ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS XIX/I ofluštvo antaopoloqov slovenije Slovene anthropological society Ljubljana 2013 Anthropological Notebooks 2013, Year XIX, No. 1 COPYRIGHT © Društvo antropologov Slovenije/Slovene Anthropological Society, Gortanova 22, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia www.drustvo-antropologov.si drustvo.antropologov@guest.arnes.si All rights reserved. With the exception of fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, no part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or utilized in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. Editor-in-Chief Borut Telban Managing Editor Gregor Starc Review Editor Nataša Gregorič Bon Editorial Board Ivan Sprajc, Petra Golja, Gregor Jurak, Bojan Žalec, Liza Debevec Charles Susanne Free University Brussels Brussels, Belgium Howard Morphy Australian National University Canberra, Australia Aygen Erdentug Bilkent University Ankara, Turkey Proofreader: Terry T. Jackson International Editorial Board Ton Otto Universil Aarhus, ' of Aarhus Denmark Jadran Mimica University of Sydney Sydney, Australia Pavao Rudan Institute for Anthropological Research Zagreb, Croatia Design: Robert Resman Hermann Mueckler University of Vienna Vienna, Austria Allan Young McGill University Montreal, Canada Print: Tiskarna Artelj Front-page: Construction of a small reservoir in Northern Ghana (photo by Irit Eguavoen, 2012) Anthropological Notebooks is a peer-reviewed triannual journal of the Slovene Anthropological Society. It publishes scholarly articles, review articles, research reports, congress and seminar reports, book reviews and information concerning research and study in the fields of social and cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, biological anthropology, archaeology, and related disciplines. The language of the journal is English with abstracts and possible shorter texts in Slovene. 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ISSN 1408 - 032X CONTENTS Irit Eguavoen Climate change and trajectories of blame in Northern Ghana............................................................................5 Maheshvari Naidu Perceptions around second generation female condoms: Reporting on women's experiences........................25 Tatjana Novak and Rajko Vute Spending leisure time and activities in the third period of life.........................................................................35 Richard Pfeilstetter Entrepreneurship and regional development in Europe: A comparative, socio-anthropological case study in Germany and Spain........................................................45 Sasala Taiban From Rekai to Labelabe: Disaster and relocation on the example of Kucapungane, Taiwan..........................59 Barbara Turk Niska~ Children's learning through observation in the context of work and play.......................................................77 BOOK REVIEWS Bowman, Glenn Sharing the Sacra. The Politics and Pragmatics of Intercommunal Relations around Holy Places.................99 Lucht, Hans Darkness before Daybreak. African Migrants Living on the Margins in Southern Italy Today.....................101 Edwards, Jeanette and Maja Petrovic-Steger Recasting Anthropological Knowledge. Inspiration and Social Science........................................................104 Hazan, Haim and Esther Hertzog Serendipity in Anthropological Research.......................................................................................................106 Hayoz, Nicolas, Leszek Jesien and Daniela Koleva 20 Years after the Collapse of Communism. Expectations, Achievements and Disillusions of 1989............ 108 Hoffman, Danny The War Machines. Young Men and Violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia................................................... 110 Rice, Timothy Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music and Musicians (Essays in Honor of Robert Grafias)................ 112 Hart, Keith, Jean-Louis Laville and Antonio David Cattani The Human Economy..................................................................................................................................... 114 Climate change and trajectories of blame in Northern Ghana Irit Eguavoen University of Bonn, eguavoen@uni-bonn.de Abstract This study provides an analysis of environmental observations by farmers, as well as of models of blame in Northern Ghana, an agricultural region of high vulnerability to climate change. Qualitative data were collected through a standardised questionnaire on the community's consensus on how to explain observed changes. Responses were transcribed to allow content analysis. Natural data sets confirmed most local observations, but older age and the afectedness of the respondents were crucial in determining the views. Climate change was generally given a lower priority by the respondents compared to other manifestations of change, such as infrastructure development, human-spiritual relations and changes in social relations. Moreover, the respondents made reference to the blessing of the land and the destruction of the land. The destruction of the land was understood in a metaphorical way as the result of eroding social relationships and stagnation, as well as norm-breaking and lack of unity within the community. Thus, climate change was perceived in local social terms rather than based on global natural science knowledge. The article concludes that the anthropological analysis is meaningful and may serve as an entry point for further planning of adaptation and public education. KEYWORDS: climate change, perception, farmers, blame, West Africa Introduction 'The emerging anthropology of climate change will inject social dynamics into the debate, and the issue of what climate change means cross-culturally is likely to be the cutting edge of this inquiry' (Sheridan 2012: 232). People throughout the world talk about the weather, and the ways in which we respond to the weather bear cultural-specific connotations: Culture frames the way people perceive, understand, experience, and respond to key elements of the worlds which they live in.... Individual and collective adaptations are shaped by common ideas about what is believable, desirable, feasible, and acceptable.... Anthropology's potential contributions to climate research are the description and analysis of these mediating layers of cultural meanings and social practice (Roncoli et al. 2009: 87). ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 5-24. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 Such studies can be aided by drawing a conceptual distinction between description, i.e., what people observe and think, and comprehension, i.e., what people feel and how they make sense of their observations (Strauss & Orlove 2003: 6), or by a more detailed approach involving an analytical distinction between perception, knowledge valuation and response (Roncoli et al. 2009). Perception studies in climate change research, which are currently conducted using different multidisciplinary approaches, usually put emphasis on descriptions of weather events and the question whether farmers' observations are correct (West et al. 2008; Kemausuor et al. 2011). In contrast, investigating local comprehension has revealed modes for local weather prediction and the local evaluation of events that explain causal relationships (Meze-Hausken 2004; Slegers 2008; Brou & Chaleard 2007; Tschakert 2007; Orlove et al. 2010; Guthiga & Newsham 2011). From the classic anthropological literature until today (for a review, see Peterson & Broad 2009), rain making and weather discourses are interpreted as politically meaningful because they are used for the legitimisation or a manifestation of power relations in many rural areas of sub-Sahara Africa. The vast literature presents 'a notion that political [and social] order brings ecological order in the form of reliable rain - but that conflict brings drought -functions as the rhythm of political improvisation' (Sheridan 2012: 231). This study, conducted in northern Ghana, contributes to the local comprehension approach by acknowledging 'the inevitable gap between anthropological and the others' projects of sense making. For these projects are never the same thing, even if some anthropologists, by writing about "local models", "emic perspectives", and the like, have pretended they are' (Sanders 2008: 198). The study used interviews as the main source of information and has made use of a quantitative and a qualitative mixed-method approach, including the use of a standardised questionnaire for consensus analysis, combined with Nakani audio records, their transcription and English translation and free listing. This paper gives considerable space to quotations from these talks to enable the reader to follow the respondents' way of reasoning. The study took place in early April 2012, the hottest time of the year, before the onset of the annual rainy season. The analysis of the talks was facilitated by the researcher's familiarity with the people based on ethnographic research during several research visits since 2004. The study illustrates causal relationships as they were explained by the farmers and young people. Almost all the respondents extended the topic of conversation to other kinds of change that they had seen within the past decades, thereby inviting an exploration of the emic concept of change as the first step of the investigation. The research site is located in a peri-urban settlement in the Upper East Region of Ghana, where the population speaks Nankani and mainly practices agro-pastoralism, as well as non-farm activities. The region is densely populated and is one of the poorest regions in Ghana. Its natural conditions are characterised by savannah vegetation. It has a semi-arid climate, which is projected to undergo transformation as a result of global climate change (see below). Aaron Denham has worked among Nankani-speaking people on the phenomenon of spirit children, a research subject that belongs to the domain of reproduction and family relations. He analysed how risk is perceived and how blame is attributed, as well as 'how blame influences future perceptions of risk' (Denham 2012: 175). Although dealing with a different domain, he offers some useful terminology for the analysis of climate talks: trajectories of blame, cultural (he calls them traditional) and scientific models of blame, as well as unofficial and official risk. Comprehensions of observations that negatively affect rural livelihoods often entail a notion of blame: the identification of an undesired activity and the ascription of responsibility to an individual or a group of actors. Blaming enables people to make sense of risk and respond to it in a practical manner (Douglas & Wildavsky 1982). Blame may follow different trajectories and is site- and culture-specific. Therefore, the study of trajectories and models of blame can serve as an alternative entry point for risk perception studies. Cultural models of blame are found in different domains of the same society. While unofficial risk within a society may show typical cultural patterns, official risk may differ from domain to domain. Denham identified unofficial risks among Nankani-speaking people, such as 'jealousy, witchcraft, benevolent and malevolent sorcery, hidden forces or intentions, ancestral demands, spirits, destiny and a range of behavioral taboos' (Denham 2012: 177). These unofficial risks seem less relevant in the work of public agencies, despite their relevance or 'greater concern to the community' (Denham 2003: 177). Typical official risks with regard to climate change are the destruction of shelter through floods, food insecurity or health hazards. Do we talk about climate change or something else? Much of the climate change adaptation literature assumes that the populations are aware of the risk posed by climate change and that they are able to react to observable outcomes of this change. As a critical analysis by scholars pointed out, empirical evidence is problematic due to the uncertainty of climate projections and the low local perceptibility of global change, as well as the impossibility of isolating climate as a crucial variable for action (Nielsen & Reenberg 2010; Mertz, Mbow et al. 2010; Eguavoen & zur Heide 2012). There is evidence of farmers being rather good, although not perfect, observers of their natural and social environment (e.g. Slegers 2008). The possibility of observing long-term environmental change usually increases with age and the individual's affectedness. People transform their observations into models, which are informed by their knowledge and experience. These models do not necessarily reflect natural science explanations, although they may, of course, make reference to them. However, the models, i.e. typical patterns of explaining causal relationships, may guide negotiation about responsibilities in the form of laying the blame on people and unwanted processes. Empirical studies have indicated the challenge of translation with regard to the term climate (Brou & Chaleard 2007; Tschakert 2007; Slegers 2008). The majority of respondents in rural Ghana had never heard of climate change before the interview, in particular older respondents. If a radio was accessible in the compound, the older respondents did not understand many of the English programs: 'Yes, I have heard of weather change in the media. I have heard of the word "climate change" but I don't know how to explain it and its meaning. I have never been to school. That is the reason why I cannot explain' said an old man. Some public speeches in the local language made reference to climate change but used the English term climate change without further explanation. However, all the farmers were familiar with the local expression of changes in the weather (saja teeri1). A starting point for the adequate translation of the standardised English questionnaire into the local language was the concept of change (tijteeri, literally land has changed), which bears a non-linear connotation in the sense that things become different over time. When we asked farmers about changes in the weather, the respondents referred to precipitation, temperature, humidity, thunder, dust and wind, thus, covering all of the study's variables. However, weather cannot be equated to climate. Overall, the responses predominately focused on short-term observations. The people talked about winds blowing from one direction, with thunder indicating the imminent arrival of the first rains from the opposite direction. These weather predictions were proven correct when these first rains set in a few days later. Looking for an alternative way of encouraging discussion about climate changes, we then discussed changes in the weather in the long term, something that required a lengthy explanation and made us finally end up with environmental change, which could not be translated literally but would be best described as changes in the surroundings in local terms (korom korom teeri, literally olden days have changed)} These surroundings include diverse natural variables, such as the plants and animals, people, the landscape and the weather. They also include the spiritual world, which is closely linked to natural objects. Thus, asking about observations relating to their surroundings automatically made people think about the connection between natural and spiritual phenomena, as well as the role human behaviour plays in mitigating between these two. Observations were assumed to be influenced by age and the affectedness of the respondent, as well as by their access to information through media and formal education. Three groups were distinguished based on three age categories (youth: 15-35 yrs., adult: 36-55 yrs., older adult: more than 55 yrs.),3 and the responses were evaluated according to these clusters. Change was usually explained in a holistic way, showing individual views but also cultural patterns. Moreover, the quality of change was usually valuated by using the bipolar categorisation blessing versus destruction of the land, as explained in the following paragraph. 2 Saya, n. temps, saison; tee, v. changer, échanger, imperf. teeri (Kropp Dakubu 2009: 165, 169). 3 Koromme = earlier, long ago, in old times (Rapp 1964: 187). 4 The local age categorisation mainly considers biological age and physical appearance. Bilia are infants. Bia/ koma are children until ca. 15-16 years old. To serve the analysis, the largest category of adults was divided into adults and older adults. Koma are youth (ca. 15-35 years old) who have strength (taaripanga) and who can work hardest. Elder people are considered adults (bunkeka). Adults and young people with the function of household heads are equated in this study with farmers as only adults involved in farming were interviewed. Adulthood is not defined via marriage or parenthood status, although there is a change in terminology, with girls becoming women (pugela-poka) and boys becoming men (budibela-boora/budaa) after marriage. The term ks'sma (elder) reflects a political authority, not an age category, meaning that under some circumstances a person categorised as a youth can be an elder. To serve the analysis, the large category of adults was divided into adults and older adults. These are analytical categories. Communication about climate change is not always easy, as conceptual frameworks between the researcher and the respondents may differ significantly. The priorities of the people in the conversations do not necessarily reflect the dramatic narrative of climate change, especially if there is no distinct local concept, term or understanding of the global process. Therefore, scholars need to reflect critically whether it is correct to place so much emphasis on a concept that is perhaps of little relevance to their respondents. Description of changing natural conditions Free listing and the consensus analysis questionnaire aimed at the documentation of observations that respondents had made with regard to natural conditions. The following selected answers by older farmers illustrate that the perception of change depended on the individual's judgment, as well as on the cultural understanding of change. Change does not indicate a direction and is a process rather than an outcome: There is a change. Even if there is no change, there is change. Yes. I have seen the change in the farming season because the farming season has been moved forward and we no longer have rain the way we used to have it. Why can't I see that things have changed? Things have really changed. If it were in the olden days that they perform all the ceremonies, by April rain will set. I have not seen any change. There is still rain. We are still sowing. The change is within the individual. Anytime it rains. It is still the same water. I have not seen any changes. These four quotations by respondents represent the diversity in the descriptions and the comprehension. The first statement emphasises the process character of change: it always happens, although conditions may seem stable. The observations reported in the second quotation are usually quoted in climate change perception studies in the region, usually as a result of standardised questionnaires and multiple-choice responses. The third quotation brings in an additional dimension by linking social behaviour and weather events. Finally, the eldest respondent quoted in the fourth example states that she has not observed any relevant change in the weather and that perceptions and change are separate issues. People change more than the weather. The oldest cluster among the respondents could make reference to the olden days based on their individual experiences. They still knew the village as a location of vast bush land with dispersed houses, little infrastructure and a smaller population. The old men and women had witnessed how farm land had come to dominate the bush land over the past decades and how access to natural resources had changed over time. Thus, their observations were much to the point, including outbreaks of disease, the prevalence of pests or the establishment of water points. They enumerated more observations than the younger generations (see Tables 1 and 2) during free listing and in their extensive responses to the questionnaire. Table 1: Observations of changes in the natural environment by older respondents* Confirmation by data sets/ Observations Old people (55 yrs and older) climate projections Rainfall Sometimes very destructive rains in olden days no data Enough rain in olden days; nowadays, there is less rain opposite trend More erratic rainfall nowadays confirmed Fresh air for a few days after the rain in the olden days no data Rainy season Farm season has moved forward confirmed Rainy season is shorter than in olden days confirmed Temperature Hotter weather nowadays confirmed Wind More/stronger wind nowadays no data Floods Floods are not more frequent but different more severe/destructive observation Agro-pastoral Drought did not kill crops in olden days no data livelihood Other crop varieties were grown in olden days confirmed Low availability of wild fodder nowadays confirmed Other Water places were farther away in olden days confirmed observations There was vast bush land in olden days confirmed Shea nut flowers later and fruits later no data Many people died from measles in olden days no data *Free listing, April 2012, Jung & Kunstmann (2007), van der Giesen et al. (2010); responses are listed without consideration of their rank and frequency Older adults stated that drought and flood have always posed a threat. There was no consensus on whether climate change has aggravated the risk of destruction caused by these threats because respondents linked effects of their farming practices to the occurrence of rain, heat and wind. With regard to floods, droughts and crop disease, they stated that some farm practices have contributed to the higher risk of yield losses. The line between natural conditions and anthropogenic effects in many responses was totally blurred. The following quotation by a female farmer recounts the benefit of historical floods and the negative impact of drought on crops, as well as the change in agricultural practices that have made crops less resilient to pests: Flooding even used to give us manure in olden days because it will work a land somewhere and put it here. But floods were not as destructive as nowadays.... We used to have drought long time ago. Anytime, there is drought, our plants were always in survival until the rain comes again. But now the drought always kills all our crops.. Our way of farming has also invited more disease for our crops. In the olden days, they used to put the seeds into the holes but now they make lines that always leave the seed defenceless. [The holes were diagonal not horizontal and reaching deeper layers of the soil. With lines, only the upper layer of the soil is touched.] In contrast, a man spoke about change in practices that have reduced the risk of crop loss to pests, as well as about the lower priority that farming has as a result of livelihood diversification: No [bad harvest is not mainly due to climate change]. A bad harvest is coming from our own laziness. Because what we are supposed to be doing in order to get enough yield is not always done.... Some people like to do business and no farm work.. In the time of our forefathers, if you harvest, you don't put the crops immediately in the store. You leave them outside for your family members to come and see before you store. And so many food crops have been spoiled by [pests]. If you harvest and all your crops have been chopped [eaten] like this. What will you do? Only weep.. Crop diseases have been there since long, not only today. Young people, in contrast, did not give lengthy answers during the interview. However, they free listed a number of observations. Some of these observations are unlikely to be based on their personal experience but rather seem to stem from local narratives and public media, especially when they made use of English climate change buzz words, such as onset or distinction. Table 2: Observations of changes in the natural environment by youngest respondents* Observations Youth (15-35) Confirmation by data sets/climate projections Rainfall Reduction of rainfall opposite trend Rainy season Onset of the rainy season has shifted confirmed Temperature Hotter weather confirmed Wind More wind nowadays no data Floods More frequent floods confirmed Agro-pastoral Livestock does not grow well no data livelihood More animal diseases no data Reduction of crop yield no data More destructive crop diseases nowadays ? *Source: Free listing, April 2012 Jung & (Kunstmann 2007; van der Giesen et al. 2010); responses are listed without consideration of their rank and frequency This is not to say that younger people cannot perceive change themselves and make up their own pattern of explanation. In informal conversations, a man in his mid-thirties but from another region reported on ponds that had disappeared in his neighbourhood and on a beloved wild vegetable that used to grow around Easter but that he had not seen for many years. A student in his late twenties explained how he thinks the higher birth rate of girls in comparison to boys is related to climate change, the change of food habits and general conditions, including heat. However, all this evidence is anecdotal. Generally, the youth have better access to external information due to English language skills, formal education and high spatial mobility. If their economic status allows, they make extensive use of the internet (via mobile phones). Therefore, as their sources of knowledge are more diverse, it may be more difficult to trace common patterns of thought. In addition, the issue of affectedness comes into play here, as many youth contribute labour on the family farms but not yet have decision-making authority. Moreover, they tend to generate cash income from non-farm activities rather than directly from farming. How do these observations relate to climate projections in northern Ghana? The rainy season in the Upper East Region of Ghana currently begins during the period April to May and finishes at the end of September or the beginning of October: The onset of the rainy season ... is often preceded by short isolated showers with intermittent dry spells of various lengths ... Precipitation, in monthly totals, gradually increases during the rainy season before falling sharply towards September and October, and rainfall events are highly erratic and variable over space. Average annual rainfall in the north ranges from 700-1,000 mm, with peak rainfall occurring in August ... Wind speed is low (Eickhof 2010: 16). It is difficult to find precise numbers on trends that exactly cover the Upper East Region. Climate studies employ diverse spatial scales, as well as various periods, for measurements and model projections. However, the hotter temperatures that were observed by the respondents could be based on individual observations as the increasing trend of the temperature was confirmed by measurements. Compared to the 1990s, an average increase up to 1.5 degree Celsius until 2030 was projected for the Volta River basin. In addition, the shift in the onset of the rainy season, with the season beginning earlier, has been validated by rainfall data sets from the region, and it is projected to move further to a later time in the year. The average onset of the rainy season in 2030 to 2039 might be in June or even later. The suggestion that rains are more erratic nowadays seems to also be based on experience. Rainfall variability will increase in the future (Jung & Kunstmann 2007). However, the observation that total rainfall was greater in the past is not confirmed by the measured data sets. Since the drought period during the 1970s and 1980s, total rainfall amounts per year have actually increased (Dietz et al. 2004), and no significant reduction of rainfall in the coming decades is projected by the climate models. What can be claimed for the future are prolonged dry spells and more frequent occurrences of floods (Tschakert et al. 2010). Local priorities Old people are cited in the climate change literature as being the most knowledgeable age group to report on climate change, simply because they have had more time for observation. However, the abundantly obvious fact that they have also witnessed enormous transformation in terms of technology, political and economic conditions, as well as demography, is often neglected. Some of these changes are quite dramatic because they determine well-being with regard to work load, health, food security and survival, much more than future climate change will probably ever affect their children's and grandchildren's generations. Thus, the conversations constantly tended to shift from weather to other observations, which reflect the importance that the respondents ascribed to them: It is not only the weather I can talk about when talking about change. I can also talk about diseases.... Measles has been killing so many people like this. As for the diseases, they are no longer as they used to be.. No, the change in the weather is not a problem of my generation because the weather is changing with so many things. For example: in the years back, war used to be a matter of pride ... But now, we are now talking of peace.. So anybody can eat at any place at all or can do whatever he wants to do. The old man made a reference to improved health services that accompanied other infrastructural improvements mentioned by the respondents, such as water supply, roads, cement houses, bridges, vehicles for transport, machinery for constructing dams, etc., all of which could be summarised as "development". In the local parlance, people say tiymaalego (literally blessing of the land). Tiqmaalego implies that things get better, that there is some progress. Rose Amenga-Etego, a local anthropologist, noted that malgo is a reflection on improvement, betterment, advancement, repair and maintenance ... within this conceptual understanding, the Nankani say malgo is a never-ending process . For them, the future is uncertain and each step presents new needs for malgo (Amenga-Etego 2011: 27).4 For the youth and adults who feel less connected to traditional ways of doing things, tiqmaalego in the sense of development describes a lifestyle that is characterised by technical facilities, motorised vehicles, formal education-based knowledge, notions of modernity, timeliness and, finally, superiority over the so-called traditional way of doing things. The latter connotation is not directly spelled out in conversations but can be observed in everyday interactions among formally educated, partly Christian sections of the population towards their not formally educated, mostly traditionalist counterparts. The divide is, of course, the largest in the middle-age category (the group of people aged between mid-thirties to mid-fifties) due to the history of school enrolment in Northern Ghana. However, the divide is by no means absolute, because there are many individuals who embrace ways of doing things that include elements of both sides without seeming contradictory. There is no point in wondering about university graduates being the proudest war dancers during traditional funerals or the unbroken popularity and reelection of an outspoken young, educated, polygamous traditionalist into the district assembly. There is no contradiction between a person telling you one day about how to identify the thief by inviting thunder to strike the culprit and the next day telling how he has taken someone to the High Court for the illegitimate sale of his family land. A study on local religion emphasised that: 'According to the Nankani, prayers do not fight each other.. "Mixing" (garngo) here refers to a religious atmosphere in which adherents combine freely indulge in the different religious traditions and practices in the area' (Amenga-Etego 2011: 67). 