I sketch a broader historical context related to building and functioning of the camp in forests around Czersk between 1914–1919. After that, the role and meaning of  archaeological research on such type of archaeological sites are presented. In the third part, I focus on a very special category of the camp heritage which is called trench art. The last part of this paper is a case study where an assemblage of objects classified as trench art that was found at the camp is described and interpreted. This text aims at highlighting the value of such prisoners and camp’s heritage. Such material culture is a material memory of extraordinary prisoners’ creativity behind barbed wire. It makes one aware of how every piece of trash, rubbish was re-cycled during day-to-day life behind barbed wire.


Author(s):  
Priscila Carrara Fracassi ◽  
José Augusto Lollo

Urban sprawl in small cities has led to the occupation of unsuitable areas, resulting in peripheralization and in the occupation of fragile environments. In these occupations, the physical characteristics of the environment are often disrespected. In this context, the present article reports on a case study in the municipality of São Pedro, state of São Paulo, Brazil, which presents and discuss a set of natural factors (geological and geomorphological) conditioning the occurrence of erosion and gravitational mass movements, which are limiting factors for urban sprawl. The methodology employed in this study was based on field work, bibliographic research, and data collection, analysis and GIS-based systematization, which allowed for a spatial reading of the urban sprawl to indicate, from different perspectives, how the phenomenon is manifested. Thus, it was possible to draw up a chart highlighting the areas with the greatest potential for occupation and those with restrictions due to their greater susceptibility to erosion and mass movements. The main identified natural factors of restriction were steepness and soil conditions and law enforced restrictions (environmental protection areas).


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Agnès Vandevelde-Rougale

This article draws on a socio-anthropological research, which questions the effects of managerial discourse on the individual by considering experiences of workplace bullying. It studies the observation that despite the gap between what management says and what management does, words of managerial discourse are still widely used, by managers and employees alike. French philosopher, ethnologist and psychoanalyst Octave Mannoni (1899-1989), reworking Freud’s concept of fetishism, showed in an article entitled “I know very well, but nonetheless…” that a belief can survive the denial (disavowal) of reality. Recognizing fantasy as a fantasy is not sufficient to reduce its power over the individual. Based on a case study, the present article demonstrates that the paradoxical logic phrased by Octave Mannoni can help us understand how managerial discourse can exercise its influence on individuals, despite discrepancies between what is said and what is implemented in the organisations. It presents the hypothesis that words can work as “masks” do in some traditional tribes, thus being the means supporting a belief that sustains management authority.


2019 ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzena Anna Maciulewicz

Newcomers and Locals. Invisible Boundaries Among Inhabitants of the Divided City in the BalkansResearch on divided cities in the Balkans focuses mostly on ethnic/national divisions. Is this perspective, however, truly viable and sufficient for the description of post-conflict cities in the Balkans? The question is posed not only because of the fact that every city is somehow divided or fragmented. More noteworthy, and not widely known, is the fact that the unstable structure of a city’s population is much more complex with its intergroup relations becoming much more complicated – a fact commonly disregarded due to the importance assigned to ethnic/national rifts which have dominated the narrative of the divided city. Underestimating the importance of other relations within society and the dynamics of a highly changeable social structure, one cannot uncover the actual nature of intergroup relations in a divided city.The main objective of this paper is to briefly present the state of contemporary inter- and intragroup relations in a divided city, with a special focus on inhabitants’ residential status. The article is based mainly on the case study of Mitrovica supplemented with references to other cities in the Balkans considered as divided. The paper is based on selected outcomes of qualitative and quantitative field research conducted in Mitrovica in 2017 and 2018 as well as results of other studies devoted mostly to Mitrovica but also to Mostar, Vukovar, Skopje and Sarajevo. Przybysze i miejscowi. Niewidoczne granice wśród mieszkańców podzielonego miasta na BałkanachBadania nad podzielonymi miastami na Bałkanach koncentrują się głównie na podziałach etnicznych/narodowych. Jednak, czy ta perspektywa jest odpowiednia i wystarczająca do opisania miast pokonfliktowych na Bałkanach? To pytanie nie wynika tylko z faktu, że każde miasto jest w jakiś sposób podzielone lub rozdrobnione. Bardziej istotny, a jednocześnie mniej znany jest fakt, że niestabilna struktura populacji tych miast jest znacznie bardziej złożona, a relacje międzygrupowe – znacznie bardziej skomplikowane, niż przedstawiają to dominujące narracje o podzielonych miastach przypisujące kluczowe znaczenie rozłamom etnicznym/narodowym. Tymczasem, nie doceniając znaczenia innego rodzaju relacji w społeczeństwie oraz dynamiki wysoce zmiennej struktury społecznej, nie można odkryć rzeczywistej natury relacji międzygrupowych w podzielonym mieście.Głównym celem artykułu jest przedstawienie współczesnego stanu między- i wewnątrzgrupowych relacji w podzielonym mieście, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem statusu mieszkańców Mitrowicy. Artykuł jest przede wszystkim studium przypadku miasta Mitrowica (Kosowo) uzupełnionym o odniesienia do innych podzielonych miast na Bałkanach. Artykuł opiera się na wybranych wynikach jakościowych i ilościowych badań terenowych przeprowadzonych w Mitrowicy w 2017 i 2018 roku, jak również na wynikach innych badań poświęconych głównie Mitrowicy, ale także Mostarowi, Vukovarowi, Skopje i Sarajewu.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H. de Vries ◽  
John Kinsman ◽  
Judit Takacs ◽  
Svetla Tsolova ◽  
Massimo Ciotti

Abstract Background: This paper describes a participatory methodology that supports investigation of the collaboration between communities affected by infectious disease outbreak events and relevant official institutions. The core principle underlying the methodology is the recognition that synergistic relationships, characterised by mutual trust and respect, between affected communities and official institutions provide the most effective means of addressing outbreak situations. Methods: The methodological approach and lessons learned were derived from four qualitative case studies including (i) two tick-borne disease events: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Spain, and tick-borne encephalitis in the Netherlands (2016); and (ii) two outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (norovirus in Iceland, 2017, and verocytotoxin-producingEscherichia coli [VTEC] in Ireland, 2018). These studies were conducted in collaboration with the respective national public health authorities in the affected countries by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Results: An after-event qualitative case study approach was taken using mixed methods. Lessons highlight the critical importance of collaborating with national focal points during preparation and planning, and interviewer reflexivity during fieldwork. Field work for each case study was conducted over one working week, which although limiting the number of individuals and institutions involved, still allowed for rich data collection due to the close collaboration with local authorities. The analysis focused on the specific actions undertaken by the participating countries’ public health and other authorities in relation to community engagement, as well as the view from the perspective of the community. Conclusions: The overall objective of the assessment to identify synergies between institutional decision-making bodies and community actors and networks before, during and after an outbreak response to a given public health emergency. The methodology is generic and could be applied to a range of public health emergencies, zoonotic or otherwise. The methodology emphasises reflexivity among fieldworkers, a relatively short time needed for data collection, potential generalisability of findings, insider-outsider perspectives, politically sensitive findings, and how to deal with ethical and language issues.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf ◽  
Maliha Sarfraz ◽  
Rizwana Naureen ◽  
Mohamedreza Gharibreza
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document