5 The articles uses spelling as suggested by Kropp-Dakobu (2009). Maalego and malgo are the same. Returning to the old man's statement about war leads to a second category of changes described during the interviews. Not knowing the context of northern Ghana, one could assume that the change man refers to political conditions. Violent conflicts between settlements and ethnic groups have been reported for the past years but, generally, the region is peaceful. The inhabitants of the village, in particular, have not participated in the fights between two neighbouring villages and they used all occasions to declare that they would not allow other villages to pull them into violent conflict. Thus, the man rather speaks of good relations, trust and unity among neighbours, a condition of not fearing being bewitched or pulled into unwanted affairs by others. Neighbours here can be understood as parts of the kin group, other village sections and other villages, or as Amengo-Etego calls it in relation to maalego: 'various constituents of malgo were given. This included bure (family), nuyeene (unity/peace) ... and nungire (liking/ solidarity)' (ibid.: 28). The underlying idea that a community can succeed in something or have strength if it acts as a unit is quite crucial. This seems to be the message of the old man: peace is what we want, peace is what we have. However, as he later noted and as other respondents pointed out during the talks: unity in action is what we are missing. Comprehension and models of blame Local religion and moral discourses were found to be hold responsible for weather and climate variability in Sub-Sahara Africa, though they may be communicated in various ways and from different perspectives (Brou & Chaleard 2007; Slegers 2008; Endfield & Nash 2010). In rural Christian communities, for example, respondents made reference to the 'biblical seven-good-and seven-bad-years cycle' (Tschakert 2007: 390), to 'punishments ... because of the sins of the world or disobedience and unfaithfulness to Him [God]' or the end of the world vision on Luke 21 (Tambo & Abdoulaye 2012). There are many reports on weather manipulation in the form of rainmaking, praying for rain or witchcraft (for a review, see Sanders 2008). Though Muslim and Christian communities are visible parts of life in the study site, the majority of people are still animists (called "traditionalists"). Nankani traditionalist belief is much more complex than the basic idea that the weather can be influenced by humans. Nevertheless, the interviewees thought of the weather as God's response to rituals that are performed by Nankani authorities on behalf of their kin group. The weather is conceptualised as God's and the ancestor's punishment for norm-breaking behaviour and, of course, it is also imagined as the outcome of local resource management practices and global processes. The questionnaire asked about causes of climate change, such as cutting trees and bush burning, as well as smoke from cars and factories, and other manifestations, such as the frequency of floods and droughts and the occurrence of plant diseases and poor harvests. It also investigated which countries were affected (Ghana/ far-away countries) and whether the process could be reversed. As climate change was obviously not a local concept, it was explained in local terms. Change in the weather was used in the follow-up questions to investigate whether people saw causal relations between their management practices and the change in the weather/climate. Most of the people blamed local motorised vehicles, deforestation and burning the land. However, they also made it abundantly clear that these practices are unavoidable as they secure their poor livelihood. Other respondents emphasised bad behaviour as causal factors: It is true that we are not supposed to be felling trees anyhow because they provide shade. But what can we do? We cut the trees mainly for our house building. Trees bring rain.... Felling a tree is like evicting someone from my house because where the trees are, are our homes. We say we want rain, but we are not ready for the farming because we did not clear our lands [collect rubbish and residues and burn them, prepare the soil]. If we were to clear our lands, God would have had mercy on us.. If I was God, the rain would come in September [laughter]. The floods are not caused by natural things only, also spiritual. Sometimes the flood is like a curse to us for our sins, for what we have been doing.. Women sleep anyhow with men. Men are sleeping anyhow with women. We are no more obedient. The rules and regulations to guide us in our behaviour, the advice we don't take them. There is no help for the elderly. Youth behave like this because they don't take advice. I was respecting my husband, my son, and even my younger people but modern Ghana doesn't do this. We used not to sell land. We used to give it free of charge for someone to build or to farm. But nowadays, we sell land, which is a serious crime. That is why we get no more food from the land. Yes, it is true [that cutting trees affects the weather in a bad way]. But some of the trees when they are in your land don't encourage high yield. We therefore cut them away ... You can even cut a bad tree [a seat of spirits] and it can have a serious effect on you - even to the point of dying. So it is not proper that we cut trees anyhow. Clearing the land and burning the rubbish is harmful but if we also sow without clearing the land, crop disease like termites will chop of [eat] the roots of the plant ... We think that our tradition is now full of dirty things [deggero] but that is not the issue.. Because we have left our tradition, we now give birth to spirit children. The quotations show how people justify their management practices not just against the charge of degradation, but also against the breaching of local rules and culture. Culturally, it is not desirable to cut trees. It might even be dangerous as it may annoy some spirits and bring harm to the individual (such as sickness or madness), the family (birth of spirit children who bring misfortune, sickness and death) and the community (receiving less rain during the farming season or unwanted rain storms during the harvest season). Tradition is not preventing better resource management: pragmatism and experience drive people to (selectively) cut trees or burn farm land. As in many other places in northern Ghana, custodians of land, the tindaama, perform rituals to ensure the fertility of the land and sufficient rainfall. The elders may also approach the ancestors to beg God for rain. Moreover, the custodian of rain, the saadaana, is in charge of the well-being of the entire population with some special duties that only he can fulfil (such as perform rituals for people hit by lightning).5 While the tindaama were quite prominent, it seemed that many people no longer knew about the saadaana's function or who was currently in office. Both title holders take action only if people approach them directly. It is not one person who comes to ask for the rains, but it is the whole community who comes together to our father [the saadaana] to ask for rain when it is not raining. The work of our father was to go and seek some Gods before he comes back to sacrifice the God saa [rain] and it will give rains. The people will always come together and discuss with him, and he goes out to consult the soothsayers and know why it is not raining. But the [present] community leaders are no more united. They do not mind about the poor rains for there is now money, whether it rains or not, they will get food to eat. So, they do not have time for the God again. He [the saadaana] cannot also go out alone to know what is happening that is why he is also sitting.6 In the case of the saadaana, these requests now occur less and less frequently. At the same time, being less active contributes to the waning of the public presence of the saadaana office; this, in turn, leads to fewer approaches because fewer people are aware of his duties and abilities. The tindaama were more prominent because they were frequently involved in land transfers within the village. Some old people referred to the tindaama when discussing the changes in the weather and also hinted at the fact that there was not enough attention paid to ceremonies that ensure sufficient rainfall: There are a whole lot of changes on the sky and on the land. In the olden days,... anytime there is drought, we always gather at the tindaana house and sing and dance there for the rain to come.. And crops were dying off unless you would consult the tindaana. But now, there is a lot of food even if there is drought. People do not consult the tindaana because they are not hungry. We used to go to the tindaana yire for consultation. But now the tindaama are drunkards, they do no more proper consultation.. Nowadays, the heavy wind that is always blowing is our shrine [tingaane] who is looking for 6 Another on-going ethnographic study by Stephen Adaawen reports on the believes in a close district that people are able to hold the rain and prevent it to fall (compare Orlove et al. 2010: 257 for Uganda) and that ancestral spirits are annoyed and prevent falling of the rain because their paths are covered by intense agriculture. 7 Mr. A. Asinsagbo (village saadaana) and Mr. A. Akonwake (his older brother), 2005. water. Simply because we don't do the right sacrifices. But if they were to be doing proper sacrifice, there wouldn't have been wind blowing all over. The shrines are helpmates of God.... And if we fail to do the right thing, they will also leave us. Development like building, road construction is good, but our social life is bad. We need to go back to our ceremonies. So that the weather will also change in a good way for us, especially rain. There is low demand for ritual weather manipulation because people purchase food from the market in lean seasons rather than relying on their farm produce. Thus, the priority is to generate money through non-farm activities rather than investing more in farming. Although the literature states a regular period of hunger in northern Ghana, some of the respondents explicitly stated that people are not hungry and, therefore, show less commitment to traditions. This may be attributable to various factors. Their families may have found successful ways to overcome the lean season. The food aid system may work effectively, or the general belief in the power of weather manipulation is not shared by all community members. The cultural model contends that the abandonment of tradition results directly in the absence of blessing because the underlying source of tiqmaalego is local religion, tradition and culture: 'It has been noted that in the past, things were good, if not, better because people paid attention to malma and, in return, their efforts were blessed' (Amenga-Etega 2011: 28). This model has been documented in the ethnographic literature (e.g. Roncoli et al. 2002; Sanders 2008). Among Mossi in Burkina Faso, for example, the 'state of degradation of the land is causally connected to processes of social erosion: loss of knowledge and morals' (Luning 2007: 87). This deviation from tradition is often spelled out as destruction, in Nankani tiqsa'aqo,1 a state of stagnation in which no progress can be reached. It is the opposite of tiqmaalego, which stands for dynamism and betterment. The negative valuation 'destruction of the land' with connotations of pollution and the breaking apart refers to social issues only, not to land degradation. Change in the weather may be a manifestation of the state of social destruction. Thus, while there are Nankani terms to translate the English terms development and destruction of the land, they bear a different meaning to that of the English words. Local expectations The study also investigated local projections of future weather. The answers indicate that weather and climate cannot be thought of as single variables but only in the cultural context of change, in the sense of tiqmaalego and tiysa'ayo. There was a strong tendency to claim that current conditions cannot be reversed and will even worsen in the future. Despite future generations being expected to face more problems, they were also viewed as having opportunities to better know how to 'follow the weather'. This was reflected in all age groups but illustrated here with expressions from the older respondents, as outlined below: 8 Saango, Zerstörung, Verderben, Umkommen (Rapp 1964: 212); sa'am, v. polluer, devenir ruiné, gér. Sa'ayo (Kropp Dakubu 2009:165). The change we have today will forever be. Yes, the next generation will get more changes than this time. And this is even our prayer. That they will see new things. For instance, we used to sleep under thatched building but people are now building block [cement] houses to follow the weather.. The changes . are moving with development. And once we want to be developed, then we can't go back to this stage again. You, the young, will experience more than us, especially in terms of problems. God will also want the young to experience more [laughter]. Yes, the grandchildren will see change more than us. We are even better. Years are coming if your child sees you sick, they will even beat you so you can die early. It will continue to be like that. It will never go back to the olden days. It is the youth who have changed things. But the world itself has not changed. One person cannot change it [climate change]. If one does something and another is doing something else. If all people come together with one mind, one can change something. Not one person alone. We cannot stop it [climate change]. Because if you want to do it, somebody [else] may not like to do it. We continue to sacrifice. Our tradition will never go. We will always continue our funerals in the traditional way. The change is lying in our heads, so we can do whatever we want. Can we change back to the olden days? No.. We have seen little and are about to go [to die]. You [the younger generation] will see more and tell us. Although children were used as a reference term for the next twenty to forty years, some respondents returned to the topic again and spoke about inter-generational contracts and the young who change the world with their new habits, priorities, disobedience and technology. Their statements underline the fragmentation within the community and also express fears that the young may break the social contract between the generations that is in place to ensure that the old may rely and depend on their children when they become economically inactive and that they will also receive a decent funeral: The drums [big loudspeakers used to play music on festive occasions and funerals] we have been using, it is never part of our culture because drums are not made from here. So if I die and you are playing this music, you play it for yourself but not for me. The youth has destroyed the earth [koma la sa 'aj' tija la ne] because of the drums they always play chase away our forefathers. The complaints by the old people clearly shift the blame for unwanted change to the youth, with the youth freeing the old from blame for agricultural practices that may have led to degradation of the resource base. They generally agreed with the suggestion that bush burning and cutting trees cause changes in the weather. However, the youth and the older people did not place the blame on anybody for these practices. Summary Weather was conceptualised as the outcome of global pollution and local resource management. It was evenly conceptualised as something that can be manipulated by human activities through norm-conform (or breaking) behaviour, as well as by the ritual mediation (Brou & Chaleard 2007; Slegers 2008; Sheridan 2012). Different trajectories of blame merged scientific and Nankani cultural models, often switching within one and the same statement. Good weather shows that things in the community are good and orderly, whereas bad weather indicates that something is going wrong. This finding is supported by the anthropological literature dealing with weather discourses (Strauss & Orlove 2003; Sheridan 2012). Bad weather (including climate change with negative effects on the livelihood) was perceived as a punishment by the community. As the punishment is directed to a group, the blame was put on groups or the society at large. Countries far away, Ghana or the local community were viewed as the origin of the curse, and where a solution needed to be sought. In the local talks, the youth were viewed as destroying the land. Moreover, the old people (also their age mates in far-away countries) were considered to be the ones who suffer most from the consequences because they are not well prepared to gain a living outside farming or to survive without the support of their relatives. The scientific model of blame was informed by formal education, science and media coverage, as well as by personal experience and observation. A central theme in the discussion was degradation, which refers to the deterioration of the natural resource base. This resource base can be damaged by chemical pollution, destructive activities and local management practices. At the local level, people were blamed for refusing to do what was needed to ensure a good harvest. All the farmers emphasised that soil requires constant effort to keep it fertile. However, it seemed that the work to collect and apply the manure was done by older people. Young people, although aware of the importance of manure, did not seem to be interested in this work. Fields needed to be prepared before the onset of the rainy season. Although it was the right time for this work (end of April), almost all the fields looked unprepared. The general consensus appeared to be that if a neighbour had not started, then why should they. All households cultivated crops, but single household members had found a more promising non-farm income and preferred to dedicate their labour to these activities. On a more general level, this shift in priority contributes to a reduction in yields. The cultural model of blame was informed by cultural and religious knowledge and by rules of the community, as well as by personal experience and observation. Another characteristic was the fear from unofficial risk and its visible manifestation as tinsa'ayo/'destruction. First, the cultural model shifted the blame to disobedience towards other members of the community. There were overly diverse aspirations and frames of reference in the community that prevented united action. Although united action is also required in natural resource management (all the people would need to stop burning their farms to produce an effect, for example), it is especially required to approach custodians of land and rain. The number of requests put forward may have decreased, but weather manipulation is still alive, as apparent in July/August 2011 when a severe drought struck one of the six village sections: The community came to the saadaana and pleaded for rain. So I [the saa-daana] consulted and went to the shrine and the rain came. I cannot call for rain when it is not there [to stir the onset of the rainy season] because we always use crops dying as a way of begging God. When we go to the shrine, we will then say: Our crops are dying. Out crops are dying. Have a pity on us. But as we have not done the sowing, what will we be saying?8 Blame was placed on the local authorities for not performing ceremonies in the correct way. A second kind of blame was shifted to noise-making practices that scare spirits away. 'Although rain is not explicitly imagined to be a living thing, it possesses some characteristics which allow people to communicate with it ... rain may hear noise ... rain can be hurt, and ... be driven away' (Eguavoen 2008: 120). The blame was placed on the village's members, with two trajectories of blame (the scientific and cultural model) apparent, although the cultural model clearly dominated the conversations. Farmers, especially older people, gave higher priorities to the unofficial risk and perceived the official risk of climate change of lesser importance. One reason might be that the official risk of climate change, spelled out in terms of drought and floods, for example, was contextualised historically. Both droughts and floods and their associated risks to people are already part of the local experience. They were only perceived as gradually different from olden times, not more frequent but more disastrous (compare Tschakert et al. 2010). A second reason for the low priority placed on official risk might be that people also see the effects of floods and droughts as the results of management practice, e.g., houses in the compound destroyed by floods were re-established at the same locations again. Thus, if this agency changed, the floods and the droughts might become less harmful once again. Respondents also evaluated changes to be positive or negative changes and linked them to the local concepts of blessing of the land and destruction of the land. Other studies in West Africa have indicated that blame for natural degradation may also extend to external, as well as internal , transgressors (Luning 2007). Respondents in East Africa have linked local weather conditions with the political global arena (Sheridan 2012). This study, however, underlines the importance of internal moral discourses about the production of disorder and stagnation. This is remarkable because the talks originally centred on climate change, which is caused externally. The contribution of this study to the debate is neither about 'correct perceptions' and 'differences between perceived and real environment,' nor about 'perceptions [that] 9 Mr. A. Asinsagbo, April 2012. are unscientific, mainly because many subsistence farmers, who are by definition often poorly educated, resort to superstition to explain natural events because that is their only source of information' (Kemausuor et al. 2011: 26, 27). From an anthropological perspective, this statement is problematic because '[p]erceptions cannot simply be wrong as they are social constructs. They may have just a statistically low correlation with the underlying meteorological conditions' (Meze-Hausken 2004: 27). A farmer's knowledge is not either scientific or cultural but highly merged, despite the fact that formal education rates of the respondents in northern Ghana may be low. In the eyes of the individual, his or her perceived world is the real world, which guides decisions and actions. It is not what scientists may consider real (equals measurable). The farmer may shift the view when receiving new information or experiencing new things through, for example, anticipatory learning processes (Tschakert & Dietrich 2010), but then the individual's perception and knowledge change and redefine what is real. Participatory mapping exercises with farmers and experts in Senegal revealed 'many misconceptions and gaps in understanding causes and consequences of climate change ... among both "expert" and "non-expert" respondents,' as well as that 'some concepts were rather understood well' (Tschakert 2007: 391). Ghanaians tend to blame themselves for degradation rather than blaming external causes, especially their use of logging, intensive land cultivation and bush fires (BBC 2010; Tschakert & Sagoe 2009). Mismanagement of local resources was also identified as a driver for environmental and climatic change by farmers in other West African countries (Tschakert 2007). A study by the BBC World Trust's Research and Learning Group emphasised the need for education of the population, which is informed poorly about the process of global change. Many people tend to explain changes in the weather in relation to local environmental degradation. This phenomenon has been explained in relation to the prevalence of the degradation/ desertification narrative (Tschakert et al. 2010; Eguavoen & Schraven 2013). Many Ghanaians do not understand the scientific terminology that is used in media and governmental publications. Thus, in many cases, projects concentrate on mitigation instead of adaptation (BBC 2010). It was also observed that adaptation education programmes in Nigeria 'mainly focus on adaptation issues without discussing the causal activities' (Tambo & Abdoulaye 2012). Providing comprehensive information on global causes of climate change to the population, as well as information on opportunities and limitations of climate change adaptation projects, is also a responsibility of researchers conducting these kinds of studies. Poor rural farmers should be made aware of the actual causes of global climate change and not left believing that their management practices are responsible for causing climate change. In Ghana, Tschakert et al. (2010: 497) noted an absence of adequate communication tools for anticipatory learning about climate change, such as 'posters, drawings, board games, songs, theatrical skits, open days and special radio programs.' This study also demonstrates that talks about responsibility for climate change follow different trajectories. There may be an impression that cultural models and local priorities are not in accordance with 'Western' models and narrations. Farmers have legitimate concerns about changes that affect them, and if climate researchers wish to understand their responses to environmental challenges, farmers' perceptions, knowledge and valuations should be taken seriously. Listening to their concerns may contribute to the identification of relevant social processes and local priorities involved in the adaptation to environmental change. Acknowledgements This work was conducted within the WASCAL (West African Science Center for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) initiative which is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education. References Amenga-Etego, Rose Mary. 2011. Mending the broken pieces. Indigenous religion and sustainable rural development in Northern Ghana. 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Guthiga, Paul & Andrew Newsham. 2011. Meteorologists meeting rainmakers. Indigenous knowledge and climate policy processes in Kenya. IDS Bulletin 42(3): 104-9. Jung, Gerlinde & Harald Kunstmann. 2007. High-resolution regional climate modeling for the Volta Basin of West Africa. Journal of Geophysical Research 112(D23): 2156-202. Kemausuor, Francis, Ernest Dwamena, Paul L. G. Vlek & Ahmad M. Manschadi. 2011. Farmers perception of climate change in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase district of Ghana. ARPN Journal for Biological and Agricultural Sciences 6(10): 26-37. Kropp Dakubu, Mary Esther. 2009. Parlons farefari (gurenè). L'harmattan. Paris. Luning, Sabine. 2007. Rural territories as local heritage. Discourse on disruptions in society and nature in Maane, Burkina Faso. Africa 77(1), 86-103. Mbow, Cheikh, Ole Mertz, Awa Diouf, Kjeld Rasmussen & Anette Reenberg. 2008. The history of environmental change and adaptation in eastern Saloum, Senegal. Driving forces and perceptions. 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Nielsen, Jonas O. & Anette Reenberg. 2010. Temporality and the problem with singling out climate as a current driver of change in a small West African village. Journal of Arid Environments 74(4): 464-74. Orlove, Ben, Carla Roncoli, Merit Kabugo & Abushen Majugu. 2010. Indigenous climate knowledge in southern Uganda. The multiple components of a dynamic regional system. Climatic Change 100: 243-65. Peterson, Nicole & Kenneth Broad. 2009. Climate and weather discourse in anthropology. From determinism to uncertain futures. In: Susan A. Crate & Mark Nuttal (eds.), Anthropology and climate change. From encounters to actions. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press, pp. 70-86. Rapp, Eugen Ludwig. 1964. Die Gurenne-Sprache in Nordghana. Leipzig: Verlag Enzyklopädie. Roncoli, Carla, Todd Crane & Ben Orlove. 2009. Fielding climate change in cultural anthropology. In: Susan A. Crate & Mark Nuttal (eds.), Anthropology and climate change. From encounters to action. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press, pp. 87-115. Sanders, Todd. 2008. Beyond bodies. Rainmaking and sense making in Tanzania. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Sheridan, Michael J. 2012. Global warming and global war: Tanzanian farmers' discourse on climate and political disorder. Journal of Eastern African Studies 6(2): 230-45. Slegers, Monique F.W. 2008. "If only it would rain". Farmers' perception of rainfall and drought in semi-arid central Tanzania. Journal of Arid Environments 72: 2106-23. Strauss, Sarah & Ben Orlove 2003. Up in the air. The anthropology of weather and climate. In: Sarah Strauss & Ben Orlove (eds.), Weather, climate, culture. Oxford: Berg, pp. 3-14. Tambo, Justice & Tahirou Abdoulaye. 2012. Smallholder farmers' perception of and adaptation to climate change in the Nigerian savanna. Regional Environmental Change 13(2): 375-88. Tschakert, Petra. 2007. Views from the vulnerable: Understanding climatic and other stressors in the Sahel. Global Environmental Change 17: 381-96. Tschakert Petra & Regina Sagoe. 2009. Mental models. Understanding the causes and consequences of climate change. Participatory Learning and Action, Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change 60: 154-9. Tschakert, Petra, Regina Sagoe, Gifty Ofori-Darko & Samuel Nii Codjoe. 2010. Floods in the Sahel: an analysis of anomalies, memory, and anticipatory learning. Climatic Change 103(3-4): 471-502. Tschakert, Petra & Kathleen A. Dietrich. 2010. Anticipatory learning for climate change adaptation and resilience. Ecology and Society 15(2): 11pp. Van der Giesen, Nick, Jens Liebe & Gerlinde Jung. 2010. Adapting to climate change in the Volta Basin West Africa. Current Science 98(8), 1033-7. West, Collin Thor, Carla Roncoli & Frederic Ouattara 2008. Local perceptions and regional climate trends on the central plateau of Burkina Faso. Land Degradation & Development 19(3), 289-30. Povzetek Študija predstavlja analizo okoljskih opazovanj kmetovalcev kot tudi modelov krivde v severni Gani, kmetovalski regiji, ki je zelo ranljiva zaradi podnebnih sprememb. Kvalitativni podatki so bili zbrani prek standardiziranega vprašalnika o konsenzu skupnosti glede razlage opaženih sprememb. Odgovori so bili transkribirani in so tako omogočili vsebinsko analizo. Naravni podatki so potrdili večino lokalnih opažanj, vendar pa sta starost in prizadetost anketirancev ključno vplivala na njihove poglede. Podnebnim spremembam so anketiranci pripisovali nižjo pomembnost kot pa drugim izrazom sprememb kot so infrastrukturni razvoj, človeško-spiritualni odnosi in spremembe družbenih odnosov. Še več, sklicevali so se na blagoslov zemlje in na uničenje zemlje. Slednje je bilo razumljeno v prenesenem smislu kot rezultat erozije družbenih odnosov in stagnacije kot tudi kršenja norm in pomanjkanja enotnosti znotraj skupnosti. Podnebne spremembe so bile tako dojete na podlagi lokalnih družbenih pogojev ne pa na podlagi globalnega naravoslovnega znanja. Prispevek kaže, da je antropološka analiza smiselna in da lahko služi kot vstopna točka nadaljnjega načrtovanja prilagajanja ter javnega izobraževanja. KLJUČNE BESEDE: podnebne spremembe, zaznave, kmetovalci, krivda, zahodna Afrika CORRESPONDENCE: IRIT EGUAVOEN, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research, Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: eguavoen@uni-bonn.de. Perceptions around second generation female condoms: Reporting on women's experiences Maheshvari Naidu University of KwaZulu-Natal, naiduu@ukzn.ac.za Abstract This empirical study on the knowledge and perceptions of the female condom was cast against the assumption that the female condom could potentially be a powerful contraceptive tool whose use women could initiate and use against sexually transmitted diseases, and in so doing, allow them to exercise control over their bodies and sexuality, more especially within the context of the high prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the country. Many African women in rural spaces are faced with the situation when the male condom cannot always be comfortably demanded due to gendered power imbalances. This is where the promoting of female condoms may come into play. Against this background, we embarked on a large scale study that included 1,290 women in the greater KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province in South Africa. The findings revealed that a staggeringly high number of African women surveyed and interviewed, who are potentially the beneficiaries that stand the most to gain from female-initiated contraception, have very little exposure and knowledge of the female condom. KEYWORDS: female condoms, HIV/AIDS, women, empowerment Introduction In 1997, the first generation of the female condom (or FC1) was introduced in South Africa and initially piloted in 32 sites across the country; about 31.6 million FC1 have been distributed.1 In 2010. FC2 or the second generation of female condoms (Reality polyurethane female condom) were distributed (Hlatshawo 2012). These were claimed to be cheaper, softer and more user-friendly. There has been some scholarly work done on FC and sub Saharan women in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya (see Musaba, Morrison, Sunkutu & Wong 1998; Kerrigan et al. 2000; Feldblum, Kuyoh and Bwayo 2001) and work in South Africa (see Mantell et al. 2000 and Marseille, Elliot & Kahn 2001). Some work by groups such as Swaziland, Population Services International or in Swaziland, and the Durban Lesbian and 1 http://www.supportworldwide.org/country-programs/africa/south-africa/ ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 25-34. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 Gay Community & Health Centre indicate that while many women are uncertain about the use and reliability of FCs, other women are open to learn about female condoms. PSI Swaziland, an organisation that focuses on providing low cost, high quality HIV/AIDS prevention products and that introduced the Care female condom in Swaziland, claims that the condom has been a new option for HIV/STD prevention and contraception. However, these are relatively old studies and the Marseille study was based on the viability of FC use amongst female sex workers. There is thus an urgent need for more recent studies around female condoms (FC2, henceforth: FC) and female condom acceptance and actual use that take into account the epidemiological, economic and socio-cultural realities that confront women in the South African context. These women are assumed to be in greater vulnerable socio-economic contexts of exclusion and marginalisation (Morrell 2001), and thus form greater numbers in the high risk categories as shown by provincial and national statistics. Our concern was also from a social science and gender perspective, and was directly interested in the efficacy of a female oriented intervention in the female condom. Figure 1: In the waiting room (photograph by K. Ngqila) Methodology For this study to reach a projected number of 1,000 to 1,400 women in approximately three to four months, five female fieldworkers (between the ages of 30 and 45) were purposely recruited. These fieldworkers were selected due to their familiarity with FCs, as four had previously worked on educative projects around women, HIV/AIDS and other female health related issues. The advantage of recruiting such fieldworkers was that they were familiar with issues around the female body and had been involved in conducting interviews for various NGOS around wider women's health aspects. The fieldworkers were bi-lingual and fluent English and isiZulu speakers. However, all interviews were conducted in isiZulu, which is the language the participants were comfortable with, as the aim was to minimise barriers between fieldworkers and informants. The field assistants were reminded throughout of ethical considerations and to be cognisant of the sensitive nature of some of the questions and to be alert to the fact that they were to be non-judgmental and neutral as possible in their recording of responses that the women were willing to share. The study focused on women from the groups classified as African. This did not assume that women from other race groups are immune to STD and HIV infection, but that statistics place these women as showing higher prevalence rates in KZN. Additionally, women were selectively sampled so that the study identified peri-urban women who are seen to be more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS through their socio-economic backgrounds and known histories of being in abusive sexual relationships, etc. (as identified by some of the NGO women's groups and clinics). The rationale reflects an understanding of where the female condom could most likely prevent new cases of HIV. The clinics sites (in Inanda, Umlazi and Durban Central) that were eventually chosen, although not having on-going programmes dedicated to FCs, had NGOs such as the Durban Lesbian and Community and Health Centre render periodic programmes about FCs and health related issues. There is not much extant literature on the use and perception of female condoms in the African context or amongst South African women. Instead, there are organisational reports and references from groups such as the Swaziland Population Services International (PSI) and their work in Swaziland and The Gay and Lesbian Community Centre and their work with many women's clinics and organisations in KZN. The challenges around lack of literature were thus recognised, but this challenge provided the very premise for the necessity for a study of this nature. Anthropological and ethnographic work in any event demands not just access to published work, but access to the narratives and case studies of women, which this study aimed to collect. The study sampled approximately 1,290 sexually active women participants (18-52 years) in heterosexual relationships, who answered a structured open-ended interview. A total number of 1,220 interview sheets were deemed usable out of the 1,290, with others being in a few instances illegible or in the larger instances incomplete due to the participants withdrawing and choosing not to continue. This was not a problem in itself as the field assistants had been reminded to make clear to the women that participation was voluntary and could be withdrawn at any point without any fear. The data generated from the remaining 1,220 interviews was in any event substantial. Nvivo 9 software was used to assist in handling and helping to thematically classify the large amount of data in the 1220 interview sheets. It emerged that the total number of participants could be categorised into the following groups: 1) those who used male condoms only; 2) those who knew about female condoms and used these interchangeably with male condoms; 3) those who knew enough about the female condoms and thought them a good idea (although had yet to use them); 4) those women who were sexually active but who did not use condoms at all. These groups were not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example the women in Group 2 and Group 3 overlapped, as both had heard of FCs. From these two groups, one group was distilled, and these participants represented women who were familiar with female condoms and either: a) used these at times in the times they did not use a male condom; b) were familiar with the female condoms, did not use them, but were open to learning more about them, and possibly begin using them. This yielded approximately 111 participants and 111 interview sheets and 10% of the total participants. Figure 2: Advertising for free HIV testing (photograph by K. Ngqila) Findings The responses to a series of questions of this group of 111 women were analysed through thematic and narrative analysis. From the 111 women interviewed, and whose responses were captured on the interview schedule, 43 women were using female condoms consistently, and interchangeably, in some instances as a "fall back" when the partner did not have his own condom, and in other instances as a personal choice to use the female condom over that of the male condom. The findings of this study have revealed that this small number of women viewed female condoms as an empowerment tool. These women (who form a subgroup) within the sample of 111 see FCs as a positive intervention and empowering tool against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. However a disconcertingly high percentage of these women, who were open to the freedom and agency potentially offered by the female condoms, also raised problems around the design of FCs, sharing that it is not compatible with their bodies, raising concerns and appealing for a change in design, shape and size. The main reason for the poor usage of FCs, aside from issues around inaccessibility2 thus appeared to be, judging from the responses of the women themselves, substantial dissatisfaction with their design. Out of the 111 women interviewed, 63 felt that FCs were discernibly "uncomfortable" in their bodies. Some felt that this discomfort experienced most in the first few times that FCs were used. However, this discomfort also persisted with repeated use: 'FCs are not comfortable but I use them because my partner sometimes refuses to wear his,' stated Informant 1, and Informant 2 explained: 'I prefer male condoms as they are more comfortable, but if he doesn't want to protect himself it's his problem I still want to protect myself'. The responses above, which were fairly similar to many other responses, indicated that women were aware of the importance of protecting themselves, and to a large extent were willing to use FCs. However, there appeared to be major issues around poor design and experiences of high discomfort that severely inhibited this possibility. Not much extant literature is available on the actual design of FCs. The empirical data gathered however, illustrated that informants felt that FCs are too big and that they have an undesirable scent. These concerns and issues regarding the design speak to more than the issue of the external design of these condoms, and more to the fact that women are of course intimately knowledgeable and aware of their own bodies. The FCs are designed to go into the female body, as opposed to male condoms which are externally used (on the male body). The popular and commonly seen visual media depicts FCs as being tubular in shape, almost similar to that of male condoms, but the FC's width is bigger. However, once out of the package the FC opens into a large shapeless "bag". Thus the aesthetics of the female condom are different from that of the male. While it may appear speculative to claim that this is, in a sense "off putting", or dissuasive, there are responses from the participants themselves, that gives credence to the assertion. Such aesthetics appears to feed thinking and imagining female sexual organs as being big (and loose) and being likewise undesirable. 2 Some informants who were keen on using FCs shared that due to poor access to FCs, they used male condoms. The introduction of FCs with a design that goes into the vagina thus appeared to pose many concerns and uncertainties for women. Urban women and women in so-called modern contexts (and women in developed nations) are perhaps comfortable with feminine products such as tampons that are inserted into the body. However, among the categories or peri-urban women that this study dealt with, there was substantial unfamiliarity with products such as tampons. One is able to thus appreciate fears that may otherwise appear unfounded and irrational. For some informants shared that they feared FCs getting lost in their bodies. Additionally, these women felt FCs are uncomfortable and painful, and feared that the outer ring of the FC would not be able to stay in their bodies during intercourse and to avoid this, some shared that they had to 'hold it [the FC] while having sex'. This of course has substantial impact on how the sexual act can be experienced as pleasurable by the women. The understanding is that these women do not only hold onto FCs only physically, but psychologically, as during the intercourse they may be thinking and concerned about the condoms slipping off. This would also minimise their enjoyment and fulfilment during sex as they would be preoccupied about the state of the condom. One informant shared that she felt that 'FCs are not strong and tight enough,' and she felt that 'it was the size that made them feel uncomfortable.' Sexual intercourse is about mutual pleasure. However, again the very real and experienced design flaws around FCs, appears to substantially inhibit pleasure for the woman. Feminist anthropologists have shown how women's bodies, and especially the bodies of African women have been appropriated and rendered "docile" by so called cultural or traditional practices, as well as by discourse. On some levels, practices around condom design, that appeared blind to the contours and realities of women's bodies appear to be perpetuating this docility. Some informants shared that using FCs was undesirable as 'female condoms are noisy.' This "noise" whether tangibly discernible, or "white noise" as some kind of background lowly discernible noise is nevertheless "off-putting". Such white noise also holds a clutch of preconceptions, most commonly that of the (mis)perception of women as being expected to have "tight vaginas". The masculinized assumption amongst many women (in turn fuelled by their male partners) is that if the vagina is tight enough and the penis fits snugly into it during penetration, there should be no noise. Hence, the study found that some women avoid using FCs because they have been experienced as noisy in previous instances. The lack of knowledge regarding the correct usage of FCs is also a concern. While some women know that FCs are protective, some feel that FCs are not suitable for them as they are all the same size, hence the FCs appear to be are too big for them and their particular bodily size and shape. Visually "seeing" the size of FCs poses questions for these women, the main being whether their bodies have such a huge hollow space that fits it, or is capable of holding such a "big condom". As indicated by informants, FCs appeared bigger compared to male condoms. Several informants using FCs commented on the outer ring as being too big and shared that this ring can send negative impressions to their sexual partners about their vaginas. Since the ring rests on the outside of the female sexual organ, it is the object that sexual partners see as they prepare to penetrate. Because of its big size, informants shared that it could give their partners the idea that their vaginas are big as well. Many women shared that this was far from desirable. One 29-year-old informant shared: 'They should make FCs more comfortable, they should change the shape and the size. They should fit nicely and the ring should not be so big and uncomfortable.' Such responses, as feminist writers like Patricia Collins, bell hooks, Margaret Locke, Judith Butler, et al., point out, speak directly to the politics that cohere around how women are represented in both popular discourses, as well as within medical and health interventions assembled for women. The praxis of engagement at the level of design and even government policy and urgency and agency around these vital issues that affect women in a very literal sense, appears largely absent. The FC is literally, unlike the male condom, a very generic "one size fits all". Although there are currently small pilot productions and promotions around a new model, the bulk of the purchased FCs that are being distributed to clinics and NGOs are the second generation FC. Such a generic constructionist view of the generic woman/female body in turn retards the wider possible success of the FC and its acceptance by the women. While there has been an improvement in the actual material being used to make the condom, there still appears very little involvement on the part of the government to attempt to understand the needs of the women. Most campaigns around FC are intermittent and tied to already high-profile events such as women's months when there is a huge barrage of information disseminated etc., only to have very little follow up or ongoing educative programs. As with many other products, FCs come in a packet that has "directions to use" insert in it. This pamphlet is written in English and has images to demonstrate how these FCs are meant to be used. However, the majority of the informants shared that it was difficult to use FCs, their main reason being the outer ring. This lack of understanding cannot be resolved by the simple insert, which is also in a language not fully accessible to many of the African women. Many informants shared their uncertainties about when to put on FCs. The most prevailing understanding shared by informants, was that FCs have to be worn long before engaging in sexual activities. Most informants shared that they wore FCs thirty minutes before sex and even eight hours before. One informant shared that the reason she puts it on hours before sex is 'to absorb the moisture inside [her].' This difference in the length of times raises many issues with regard to the women's understanding. A 32-year-old informant shared that she would rather use male condoms as they are 'easy to use' as she felt that she did not have to wear it and wait before having sex. This indicates that for some women, FCs are major inconveniences. Unlike male condoms, to wear FCs, women have to assume a certain position which will better enable them to wear the condom. For this reason, FCs cannot be worn at any moment and at any place. Informants shared that they fear not wearing FCs properly, as this may cause irritation because the outer ring may cause discomfort. A 23-year-old student shared that it is not easy to use FCs especially for the first time. She also shared that it becomes easier and less painful if women are accustomed to inserting tampons into their vaginas. Not knowing how to properly use FCs is of critical concern, not only to women's health activists as they realize that this intervention strategy may not be useful for the majority of women, but to the social scientists who work with feminist discourse and women's issues. Both realize that the individuals who stand to lose the most are the women who are meant to be the main beneficiaries. The large selection of male condoms are a strong indication that the choice to use a condom is sometimes further expressed in which type to use, and is further entangled with notions of sexual pleasure. The study was thus interested in the women's awareness and sense of sexual pleasure while using the female condom. The sense is that using a condom for the prevention of pregnancy or infections or HIV/AIDS should not mean that the women are not free to enjoy her sexuality or sexual pleasure. For those participants using the female condom, it was thus important to explore what their comments were about the experience of sex when wearing a female condom. Comments such as 'Female condoms ... yes this is good ... why do men always have privilege in our lives and over our bodies' reveal that although a small number, for some women self-empowerment is of great importance. As stated earlier, for some informants within the sample of 111 women, regardless of dissatisfaction around design issues, condoms served as an empowering tool on some level. These women shared that FCs were important especially as one informant shyly put it: 'since you are more comfortable knowing that you have your protection as some boys want the lights off and you never know if the condom is on or not.' There was a small percentage of women who had had positive experiences around FCs, and thus considered these a desirable alternative to male condoms. Some women shared that they did feel empowered and that these condoms made them, feel 'more protected' and 'relaxed'. Some added that in comparison to male condoms, the FCs are 'flexible, long lasting and safe enough to protect them from contracting HIV/AIDS.' One informant shared; 'I use female condoms as often as possible. I prefer them over male condoms. They are nice and big, impossible to burst and break like it always happens with male condoms.' Closing comments: Some thoughts on the way forward There is overwhelming evidence from various studies (Barker & Ricardo 2005; Marseille, Elliot & Khan 2008; Mekgwe 2008) that in Africa, more females are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS. The global disease burden of HIV/AIDS is staggering, accounting for 39.5 million infections and 2.8 million deaths worldwide in 2006 (UNAIDS 2006). What is clear from this study is that a staggeringly high number of African women surveyed and interviewed, who are potentially the beneficiaries that stand the most to gain from a female initiated contraception, have very little exposure and knowledge of the female condom. This was startling, considering that the research sites or clinics where the interviews were conducted, were sites where some sort of periodic female condom programming had taken place. Thus although a large number, 1,220 usable responses from 1,290 peri-urban women were elicited, only 111 respondents could specifically comment on the knowledge and perception of FCs, with an even smaller number (43) indicating that they had actually used the condoms. The female condom thus emerges as a possible tool whose use the women can initiate and control against also sexually transmitted diseases. However, as pointed out in an international impact study (Marseille Elliot & Kahn 2008) and certainly true within the context of South Africa as our empirical study revealed, the female condom field lacks a consistent definition of success across the different groups of women in the study.3 Thus, a much 3 Additionally the female condom is at present still much less cost-effective than the male condom based on analytical modelling and based on inherent design flaws that severely inhabit the success of their use. more sophisticated approach or 'smarter programming' (see Marseille, Elliot & Kahn 2008) is needed, and one that pays special attention to the experiences of the women themselves and the exegetics of women's bodies. Thus, within the context of the female condom, what is needed is a two pronged approach that is cognisant of situated social realities; one that engages at a theoretical level and at the level of policy and interventionist strategy and design, to lobby for a better product, and another level simultaneously targeting women who derive immediate benefit, while the policy and practice catches up. Such a smarter, gendered and contextually relevant (Dosekun 2007) approach that responds to African woman in sub-Saharan Africa would: 1) lobby at the level of policy for a better product that speaks to the needs of the women, and 2) work at the grassroots level with women that might gain immediate benefit from negotiating and using a female controlled prevention method within the context of sexual relations with their male partners. References Barker, Gary & Ricardo Christina. 2005. Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict and Violence. Washington: The World Bank. Dosekun, Simidele. 2007. Defending Feminism in Africa: Post amble 3(1): 40-7. pathonline. Expanding Access to Female Condoms in Africa, a Fact Sheet. http://www.global-campaign.org/ clientfiles/FS-EastAfricaFemaleCondom-action. Accessed on 15 September 2012. Feldblum, Paul J., Maureen A. Kuyoh, Job J. Bwayo, Mohamedb Omari, Emelita L.Wong, Kathryn G. Tweedy & Michael J. Welsch. 2001. Female Condom Introduction and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence: Results of a Community Intervention Trial in Kenya. AIDS 15(8): 1037-44. Kerrigan, Deanna, Steve Mobley, Naomi Rutenberg, Andrew Fisher & Ellen Weiss. 2000. The Female Condom: Dynamics of Use in Urban Zimbabwe. Washington: Horizons Project. Mantell Joanne, Susie Hoffman, Eugene Weiss, Lawrence Adeokun, Grace Delano, Temple Jagha, Theresa Exner, Zena Stein, Quarriaisha Abdool Karim, Elma Scheepers, Kim Atkins & Ellen Weiss. 2001. The acceptability of the female condom: Perspectives of family planning providers in New York City, South Africa, and Nigeria. Journal of Health 78(4) 658-68. Marseille, Elliot & James G. Kahn. 2008. Smarter Programming of the Female Condom: Increasing Its Impact on HIV Prevention in the Developing World. www.fsg-impact.org. Accessed on 29 March 2012. Mekgwe, Pinkie. 2008. Theorizing African Feminism(s) the 'Colonial' Question. QUEST: An African Journal of Philosophy /Revue Africaine de Philosophie XX: 11-22. Morrell, Robert (ed.). 2001. Changing Men in Africa. University of Natal Press: Scottsville. SA. Mikell, Gwendolyn (ed.). 1997. African Feminism: The Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Musaba, Elizabeth, Charles S. Morrison, Musonda Roremary Sunkutu & Emelita L. Wong. 1998. Long-term use of the female condom among couples at high risk of human immunodeficiency virus infection in Zambia. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 25(5): 260-4. Hlatshawo, Sthembile. 2012. The female condom: Slowly becoming popular. Swaziland Times Online 16 March 2012. UNADIS. 2006. AIDS Epidemic Update - December 2006. Geneva: UNAIDS. Povzetek Empirična študija vednosti in zaznav ženskega kondoma je bila zasnovana na predpostavki, da bi ženski kondom lahko bil močno kotracepcijsko sredstvo, s katerim bi se ženske lahko borile proti spolno prenosljivimi boleznimi. Na ta način bi ženske lahko nadzorovale svoja telesa in spolnost, kar je še posebej pomembno v kontekstu visoke pojavnosti okužb virusom HIV v južnoafriški province KwaZulu Natal. Številne afriške ženske, še posebej v ruralnih področjih, se soočajo s težavo, ko zaradi spolno neuravnoteženih oblastnih odnosov od moških ne morejo vedno udobno zahtevati uporabo kondoma. V takšnih primerih je promocija ženskega kondoma izjemno pomembna in na podlagi takšnih pogojev je bila izvedena tudi obsežna raziskava, v kateri smo intervjuvali 1290 žensk v širši regiji KwaZulu Natal v Južni Afriki. Izsledki so pokazali, da ima veliko število afriških žensk, ki so bile vključene v raziskavo, intervjuvane in so potencialne uporabnice ženske kontracepcije, zelo malo stika in znanja o ženskem kondomu. KLJUČNE BESEDE: ženski kondomi, HIV/AIDS, ženske, emancipacija CORRESPONDENCE: MAHESHVARI NAIDU, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Social Sciences, Howard College, Private Bag X54001, Durban, South Africa. E-mail: naiduu@ukzn.ac.za. Spending leisure time and activities in the third period of life Tatjana Novak Šolski center za pošto, ekonomijo in telekomunikacije, Ljubljana, tatjana.novak@guest.arnes.si Rajko Vute University of Ljubljana, rajko.vute@pef.uni-lj.si Abstract In 2006, a study of leisure time activities of women aged over 65 was carried out in the Kamnik and Domžale. Twenty-six women from Kamnik and six women from Domžale, aged 69.68 on average, were included in the research. The research was repeated in the year 2011. Twenty women from the same group still actively participated four years later, now aged 74.35 on average. The participants of the research dedicated most of their leisure time to gardening, watching TV, reading and meeting relatives and friends. Regarding sports activities, most of the women focused on hiking and going for walks, cycling, mountaineering, swimming, dancing, sleighing, alpine skiing, doing exercises at home and general exercising. The aim of the research was to determine the preferences of activities of women over sixty-five years of age and to highlight the possibilities of including these women into various social and recreational activities in the local environment, for example within the framework of senior citizens' associations or other forms of social and adult day-care centres. KEYWORDS: elderly, women, social inclusion, spending leisure time, sports and recreational activities Introduction The definition of old age is changing. One of the most popular expressions has become the newly coined active aging, which represents a contrast to viewing to old age as a dependent and passive period of one's life. The World Health Organization (WHO 2001) defines active aging as the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and safety, in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly. Active aging refers to the ability of aging people to live socially and economically productive lives. Active aging can be understood, in the broadest sense, as a continuous involvement of the elderly in social, economic, cultural and civilian areas, and not only as intensified physical activities of the elderly or as their brain fitness and prolongation of employment (Kuhar 2007). ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 35-44. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 In the third period of life, being involved in a variety of activities in leisure time is significantly more affected by subjective than objective factors, because old age itself, the desire to be engaged in leisure time activities, family situation, vicinity of home and financial situation are of great importance. Fox (1992) states that self-confidence also plays an important role as it is an indicator of psychological well-being and engagement in leisure time activities. For many people, engagement in different activities means active spending of leisure time and a social life in which the primary criterion is welfare. The interests of an individual (Marentič-Požarnik 2000) are, in fact, permanent positive orientations towards individual areas that begin to develop in early childhood and are a part of dynamic characteristics of the individual. It is interesting that in leisure and sports activities the elderly much more prefer to socialize in age-heterogeneous groups where dynamism, diversity and different experiences of participants surface (McGuire 1985). The research among individuals aged from seventy-four to eighty-five (Dorgo et al. 2009) showed that, in seventy per cent of cases, mentors and instructors of the activities also play an important role as well as accessibility, type of training, payment, marital status (married, unmarried), family situation and health condition (Cohen-Mansfield et al. 2004). Stiggelbout and others (2008) argue that primarily younger individuals are engaged in organized sports; walking and exercising are more interesting for women, while men are more interested in skating and table tennis. Badminton and cycling have attracted individuals with relatively higher education; in contrast, less-educated participants have been particularly interested in general exercising. Biking, walking, swimming and gardening are the most popular activities among senior citizens. In Slovenia, the motivating factor for participation in individual sports sectors are different competitions that are organized by senior citizens' associations at the local as well as state levels. Both women and men participate in matches such as air-gun shooting, bowling, bocce and darts. Men compete in chess and fishing with a float switch (Tomšič 2010). Among popular social activities in Slovenia, there are organized activities for relaxation and recreation such as hiking, mountain climbing and swimming, chess competitions, running camps, kayaking, biking and cycling marathons. The social role of the elderly will be even more important due to the changes in society (Voljč 2007). Healthy aging is not limited only to the period of old age because a body ages throughout the whole of life; its leverage should be sought since birth, through childhood, adolescence, adulthood and in old age itself. Aging is associated with significant social and health shocks, but taking into consideration the ethical values of health and understanding oneself, other people and society, it is possible to live a healthy, active and spiritually rich life in the period of old age. An appropriate attitude towards approaching death is also important. Life can be designed and enriched to the last, although no one knows how long he will live. Regardless of the former, the objective of healthy aging is for everyone to remain physically and socially active as long as possible, autonomous and independent, but emotionally connected to the surroundings. Ramovš (2006) states that optional socializing and making acquaintances with peers is very important. The physical and emotional needs of older generation are no different than the same needs of the middle-aged generation, only that it is more difficult to implement them in old age period. The older generation wishes primarily to socialize with their family members; they are particularly happy to socialize with their grandchildren: so much so that they are ready to sacrifice whatever necessary for them. The worst that can happen is if the elderly shut themselves away and surrender to solitude. Voljč (2007) believes that it is very important that all those we are closely related as well as people in general should have the same possibilities to develop a healthy lifestyle; thereby, we will contribute to the health of Slovenian society and society in a wider perspective. Research objectives The objectives of the research were to examine the spending of leisure time and sports and recreational activities at the elderly female population, aged over sixty-five years. We were interested in which were the most current leisure and sports and recreational activities among women aged over sixty-five years, and whether they are linked to employment in domestic environment, and whether they include also the activities outside home and in the societies from in the local community. Methodology Thirty-two women were included in the research in the years 2006/07, aged over sixty-five years, from Kamnik and Domžale as well as the surrounding area. On average, they were 69.68 years old (birth years from 1930 to 1942). Their participation was voluntary. In June 2011, the survey was repeated. From the original group, twenty participants (62.5%) decided to participate again, but this time the average age was 74.35 years. To determine the leisure and sports and recreational activities, a questionnaire on the subjective assessment of physical activity at the elderly was used (A physical activity questionnaire for the elderly; Voorrips et al. 1991). Female participants of the research identified the activities in which they were engaged; we were further interested in how many hours per week they dedicated to all activities and how many hours per week they dedicated to individual activities. For statistical analysis, the program SPSS 16.0 was used (SPSS Inc., IBM Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2008). The results were presented in the forms of tables and a text. All statistical differences were examined at five-per cent risk (p = 0.05). The per centage of participation of women in individual activities was calculated and the comparison of the five-year period with the x2 test was carried out. Results Spending of leisure time and participation in sports and recreational activities of the female population aged over sixty-five were related to the rhythm of activities in the domestic environment, which were dictated by the environment in which they lived and self-motivation, to wit, a desire to participate in a particular leisure time and sports and recreational activities. Table 1: Hours per week spent for leisure time and sports and recreational activities in the years 2006/07 and 2011. Number of hours Leisure time Sports and recreational activities per week 2006/07 2011 2006/07 2011 % % % % 0-5 - 10.0 35.0 30.0 6-10 15.0 30.0 20.0 35.0 11-15 20.0 15.0 15.0 25.0 16-20 5.0 10.0 15.0 10.0 21-25 10.0 15.0 5.0 - 26-30 20.0 5.0 5.0 - 31-35 10.0 - - - 36-40 10.0 5.0 - - over 40 10.0 10.0 5.0 - Total 100.0 100.0 100 100 x 25.3 18.3 12.4 8.9 The comparison of the total amount of hours spent for leisure time and sports and recreational activities per week in the years 2006/07 and in the year 2011 for female participants of the research is shown in Table 2. In 2006/07, fifteen per cent of female participants were engaged in various leisure time activities from six to ten hours, twenty per cent of female participants from eleven to fifteen hours or twenty-six to thirty hours, only a small number of them were engaged in activities over thirty hours; in 2011, thirty per cent of female participants were engaged in activities from six to ten hours, fifteen per cent from eleven to fifteen or from twenty-one to twenty-five hours; very few of them dedicated over thirty-five hours per week to leisure time activities. Previously, the average number of hours of a weekly load for the female participants was 25.3 hours, or 3.6 hours per day; but in 2011 the average number of hours devoted to various activities was at 18.3 hours per week or 2.6 hours per day. Thirty-five per cent of female participants were actively involved in sports and recreational activities to five hours per week in 2006/07 and thirty per cent in 2011; in 2006/07, twenty per cent of them were engaged from six to ten hours, and in 2011 thirty-five per cent; in 2006/07, fifteen per cent of them participated from eleven to fifteen hours and in 2011 twenty-five per cent did; in 2006/07, fifteen per cent of women participated in sports and recreational activities from sixteen to twenty hours per week and in 2011 only ten per cent did; very few devoted more than twenty hours per week to such activities. in 2006/07, the average number of hours of a weekly load was 12.4 hours for the research participants , i.e. 1.8 hours per day, but in the 2011, the average number of hours was at 8.9, i.e. 1.3 hours per day. Table 2: Spending leisure time according to the activities in the years 2006/07 and 2011 Hours per week zero or less 1-4 5-8 more than Activity Yrs than 1 hours hours 8 hours N % N % N % N % X2 P Gardening V1 5 25.0 12 60.0 2 10.0 1 5.0 4.869 0.772 V2 4 20.0 12 60.0 4 20.0 - - Babysitting V1 11 55.0 7 35.0 1 5.0 1 5.0 3.360 0.762 grandchildren V2 14 70.0 4 20.0 2 10.0 - - Reading V1 3 15.0 10 50.0 6 30.0 1 5.0 5.967 0.651 V2 5 25.0 10 50.0 5 25.0 - - Watching TV V1 - - 10 50.0 6 30.0 4 20.0 14.869 0.189 V2 3 15.0 11 55.0 4 20.0 2 10.0 Cinema, V1 12 60.0 8 40.0 - - - - 3.373 0.497 concert, theatre V2 13 65.0 7 35.0 - - - - Handicraft V1 6 30.0 12 60.0 1 5.0 1 5.0 16.312 0.042 V2 13 65.0 7 35.0 - - - - Education V1 11 55.0 8 40.0 1 5.0 - - 3.568 0.468 V2 15 75.0 5 25.0 - - - - Friends V1 3 15.0 12 60.0 3 15.0 2 10.0 4.644 0.795 & relatives V2 5 25.0 13 65.0 2 10.0 - - Work in V1 10 50.0 9 45.0 - - 1 5.0 8.534 0.02 societies V2 13 65.0 6 30.0 1 5.0 - - Confectionaries V1 13 65.0 7 35.0 - - - - 4.148 0.386 & restaurants V2 14 70.0 5 25.0 1 5.0 - - Cultural V1 13 65.0 6 30.0 1 5.0 - - 3.429 0.330 activities V2 15 75.0 5 25.0 - - - - Part-time job V1 15 75.0 3 15.0 1 5.0 1 5.0 6.234 0.513 V2 14 70.0 4 20.0 2 10.0 - - Resting V1 12 60.0 7 35.0 1 5.0 - - 3.111 0.539 V2 12 60.0 8 40.0 - - - - Legend: N - Number, x2- Chi square test, V1 - year 2006/07, V2 - year 2011, % - per centage, p - statistical significance The comparison of how the female participants who were involved in the research in 2006/07 and 2011 spend their leisure time, shown in Table 2, reveals statistically important differences from the four-year period only in handicrafts (p=0.042). Previously, seventy per cent of the female participants of the research were engaged in handicrafts, but in 2011 only thirty-five per cent were. In the weekly spending of leisure time for other activities, the differences from the four-year period were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In 2006/07, the female participants from the research spent most of the time gardening (84.4%), watching TV (100%), reading (90.6%) and meeting relatives and friends (90.6%); in 2011, they spent maximum hours for gardening (80.0%), watching TV (85.0%), reading (75.0%) and visiting friends and relatives (75.0%). Only a third of them were constantly involved in association and cultural activities, babysitting of grandchildren, part-time work and handicrafts, visiting the theatre or cinema and education. Table 3: Sports and recreational activities in the years 2006/07 and 2011 Hours per week zero or less 1-4 5-8 more than Activity Yrs than 1 hours hours 8 hours N % N % N % N % X2 P Aerobics V1 18 90.0 2 10.0 - - - - 4.000 0.261 V2 18 90.0 2 10.0 - - - - Fitness V1 18 90.0 2 10.0 - - - - 2.105 0.147 V2 20 100.0 - - - - - - Cycling V1 12 60.0 6 30.0 1 5.0 1 5.0 8.133 0.321 V2 12 60.0 7 35.0 1 5.0 - - Fast running V1 18 90.0 2 10.0 - - - - 0.360 0.548 V2 19 95.0 1 5.0 - - - - Slow running V1 16 80.0 4 20.0 - - - - 2.667 0.446 V2 16 80.0 3 15.0 1 5.0 - - Fast walking V1 12 60.0 7 35.0 1 5.0 - - 6.182 0.519 V2 10 50.0 8 40.0 2 10.0 - - Slow walking V1 9 45.0 7 35.0 4 20.0 - - 7.386 0.496 V2 10 50.0 7 35.0 3 15.0 - - Mountaineering V1 9 45.0 8 40.0 3 15.0 - - 3.896 0.564 V2 14 70.0 5 25.0 1 5.0 - - Nature walk V1 1 5.0 13 65.0 4 20.0 2 10.0 10.286 0.328 V2 4 20.0 9 45.0 7 35.0 - - Swimming V1 13 65.0 6 30.0 - - 1 5.0 4.473 0.215 V2 18 90.0 2 10.0 - - - - Dancing V1 19 95.0 1 5.0 - - - 1.026 0.311 V2 20 100.0 - - - - - - Yoga V1 19 95.0 1 5.0 - - - - 1.026 0.311 V2 20 100.0 - - - - - - Alpine skiing V1 19 95.0 1 5.0 - - - - 1.026 0.311 V2 20 100.0 - - - - - - Legend: N - Number, x2- Chi square test, V1 - year 2006/07, V2 - year 2011, % - per centage, p - statistical significance The comparison of involvement in sports and recreational activities of the female participants who were included in the research in 2006/07 and 2011 is shown in Table 3. The comparison does not show statistically significant differences in the four-year period in any of the activities (p> 0.05). All these years, the female participants in the research were mainly involved in slow and fast walking, nature walks, cycling, slow running, swimming and mountaineering. Among sports and recreational activities in 2006/07, nature walks were in the foreground with more than three quarters of female participants, with half of them mountaineering and slow walking; slightly fewer than a half fast walking and cycling; and a slightly more than a third swimming, and fewer slow running, fitness, dancing or other sports and recreational activities. In 2011, more than three quarters of female participants still spent most hours walking in nature, one half of them was involved in slow and fast walking, one third in cycling and mountaineering, and one fifth in slow running, fewer still in swimming, aerobics and fast running. Discussion Thirty-two women from Kamnik (81.2%) and Domžale (18.8%), sixty-five or more years old, were monitored in the research. At the beginning of the research, in 2006/07, the average age of the female participants was 69.68 years; at the end of the research, in 2011, the average age was 74.35 years. With the help of a questionnaire on the subjective assessment of physical activities of the elderly, we determined the preferences of female participants of the research for sports and recreational activities and leisure activities. Among retired people, cycling, walking and swimming appear to be the most popular activities (Stiggelbout et al. 2008). Previously and in 2011, our female participants were involved mostly in walking in nature: ninety-five per cent in 2006/06 and eighty per cent in 2011; slow walking: fifty-five per cent in 2006/07 and fifty per cent in 2011; mountaineering: fifty-five per cent in 2006/07 and thirty per cent in 2011; cycling: forty per cent in 2006/07 and the same per centage in 2011; fast walking: forty per cent in 2006/07 and fifty per cent in 2011 and swimming: thirty-five per cent in 2006/07 and ten per cent in 2011, but less in aerobics, fitness, dancing, yoga, fast running and alpine skiing. With regards to sports activities, it is generally considered that the female population (Sila 2004) in Slovenia is most frequently engaged in activities such as walking and strolling twenty-seven per cent, swimming twenty per cent, cycling eighteen per cent, mountaineering fourteen per cent, aerobics twelve per cent , dancing twelve per cent, morning gymnastics twelve per cent, badminton ten per cent, running nine per cent and alpine skiing eight per cent. The abovementioned preferences of sports and recreational activities could be an indicator for different sports and Senior Citizens' Societies in local communities and wider, to offer sports and recreational activities which would be accessible and suitable for the over sixty-five generation, under the assumption that the activities are financially accessible to the generation in the third period of their life. The analysis about spending leisure time has shown that for the majority of the female participants of the research, spending leisure time implied an active participation in a variety of household tasks and cultural events, work in societies and other employments. The proportion of participants of the research who spent time watching TV was one hundred per cent in 2006/07 and eighty-five per cent in 2011; gardening seventy-five per cent in 2006/07 and eighty per cent in 2011; reading and meeting friends and relatives eighty-five per cent in 2006/07 and seventy-five per cent in 2011; seventy per cent in 2006/07 and thirty-five per cent in 2011 were engaged in handicrafts; working in societies fifty per cent in 2006/07 and thirty-five per cent in 2011; education forty-five per cent in 2006/07 and twenty-five per cent in 2011; visiting cultural events forty per cent in 2006/07 and thirty-five per cent in 2011; cultural activities thirty-five per cent in 2006/07 and twenty-five per cent in 2011) and babysitting grandchildren forty-five per cent in 2006/07 and thirty per cent in 2011. Furthermore, Australian research, performed among 3955 women aged from seventy-five to eighty-one, revealed that the older population of women actively participates in activities such as gardening, hand-crafts, reading (7%), cooking and listening to music (4.5%). As many as 20.1% of participants are engaged in voluntary work and 13.5% are active in different societies (Adamson & Parker 2006). The Canadian research on the influence of leisure time activities on heath of older women in Montreal has revealed that leisure time activities can improve the physical health, prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases and have a positive impact on the quality of life (Fitzpatrick 2009). Leisure time could also represent dealing with less serious activities, pleasure, enthusiasm, opportunity and other energy, as leisure time activities are at the same time stimulating and reassuring, they could be extremely active or passive (Ebersole & Hess 1995). Hereinafter, we note that the number of hours that the participants of the research spent for leisure time and sports and recreational activities during the five-year long project was reduced by twenty-eight per cent for leisure time activities as well as sports and recreational activities. We assume that the decrease of weekly activities is owed to a higher average age and, consequently, related lower motivation or a wish for activities at home or within the local community, even though, on average, the weekly number of hours of rest at the participants of the research was reduced in this period. Conclusion The findings of this research, which included women aged over sixty-five who live at home, could be a guide for a variety of opportunities about spending leisure time and sports and recreational activities and should be transferred also into institutions, such as retirement homes and municipal day-care centres. For the elderly, participation in a variety of leisure time and sports and recreational activities is very important because such activities enable the maintenance of physical health, have a positive impact on mental health and have in all respects a positive impact on well-being, and thereby raise the quality of life. It is very important for senior citizens to know that they are still important and that they can contribute to active life in the neighbourhood or wider, in the local community, e.g. in societies and clubs. Due to the fact that more than eighty per cent of the interviewed older women who still live in their home environment prefer gardening, each senior citizen living in a home for the elderly could have potted plants, if not a mini flower bed or a small garden with decorative plants or a herb garden to take care of. As many as one third of the interviewees who still live in their home environment were continuously involved in the association-related and cultural activities, babysitting grandchildren, handicrafts, visiting theatres or cinemas and education. Therefore, to main- tain the quality of living as well as active involvement of the elderly in homes, the following activities can be of interest: dancing and music workshops, drama clubs, reading hours and animation of the stories read, handicrafts workshops, meetings of singers in order to preserve folk songs, connections with kindergartens and schools in the activities in the form of intergenerational association, social sports activities (bowling, walks, social games, etc..), integrations in the preparation of breakfast or snacks or baking cakes and pastries. Last but not least, sociological theories on aging also remind us that cognitive and emotional functions reflect a desire to maintain productivity, independence and, of course, an active interaction with the environment. With the awareness of and growing concern for an environment in which everybody can contribute a little to the common welfare, such forms of participation are especially important in terms of transfer of knowledge, skills and arts from the older generation to the younger one. We are aware that the activities should be adjusted to the individual's skills and capabilities as well as to their needs for participation. At the same time, we should not ignore the impact of the participants of the activities on other users, who can participate only passively at the beginning, maybe with their ideas, but gradually they can become enthusiastic about the offered activities and start being actively involved. With a little good will, practically everyone could participate in the suggested activities: the employees who could adjust their work schedule, within which much could be upgraded, the service users and also volunteers, who are more and more numerous each year as the awareness of voluntarism is spreading into all social spheres. With the results of our research, we want to contribute to the possibility that the broadest possible circle of society and relevant institutions, that relatively healthy and active population of the elderly, of both sexes and sixty-five years old and more, which are in contact with Senior Citizens' Associations, Universities for the Third Period of Life, clubs, health centres and homes for the elderly, would start to consider systematically implementing different activities to preserve an individual's autonomy, independence and good physical health, which is particularly important given the fact that life expectancy has been increasing. All this can also have an impact on a decrease in medical treatment costs and, most importantly, on the general satisfaction of the elderly with their being fit, remaining fully active, important and socially involved. The former could be expressed with the slogan: 'All roads lead to an active, smiling and happy older person in society, with and among us.' References Adamson, Lynette & Glennys Parker. 2006. 'There's more to life than just walking': older women's ways of staying healthy and happy. Journal of aging and physical activity 14(4): 380-91. Cohen-Mansfield, Jiska et al. 2004. Socio-environmental exercise preferences among older adults. Preventive Medicine 38(6): 804-11. Dorgo, Sandor et al. 2009. The application of peer mentoring to improve fitness in older adults. Journal of aging and physical activity 17(3): 344-61. Ebersole, Philip & Peter Hess. 1995. Toward Healthy Aging. St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Co. Fitzpatrick, Tanya. 2009. The Quality of Dyadic Relationships, Leisure Activities and Health among Older Women. Health Care for Women International 30(12): 1073-92. Fox, Keith. 1992. The complexities of self - esteem promotion in physical education and sport. In: Trevor I. Williams, Len Almond, Andrew Sparkes (eds.), Sports and physical activity —moving towards excellence. London: E & FN Spon, pp. 382-9. Kuhar, Metka. 2007. Sociološki vidik: prevrednotenje staranja in starosti [Sociological aspect: reevaluation of aging and old age]. http://www.kapitalska-druzba.si/_files/506/kad_zbornik2007_metka_kuhar.pdf. Accessed on 29 July 2009. Marentič-Požarnik, Barica. 2000. Psihologija učenja in pouka [Psychology of learning and teaching]. Ljubljana: DZS. McGuire, Francis. 1985. Leisure co-participant preferences of the elderly: Age-homogeneity versus age-heterogeneity. Leisure Sciences 7(1): 115-24. Ramovš, Jože. 2006. Sožitje generacij - medgeneracijsko sožitje [Generational harmony - crossgenerational harmony]. In: Jana S. Javornik (ed.), Socialni razgledi 2006. Ljubljana: Umar, pp. 99-100. Sila, Boris. 2004. Frequency of Activity in Different Sports of Slovenian Adults Over a One-Year Period. Kine-siologia Slovenica 10(2): 37-48. Stiggelbout, Maarten, Marijke Hopman-Rock & Willem van Mechelen. 2008. Entry correlates and motivations of older adults participating in organized exercise programs. Journal of aging and physical activity 16(3): 342-54. Tomšič, Stane. 2010. Športne igre upokojencev ljubljanske pokrajine 2010 [Pensioners' sport games of Ljubljana region]. http://www.seniorji.info/index.php. Accessed on 8 August 2010. Voljč, Božidar. 2007. Zdravo staranje [Healthy aging]. Kakovostna starost 10(2): 2-8. Voorrips, Laura E., Anita C. Ravelli, Ben W. M. Mol & Ameen Abu-Hanna. 1991. A physical activity questionnaire for the elderly. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 23(8): 974-9. WHO. 2001. Active ageing makes the difference —flyer. Geneva: World Health Organization. Povzetek V letu 2006 smo v Občinah Kamnik in Domžale izvedli raziskavo o preživljanju prostega časa žensk, starejših nad 65 let. V raziskavo je bilo vključenih 26 žensk iz Kamnika in 6 žensk iz Domžal s povprečno starostjo 69,68 let. Raziskavo smo ponovili leta 2011, kjer je po štirih letih še vedno aktivno sodelovalo 20 žensk iste skupine s povprečno starostjo 74,35 let. Največ prostega časa so udeleženke raziskave namenile vrtnarjenju, gledanju televizije, branju ter srečanjem s sorodniki in prijatelji, med športno rekreativnimi panogami pa so bili v ospredju hoja in sprehodi, cestno kolesarstvo, planinstvo, vadba doma, plavanje, družabni ples, sankanje, drsanje, alpsko smučanje in splošna vadba. Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti preference o vrstah aktivnosti ter osvetliti možnosti za vključevanje starejših žensk nad 65 let v družabne in rekreativne aktivnosti v lokalnem okolju, tako v društvih upokojencev, kot tudi drugih oblikah socialnega vključevanja in dnevnega varstva. KLJUČNE BESEDE: starejši, ženske, socialna vključenost, prostočasne aktivnosti, športno rekreativne aktivnosti. CORRESPONDENCE: TATJANA NOVAK, Šolski center za pošto, ekonomijo in telekomunikacije, Celjska ulica 16, SI-1000 Ljubljana. E-mail: tatjana.novak@guest.arnes.si. Entrepreneurship and regional development in Europe: A comparative, socio-anthropological case study in Germany and Spain Richard Pfeilstetter University of Seville, rgp@us.es Abstract This paper summarises the design, data and results of our research on the emergence and consolidation of forms of institutionalisation based on innovative entrepreneurial action in rural European territorial contexts. The investigation was conducted between the years 2006 and 2010. We present data obtained in two territorial references, the regions of Los Pedroches in Andalusia, Spain and Muhldorf in Bavaria, Germany. The paper explores the contributions of social anthropology to prevailing economic entrepreneurship theory by focusing on intangible, cultural variables that influence the implementation of local entrepreneurial initiatives. Presenting data from a case study of two European rural areas of different levels of economic development, the text argues that entrepreneurial research needs to incorporate qualitative data on the sociocultural preconditions of emerging innovative institutions. The research emphasises the need for a broader concept of entrepreneurial behaviour that is able to overcome the reductionist idea of firm creation, and presents a theoretical model for actor-based territorial development studies founded on the combined social theories of Niklas Luhmann and Pierre Bourdieu. KEYWORDS: entrepreneurship; anthropology of development; regional development Introduction The context from which our research emerged is the growing preoccupation of administration, academics, and politics with regard to the ways of measuring intangible or non-economic variables in development processes. The growing criticism of the reduction of Gross Domestic Product as the only indicator of wealth has produced new ways of thinking about development, which has led to new concepts such as sustainable development or social capital. Meanwhile, nobody doubts the importance of incorporating sociocul-tural data for measuring grades of development and design of development strategies, but there is no consensus over the importance of sociocultural data or how to quantify and incorporate it. The popularity of social capital as a concept, as well as its wide variety of ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 45-57. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 definitions and applications, illustrates this problem well (Pfeilstetter 2008). Our research offers an example for how to measure relevant socio-cultural data for development by employing anthropological fieldwork methodology. The consideration of social and cultural variables in development research gives increased importance to a perspective focused on actors. Recently, the entrepreneur has become one of the most popular key players responsible for socio-economic change in small territories. Other disciplines such as economics, sociology and psychology have already accumulated experience with entrepreneurship as a field of research (Shane & Venkataraman 2000); however, in social anthropology the term essentially only appears in combination with classical groups of interest or marginalised collectives like specific ethnic groups, gender studies, etc. (Pfeilstetter 2011). In contradistinction to this tendency, our research sustains a general concept of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour, interested not only in the economic or psychological implications of the term. Another justification of our research lies in the emergence of development studies within Europe with a regional, comparative perspective. The European Union organises its rural development programs, the different successive LEADER programs, for example, focused on economically weak and strong regions within the national and continental contexts. This relatively new institutional scenario gives greater importance to research perspectives from below and beyond the nation-state. In this sense, our research overcomes the predominant focus on quantifiable taxes of development within and between political-administrative territories. In contrast, it is a comparative case study of local conditions and results of entrepreneurship between middle European and peripheral south European regions. Moreover, the current financial crisis in Europe elevates the importance of north-south comparison in development theory and practice. The theories of Bourdieu and Luhmann applied on actor-based regional development studies Our research dealt with three central concepts: the entrepreneur as a privileged agent for development, the region as a spatial reference capable of qualitative field work, and the idea of development itself as a particular type of social change. Next is a short but necessary reductionist overview on current discussions in social sciences related to these three topics. Special emphasis is given to how social anthropology and a theoretical model based simultaneously on Niklas Luhmann's and Pierre Bourdieu's social theory can supply new ways of thinking about entrepreneurship and regional development. The episte-mological, basic research that justifies the convenience and congruence of such a theoretical model was the exclusive objective of a previous paper (Pfeilstetter 2012). Economically and psychological conceptualisations of the entrepreneur Entrepreneurship in specialised literature is mostly reduced to the creation of firms by individuals embedded in a politically liberal capitalist market environment (Austin, Stevenson &Wei-Skillern 2006). Not only had common sense led to this reductionist notion but also the predominance of economics and business administration as academic disciplines in entrepreneurship studies. Likewise, entrepreneurial behaviour is mainly described in specialised literature as being economically motivated, or the result of a special kind of personality, explored and reiterated by psychologically founded academic research. From a socio-anthropological point of view, human motivation in general and entrepreneurial behaviour in particular cannot be explained only by rational economic calculation or by psychological variables. Individual action has to be understood by attending to an analysis of the social and cultural environment, which works as a guideline for social behaviour. Therefore, the actor itself is a product and producer of this socio-cultural structure. Essentially, this is what one of the most influent sociologist of the last century, Pierre Bourdieu (1972), means with his habitus concept. The idea of territory as administrative space or community In contrast, studies on entrepreneurship mainly choose a spatial dimension that correlates with administrative categories for their investigation. Towns and cities, counties, states, and nations serve as geographic references in which entrepreneurial behaviour is located and registered. The advantages of what may be called the 'nation-state administrative view' on territory are the existence of statistical data, consequently the possibility of comparison between regions, and finally the possibility of avoiding difficult and always reproachable decisions on territories defined by distinct variables rather than legal national divisions of space (Allen, Masse & Cochrane 1998). The problem with this kind of space-conceptualisation is that it takes non-scientific, political categories for granted and applies them as objective categories. In contrast, we can find a community-based regional focus of entrepreneurship studies in specialised literature. Their concept of space relies on the idea of local societies, which constitute a microcosm of kinship, friendship, pertinence to a cultural community based on corporal and spatial proximity in neighbourhoods, quarters, districts, towns, villages, etc. The problem with this notion of space, predominant in many anthropological research settings, is the reification of community in order to obtain a coherent target for academic inquiries. This symbiosis between local society and space is impossible to sustain because empirical data always demonstrates multiple, socially constructed boundaries of ethnic groups (Barth 1969). Empiricism and academicism in development research Development, commonly understood as planned social change, is not only difficult to define but even more so to measure. The world's largest institutions related to development politics, such as the World Bank or the United Nations, have pluralised their indicators, which had historically only taken into GDP account. The UN Human Development Index and the UN Agenda 21 are examples for this paradigmatic change: Commonly used indicators such as the gross national product (GNP) and measurements of individual resource or pollution flows do not provide adequate indications of sustainability. Methods for assessing interactions between different sectoral environmental, demographic, social and developmental parameters are not sufficiently developed or applied. Indicators of sustainable development need to be developed to provide solid bases for decision making at all levels and to contribute to a self-regulating sustainability of integrated environment and development systems (Agenda 21, paragraph 40.4). However, the new consensuses on the requirement of social, cultural and psychological variables to complete the material indicators for wealth have yet to establish any agreement on how to calculate grades of development today. Administrations and institutions related to development have established indicators and indexes on, for example, social capital or environmental issues and introduced them into their empirical, macro-structural, mathematical models on global or country based grades of development. The report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on 'Measuring sustainable development' (2009) is a good example of such an approach. Academic experts on this, we may call them soft indicators of development, and generally criticise these holistic models in allusion to the complexity of social, cultural and environmental variables. While institutionalised development politics is in need of expertise and data to enable making decisions, even if there are still doubts about their validity, social scientists in the academic world can maintain a complete distance to development programs by merely criticising and evaluating the intervention done by others. Both actors, as we can see, have their specific way of conceptualising development in ways that have a great deal to do with their professional position. A theoretical model based on Luhmann and Bourdieu Facing this conceptual landscape, we decided to choose a macro-theoretical framework able to incorporate all of the three main theoretical issues underlying our research. Therefore, we decided to develop a theoretical model based on the social theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Niklas Luhmann. The first articulations of such a model had already been conducted in previous work (Nassehi & Nollmann 2004). Further developed and applied to our research topics, this larger theoretical framework promised to overcome several problems in actor-centred regional development studies. We conceptualised the idea of space or territory according to Bourdieu and Luh-mann's theories of social fields and systems. Under this perspective, territoriality is no longer solely a question of administrative, juridical limits nor a synonym for a community. Social fields and systems understand and think of space as a social construct constituted by self-referential communication and social positions within this space competing for specific forms of capital, e.g. money, power, fame, etc. Moreover, the agency in the form of the entrepreneur is conceptualised in a more abstract term: Habitus as a personality formed by and oriented towards social structure. This is, put otherwise, socialisation as a continual process of interaction between agency, and structure. This is a theoretical foundation for a distinct approach on entrepreneurship. Ultimately, we think of development not as a cumulus of data on material and non-material indicators at a macro-structural level. Rather, we conceptualise development according to the idea of conflict articulated by Bourdieu: social change is a conflict (as a sociological category) between central and peripheral positions within a social field. Therefore, innovative entrepreneurial behaviour leads to the development of a region as a result of actors (individuals and groups with certain socialised habitus) that create dissent among local social and cultural settled ways of thinking, speaking and acting. We can say that communication in Luhmann's sense is fundamental to society and subsequently the tool for social change. Figure 1: Combined theoretical model from Bourdieu and Luhmann applied on agency based regional development studies In Figure 1, we visualised the theoretical model underlying our research. We recognise three constitutive, related dimensions of our research and different grades of theoretical abstraction within these dimensions. Our research design decided to opt for the most general categories in order to overcome some of the theoretical difficulties with classifications used ordinarily in actor-based regional development studies. Qualitative and comparative research design in two rural European regions Using this model, our research defines three main research objectives: 1) social and cultural practices underlying emergence and institutionalisation of local innovative initiatives; 2) the socio-cultural conditions under which these processes take place; 3) grades of impact on the local social and cultural structure accompanying the consolidation of new organisations. For an empirical reference, we decided to analyse rural regions in Europe that had been targeted by European development programs. These regions are particularly salient for development research because of their underdevelopment in relation to their immediate national and regional environment. At the same time, a direct comparison between these regions enables us to compare an economically strong, developed rural region with a weak rural region, both of which are located within a common socio-political-juridical and economical context, in this case the European Union and the euro area. We have opted to focus on southern Bavaria, the strongest area within Germany, the strongest European economy and a central European region, and compare it with one of the weakest developed regions in Europe, i.e. southern Spain, particularly northern Andalucía. The regions of Los Pedroches and Mühldorf were selected as the scenarios for our research because they fulfilled all of these criteria. At the same time, there was the practical possibility for prolonged residence, indispensable for anthropological fieldwork, in both regions (see map one and two). regions of Los Pedroches and Mühldorf Our empirical research was conducted in four intervals between May 2007 and December 2010 both in Germany and Spain. We applied three principle research methodologies: as a first step, we conducted quantitative research of secondary data in both territories to obtain an approximate knowledge of the specific territorialised conditions of social structure, local culture, economy, politics, population, geography, history etc. General non-directive interviews where organised with key actors of both regions in the fields of religion, economy, politics, and civil society, to name a few. Next, in order to understand the motivations for entrepreneurial action that lead to the consolidation of innovative institutions, we performed an intensive case study of twenty-four initiatives, twelve from each region. As third and fourth steps, we analysed the consolidation of the initiatives in relation to their own territorial context and then compared to the territorial counterpart that we have paired. Both steps drew upon the theoretical comparative analysis from data obtained in the previous stages of our research. In Figure 3, we visually summarise our research design. It illustrates the relation between methodology, empirical references and the different types of data we produced. In conjunction with Figure 1, we can consider the theoretical foundation of our research design. Figure 3: Research design and methodological model Empirical data on entrepreneurship and development in Spain and Germany By analysing secondary data on general structural conditions in both territories, we identified fields of differences and similarities between the two regions. Consequently, we could then compare the entrepreneurial behaviours to obtain generalisable knowledge about rural development in Europe throughout emerging innovative organisations. Rural regions in Europe can be understood as a socio-geographic variable between the community and the state. The Spanish-German example shows that the administrative structure of the member states is not always comparable due to different geographic scales and different competencies assigned to these regions. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) utilised by the European Union makes note of this inability: For practical reasons to do with data availability and the implementation of regional policies, the NUTS nomenclature is based primarily on the institutional divisions currently in force in the Member States (normative criteria). . NUTS excludes specific territorial units and local units in favour of regional units of a general nature (European Commission 2010) The Spanish mancomunidad is hardly articulated as an administrative structure; yet, in the specific case of Los Pedroches it has both strong socio-cultural as well as ecological significance. The German Landkreis is a historically consolidated political and administrative level. However, in the case of Mühldorf, we believe Upper Bavaria represents a more relevant socio-cultural sphere for the population. This is mainly because Mühldorf does not represent a valid criterion for ecological or historical classification of space. This incongruence between the two cases leads to distinct possibilities and restrictions for entrepreneurship within these socio-geographical environments. Generally, we could say that strong, low-scale administrative articulation on a regional level, as in the German case, as well as cultural and ecologically grown regional identification, as in Los Pedroches, is an essential resource for the emerging institutionalisation of new ideas for the entrepreneur. When we compare the political conditions between both territories, it is necessary to note that entrepreneurial activity in Mühldorf as in Los Pedroches must deal with local and regional governments that have been invariant for decades. Political power is reproduced within the same parties and people over long periods of time, which explains the need for good networking among entrepreneurs, who need institutional support for the creation of new institutions. Ideological orientations of "left" and "right", progressive or conservative in local governments, in fact, have little importance on local politics. Taking into account the macro-socio-geographical conditions of rural entrepre-neurship in Europe, our comparative case study shows the difference between core and peripheral positions. These spatial positions largely determine the demographic and economic development in rural areas. Meanwhile, the local self-perception of the populations in both regions is that of the "countryside", suggesting that they are less developed in relation to the different urban scales of reference. Mühldorf, situated in the centre of Europe and within the economically strong, developed south of Germany relies on positive demographic development, plain employment tax policies, and mainly distributes its work force in industry and services. In contrast, Los Pedroches is part of the peripheral south of Europe, is located in historically underdeveloped Andalusia, and has had to support a rural exodus in its recent history. A quarter of the active population is unemployed, and agriculture and livestock are the principle economic resources of the region. Both are European rural scenarios, yet they produce different expectations, possibilities, and ways of understanding innovation. By analysing the self-perception of both regions that is promoted by the administration, represented by major institutions and cultivated by the population, we found that in the German case the identification as "rural" comes in direct opposition to the urban surrounding. Mühldorf recognises the advantages of its countryside lifestyle and its geographic proximity to urban surroundings. Thus, Mühldorf understands its capacity for development largely in the relation between urban and rural structure. In the Spanish case, proximity to urban centres does not exist, and rurality in this way is a fact, not a development strategy. In Los Pedroches, local ecological and cultural elements are used as a resource for tourism and commercialising food products and constitute the main driving force for local identification and institutionalised promotion of the region. Taking a look at the institutions dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship in its communities, the German case shows us the existence of a system of political, administrative and associative self-organisation. Three principal actors exist to offer logistical support for entrepreneurs: elected regional government, national administration at the regional level, and professional organisations. In the Spanish case by contrast, we see a less strengthened professional network, the absence of a regional government, and a strong municipal articulation of local politics. Next, we will consider these distinct entrepreneurial environments in order to present the data related to our case study of concrete initiatives and their processes of consolidation. The results show differing innovative impacts on the social and economic structures of each location. However, we would first like to present some general observations on the actors of institutionalised innovation in both territories. Our case study showed that most of the entrepreneurs had accumulated work experience before they took the decision to create a new institution. This contrasts with the common assumption that the typical entrepreneur is a young individual. Most of the emerging institutions that we analysed were managed by individuals with a family and either living or working experience in more than just one place. Therefore, they commonly returned to their places of origin or are new residents of the region, which can be attributed to various, mainly personal but sometimes also economic, reasons. Entrepreneurs in our case study have a high level of formal education, are actively involved in local and regional public life (in culture, sports, politics, etc.), and represent a lifestyle more common to modern urban life than to the idea of local settled traditional rural attitude. The entrepreneurs we got to know both in Andalusia and Bavaria had high communicative and empathic capacities. For this reason, they are able to interact with different social systems, whether academic, politic, administrative or economic. In the end, we could distinguish two main types of living circumstances that are favourable for entrepreneurship. First, we encountered the new institution in the form of family project that is formed and sustained by a group of people who are related through economic ties and often associated with one or two households, for example a family business. This includes new businesses initiated by children of families with an already settled business. The second setting that we established is the female entrepreneur who, once finished with maternity leave and its subsequent interruption of the professional career, searches for a self-satisfying occupation that is compatible with family life or offers a means of self-realisation. In each of our cases in both Germany and Spain, en-trepreneurship within the familiar context represents a general strategy for confronting subsistence. Individuals and families traditionally related to firm creation do not tend to perceive themselves as entrepreneurs. Thus, the creation of a new institution is not an explicit decision, rather more of a "normal" way of life. This data confirmed the idea of entrepreneurship is a specific socialised and non-reflexive habitus. Our theoretical model for examining the various forms of entrepreneurship is upheld when we consider the economic and sociocultural stimulation for entrepreneur-ship that exists in each region. Entrepreneurship creates new products and services for the region. Likewise, it is an indispensable tool for control and improvement of public politics. Additionally, entrepreneurship stimulates public life by articulating and channelling different preoccupations of local civil society. Some of the initiatives of greater cultural, social and economic impact from a development point of view are unique and non-lucrative initiatives, however. For instance, the cases of the blogger-entrepreneur and the civic platform for improving public transportation infrastructure in Los Pedroches shows that at times these forms of entrepreneurial activity do not conform to traditional theories and definitions of entrepreneurship. The impact that entrepreneurship has on the local socio-economic structure depends on the general complexity of the territory. In the Spanish case, we could see that a less complex structure of firms and associations, as well as low population density, leads to fewer entrepreneurial initiatives and to a greater impact on local society of these fewer existing innovative initiatives. Two of the sociocultural initiatives we analysed in Los Pedroches generated a great deal of political transformation with significant economic results for the region. General systems theory applied on regional development like that proposed by Elias Zamora (2009) can explain not only the greater dependency on influences from outside of a less complex region but also the significant impact that emerging organisations may have on the local economic and sociocultural structure. Conclusion: Results and ideas for promoting entrepreneurship in rural regions of Europe When we first summarised the strictly academic results of our research, we reaffirmed the necessity of entrepreneur research on rural territories by applying a theoretical model based on Luhmann and Bourdieu. We assert that the use of a social system or field benefits the process of conceptualising space in rural development studies. It enables studies to integrate different lectures of territories by considering cultural, ecological, administrative, and economic dimensions. The hábitus or autopoiesis concepts with respect to entrepreneurial action force research to maintain a theoretical objectification of institutionalised innovation. This is because they require both an objective focus on the social positions of subjects within a field as well as the analysis of the institutional discourse during the process of consolidation. Our theoretical model conceptualises regional development as social evolution. It therefore focuses on conflicts over capital within a field as well as new forms of communication that bring complexity from outside the region to the local social structure. Entrepreneurial activity in this broader anthropological sense of the term is a core driver of social change. Our paradigm differs considerably from the more explicit psychological and economical entrepreneurship concepts commonly used in academia. It allows entrepreneurial research to incorporate the analysis of wider social and cultural implications that result from the consolidation of institutions. This consideration is often underrepresented in this field of knowledge due to the great epistemological difficulty of measuring this kind of data. Qualitative data analysis of regional development in relation with the emergence of innovative institutions focuses on the socio-cultural preconditions of entrepreneurship, which are generally underestimated. In many ways, this is the regional and local context in which entrepreneurship happens. Likewise, one cannot truly evaluate and understand this dimension by analysing solely quantitative data. In other words, local and regional societies have their own particular structure of values, governance, networks, and education, which may be favourable to or slow down entrepreneurial behaviour. In this case, ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation are useful forms of analysing these social structures at play. However, the agency of entrepreneurship itself has to be understood as a socio-cultural product that additionally acts as a producer of local and regional culture and society. Qualitative case studies are the most effective means of understanding this deeper social and cultural motivation in the creation of new firms, networks, social movements or associations. In contrast, a quantitative approach often overestimates psychological and economical motivations of entrepreneurship. This kind of research design relies on previously established dimensions of measurement and cannot obtain data through experiencing and coexisting with the phenomena that are supposed to be explored. The comparison of cultural variables underlying entrepreneurship in different geographic contexts allows us to see the diversity and particularity of entrepreneurial behaviour. From this perspective, we also gain an understanding of institutionalisation as a privileged mode of how modern societies process social change. As a result, the main sources of data under analysis in this context of entrepreneurial research draw upon the following: familiar circumstances, biographic particularities, social expectations, and personal networks. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the sense and logic social actors themselves relate to their actions as entrepreneurs, which is not merely a rational calculus or neural precondition. As a final point, I would like to propose some of ideas for promoting entrepreneurship in rural European regions, based on the relational evaluation of data both in Germany and Spain. The condition and self-identification of rurality is related to a socio-cultural hierarchy between the core and the periphery. In this distinction, the peripheral population does not share the idea of development as a road to converting itself into a centre, which would possibly distort the regional identity. However, there seems to be a certain consensus that infrastructures of communication with the centre should have maximum priority, whether the idea of centre materialises as the urban, industry, political-administrative epicentres, territories with plain employment policies, etc. or communication means public transport, internet infrastructure, etc. In the German as well as in the Spanish case, we could see that railroad and road mobility was the primordial force able to mobilise and agglutinate a critical mass of citizens. A key strategy for rapid superregional success will be entrepreneurial initiatives that work with the common interest of the population by channelling it in new social, political and/or economic institutions. Secondly, our data showed us that innovative institutions often are founded by either immigrants or "returners", i.e. individuals who grew up or lived in the region then emigrated and returned. In both cases, the life and work experience of these individuals introduces ideas from outside to the region. The added advantage of returners is their ability to translate and embed entrepreneurial activity in the local social structure. This data made us think about the brain drain paradigm, which only focuses on the problems of emigration and not its possible advantages. Furthermore, the local administration should think about the possibility of active politics that promote both the emigration and attraction of human capital. Administrations should record and follow migratory movements of the population. The local territory can benefit by registering the professional and educational qualifications of its population and establishing a kind of voluntary "alumni" system. This would enable the region to organise and foment the introduction of complexity, in Luhmann's sense of social evolution, from outside the region by regressing population. Finally, our research shed light on a stereotypical conception of the entrepreneur. The notion of the young individual with never-before-seen, revolutionary ideas is largely an ideological product of our time, a mythical cultural hero, rather than a representative empirical phenomenon. Also, we identified through our case study that the primary agents of entrepreneurship were adult individuals with previous working experience. Therefore, a need exists to reorient public politics so that they foment entrepreneurship in the form of "senior entrepreneurs", with their own specific expectations and needs. In conclusion, we can say that the solutions to such complex phenomena like rural development and entrepreneurship should not be expected from just one type of research. This paper demonstrates an anthropological approach in response to the general academic tendency towards economic, sociological and psychological investigation of entrepreneurship. In doing so, our investigation applied qualitative and comparative methodology in this field that we based on a theoretical model, which combined the theories of social systems and practices. In this sense, this study should be viewed and judged as a contribution to a wider and generalised understanding of entrepreneurship as a specific kind of human organisation that foments planned social change. References Allen, John, Doreen Massey & Alan Cochrane. 1998. Rethinking the Region. London: Routledge. Austin, James, Howard Stevenson & Jane Wei-Skillern. 2006. Social and commercial entrepreneurship: same, different, or both? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 30(1): 1-22. Barth, Frederik. 1969. Ethnic groups and boundaries. The social organization of culture difference. Oslo: Uni-versitetsforlaget. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1972. Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique. Paris: Seuil. European Commission. 2010. Eurostat — Regions — NUTS. http:// ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nuts/basicnuts_ regions_en.html, Accessed 9 June 2012. Nassehi, Armin & Gerd Nollmann, ed. 2004. Bourdieu und Luhmann. Ein Theorienvergleich. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Pfeilstetter, Richard & Asmaa Skareb. 2008. Una exploración del capital social entre investigaciones económicas y antropológicas. Conceptos, usos y discursos en ciencias sociales. In: Silvia Gómez, José Luis Molina, Beltran Roca (eds.), Redes sociales y antropología. Teorías, métodos y aplicaciones, San Sebastián: Zo-roaga, pp. 103-8. Pfeilstetter, Richard. 2011. El emprendedor. Una reflexión crítica sobre usos y significados actuales de un concepto. Gazeta de Antropología 27(1): 16. Pfeilstetter, Richard. 2012. Bourdieu y Luhmann: Diferencias, similitudes, sinergias. Revista Internacional de Sociología (RIS) 70(3): 489-510. Swedberg, Richard. 2006. Social entrepreneurship: the view of the young Schumpeter. In: Chris Steyaert & Daniel Hjorth (eds.), Entrepreneurship as social change: a third movements in entrepreneurship book. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 21-34. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2009. Measuring sustainable development. Prepared in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat). Geneva: UNECE. Zamora Acosta, Elias. 2009. Nuevas Perspectivas Teórico-Metodológicas para el Desarrollo Territorial: una Aproximación desde las Teorias de la Complejidad y la no-Linealidad. In: Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (ed.), Las Ciencias Sociales en el Siglo XXI. San Cristóbal de las Casas: Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, pp. 1-39. Povzetek Prispevek predstavlja zasnovo, podatke in rezultate našega raziskovanja pojava ter konsolidacije oblik institucionalizacije, ki temeljijo na inovativnih podjetniških akcijah v ruralnih evropskih kontekstih. Zbiranje podatkov je potekalo med letoma 2006 in 2010, v prispevku pa so predstavljeni podatki dveh regij, Los Pedroches v Andaluziji, Španija ter Muhldorf na Bavarskem, Nemčija. Prispevek proučuje doprinose socialne antropologije k prevladujočim teorijam gospodarskega podjetništva, s tem, da se osredotoča na neoprijemljive, kulturne spremenljivke, ki vplivajo na implementacijo lokalnih podjetniških iniciativ. S predstavitvijo podatkov dveh evropskih ruralnih regij na različnih stopnjah ekonomskega razvoja, želimo pokazati, da preučevanje podjetništva zahteva vključitev kvalitativnih podatkov o družbeno-kulturnih predpogojih vzhajajočih inovativnih institucij. Raziskava poudarja potrebo po širšem konceptu podjetniškega vedenja, s katerim je mogoče preseči zgolj redukcionistično idejo ustanovitve podjetja ter predstaviti teoretski model študij razvoja regij, ki se osredotoča na akterje in temelji na kombinaciji družbenih teorij Niklasa Luhmanna ter Pierra Bourdieuja. KLJUČNE BESEDE: podjetništvo, antropologija razvoja, regionalni razvoj CORRESPONDENCE: RICHARD PFEILSTETTER, Department for Social Anthropology, University of Seville, C/ Dna. Maria de Padilla s/n, E-41004 Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: rgp@us.es. From Rekai to Labelabe: Disaster and relocation on the example of Kucapungane, Taiwan Sasala Taiban I-Shou University, sasala@isu.edu.tw Abstract The long-standing interdependent relationship between indigenous peoples and their land includes a community's life experiences, material culture and collective memory. Once they are removed from their ancestral living space and traditional territory, livelihoods as well as interpersonal relationships are difficult to maintain. History has shown that relocation not only affects space, productivity and social structure, but it also has effects on cultural preservation. After the 2009 Typhoon Morakot, the Taiwanese government relocated three indigenous villages: Dashe, Majia, and Haocha, to an area of about 30 hectares. At present the area, now christened Rinari, has a total population of approximately 1,500 people and is the most populous indigenous community in Taiwan. Using the Rinari community's Haocha Village (Kucapungane) as a case study site, this paper examines conflict and social vulnerability as it is brought about by relocation. In the case of Kucapungane, this is not the first time that the village has been relocated, and many resettlement policies appear to be constructed around the same notions as earlier relocation efforts: the government continues to believe that simply providing indigenous disaster victims with a safe place of residence is sufficient. Our research suggests that relocation methods should be reviewed, and due consideration be given to land, culture, education, and economic livelihood issues in newly established areas. Policies that determine fundamental considerations and make use of detailed assessments to carry out practices may minimise the negative impacts of relocation and resettlement on indigenous cultural survival and form a base for cultural development. KEYWORDS: natural disaster, indigenous, reconstruction, vulnerability, Morakot Introduction: Post-typhoon Morakot On August 8, 2009, Typhoon Morakot brought more than 2 metres of rainfall to Taiwan, resulting in landslides and flooding throughout the southern and central regions, and leaving 699 dead or missing and 1,866 houses destroyed. As the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in its history, Morakot had a significant socio-cultural and economic impact: rivers flooded to cover a total area of about 13,304 hectares, 140,424 households were flooded under 50 cm or more of water, and agricultural losses amounted to NT $27.94 ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 59-76. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 billion. In response to this disaster, on August 27, the Legislative Yuan passed the Special Act for Typhoon Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction (hereinafter referred to as the Special Act) to cope with recovery and reconstruction. In accordance with Article 20 of the Special Act, both local and central governments must negotiate with residents to reach a consensus before designating areas as "special zones", which would permit residence to be restricted and villages relocated from these zones. The delineation of these areas has led to escalated controversy in the relocation of indigenous villages and brought about serious challenges regarding development. According to the Foreign Ethnic Group Investigative Report, a number of factors contributed to indigenous migration in the past, including 1) recurring disease or mortality, 2) being impoverished or solitary and unable to maintain a home, 3) being located too close to enemy territory or otherwise dangerous terrain, or 4) having arable land turned unsuitable for farming or with insufficient yield (Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology 2004:9). Regardless of the reason, the migration of early indigenous peoples in Taiwan was largely autonomous and less due to external influences until the Dutch colonial period, upon which the relocation and amalgamation of settlements began to occur on a larger scale (Tadao 1987; Ushinosuke 2000; Wei & Wang 1966. In later years, indigenous peoples were forced to move from their territory because of the Develop the Mountains and Pacify the Aborigines policy implemented during the Qing Dynasty,1 and during the Japanese colonial period they were relocated in large groups from high up in the mountains to more accessible locations for easier and more centralised management (Yinengjiaju 1999; Wang 2000; Huang 1996). The Japanese colonial methods were subsequently copied by the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), which used their Shandi Pingdi Hua policy to 'make the mountains more like the plains' (Liao 1984) and their Mountain Modernisation policy as an excuse to move indigenous peoples from their traditional territory. These successive waves of colonisation led to rapid changes in indigenous society and brought about tremendous difficulties in material culture and spiritual life for indigenous Taiwanese (Chen & Su 2004). In recent years, frequent natural disasters have caused serious destruction, to the point where relocation must be faced yet again. In this context, post-Typhoon Morakot relocation and reconstruction can be seen as a common issue of concern not only for the indigenous people of Taiwan, but also indigenous communities throughout the world. This article focuses on Haocha Village (Kucapungane) in the Rinari community in order to investigate the problems pertaining to power and culture that arise from relocation. 1 For example, in 1878 (4th year of Emperor Guangxu's rule), the Kavalan and Sakizaya tribes had serious conflict with the Qing, resulting in the so-called Jialiwan Incident. After the incident, the Qing army entered Sakizaya and Kavalan tribal lands and designated it government territory, forcing them to discontinue farming, and into exile, leaving their homeland and losing their culture (Kang 1998). Anthropological approaches to disaster research Human society is presently facing unprecedented challenges with the acceleration of climate change and environmental degradation. In keeping with the principles of working towards a sustainable society and for the benefit of humanity, the scope of discussions about natural disasters and extreme weather have become increasingly broad and global in context (Hewitt 1983; Oliver-Smith & Hoffman 1999; Wisner et al.1994). Disaster research in the social sciences began relatively late, emerging towards the end of World War II. In the 1950s, structural functionalism saw disaster as an unpredictable "abnormal event", so the focus was more on how to recover social composition after the disaster. Individual and organisational behaviour were seen as constant variables, thus neglecting the socio-cultural impacts of disaster. It was not until the rise of cultural ecology in the 1960s that the interpretation of disaster gradually shifted from "abnormal" to being considered a "normal" process in the long-term interaction between human society and the natural environment, and an integral part of socio-cultural change despite the significant damage it caused. Developing the disposition and ability to adapt to the environment and cope with disaster was key to cultural continuity; as Schneider (1957: 14) pointed out: before colonialisation, globalisation, and other interferences, many communities had knowledge and strategies to deal with the nature of their physical platform, to the extent that a disaster, at least up to certain extremes, might not even constitute a 'disaster' to them, but simply part of their lifeways and experience. Until the 1980s, anthropological disaster research was influenced by the structural Marxism and political economy schools of thought from the 1970s and focused on how to effectively put capitalism into practice to develop modern states and used "history" to explain societal changes. The root cause of disasters was seen as societal rather than natural (Ortner 1984). At this point, anthropologists began to view disaster as a process of social change, and the underlying factors of social structure and power. At disaster locations, anthropologists uncovered large-scale social mobilisation and natural resource allocation issues at not just the local level, but also influenced and constrained by national, and even international, forces. Disasters can reveal the complex structural relationship of local and national markets, as well as the society's internal resource allocation methods in the face of disaster, as related to age, gender, and inter-ethnic cooperation and conflict. The perspectives of both cultural ecology or political economy approaches in analysing power structures significantly contributed to the advance of anthropological disaster research. Cultural ecology, however, is confined to explaining disaster at the local level, with disaster simplified as a cultural problem, while ignoring the link with the outside world and placing less emphasis on cultural practices and mutual influence. The political economy school of thought emphasises the interaction between local society and external systems as well the underlying power structures regarding disaster, but in considering issues related to power and politics, neglects the cultural aspects of disaster. Producing an active dialogue between these two disaster research approaches with emphasis placed at different levels is rather difficult. In the face of today's ecological disasters and environmental destruction, we are unable to grasp and understand disasters through local cultural experiences alone; however, ignoring disaster experiences at the community level separates the disaster from reality and overlooks the contributions of traditional knowledge that correspond to disaster. Disaster social vulnerability In the 1990s, despite disaster research gradually increasing in scientific fields, it was difficult to produce a unified definition of disaster. Despite the categorisation of disasters as either natural or social, a significant number of disaster incidents, or hazards, are human adaptation to the natural environment as a normal phenomenon, and do not necessarily constitute losses of lives and property. Anthony Oliver-Smith defines disaster as a force, technology or conditions sufficient to cause damage to the social infrastructure or the environment, which leads to an event that involves a combination of a potentially destructive agent from the natural or technological sphere and a population in a socially produced condition of vulnerability (Oliver-Smith & Hoffman 1999: 4). Anthony OliverSmith wrote, based on his own experiences: Regarding disaster, people often make such assumptions: first, there is a region of disaster; second, the world owes humanitarian assistance to people in disaster areas; third, disaster is the ending. People believe that when a disaster occurs, the next step is to provide tents, blankets, medicines and food. I do not ... my disaster research is focused almost exclusively on the recovery and reconstruction phase. In his view, the disaster relief process cannot be simply described as tents, blankets, medicines, food, etc. The most complex aspect of relief work, the longest, most expensive and volatile stage of recovery and reconstruction, is closely related to ethnicity, class, gender, and disaster assistance methods; i.e. the long-term effects on the victims (Oliver-Smith 2002). Disaster leads to socio-cultural changes, which accelerate environmental vulnerability; the intertwining factors have a significant impact on social mores, economy, and traditional concepts. Definition of disaster can be even more systematic; Wisner et al. put forth that disaster is built on three interrelating elements, namely: hazard, risk, and vulnerability. The hazard is the physical factors in a disaster, and may be predicted through statistical study. Risk is 'a compound function of this complex (but knowable) natural hazard and the number of people characterised by their varying degrees of vulnerability who occupy the space and time of exposure to extreme events' (Wisner et al. 1994: 21). Vulnerability is derived from historical processes of human vulnerability; that is, the vulnerability of human society generates disaster, or leads to more serious disaster. According to Wisner et al., disaster stems from fundamental causes, historically and structurally rooted in the cultural context of any society. Consequentially, finding the root cause of the disaster is especially salient (1994) in reducing vulnerability to disasters and the way to prevent future disasters. Their socio-cultural perspective is inspired by cultural geographer Kenneth Hewitt, who found that despite disaster research flourishing in the 1990s, disasters themselves continued to occur and with even more frequency as time passed. Hewitt believed that disaster research had failed to get to the core of the issue, and overlooked the fundamental causes of disasters. He believed that if a disaster did not have an effect on at least a part of a society it could not be regarded as a "disaster". Also, if, "society" could not be included as a factor in a disaster research project in academic research, he proposed that it was likely that mistakes made in former approaches, which were wrong about the causes and effect of the disaster process, would be repeated. Hewitt consequently called for disaster research to pay more attention to the social environment rather than the natural environment of the disaster (1983). In the 1990s, Wisner et al. continued Hewitt's argument, stating that not just natural events give rise to disasters, rather, a disaster is a social, political and economic environment, and it is these factors which constitute the lifestyles of different groups of people. In short, disaster anthropology considers disaster to be a process rather than an event. The historical context of disaster must also be considered because natural disasters are influenced by natural, political, economic and social factors. Therefore, their occurrence cannot be solely attributed to reasons such as wind, geology, or rainfall. Disasters come about with the uneven distribution of rights, social inequality, and unbalanced economic development. With this in perspective, this study investigates a disaster site in an attempt to discuss the significance of space to the community and also uses internal viewpoints as a discussion of post-disaster government actions regarding resettlement, relocation, and other issues of political significance. Why did the state, in its attempt to protect indigenous peoples, promote the continuation of cultural traditions, tribal integrity and sustainable development through relocation and the provision of permanent housing, not only fail to get the support of tribesmen, but also end up as the target criticism and backlash among the community? When disaster strikes, how can the residents of a community reorganise and mobilise? In what ways does disaster reconstruction play a role in restoring their lives? To what extent do disaster mitigation efforts affect culture? Research methods I am from Haocha and experienced the village's first relocation in 1977. In the following years, I was also present for several key occurrences in Haocha's history.2 This study used these years of participation and observation and Haocha's historical documents along with indigenous relocation policy-relevant findings to examine the socio-cultural impact of state involvement in tribal affairs. Newspapers, research reports and in-person interviews were used to assess the typhoon's spatial, political, and cultural impact, as well as gain further understanding of the post-disaster situation. 2 In 1992 I served as Haocha Community Development Association personnel, during the Haocha Majiia Reservoir protest, and efforts to rebuild Old Haocha, and in 1996 also experienced the impact that Typhoon Herb had on Haocha. The data collection phase of this research pertaining to before and after Morakot3 was made possible with support from the National Science Council, the main government agency responsible for promoting and funding science research in Taiwan, and other projects. I attended village meetings, official and private negotiation talks, academic symposiums, and NGO conferences during the course of the study. For the field interviews, I conducted in-depth interviews with residents of the community. The interviewed people included: community leaders (subjects included the village chief, members of the nobility, mayor/village heads, representatives, chairmen of community-based organisations), intellectual elites (subjects included township office staff, and village officials, church pastors, primary school teachers, YMCA members) and general population (mainly the Haocha villagers). When participating in public meetings, a digital recorder, camera, and video camera were used to capture data. Interviews arranged with specific subj ects first obtained the party's consent to recording and photography; if criticism of the government or certain individuals came up, subjects were then asked whether they wanted their statement to be open or anonymous in order to ensure that theirs rights and interests were preserved. The interviews were conducted in the hope of understanding and interpreting the appropriateness of the policies and laws from the perspective of the respondents, and distinguishing any possible discrimination they experienced in the village relocation and resettlement process. Where is home? Rinari's ethnic composition and spatial characteristics After Typhoon Morakot, according to the provisions of the Special Act, the government conducted Indigenous Territory and Village Safety Examinations. In Pingtung County, the following areas were affected and/or determined to be unfit for living: Wutai Township: Ali, Jilu, Jiamu, Yila, Haocha Villages; Mudan Township: Gaoshi and Zhongjianlu Villages; Sandimen Township: Dewen, Dalai, and Dashe Villages; Taiwu Township: Taiwu Village; Laiyi Township: Yilin, Dahou, Laiyi (West), Laiyi (East), and Danlin Villages; Majia Township: Majia Village; Manzhou Township: Changle Village. All or part of these villages had to be relocated, and after several months of investigation and consultation, the government commissioned the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, World Vision Taiwan and the ROC Red Cross Society and other non-governmental organisations to build permanent housing. These organisations then built permanent housing to provide placement for disaster victims. Those assigned housing at Changzhi Baihe Community and Majia Farm4 moved in on August 6, 2009 and December 21, 2009 respectively. 3 Morakot occurred on August 8, 2009, but at the time Haocha residents had already been relocated to Ailiao Military Camp area in Linluo Township because of Typhoon Sepat in 2007. During this period, I participated in the resettlement process, also joining the planning of NTU's Graduate Institute Foundation, which was responsible for deciding on Rinari as the relocation base. 4 Majia Farm held a moving in ceremony on December 25, 2010 and was renamed Rinari, which means 'We work together' in the Paiwan language. Rinari is located in north of Majia Township's Beiye Village on a site of roughly 100.8 hectares. In the past, the area was the traditional territory of the Butsul subgroup of the Paiwan tribe and was later owned by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation. After Typhoon Morakot, the government organised the construction of permanent housing on the site and arranged for Majia, Dashe, and Haocha Villages to be relocated to this location. The first two villages are Paiwan; the latter is Rukai, one of another ethnic group in Taiwan. Dashe falls under the jurisdiction of Sandimen Township, and Majia and Haocha fall under Majia and Wutai Township, respectively. However, although Dashe and Majia both belong to the Paiwan tribe, the Raval group (which Dashe is classified as) and the Butsul group have different cultural and tribal origins. The Haocha Rukai belongs to the West Rukai classification (Ailiao) and have even greater linguistic, cultural, and tribal characteristics than exist between the Dashe and Butsul villagers. Haocha village affliction and disaster Haocha is the only Rukai village within the Rinari community. Old Haocha was originally at an elevation of 950 meters, but during the surrender of Taiwan by Japan to the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), residents gradually began moving away for because of difficult transportation and a lack of arable land in the mountainous terrain. During a village meeting in 1974, a majority of residents voted to relocate, and in 1978, the village was moved to the mesa on the left bank of the South Ailiao River at an elevation of about 230 meters and only 11 km from the plains. This place was called New Haocha, and the original site became Old Haocha. In July 1996, Typhoon Herb hit New Haocha Village, and heavy rain in the mountains above the village caused a landslide that resulted in the destruction of four houses and the death of four villagers. In July 2006, after Typhoon Bilis destroyed Haocha Bridge, the village's main transportation outlet, the government constructed a new metal bridge. On August 13, 2007, Typhoon Wuti brought strong southwesterly winds and torrential rain. At around four p.m., the entire mountainside shifted, causing Haocha Elementary School as well as nearby houses to be buried. In total, 16 houses were totally buried, five partially collapsed, 16 flooded with sludge water, and two lives lost. On August 15, Typhoon Sepat hit the village and damaged two more houses and the fire station, and the Air Force dispatched helicopters to rescue the villagers and temporarily relocate them to various churches and the nearby Neipu Agricultural Industrial Vocational High School. Haocha's 137 households (165 people) were completely evacuated. At that time, even more villagers were at home because of preparations for the harvest festival to be held on August 14th and15th. On September 2, 2007, the first batch of 20 households (56 people) was moved to the Ailiao military camp area in Linluo Township, Pingtung County. The Pingtung County government commissioned experts to assess and recommend potential courses of action. During the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and government-sponsored Second Conference Regarding the Reconstruction of Haocha Village (National Pingtung University of Science and Technology 2007), it was pointed out that (according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Water Resources Agency's statistics) since 2005 the rainfall in New Haocha Village had exceeded the highest annual average rainfall of the past 30 years (1977 to 2006). In July 2005, the amount of rainfall was 2,630 mm, seven times the average annual rainfall of the previous 30 years (during Typhoon Haitang), and in July 2006, rainfall totals were 2486 mm. In August 2007, rainfall equalled 3,172mm, 3.6 times the average annual rainfall of the past 30 years, and from August 13 to 31 alone, there was 1,000 mm of rainfall. The surge in rainfall can be attributed to climate change, and brought about soil erosion in the land above New Haocha Village and resulted in landslides as well as the blockage of South Ailiao River. After August 13, hundreds of people were temporarily moved to the barracks at the Ailiao military camp. This stage caused the villagers to remain in a state of confusion because of their inability to settle in a place they considered home. Although the military did its best to be accommodate the villagers, it operated essentially via centralised management, which villages had to suffer along with confined quarters, (an entire household was only allowed a single room of only around 12 square meters) poor internal ventilation, shared kitchen and bathrooms, and poor sanitary conditions. Those who endured that period suffered from severe stress and anxiety and found it hard to imagine the future. On August 8, 2009, floods and landslides brought by Typhoon Morakot buried the entirety of the remainder of New Haocha. After three years of waiting, in December 2010, Haocha Village's 177 households (416 people) finally moved into permanent housing at Rinari. Rinari encompasses a total area of 27.8 hectares (buildings cover 11.28 hectares) with a population density of about 30 to 40 households per hectare. Houses were built from lightweight steel, and each home has two floors of about 105 square meters in size. The cost of manufacturing each house was about NT$150 million. All public construction projects after housing were expected to be completed by September 2011. They include a Reconstruction Livelihood Centre and Disaster Preparedness Classroom, Cultural Art Gallery and Library, Youth Activity Centres, seven churches, Children's Music Education Classroom, ancestral spiritual memorial, workshops, detention wetlands pools, agricultural areas, etc. In addition to supervising construction projects, the World Vision International will continue to utilise a Life Rebuilding Centre and offer "village industry development" services to assist villagers in finding occupations. Protecting the homeland: Against the political economy of village relocation We are not ignorant of climate change nor do we choose to ignore the deterioration of the mountains, but can we move? How do we move? The government has never discussed this with us. A long time ago, Haocha was far removed from the plains and to travel from the village to the base of the mountain took several hours on foot. Not only was medical care difficult to procure, but finding a job was not easy. Soon, the nearby Paiwan villages of Fawan, Dalai, Maer and others were relocated to more convenient locations. A road to Ali, Jilu, Shenshan, and the other Rukai tribes in the mountains had been opened and, because they were already connected to the electricity grid, the people enjoyed modern conveniences. Haocha's residents had begun to feel left behind, and feared that they would be excluded from future development projects. In 1977, they eventually agreed to relocate to the new location closer to the plains, as per the government's arrangement. Despite the fact that the village relocation was voluntary, Haocha's villagers faced even more serious social and cultural changes and challenges after relocating. Most significantly, the government did not fulfil its original commitment to provide land closer to the plains that was equivalent in quality to the area of Old Haocha. The majority of those who practiced farming to sustain themselves and their families had to convert to a new economic model as wage labour, and many villagers were forced into the cities to seek jobs. At Old Haocha, I could rely on hunting and farming to make a living, the use of money hardly necessary, but after moving down the mountain, I found that without money it is difficult to survive: utilities, oil for the car, house repairs, the children's education and many other expenses, all required money. Money problems often give me a headache and keep me from sleeping well at night!' (Interview with Basakalane, August 2010). The aforementioned painful experiences of tribal migration again became of the utmost significance for the villagers post-Morakot, and they were faced with the decision of where to relocate their villages. According to Article II of the Typhoon Morakot Postdisaster Delineation of Special Zones in Indigenous Areas Five Principles of Relocation, areas that have been identified as hazardous zones, if local residents they are willing to evacuate after consultation, the government will provide permanent housing and assistance with changing professions/finding work. If after discussion, residents still refuse to leave, they must be informed that it is a hazardous area on which may neither inhabit nor make use of the land'. In addition, as per the other provisions of Article III: 'Residents allocated permanent housing may not return to their place of origin to reside in or construct housing'. The above provisions requiring disaster victims to give up their homeland in the mountains caused more anxiety and were even more significant for a location such as Wutai Township, which had a significant number of its villages relocated after Morakot. Of Wutai Township's six villages, only approximately 300 people of Wutai Village were not evacuated. Wutai Township is a Rukai stronghold and is the only Rukai township in Taiwan. Evacuating the villages and forcing relocation has serious consequences for Rukai cultural preservation and continuation; it is an issue that must be considered at length and not rushed. Two-thirds of the people in Wutai have been relocated to the plains, and if these villagers have been forced to relocate from the mountains, will the remainder living in Wutai also be forced to relocate? Is relocation of the entire township feasible? (Central News Agency, 2009) Such misgivings led to resistance to the relocation policy among residents. For instance, on August 29, 2009, the Haocha overwhelmingly refused to have the Tzu Chi Foundation arrange to move them to Changzhi Broadcasting Station, and on November 25, the eighth meeting of the reconstruction committee, hundreds of disaster victims and community groups gathered at the Executive Yuan to voice their opposition to the delineation of special zones. On December 9-11, the government gathered a small group to travel to Wutai Township (Jiamu, Ali, Jilu, and Haocha), Sandimen Township, and Laiyi Township. In the course of their journey, they met residents and social movement groups who blocked their way. The reasons for their opposition included concerns about the loss of culture and social disintegration caused by relocation, as well as profound feelings for their former villages, worry about the delineation of special zones restricting their rights, etc. In fact, there are still some indigenous residents who have persisted in staying in their homes in the mountains of Wutai, and continue to stand against the government.5 However, is adhering to one's homeland sustainable for the village's development? Or is leaving one's old home and migrating elsewhere inevitably the equivalent to the death of a village? In the aftermath of disaster, this is the continuing debate among tribesmen and among those concerned about indigenous social and cultural development. Those who advocate the position that migration will lead to social disintegration and disappearance of culture hold up the results of relocations during the Japanese occupation as evidence and demand that indigenous peoples not be removed from their places of origin. The government must adhere to the 'moving within the village if possible, moving within the township if possible' principle before moving the entire village or else it may result in greater tragedy. Those of the opposite position argue that relocation cases have traditionally been successful since areas of activity are expanded and moving down the mountain can ease population decline; they even point to the many tribal migrations preserved in oral history, which indicate that migration is not just something that is occurring only now. Indigenous ancestors were constantly searching for new places to live, due to shortage of arable land, to avoid epidemics or enemy invasion, and other factors. Therefore, they believe there is no reason to fear migration and consider natural disasters the enemy, or the cause of the unnecessary sacrifice of lives. The former position holds that ethnicity and culture are intrinsic or objective, considering indigenous peoples as unable and unwilling to leave their land. Chiang Bien's Disaster, Culture and Subjectivity: Post-Typhoon Morakot Reflections calls this into question: In the fields of the mountains are the traditional livelihoods of indigenous groups, there have been thousands of years of continuous movement. In some tribal oral histories, migration is not even limited to the mountains, and also clearly includes geographical names of places in the plains. The current location of the disaster-stricken villages may often be traced as not being the true ancestral location. In fact, for a long time now, living in today's tribal villages, it is often in the weekly, daily rituals of life and through a variety of practices, such as prayer, root-seeking activities, and in one's ancestral home that one is able to maintain deep spiritual ties. In this way, disaster-stricken tribesmen who speak of "returning home", by home do they mean the damaged village? Is it possible to return to an even earlier, ancestral home? (Chiang 2010: 25-26) 5 For example, in Ali Village, thus far there are four people who insist on remaining in the mountains, unwilling to accept the government's provision of permanent housing, and even commissioned a legal aid organisation to assist in revoking the special zone delineation. Jiang Bin, an anthropologist who works at the Institute of Ethnology Academia Sinica, mentions that village relocation should be an autonomous decision launched by forces from within a tribe or community. As long as the group is living in a common geographical area with shared linguistic characteristics, religious ceremonies, and cultural activities, the sustainable management of the village's own economic conditions should be possible and the integrity of the community may still be maintained. However, if the migration is initiated by external forces, especially capitalism and the state, the tribe may rush to move out of their place of origin and scatter, resulting not only in the village economy becoming difficult to maintain, but possibly even in the extinction of culture and language. Even when there is no disaster and just relocation, the tension of modernisation and the conquering force of capitalism can destroy the fragile economy of the village, lead to a decreasing number of young people staying in the village and a large part of economic livelihood reliant on metropolitan areas or nearby towns in the plains. Therefore, whether disaster brings about "forced village relocation" or economic recession causes "natural migration", the end result may very well be the same with the difference being only the speed at which the village disappears. Jiang Bin is critical of the disregard or overlooking of culture fading away by those who protest against village relocation. In Jiang Bin's opinion, culture is constantly changing and adapting, but to simply attribute everything to that may be too optimistic and ignores the painful memories of the indigenous migration experience. In actuality, indigenous post-disaster anxiety and panic should not be about relocation, but rather, dispersal. Fear of dispersal, in fact, is a precise argument for fair and complete access and distribution to permanent housing. Traditional concepts of space In addition to distinguishing their own tribe from others according to altitude, the Rukai also use the notion of geographical altitude to distinguish between good and bad living environments. The Haocha people's concept of space includes the belief that Rukai areas of 1,500 m and above are best. Not only is the air cleaner and temperatures cooler at such altitudes, a larger variety of animals also lives at such elevations. Meanwhile, farm crops such as sweet potatoes and taro are not only larger, but also sweeter. At altitudes lower than 500 meters, which the Rukai call labelabe, there are only small animals such as flying squirrels, voles, and pangolins. Hunting for these animals does not have any social significance, i.e. hunting them successfully will not make a hunter eligible to wear the lilies traditionally bestowed for hunting prowess. In addition, the environment in labelabe zones is hot and humid, making it easy for people to become sick and rendering the labelabe unsuitable for human habitation. In addition, the Haochas also believe that the labelabe regions comprise the place where the souls of those who have died in the wild gather. They are seen as unclean areas where evil spirits are active. This dual Haocha concept of high and low representing good and evil differs greatly from the contemporary colonial and modern point of view. This difference in spatial concepts was made especially clear in the 1980s, when debate erupted during the relocation of Haocha village. Figure 1: Traditional Haocha spatial mapping Deep in the hearts of the Haocha people, there is a spatial map that guides their daily routine. This spatial map represents their global and universal view, as well as serving as the spiritual map that manages the earth and its natural resources. The spatial map of the Haocha uses the residence (lialiolo) as the centre, and then spreads out to the surrounding areas. The surrounding areas, in order of distance from the centre, are farmlands (dakawaungane), hunting grounds (dalubane), fisheries (dakerale), and sacred space (daulisishane) (Figure 1). The residential area can be regarded as a social space. The farmlands, hunting grounds, and fisheries constitute production space, and the sacred space is the space for spiritual life. These spaces are distributed in different areas and have different names and legends. Traditionally, social space and production space are allocated by the chieftain, who enjoys special privileges, but sacred space is beyond human control and belongs to religious and spiritual levels. This space, accordingly, cannot be allocated by humans. The word rukai, is derived from the term yakaikitakagecerane, which means people that live in cold zones. Traditionally, the Rukai divided living space into rukai, paralibicane, and labelabe according to altitude, temperature, and the distribution of animals. The term rukai is synonymous with takagecerane, which refers to relatively dry and cold regions; paralibicane means hot and cold zone boundary; and labelabe refers to hot and humid areas, which the Rukai also call takatulwane. According to the Rukai people's geographical perspective, altitudes above 1,500 m are rukai, altitudes between 500 and 1,500 m are paralibicane, and areas below 500 m are labelabe (Figure 2). Altitude A Temperature Animal distribution Sambar, bear, mountain goat, Reeve's muntjac 1500 m or above Dry and cold 500-1,500 m Suitable temperature paralibicane \ wild boar, monkey, I vole 500 m or below Hot and humid labelabe \ Flying squirrel, vole, pangolin V Figure 2: Rukai tribal space classifications In the past, the Rukai saw their own tribe's location as the geographical centre by which to define other ethnic groups from lower terrain. From this tribal perspective, the name Rukai signifies that they are living in a 'higher and colder place' (Auvinni Kadresengane 1996: 15). For example, when speaking to members of the Paiwan tribe, the Rukai refer to themselves as ngudradrekai, which means mountain people or people who live in the mountains, indicating that they live in a dry and cold area (or takagecerane). Relocation and adjustment Prior to Typhoon Morakot, Majia Farm was originally only meant to be a relocation site for Haocha. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes made and issues faced 30 years ago when relocating to New Haocha, such as improper settlement planning, insufficient arable land, and the disappearance of cultural rituals and space, the planning unit specifically plotted to include a "Sustainable Settlement Development Area" for each development area, including residential areas, land for future expansion, public facilities, roads and agricultural land. However, in the aftermath of the typhoon, the original design for the space was discarded and redrawn to provide more households with accommodation and to fit the relocation requirements of three villages rather than just one. The concept of an economic space regarding agricultural was abandoned as was the social space for rituals because the police station, village office and churches occupied the remaining space, thus, forcing many cultural and heritage facilities to be compressed Compared to Dashe and Majia, both of which still have their houses and land semi-intact, the people of Haocha have virtually no place left to go. Although the Old Haocha traditional territory remains, a trip back and forth from Rinari requires one or two days. Farming, hunting and gathering have been made far more unlikely, and economic life is facing formidable challenges. A villager said: 'If this land doesn't even belong to us, can this be considered a relocation? This plan only resolves the housing issue, not the relocation. The basic functions of life have simply not been considered.' Another villager after the completion of the permanent houses noted: This is no permanent housing, we have been relocated! This is not where I grew up, with its incomplete traditional areas... this place seems more like a nest to sleep in, not a home ... let me go back to the mountains, I cannot use money here at the base of the mountains for the rest of my life! In accordance with the provisions of Article 20 of the Special Act, within hazardous zones, (places identified by experts and scholars and the Council of Agriculture as unsafe), all use must be surrendered. According to Public Works Committee, vice chairman Chern Jenn-chuan at a Reconstruction Council meeting on October 14, 2009: Land that was originally building land, will become "non-building land", if it was agricultural land, it may become "farming use limited" land, even roads, that is, if the original road was 30 m, if there was regular maintenance and standards . they will now likely become "partially maintained" or "not maintained", that is, even if land still belongs to its landowners, there will be very strict restrictions on use and roads may no longer be preserved. In regards to farmed land, if activity is limited then the ginger, vegetables, fruit trees, quite possibly might not grow any longer; [methods] will be more stringent than previous laws. At present, in Rinari one can still see a few households that have planted pigeon peas, millet, red quinoa, and other traditional crops, and after being harvested, set out to dry in the sun in the front courtyard. These are all indigenous species that the villagers collectively worked to bring to Rinari. Although the living environment has changed greatly, traditional work habits continue, especially among the elderly. Seeing millet that has been painstakingly grown in harsh mountain condition invokes a feeling of deep satisfaction in many villages. An old woman said: When Morakot attacked, our entire millet harvest was destroyed! At the time we were broken-hearted, because it is very difficult to take proper care of millet, not just in avoiding storms, but also in resisting the birds. One must drive birds away for at least two months, and get up earlier than the birds every day, waiting for the millet to 'get off work' before being able to go home. My husband and I have spent nearly all our lives caring for millet. Once it grows up and can be harvested, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Although these traditional crops are more cultural rather than economic crops, with no "output value", they are still a part of indigenous livelihood, and the elderly or the economically deprived often rely on these crops. If the relocation does not support measures resolving the lack of arable land, many are left with no choice but to head to the plains to find work. Generations of people have been dependent on the mountain environment and the gradual development of agriculture. With traditional rituals and ceremonies, the order and organisation of labour (labour exchange) is highly structured. Once a cultural space or land is lost, the ability of a community to maintain such practices may be compromised. A tribesman stated: When a nation has lost its traditional areas and sacred space, it could mean the loss of the link with ancestral spirits; losing a tribal hunting ground and land is like losing an autonomous economic and cultural space. Moving to Majia Farm, many people envy the 'beautiful' houses, and it is very close to areas for work. However, they do not see the price we pay ... We have to give up thousands of hectares of hunting grounds, rich with boar, deer and goats, countless and ever use of forests and natural resources, in exchange for only 30 hectares of residence and 32 square feet per house. The village has been squeezed into this living space, and we are like an imprisoned population (Interview with Lawucu, January 2012). Conclusion: Re-examining relocation American anthropologist William Torry believes that although disasters cause damage to indigenous societies, their social structure will automatically balance. The self-balancing theory emphasises the long-term stability of indigenous societies and cultures in the vagaries of environmental conditions. In the dynamic equilibrium of society, various parts continue to function and fluctuate and then return to a steady state. Through recovery, culture plays an pivotal role in the cultural and social cohesion of the social system functions being restored in the aftermath of a disaster (Torry 1979a, 1979b). When examining a century of village relocation in Taiwan's history, the government has always carried out its relocation policies with the people as a separate consideration, which is an critical factor in the loss of indigenous culture and social disintegration. At home and abroad, many examples show that relocation impacts a wide range of issues at all levels, not simply involving just the material aspect. During implementation, if the government or implementing party does not pay particular attention to the many non-material factors, such as social, cultural and psychological factors during the relocation process, then the results of relocation are often only half as effective, or may even cause irreparable harm to the community (Cernea 2009; Feng Dai-yu 2005; Chen & Fan 2002). Hewittbelieves that people who consider disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, to be entirely 'natural' disasters are totally misled. His research points out that the lower the societal class and poverty of a population, the more likely it is to become victim to a natural disaster. As a result of power imbalance and uneven distribution of social resources, the more the ethnic group lacks the underlying mechanisms to respond to disasters. Opportunity, superstition, the use of science and technology practices to address the management of natural disasters, such as construction to guard against or provide the victims temporary shelter and other measures, are palliative practices, but also detract from further understanding and the resolve to fix the underlying social problems (Hewitt 1983). Few people understand the form and results of the disaster management in terms of the local social structure and its relationship with national and international order in advance constraints. Local vulnerabilities must be taken into account as well as the capacity to be invested in disaster operations and relief and reconstruction need to be adapted to local conditions or else it disaster relief can result in a truly devastating impact on the affected population. As a result, local people and groups have to spend energy to affect the operation of foreign institutions, or ultimately choose a path not officially recognised by the redevelopment project. Lack of understanding of local conditions inevitably results in disaster for a variety of institutions, and can affect the contact between countries, the local government, NGOs and other institutions (Oliver-Smith & Hoffman 2002). Because populations reside in different ecological and social environments, they also adapt differently to natural disasters and ecological strain. Therefore, in disaster research, if one does not start from the within the study population to understand the practical implications of the disaster in a different cultural context while also being unable to separate oneself from subjective social and cultural contexts, disaster research can deviate from the facts and will not help understand the root causes of the disaster. As for the long-standing interdependent relationship between indigenous people and the land, it includes a community's life experiences, material culture and collective memory. Once they are removed from their ancestral living space and traditional territory, livelihoods as well as interpersonal relationships are difficult to maintain. History has shown that relocation not only affects space, productivity and social structure, it also has effects on cultural preservation. Political compromise shaped the Rinari just as the geography of the administrative enclave includes both cultural heterogeneity and the ability of the community to live together in conflict as recorded in history. Miscellaneous points may result in future ethnic cooperation as well as continued conflict. Rinari's crowded living space and an obvious shortage of arable land are sufficient to cause new problems and difficulties in industrial development. The future, if one considers the difference and particularity of the individual ethnic groups in language, culture and lifestyle, and uses generalised modes of thinking to simplify complex ethnic issues, most likely holds another disaster. In post-disaster reconstruction, housing and the construction of public facilities is not the only issue that must be taken into consideration by policy makers. The reconstruction process must also factor in the considerations of health, culture, and society. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for financially supporting this work under Contract Nos. NSC 101-2621-M-214-002. References Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology. 2004. Aboriginal Tribal Habits Report, Volume V. Paiwan: Academia Sinica nation. Cernea, M. Michael. 2009. Understanding and preventing impoverishment from displacement: Reflections on the state of knowledge. Journal of Refugee Studies 22(4): 502-24. Chen, Ding-Xiang & Shu-Juan Su. 2004. National development plan for indigenous people resettlement: Pingtung County Sanhe Village assorted regional context. Geographical Journal 37: 99-122. Chen, Ci-Peng & Yu-Mei Fan. 2002. After while foreign land is homeland: Shimen Reservoir migration research study. Institute of Cultural Studies 2002 Annual Meeting. Chiang, Bien. 2010. Disaster, culture and subjectivity: The reflection of post typhoon Morakot. Reflexion 14: 19-32. Feng, Tai-Yu. 2005. Seeing the national importance of traditional cultural heritage from reservoir resettlement: The Guangxi river hydropower reservoir resettlement case study. Guangxi Ethnic Studies IV. Hewitt, Kenneth (ed.). 1983. Interpretations of Calamity from the Viewpoint of Human Ecology. Winchester: Allen & Unwin. Huang, Jun-Ming. 1996. Indigenous industry during the Japanese occupation of indigenous groups under migrant's study. Unpublished MA thesis. Chung Yuan: Building Research Institute Chung Yuan Christian University. Liao, Wen-Sheng. 1984. Taiwan's socio-economic structural changes of the mountain exploration. Unpublished MA thesis. Institute of Sociology, National Taiwan University. National Pingtung University of Science & Technology. 2007. The survey analysis and safety assessment of dangerous area of Haocha in Wutai district. Pingtung County Government. 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Taipei: Yuan-Liou. Wang, Song-Shan. 2000. Changes in Taiwan's indigenous society and culture. National Museum of Natural Science Bulletin 12: 156. Wei, Hui-Lin & Ren-Ying Wang. 1966. Taiwan's indigenous ethnic groups in recent years, population growth and settlement movement report. National Taiwan University Archeology and Anthropology 3. Wisner, Ben, Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon & Ian Davis. 1994. At risk: natural hazards, people's vulnerability, and disasters. London, New York: Routledge. Tadao, Yanayihara. 1987. Taiwan under Japanese imperialism. Taipei: Pamir bookstore. Povzetek Dolgotrajni soodvisni odnos med staroselci in njihovo zemljo vključuje življenjske izkušnje skupnosti, materialno kulturo in kolektivni spomin. Ko jih preselijo z življenjskega prostora njihovih prednikov in tradicionalnega ozemlja, postanejo življenja kot tudi medosebni odnosi težavni. Zgodovina je pokazala, da preselitev ne vpliva le na prostor, produktivnost in družbeno strukturo temveč tudi na ohranjanje kulture. Po tajfunu Morakot je tajvanska vlada preselila tri staroselske vasi Dashe, Majia in Haocha na površino, veliko približno 30 hektarov. Področje, ki se danes imenuje Rinari je z okoli 1500 prebivalci eno največjih staroselskih področij na Tajvanu. Študija primera v vasi Haocha (Kucapungane) s področja Rinari proučuje konflikte in socialno ranljivost, ki jih s seboj prinese preselitev. V primeru Kucapungane se preselitev ni zgodila prvič velik del politik preselitve pa je zgrajen na enaki osnovi kot v preteklih preselitvah: vlada še vedno verjame, da je dovolj, če staroselcem, ki so žrtve naravnih nesreč, zagotovi varen kraj za bivanje. Pričujoča raziskava predlaga, da je potrebno ponovno preučiti preselitvene metode, pri čemer je potrebno upoštevati zemljo, kulturo, vzgojo in izobraževanje ter ekonomske vidike preživetja v novo ustanovljenih področjih. Politike, ki bi temeljile na podrobnih študijah, bi lahko s svojimi praksami zmanjšale negativne vplive preselitve in poselitve na preživetje staroselske kulture in bi lahko služile kot osnova kulturnega razvoja. KLJUČNE BESEDE: naravna katastrofa, staroselci, rekonstrukcija, ranljivost, Morakot CORRESPONDENCE: SASALA TAIBAN, Department of Leisure Management, I-Shou University, No.1, Sec. 1, Syuecheng Rd., Dashu Dist., Kaohsiung City 84001, Taiwan (R.O.C.). E-mail: sasala@isu.edu.tw. Children's learning through observation in the context of work and play Barbara Turk Niska~ University of Ljubljana, barbara.turkniskac@ff.uni-lj.si Abstract This paper analyses ethnographic studies of childhood in Slovenian agrarian society in the first half of the 20th century. It shows how children were organically integrated into daily life, work and interactions, allowing them to directly learn through observation and gradual participation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from 2011/2012 in southern Slovenia, it presents a case study of children's learning through observation and participation in domestic chores and thus questions the dichotomy between "traditional" societies in which children could learn through observation and the "information society" in which it is said that childhoods are becoming institutionalised, and more formal learning strategies are needed in order to socialise them into current society. Theoretically, the paper draws on current anthropological theories on children's learning and socialisation. KEYWORDS: anthropology of childhood, learning, socialisation Introduction In this paper, I first present certain contemporary theories on children's learning and socialisation1 that I find useful when exploring non-formal learning strategies, such as learning through observation. In the continuation, I analyse childhood in Slovenian agrarian society in the first half of the 20th century and demonstrate how children were organically integrated into daily life, work and interactions, allowing them to directly learn through observation and gradual participation. These were important learning strategies in the pre-industrial agrarian society, which was the dominant social group in Slovenia until the Second World War. Even though learning through observation has mostly been studied in relation to indigenous groups, it can be found in any society in those contexts in which children belong, participate and are continually present in the adult world (Gaskins & Paradise 1 Even though the term 'socialisation' has been problematised and its understandings criticised (see Toren 1996; Ingold 2007; Christensen & Prout 2011; Toren 2012), I use it as a term for a general understanding of social learning. ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 19 (1): 77-96. ISSN 1408-032X © Slovene Anthropological Society 2013 2010). Children in the contemporary information society live a parallel and often isolated life from adults: while parents spend most of their time at work, children do so at preschool, school and institutionalised after-school activities. Christensen and Prout (2011), describe the institutionalisation, familisation and individualisation of childhoods: at times complementary and other times contradictory processes. These processes dictate that children spend increasing amounts of time in various institutions. At the same time, they are dependent on their families and contained within them. Moreover, there is increasingly less autonomous movement by children around their neighbourhoods. Children's lives are becoming increasingly restricted and controlled. Finally, there is a trend of looking at children as those who take part in deciding about their lives (ibid.). It seems that we want our children to be independent, self-reliant and active from an early age on and yet, paradoxically, we are also 'so concerned about protecting their future prospects, we deny them the chance to be' (Lancy 2010: 457). The period of dependency and learning has thereby become greatly extended. Accordingly, in the information society we perceive childhood as 'a protected and innocent sphere that has to be divided from political sphere, public sphere and work' (Zidar 2003: 359) yet we simultaneously emphasise children's participation, their rights and agency. Therefore, even if children's status today is egalitarian, with the emphasis on their participation in deciding and realising their wishes (Mocnik & Turk Niskac 2012), these relations seem to be ambiguous and often paradoxical. Children's agency is often restricted within the boundaries that parents or other significant adults draw and within which children are expected to explore, learn and practise their agency. At the end, however, I show that we cannot claim that the protected childhood described above is representative of any society as a whole, but only for certain social classes. I present a case study of a rural area of Slovenia where children can, to a certain extent, practise learning through observation and are afforded autonomy in participating in and practising of the observed interactions. I believe this is an aspect often neglected by theories of childhood in contemporary society. Perspectives on learning as a social process As Toren observes, socialisation, enculturation and acquisition studies became blurred in the 1970s and 1980s (1996: 513). In the general understanding, these processes enable an individual to learn to function successfully as a member of a community or society in which they live (Toren 1996: 512; Ingold 2007: 112). However, these notions have recently started to give way to notions of social learning and meaning making. Ingold, for example, considers learning to be an open-ended social process. He does not think of the process of learning as filling up the mind of novices, nor as a march to a fixed and final target, but as of tuning up to the particular circumstances of the environment (2007: 117). Toren similarly understands learning or making sense of the world as a 'micro-historical process in which people's schemes of thought are continually differentiated through functioning' (2011: 24). Toren proposes the idea of 'autopoiesis as a historical process that begins at conception and ends only with death' (2012: 25). In the process of human autopoiesis, we engage others in the process of our own becoming. In the process of making meaning, humans are constantly making meaning out of meanings that others have made or are making and are thus conveying their own understandings. We all assimilate each other's ideas and accommodate ourselves to them. This is also the developmental process of how children make meaning (Toren 2002: 187). In fact, all our ideas and practices are historical products of our own experiences and relationships with other people (Toren 2007: 111). At the same time, in the process of autopoiesis, meaning is always emergent, never fixed. In this process, in every aspect, living things continue over time as relatively autonomous systems of transformation. Thus, this micro-historical process renders each person's ideas unique (Toren 2004; 2007). Consequently, even though 'we have common biology, are subject to the same general physical conditions and physiological processes,' yet 'each one of us has to make meaning of the world by virtue of engaging with meanings others have made and are making' (Toren 1999: 267). Therefore, as human beings, we are all a dynamic transforming product of the past we have lived and simultaneously we are placed in relation to all other human beings whose ideas and practices help structure the conditions of our present existence (Toren 2012: 25). The model explained above represents an alternative to the understanding of socialisation as a process of being 'socialised' into a social being because it understands 'humans as at once products and producers of history' (Toren 2002: 200). Under the influence of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, developmental psychologists re-conceptualised socialisation and rejected the idea of a child as a passive recipient of social, cultural and parental influences (LeVine and New 2008: 160). The idea that knowledge is simply internalised was similarly rejected. Ingold, for example, claims that 'novices grow into knowledge rather than having it handed down to them' (2007: 115). In recent decades, we have been able to follow new theoretical perspectives suggesting that children are active subjects (James & Prout 1997; Christensen & Prout 2002) as well as perspectives that are interested in how children themselves are making meanings over time as a function of autopoiesis (Toren 2002; 2007; 2011; 2012). We might say that socialisation can be understood as a negotiated, two-way process between parents and children (Ingold 2007). Moreover, 'recent research shows that adults rarely play a prominent role in children's skill acquisition, other more likely candidates include observation, imitation, make-believe, emulating older siblings and the chore curriculum' (Lancy 2010: 7). Moreover, 'recent research shows that adults rarely play a prominent role in children's skill acquisition, other more likely candidates include observation, imitation, make-believe, emulating older siblings and the chore curriculum' (Lancy 2010: 7). Humans construct meaning from experience, and learning is profoundly embedded in social processes. We can see that children learn through various learning strategies and that most learning takes place within a social context. We should also acknowledge that if, on one hand, we are interested in children's active role in learning, on the other hand learning does not take place in a vacuum. Even though 'learning arises from within the child' (Bock 2010: 19), and 'children in all cultures actively make meaning from their experiences' (Gaskins & Paradise 2010: 97), parents and other adults nevertheless manipulate children's time and activities so that they are more likely to be exposed to certain types of information, and there is great variation in how much responsibility children are given for organising the details of their everyday world (Bock 2010: 19; Gaskins & Paradise 2010: 97). Harkness and Super coined the term "parental ethnotheories", referring to 'cultural models that parents hold regarding children, families, and themselves as parents' (Harkness, Super et al. 2010: 67). Parents' ideas regarding children, families, and themselves as parents also include ideas on when, what and how the child learns and who should guide and instruct the child. These ideas are often 'implicit and taken-for-granted ideas about the "natural" or "right" way to think or act, and they have strong motivational properties for parents' (Harkness, Super et al. 2010: 67-8; on parental expectations also see Toren 2002). Zarger proposes that the individual child, the cultural routines of daily life, parental and cultural beliefs and expectations, socioeconomic and subsistence strategies, and the local biophysical environment itself influence learning and child development (2010: 354). However, even though caregivers and significant others structure the conditions of the existence lived by the child, nobody can determine what the child makes of them. Toren emphasises that it is exactly the 'ethnographic studies of how children make sense of the conditions in the world created for them by adults that can contribute to the dynamic systems perspective on human development over time as an autopoietic and historical process' (Toren 2012: 32). Formal institutionalised teaching and learning strategies are based on direct verbal instruction, verbal explanation, demonstration, and directing attention. Children's learning in this context depends in large part on others' directing children's attention to specific objects and events (Gaskins & Paradise 2010: 101).2 This kind of learning strategy is also typical among parents of certain social classes. Such strategies in the family setting are said to lead to success at school and thus in life generally. Lancy suggests that learning from observation and interacting with others is changing in the information society, where 'significant others serve less often as role models and more often as didactic teachers or guides' (2010: 456). He claims that granting children the autonomy to learn through observation does not work in the information society, 'where making a living depends on the long-term acquisition of material that is essentially hidden from view and must be packaged and delivered by experts' (2010: 457). Along with parental anxiety about their child's optimal cognitive, motoric and intellectual development and about their child's success at school comes an insistence on early cognitive, motoric and other stimulation of the infant, parent-child play and constant didactic teaching of the children from the parents' side. However, parents' ideas and practices related to child development vary substantially, even in contemporary society, as we shall see below. It is true that 'in recent decades, children's opportunities to interact with each other in "adult-free", unstructured settings have dropped significantly' (Maynard & Tovote 2010: 199). There is, however, increasing awareness that unstructured learning settings for children have their advantages: 'Perspective-taking, empathy, and communication skills 2 Note however, that the pre-school pedagogy in Slovenia differs greatly from school pedagogy. It is predominantly based on play, learning through play and learning through experience. are readily learned from siblings and peers, and unstructured interactions provide the substrate for these skills to develop' (Maynard & Tovote 2010: 199). Gaskins and Paradise similarly emphasise that in the absence of adult guidance, children are more likely to be consistently active learners in the sense that they are intrinsically motivated to learn, take initiative, and organise their observing and making sense of it (2010: 97). Children are thus not only active in their own socialisation but are also active socialisers of others, namely younger siblings and peers (Gaskins, Miller & Corsaro 1992). As mentioned, according to some social classes, a child needs explanation, they need to be motivated, and their attention is being directed by significant others. Yet in many societies, parents do not teach children or play with them 'because they are absorbed in adult work and playing with children is considered inappropriate adult behavior' (Maynard & Tovote 2010: 183). Instead, children are encouraged to learn on their own and are expected to learn from older children, siblings and peers, through observation and play. This is especially true for cultures that emphasise and amplify learning through observation. Various informal learning strategies encompass many ways that children acquire information, including 'through observation, guidance by adults and siblings, active teaching and trial and error' (Bock 2010: 19), as well as 'verbal and bodily instruction, imitation, and guided participation' (Zarger 2010: 362). We often perceive learning that is confined to silent learning by observing, without questions and explanations as passive and irrelevant, especially in educational perspectives and the information society. As Gaskins and Paradise argue, observational learning is in fact an active learning process since 'children are intrinsically motivated, take initiative to learn, and direct their attention actively to what is going on around them' (2010: 94-5). They suggest that learning through observation in daily life is a universal learning strategy in childhood and beyond. Observational learning typically occurs in familiar contexts in which one person performs an activity while another person, who knows less, watches them do it. In the case of children, they might intentionally watch because they want to learn, but they might also watch for the fun of watching or just for the pleasure of being in the company of the person who is working. Learning then becomes an incidental by-product of social life, an almost invisible part of everyday interactions (Gaskins & Paradise 2010: 85). As already noted, learning through observation is especially important in societies in which children can observe and participate in the economic and productive activities of adults on a daily basis. This is related to the society's mode of economic production. If adults' work is organised at the level of the home community, children are likely to be around. Since the child identifies with those being observed, they want to belong and be like them. Moreover, because the child observes while participating in meaningful family-based social activities, these activities seem relevant and interesting to them. In order to render learning through observation meaningful, children have to be present, participate regularly in activities and events and be ready to take responsibility for their learning. If this is not the case or when children are present but are waiting to be told what to do or are paying little attention, the effectiveness of learning through observation is reduced. All kinds of knowledge can be acquired through observation, from physical skills, work skills and specific tasks to language, social interaction behaviours, expressions of emotion, situational scripts, politeness posture, and even spiritual beliefs and other abstract knowledge (Gaskins & Paradise 2010). Next, we analyse learning strategies in the pre-industrial agrarian Slovenian society, followed by an analysis of current learning through observation possibilities in early childhood. As we will see, in pre-industrial agrarian Slovenian society, learning through observation was an important learning strategy in childhood and to some extent it is also present nowadays. Learning from the pre-industrial agrarian to the information society Agrarian society dominated in Slovenia until the Second World War. Rural areas could be described as pre-industrial, while there were emerging working classes and a small number of middle-class people in urbanised and industrialised areas. The family economy, which was predominately self-sufficient, and the survival of the family depended on physical work in agriculture (Brumen 2000: 213). In addition, the working classes strived to be self-sufficient (Kremensek 1970: 23; Ravnik 1981: 62). For agricultural society, until the Second World War, the domestic setting often played a more important role in children's social learning than school. In the beginning of the 20th century, school represented an intruder that 'divided parents and children temporally, territorially, in working processes and mentally' (Sok 2003: 81). Children also participated in the family economy and contributed with their work, which was often given priority over school obligations. Modernisation of the agricultural sector only came after the Second World War. With fewer working hands being needed, children lost their productive role and turned from producers into consumers (Zelizer 1985; Montgomery 2009). At the same time, the role of children's education gained significance. However, attitudes to schooling varied according to one's social class and over time. Higher social classes already emphasised children's need to play and educate in the 19th century. This attitude has gradually also spread to lower social classes, i.e. working classes and peasants. On the whole, the modernisation and mechanisation of the agricultural sector after the Second World War profoundly changed the way of living, social relations and attitudes to work. If work represented the highest value to which all other values were subordinate in the agricultural society, then after the Second World War parents started to believe that their children would be better off if they attended school so they would not have to work (as hard as they had to) (Makarovic 1985; Brumen 2000). Even if schooling became ever more important and work was starting to be valued negatively, in the period of socialist Yugoslavia work at the same time still had a high value by virtue of being incorporated in the state ideology of the building of socialism. Factories were flourishing and good, diligent workers were being promoted. School children started their day with the slogan: 'Happy to work, in work there is happiness!' Attitudes to work and its value are changing according to the circumstances. Today, the successful Slovenian entrepreneur Ivo Boscarol proposes that entrepreneurship be incorporated in the pre-school curricula, not as marketing, but as the binding of different ideas. Hence, in one Slovenian pre-school children take part in a Young Entrepreneur project where they practice different roles from joiner and beekeeper to innovator. In this way, they are fostering creativity and successfully developing their own ideas - highly valuable competencies in the current economic system (Mlakar 2011). Nevertheless, according to various ethnotheories, intelligence can also be associated with the qualities like 'self-sufficiency, obedience, respect toward elders, attention to detail, willingness to work and effective management of younger siblings and livestock' (Lancy & Grove 2010: 153). This was also the case in Slovenia several decades ago; the agrarian society was deeply hierarchically segregated. Relationships were based on respect for elders; children had to obey and, if they failed to do so, they were punished. The way of living, which was immersed in physical labour, did not allow much time to be dedicated to children. Cuddling, caressing and playing with children were rare. However, the child was rarely alone, he/she was always surrounded by kin or other members of the community. Children realised that they were loved from the time their parents read or told them stories (Žagar 1997: 10; Destovnik 2002: 213). Yet words were rarely used while parents were working in the fields or around the house and children were helping or hanging around. Their time was filled with work and silence. Children were being told: 'If you want to know how to work, you have to watch, you have to "steal" with the eyes' (Brumen 2000: 184). Children were thus expected to learn through observation, with very few explanations or verbal instructions. In this respect, Lave and Wenger coined the term "legitimate peripheral participation". For them 'learning is an integral and inseparable aspect of social practice' (Lave & Wenger 1998: 31) and 'learners are learning to participate in a community of practitioners as well as in a productive activity' (Lave & Wenger 1998: 110). Participation in the family economy started with observing and smaller tasks, and then gradually continued to more responsible tasks. Tasks that are graded or scaled in difficulty are a core feature of the chore curriculum, for which it can be said that: Children reliably grow into greater strength, dexterity and intellectual prowess. Second, children eagerly pursue more challenging undertakings without prompting. Third, they spend most of their time in the proximity of slightly older children who act simultaneously as caretakers, role models and teachers. Fourth, the village task environment is sufficiently complex so that a scaling from easier to harder is readily apparent (Lancy & Grove 2010: 156). When talking about child work and children's chores, it is important to differentiate child work from child labour. Child labour is associated with the exploitation of poor children via factory work and wage labour, whereas child work takes place within a domestic unit. It represents: morally desirable and pedagogically sensible activities ... [such as] housekeeping, child minding, helping adults for no pay on the family farm and in small shops, domestic service, street selling, running errands, delivering newspapers, seasonal work on farms (Niewenhuys, cited in Chick 2010: 120). Child work, for example, entails pedagogical characteristics (Chick 2010), learning about the biophysical environment (Zarger 2010), learning gender and other social roles (Montgomery 2009) as well as learning responsibility and the yearly cycles of nature (Stanonik 1992-1993), tenacity, diligence and cooperation (Močnik & Turk Niskač 2012). Children in agrarian Slovenia helped with daily chores from an early age onward. Their help was welcomed in the family economy. In this way, they were also learning to take on responsibility, while learning different roles in the community and society at large, and avoiding idleness (Ramšak 2003: 316). Between their third and fourth years, children took on chores such as fetching firewood and water, tidying the house and tending cattle (Ramšak 2003: 237). Girls took care of their younger siblings from the age of five. The work was distributed according to gender and children were gradually given more responsible tasks so that their carefree childhood ended by the age of 10 (Žagar 1997: 13; also see Kremenšek 1970: 23; Stanonik 1992-1993: 138; Brumen 2000: 182; Sereinig 2003: 16). Between the ages of five and seven, most cultures acknowledge an important transition whereby children are expected to begin taking on an increasing amount of work responsibility (Zarger 2010: 357) or cognitive skills. Further, working-class children had some work obligations, but they were very few and so they had lots of time to freely play and roam around the neighbourhood (Kremenšek 1970: 33; Brumen 1995: 149). In contrast, physical work was openly scorned by the highest social classes (Brumen 1995: 152-4). The idea that a child needs to play and needs toys only gradually spread from the higher social classes (Tomažič 1999: 19). Even though children in agrarian societies had very little time to play, ethnographic data shed light on various plays and games for children: word games, different bodily uses, group games with movement, fantasy games, mental games and riddles, role plays and games with singing (Ramovš 1991; Stanonik 1992-1993). It is true that children had very few purchased toys, but they have found toys and objects to play with in their immediate environment and in nature (Sereinig 2003: 15). As Sutton-Smith suggests, the common wisdom in Western societies that play is children's work is typically adult-centric. He claims that in their first two years children 'are too busy being intelligent (exploring, mastering, imagining and performing) to play most of the time' (Sutton-Smith 1997: 244). The anxiety about the toys that children should have is more clearly a sign of parental anxiety about their children's achievement and progress than they are assurances of child progress (ibid.). Children often incorporated the world of adults into their play: children from a baker's family, for example, played in the bakery (Ferlež 2005: 29). Children also played with domestic animals and with marbles, they baked potatoes on an open fire, roamed around nearby forests and fields, sledded, skied, swam in rivers etc. (Kremnšek 1970). Work and play often merged. Children played with home-made miniature tools in the fields and around the house, while their parents were working or were even given their own small piece of field to work on. While mothers were ironing, little girls were folding napkins. As they tended cattle or peeled potatoes children played mental games or told each other funny stories (Stanonik 1992-1993: 133-8). As Gaskins and Paradise note, in a reality-based pretend play, children both practise and interpret what they have observed. Such play is thus complementary to learning through observation. It represents an opportunity to practise culturally organised activities that children have seen. The more children are exposed to a daily activity, the more it appears in their pretend re- enactments (2010: 106). Thus, in agrarian societies learning was embedded in observing, imitating, examining and experimenting in play as well as in gaining actual experiences by participating in work. Even though work often coincided with play, the work itself did not permit as much improvisation as the play itself (Mocnik & Turk Niskac 2012: 171). In their play, children did not simply imitate the world of adults but also creatively and actively rearranged it. A case study of children's learning in the context of work and play In this paper, I have thus far outlined childhood in the Slovenian agrarian society in the first half of the 20th century. As we will see, learning in family settings through participation in daily work to some extent still occurs today. In the researched area, children can observe their parents at work in the fields, with domestic animals, in orchards, forests and vineyards. The data for the analysis were collected in 2011/2012 during two months of ethnographic research and fieldwork in a small community in rural Slovenia. Sixteen children aged between two and six years took part in the research. The methodology consisted of participant observation in a pre-school, semi-structured interviews with parents and employees in the pre-school, informal visits to the children's homes and collaborative visual methods in which the parents, educators in the pre-school and children themselves took pictures of how the children's days were unfolding. The location of the fieldwork is in southern Slovenia, near the Croatian border. It is composed of several small villages with an administrative centre that has 106 inhabitants. The administrative centre includes a post office, shop, primary school, preschool and two factories. Up until the second half of the 20th century, the area was typically agrarian. In the 1980s, two factories were opened, one for plumbing tools and the other for sewing lingerie, which started to employ men and women, respectively. The lingerie factory closed in 2011. When the factories were flourishing and women started to take jobs there, the informal child care initially organised by the factories later developed into a pre-school. Unemployment in the region is high today. Some inhabitants drive to work every day to bigger towns or make their living from occasional small jobs. Even though very few inhabitants actually live from farming, most of them maintain small gardens, domestic animals, orchards and/or vineyards. All of this represents additional work, but to some extent it also contributes to the self-sufficiency of households. Most children attended pre-school (at the time of the research I only knew of one boy who did not attend pre-school; his family was one of the rare ones to actually live from farming). The preschool was open from 5.30 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. (note that the working hours were adapted to suit the working hours of the two factories; pre-school in the capital city Ljubljana are, for example, open from 6.00 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Most of the children spent time in the pre-school from breakfast at 7.30 a.m. until shortly after they woke up from their nap, at 2.30 p.m. Yet some of the children had to wake up as early as 5 a.m. in order for their fathers to bring them to the pre-school on their way to work in the factory. Children in this area thus spend much more time at home than, for example, children in urban areas whose parents come to pick them up as late as 4 or 4.30 p.m. When at home, the children spent most of their time outside, with some of them visiting their grandparents who live nearby. They were rarely left alone, mostly being supervised by a parent, grandparent or older siblings, if they had any. They mainly played with their siblings, alone or with other peers, if available. The area is surrounded by forests, which dictates many of the children's outdoor activities. Pre-school was for the children predominantly a place where they could play with their peers since they lived in scattered villages and many did not have any peers living nearby. Further, from the parents' point of view, the main reason they opted for their children to be in the pre-school was for them to have company and play with their peers. The pre-school curriculum was pedagogically embedded in play, learning through play, learning social skills in the group, learning of order and preparation for school. Other than an hour or so that was meant for walking in the surroundings or playing in the playground, the children spent most of their time inside. They took part in cleaning the toys after play, cleaning the tables, arranging their cots and occasionally one of them was sent to the kitchen to fetch something. Every day, two children were asked to help with breakfast and lunch. Apart from this, there were not many other chores requiring the children's input in the pre-school. The school and pre-school were taking part in an ecological project and thus had a nice vegetable garden outside, but the pre-school children did not actually work on it, only the school children did. The preschool children were said to be too small and too numerous to organise. On special occasions, children in the pre-school made bread, but their involvement in the kitchen was increasingly limited due to stricter hygiene standards. Another reason the children in the pre-school could not undertake more chores was the employees' preoccupation with safety and the fear that, were something to happen, the parents would not react with understanding. In the pre-school, the emphasis was thus on play and learning, with very few work obligations or experiences, whereas at home the children often accompanied their parents or grandparents attending to domestic and agricultural work tasks. It cannot be said that at home the children really contributed with their work since it was more up to the children's will whether to cooperate or not, and they did not have any serious obligations or tasks. However, it seems that the children themselves were eager to participate in various chores. Especially striking was the dichotomy regarding children's capacities between pre-school and home. At home, Jon, a boy aged 5, was making a wooden bin using a battery-powered drill, while in the pre-school he was immediately scolded for picking up a screwdriver, being told that it is dangerous. The parents were mostly keen to include their children in various chores, stating that perhaps in the future it would be useful for them to know some of these things. They also emphasised that the children wanted to be included and that, if they had to make something too dangerous for the children to observe up close, they had to tactically organise the activity so that they were not followed by their children. Parents' ideas that it might be good for the children to help out were common to parents with a low education, working in the factories or in agriculture as well as parents with a university degree. A young educated couple, for example, had moved into one of the villages from the capital, Ljubljana, in order to give their children a childhood in a more natural setting. At the time of the research they had two sons, Emil aged 2 and a 3-month-old baby. At the age of 2, Emil was cleaning the dishes, hanging up the washing, putting wood on the fire, preparing firewood, cutting grass and picking up apples in the orchard. The father emphasised that this is important: 'These chores have to be close to him. I think these shouldn't be some chores that his parents are doing or someone else, he has to see that these chores are part of our daily life' and the mother added: 'I think he enjoys it, he has fun, he prefers to do something like that than playing with toys ... I think he learns mostly through these chores, I prefer that he is making a mess with me cleaning than him not being included.' They said that Emil was practically not interested in toys unless they play with them together with him. Outside the house, he had a sandpit, swing, slide, trampoline and climbing wall. Emil's parents believed he was mostly learning spontaneously and by example. Therefore, it was important to let him develop self-initiative. Similarly, Jon's father, who is a mechanical engineer, emphasised that he was brought up in a way to see that work is interesting and you can find satisfaction in creating something and he wanted his son to adopt the same attitude to life. At the age of 5, Jon was making a wooden rubbish bin with a battery-powered drill, he had his own part of the vegetable garden and was occasionally making bread with his father. It was only when questions of safety were in question that Jon's father preferred to make things on his own, for example sawing timber. Similarly, the father of 2-year-old Lenart preferred to be alone when working with a circular saw or various heavy tractor mechanical parts. He said his son wanted to be constantly present, but was too young to understand that something is dangerous and he must keep away. When he himself was young, he also had to work hard on the farm. He thought that his son had a better childhood since he is going to the seaside, on trips to the mountains, skiing and playing a lot. He hoped he would not be obliged to work on the farm and would pursue a good education. Lenart's father was employed at the local factory and his mother by the municipality. They did not have a farm, only a vegetable garden. However, they had quite some work to do in the surroundings, such as grass cutting, working in the woods and the like. His father noticed that Lenart seemed to enjoy farming: 'He wants to be on the tractor for two hours, he constantly wants to wear a hard hat, he wants to try out everything from the electric saw to the lawnmower.' Lenart's father stated that some villagers had said he should not let Lenart ride in a tractor, but he replied that when he saw how much he enjoyed it, he did not want to take such pleasure away from him (see Figures 1 and 2). However, he was not pushing his son into doing anything. He wanted to show him what is good, but if he saw that he did not want to clean up his toys, for example, he would do it instead of him. Lenart also helped his mother with watering flowers and taking the dishes out from the dishwasher. When she worked in the vegetable garden, Lenart was given his own small rake and shovel to play along. As for the future, Lenart's mother wanted him to be successful in life, she also wanted him to be honest, kind and sincere. His father similarly wanted him to be honest and to pursue a high education, to learn to do work he will enjoy doing and have a good salary. He added that he would show him what is good for him but, at the end, Lenart would choose by himself and he would not oppose his wishes. He also emphasised that it is good to have working habits. Not all of the parents, however, enjoyed their children hanging around while working. Some of them preferred to keep their children away from the work so they could do what had to be done in peace. They claimed they would have even more work with the children around or they thought that preschool children were too young to truly help them with real work. The mother of 4-year-old Eva and 3-year-old Enej, for example, said: We have cows, but they can't take care of them yet. Well, we do also have chickens. We go together and they pick up the eggs and feed them, but I go with them. There's nothing else for them to do, I have to do it by myself. When asked if they helped her in the vegetable garden, she continued: Better not. I can say to Eva stay here and she does, but to Enej I say stay here and he is already into the lettuce, come on, better stay away! I prefer to make it when they are not around because, if I go working with them, I can't ... I put more energy into saying don't stay here, move over there (laughs). Contemporary paradigms emphasise doing research with children instead of about or on children (James 2007; Thomson 2008). Despite conceding that children are active subjects, learning and development are still often studied in ways that 'depict children as passive in these processes, as recipients of culture rather than as contributing and vital forces in both individual and cultural development' (Munroe & Gauvain 2010: 51). In this context, a more child-centred approach would be necessary to include children's perspectives and thus describe the full scope of children's learning. I have thus tried to pursue children's perspectives via photography. Photography is often seen as a tool that enables insight into children's perspectives (Mitchell & Reid Walsh 2002; Lutrell 2010). For me, it has given me an insight into children's perceptions of their living environment and the relationships in which they are integrated. Ten children, aged 3-6 years took pictures. First, each of them were given a single-use camera for the weekend, and then each child was given a digital camera for a day. With the digital camera each child took pictures at both the preschool and home. On the next day, the researcher looked at the pictures together with the child and made a photo elicitation interview. The children were not told what specifically to take pictures of, only to take pictures of what was interesting to them. The interview was similarly spontaneous, deriving from the photographs taken. Such an interview is also called an auto-driven photo-elicitation interview (Dell Clark 1999; Clark Ibanez 2008). In any event, an interview is needed because the interpretation of the pictures is not readily evident. In the interview, the research participant and researcher discuss their different understandings of the images (Pink 2005). By letting the children take control of the camera and what they will take pictures of, we can presume that the pictures reflect their perspectives and interests. However, we should be aware that the researcher, parents, siblings, peers, educators in the pre-school and others can influence children's photography and their interviews about the pictures (Turk Niskač 2012). During the research, the children took a total of 1,309 pictures, of which 86 were blank or unrecognisable. Out of all the recognisable pictures, 683 were taken outside and 535 inside. Five hundred and sixteen pictures were taken in the pre-school and 792 at home. Eva and Enej took pictures while they were playing in an improvised sandpit. Instead of a plastic spade they played with a hoe (see Figures 3 and 4). Here is an excerpt from a photo elicitation interview in which Eva said that they were 'making a hole for the little animals': Eva: Here we are at home, we took pictures, we were digging Researcher: You were digging? Eva: Soil Researcher: I see, what were you digging? Eva: Soil - everything Researcher: It was you who were digging, did mummy give you a hoe? Eva: She gave it to me because we, we, - watch out, come here Enej - you can't give it to him because he doesn't know how to... Researcher: Is he too young? Eva: Yes Enej: No, I am not Researcher: And you know how to work with the hoe? Eva: Yes Researcher: And do you help mummy in the garden? Eva: Yes, a little Researcher: A little? Eva: But mummy doesn't allow me to. Researcher: She doesn't allow you, but here in the sandpit she allows you to dig with the hoe? Eva: Yes In the interview, the researcher and children thus gave meaning to the children's play. If this was not evident from the pictures themselves, Eva stated that they were 'making a hole for little animals.' She also explained that she was not allowed to help her mother in the garden, although she was allowed to play with the hoe in the sandpit. Eva said that her little brother 'doesn't know how to use the hoe' and that 'you can't give it to him.' She agreed with the researcher that he was too young, to which Enej responded that he was not. However, in the next pictures we could see that Enej was also using the hoe. Having in mind the interview with their mother (see above) in which she claimed that her children were too young to be seriously involved in work and that she preferred to do things when she was alone, we can see how Eva and Enej have incorporated in their play of making a hole for little animals in the sandpit a working tool such as a hoe. Further, we can see how Eva had incorporated her mother's opinion in asserting that her little brother was too young to know how to use the hoe. As we have seen, even though these children have many opportunities to learn through observation and participate in their own way in adult work activities, they do not live in an isolated or under-privileged community. They are also part of the information society. It is true that they do not have as many opportunities for organised afternoon activities as children in urban areas, but some of them attend English classes, music school or folk classes. They too have an abundance of all sorts of toys, watch cartoons and children's songs on YouTube, draw on a computer etc. However, they do spend a lot of time outside and, compared to those children who are picked up from pre-school as late as 4.30 p.m. every day, they spend more time with their parents and grandparents and have greater opportunities to observe them while working. And as we have seen, their parents have quite a few work obligations at home and in the surroundings in the afternoons. At the time of writing this article, I was continuing fieldwork in another pre-school in the suburbs of Ljubljana. In this article, I have only focused on one research area; however, also in the area of family houses in the suburbs of Ljubljana most parents were incorporating their children in some kind of domestic work - at the age of four, they were peeling potatoes, hanging out the washing, dusting, helping the father in the garage etc. Some parents also emphasised that they would take their children to work sometimes in order for them to see what they do for a living. The children were exposed to these activities to a smaller extent since their parents have longer working days and thus the children spend more time at pre-school. They also attend afternoon organised activities more frequently. Further, the surroundings - urban suburbs - offer fewer possibilities to work in the afternoon. Some families maintained vegetable gardens, but chores were mostly restricted to indoor domestic work. I find it interesting, that parents and employees at the kindergarten believe that learning, play and work interweave in preschool children. Everything a child does is supposed to be guided by play. Even when children are involved at domestic chores, adults believe that they are actually playing, not working. On the contrary 4 years old children already strictly distinguished between work and play. When shown various objects such as a doll, a car, building blocks, a mobile phone, a pair of pliers, a rolling pin, a mixer, a thread and a kitchen spoonge, they classified the first three as objects for play and all the rest as objects for work. When asked if we can also play with the objects for work, only one girl said we can use a kitchen sponge also for painting. Conclusion Some authors (Lancy & Grove 2010; Maynard & Tovote 2010) make a clear distinction between the chore curriculum, which is said to be characteristic of traditional village societies and which children can observe in their daily life, and the core curriculum, which needs to be taught by certified teachers and is supposed to be typical of information society. However, I disagree with such a strict dichotomy. As we have seen, in the case of our field study we can say that, in certain settings, both core and chore curriculums can also coexist in the information society. What we can do is discuss the extent to which children are exposed to a chore curriculum in various settings and the outcomes of various opportunities they are given to participate in these chores. According to the current theories on socialisation, it is the learning capability that drives children to be part of the relations which surround them. Humans, even as newborns, are social beings, which is why 'they cannot help but engage others in the process of becoming themselves' (Toren 2002: 188). As Ingold puts it, 'children can learn only because they are fully involved in the world' and 'they begin at once to interact with other people in their surroundings'(Ingold 2007: 113). 'Children learn not to gain entry to the social world but to make their way within it' (ibid.). All our cognitions are mediated by relations with others. If 'all our acts are social' and we also 'reveal ourselves as social beings in all our acts,' then 'everything we do is in some way mediated by our relations with others' (Toren 1993: 462). We can thus also understand children's willingness to participate in the chores that they can observe in their family setting as part of their being and becoming in the world, as part of their social learning, meaning making or (as we could say) socialisation. In the context of the contemporary paradigm, a more child-centred approach is necessary to include children's perspectives and thus describe the full scope of children's learning. Although I have tried to pursue children's perspectives with visual methods, I believe the full potential remains unexploited in the scope of the research. In Toren's words: Every child is born into a world in the making whose local features vary as a function of the history of a certain peopled environment. Any given child thus encounters a world whose particular history is made concrete in a specific physical environment and in the specific social relations in which that child is immediately engaged. And each child, by virtue of their autonomy as a living system that is human, has no choice but to make sense of what they encounter. At the same time, because humans make meaning intersubjectively out of meanings that others have made and are making, it follows that literally every idea held by every child has a purchase on reality as it is lived. In other words, a child's ideas - for all that they are uniquely his or hers -do not come out of nowhere; they have everything to do with this same child's inter-subjective engagement in the world (2011: 38). Toren calls for a focus on children as simultaneous 'subjects and objects of history, and on the processes in and through which they constitute their knowledge of the world' (Toren 1993: 462). Instead of socialisation, anthropologists should therefore perhaps study to understand how people become who they are (Toren 2002: 187) since being and becoming are aspects of one another. As Toren stresses, we are becoming ourselves throughout all our lives, yet we are not 'independently the authors of our own being,' since 'we do not control the conditions of our own existence' (ibid.). Nevertheless, each human being is autonomous in the process of autopoiesis (Torsn 2002: 189). Human beings should be understood as at once products and producers of history. This makes the study of children central to the anthropological project (Toren 1993: 461). We should therefore acknowledge that children are simultaneously agents actively engaged in constituting their relations with others and with the environment and conditioned by the relations and the environment in which they live. Children do not choose their environment, their parents' background, their ethno-theories, or place of living. While some children have an opportunity to participate in domestic chores, others simply do not. While some parents approve of their participating, others prefer to do the chores alone. As soon as a child is born, he/she is born into a complex net of social, economic and political obligations and responsibilities (Montgomery 2009: 78). Just like adults, children do not live in a vacuum but are always in relationships with other people: with their parents, relatives, caregivers, educators, siblings, peers and friends. Born into a world of already existing traditions and semiotic systems, children use their growing interpretative abilities to participate in cultural practices. This process is constructive and necessarily individual and collective at the same time. The meaning making of each child is thus unique. Further, in meaning-making processes, children take a variety of stances in various situations from acceding to, eagerly reaching out for, playfully transforming to actively resisting. Meaning creation thus varies not only from child to child, but also from time to time for a particular child. By responding to and negotiating with caregivers and peers in day-to-day encounters with cultural resources, children shape their developmental experiences and at the same time contribute to the production of social order (Gaskins, Miller & Corsaro 1992: 6-7). In this respect, not all children are eager to participate in domestic chores and each child is on some occasions keen to participate and on others they are not. It is important that learning and socialisation are profoundly social and that, apart from formal educational institutions such as school and pre-school, children also learn at home, by observing adults at work, in the playground, through media, in the neighbourhood - in literally every setting they find themselves. It is beyond the scope of the presented research to judge the outcomes of learning through observation as presented above for the children themselves. 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Prispevek dalje na podlagi avtoričine etnografske raziskave iz leta 2011/2012 v južni Sloveniji predstavi, kako se tudi dandanes otroci učijo skozi opazovanje ter vključevanje v vsakodnevna opravila. Avtorica s tem preizprašuje dihotomijo med "tradicionalno" družbo, kjer so se (oziroma se) otroci lahko učijo skozi opazovanje ter med "informacijsko" družbo, kjer naj bi otroštvo postalo institucionalizirano ter so zatorej za uspešno socializacijo otrok v sodobno družbo potrebne bolj formalne strategije učenja. Teoretsko se prispevek naslanja na sodobna antropološka dela o socializaciji in učenju. CORRESPONDENCE: BARBARA TURK NISKAČ, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana. E-mail: barbara.turkniskac@ff.uni-lj.si. BOOK REVIEWS Bowman, Glenn (ed.). 2012. Sharing the Sacra. The Politics and Pragmatics of Intercommunal Relations around Holy Places. New York and oxford: Berghahn Books. viii + 185 pp. Hb.: $75.00 / £46.00. isbn: 9780857454867. The role played by religion in public life has become an ever more urgent issue around the world and has raised significant questions about the relationship between "modernity" and "secularisation". Religion has not retreated from the public arena as some secular interpretations expected, even in Western European countries where formal religious engagement has declined. Debate about the continuing public significance of religion in the West has been accompanied by anxious concerns about the degree to which religious solidarities may encourage political and social conflict. This debate focussed particularly on Muslim settlers in Western Europe and North America and tensions associated with conflicts in the Gulf, Iraq, Israel/Palestine and Afghanistan and the backlash after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre. This is the background for this well-edited collection. It successfully critiques the interpretation advanced by Robert Hayden from 2002 that the tradition of sharing religious sites and syncretism would eventually succumb to the 'processes of competition between groups' (Hayden 2002: 228). Drawing on careful ethnographic research, the contributors expose the one-sided character of what Hayden describes as "antagonistic tolerance" and "competitive sharing". It contributes, therefore, to the growing literature on shared religious space by bringing together those who have made a significant contribution to that literature since the 1990s and others who are drawing on relatively recent doctoral research. This broad range of experience is combined with a wide range of religious and territorial contexts - a welcome corrective to the tendency towards focussing on particular religions and regions. The volume begins with a well-constructed introduction by Glenn Bowman. He explains the background to the volume, which partly emerged from his critical engagement with Hayden's model based on his own lengthy research in both Palestine and former Yugoslavia. Despite the powerful influence of centralising forces that insist on homogeneous identities, he points to the local 'minutiae of engagements, avoidances, mimickings, avowals and disavowals through which members of interacting communities manage the presence of others' in and around sacred spaces (p. 4). He also argues that most of the contributors demonstrate the ways in which 'the religious sites and their ritual body forth images of imagined communities - past, present and future,' while some also reveal a 'practical nostalgia' about sharing, which 'is often neither conscious not ideological' (p. 6). Inevitably, the debate with "antagonistic tolerance" and the very useful suggestions made in this introductory chapter are not uniformly pursued through the volume. However, the subsequent chapters provide fascinating examples of local sharing as well as indications about their relevance to the wider debate. Dionigi Albera, who is also a well-established scholar on shared shrines in the Mediterranean area, shows how the history of Muslim pilgrimage to Marian shrines in the Mediterranean and the Near East reveals an inter-communal interaction that calls for a 'more balanced approach to mixed worship and shared sanctuary' (p. 11) than the 'somewhat unidirectional characterizations' presented by Hayden and, earlier, by Hasluck (1929). This neatly leads on to Anna Bigelow's chapter on three Muslim shrines in the Indian state of Punjab, which was created after bloody communal strife in 1947. Despite the development of Hindu nationalism and essentialised notions of religious institutions since Indian independence, the pilgrims to these shrines often refuse to identify with such fixed categories as Hinduism or Islam. Moreover, they derive 'spiritual and political benefit from the interreligious experience' (p. 40) based on symbolic zones of daily exchange. In her conclusion, she draws on Bowman's discussion of the "semantic multi-vocality" of sites shared by Muslims and Christians in Palestine to explain the pilgrims' freedom from the national and transnational political forces, which are encouraging religious nationalism in India. In the next seven chapters, the debate about antagonistic tolerance fades somewhat. It informs the excellent discussions of inter-communal relations by Will Tuladhar-Douglas and Rohan Bastin in the context of Nepal and Sri Lanka, respectively. However, the other chapters by Maria Coroucli, Dora Chau, Carpenter-Latiri, Aomar Boum and Heonik Kwon do provide strong ethnographic accounts of how people from different religious traditions continue to share rather than contest the same shrines in different parts of the world - Turkey, China, Tunisia, Morocco and Vietnam, respectively. A number of key themes emerge from these chapters: the continuing importance of local histories and attachments in conditions of multicultural narratives in Turkey; inter- and intra-ethnic relations, transnational migration and localities in Nepal; the rootedness of Jews on the Tunisian island of Djerba and the interplay between Jewish tourists, the Tunisian state and the Muslim majority in recently changing political conditions (the "Arab Spring"); the similarities between ritual events in China and multicultural Britain where New Age practices have emerged; miracle, boundary transgression and syncretism in Sri Lanka; Jewish-Muslim coexistence in the Moroccan town of Essaouira and its implications for the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine; the revival of ancestral and death-commemoration rituals in Vietnam as local responses to national and global power-geometries. Overall, this is an excellent contribution to the growing literature on shared sacred places. It shows what a carefully constructed edited volume can achieve in an academic world where researchers are under increasing pressure to only seek publication in journals with high global exposure. It also engages with a crucial issue in a world where religion has not retreated to the private sphere - the ability of pilgrims and others to co-exist at the same highly charged place despite the evidence of contestation which has been discussed well before Hayden's intervention, most brilliantly by Michael Sallnow in Pilgrims of the Andes (1987). This longer history of debate about sharing of and contestation around sacred places needs further exploration but this volume is a constructive contribution towards our understanding of that history, not only in certain localities but globally. JOHN EADE University of Roehampton and UCL (United Kingdom) Lucht, Hans. 2011. Darkness before Daybreak. African Migrants Living on the Margins in Southern Italy Today. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. 306 pp. Pb.: $24.95 / £16.95. IsBN: 9780520270732. Darkness Before Daybreak is a powerful multi-sited ethnography of migration, suffering and meaning-making among Guan fishermen from the Ghanaian coastal town of Senya Beraku, who work as casual labourers in Naples. The book is structured in seven chapters, which move between multiple ethnographic sites (Italy, Libya, Niger and Ghana) and analytic registers. In the opening section, Lucht takes the reader to the high-rise outskirts of Naples, where Guan migrants struggle to survive and create a meaningful, hopeful and connected life in an environment marked by exploitation, overt racism and legal pre-cariousness. Some migrant workers are fortunate to have a regular employer, or capo. A very few "tycoons" have papers and documented employment. The vast majority of Guan migrants are dependent upon soliciting irregular construction work early in the morning from an informal roadside market place. This is a cut-throat environment of competition and collusion, with workers subject to the mercy of employers in a context in which 'there's no law' (p. 35). As in other settings of deportable (and hence readily exploitable) labour, Guan migrants have to reconcile the realities of survival wages, long hours and constrained mobility, with their prior imagination of their setting as one of wealth and opportunity—and the need to support family members left behind. Lucht vividly conveys the daily suffering that characterises West African migrant life in Naples, whether on the unregulated construction sites or the city's overcrowded early morning buses. Central to his analysis is the concept of existential reciprocity: the belief that, through one's time, effort, attention and hard work, one is able to act upon the world and to receive from it. Life in Naples can be seen, in this context, as marked by a kind of truncated reciprocity, in which hopes of reward are serially undermined. But it is also (at least as a potentiality) an environment in which it is possible to reconstitute connections and reinvent the self in the face of a home environment perceived as stagnating: to become a burger in the idiom of Guan migrants. Suffering in such a setting is seen as an accumulation of "good things waiting to happen": the "darkness before daybreak" of the book's title gestures to this hope of reclaiming a rightful reciprocal relation between human effort and external reward. The second section takes us from destination to journey, by land and sea, from the migrants' home village of Senya Beraku to Naples. If perilous (and frequently fatal) journeys by sea are the stuff of Western news bulletins, much less is known about the process by which migrants cross the Sahara desert from the West African coast to reach Tripoli. An important contribution of the ethnography is this focus on crossing and the political economy of moving and smuggling. After crossing by lorry or on foot across the Sahara, many of the Senya Beraku men make their own journey from Tripoli to Naples as captains of open wooden fishing boats (the latter often smuggled from Tunisia), their skill as fishermen seen as an advantage when navigating the seas. This is a tragically perilous journey, in which detention in Italy is the least bad outcome in an environment where many captains and their crews never make it to their destination. Drawing on the philosophical contributions of Georgio Agamben, Lucht explores this illegalised space of crossing, in which deaths are ungrieved and unprosecuted, as a state of exception, where juridical procedures and the deployment of power 'merge to deprive human beings of their rights and prerogatives' (p. 156). It is a state that contrasts starkly with the professed humanitarianism of much European discourse. Indeed, with recent shifts in Italian policy towards detention of illegal migrants "at source" in Libya, one could ask, 'whether the EU is pushing a state of exception deep inside the African content and, therefore, in the face of legal and political protections for migrants, actually facilitating the criminal activities, dangers, and deaths that it purports to combat' (p. 175). The final section of the book takes us to the migrants' hometown of Senya Be-raku. Here, too, we observe how emergent forms of political and economic rationality serve at once to normalise and illegalise migrant labour from the global south to the north. Lucht unpacks the destructive consequences of structural adjustment and the contradictions of internal and external EU policy, with Guan men and women increasingly having to resort to farming or work abroad because the sea no longer provides for them. Ironically, the primary reason that one-time fishermen are abandoning this source of livelihood is the over-fishing of West African waters, itself exacerbated by unequal agreements that allow use of the waters by foreign (including EU vessels). Following Ferguson's attention to the differentiated production of global connections through emergent forms of prohibition and regulation, Lucht takes the example of EU fisheries agreements as an instance of policy-making that pays little attention to its detrimental effects on livelihoods (or ultimate consequences for 'illegal immigration' into European nation-sates): as in earlier eras, 'the EU [...] seeks continuous access to African resources while incurring little or no obligation to Africans' (p. 104). The final chapter couples this political economic critique with a poignant portrait of attempts to grieve the lives of those lost at sea. News of lost husbands and sons is often conveyed by cassette tape, with mourning for the dead delayed or aborted by the uncertainty of whether a loved one might just, one day, return. In an account otherwise focused primarily on male experience, this chapter draws upon detailed ethnographic interviews with the wives and mothers of captains lost at sea to explore the embodied, visceral dimensions of grief as it colonises thoughts and dreams. This, too, is a story of truncated reciprocity, in which the desire for ontological security rubs up against a political economy that devalues "illegal" migrant lives to the point of invisibility. Lucht's book is a valuable contribution to literatures on migration, illegality and emergent spaces of exception. Drawing on detailed participant observation and ethnographic interviews, it is at once a rich and nuanced portrait of survival at the margins of Europe, as the subtitle suggests. But it is also much more than this: the force of the ethnography works through the movement between individual lifeworlds, political-economic analysis, and sophisticated theoretical critique, interrogating the dynamics through which "the global" is differentially constituted through the unequal movement of people and capital. It provides a sharp critique of emergent dynamics of exclusion at the limits of Europe, and of the role of exceptional spaces of a-legality in shoring up territorial and symbolic boundaries. In so doing it provides an important counter to celebratory narra- tives of cosmopolitan sensibilities and transnational attachments in contexts of radically precarious labour. Guan migrants, Lucht argues, 'often appear less as agents of change and travel, working both sides of the border, than as stuck in a negative zone, recognised neither legally nor socially' (p. 17). The burdens of living along a highway, the promised mobility of which is, in fact, constrained through the arbitrariness of inadequate public transport and the whim of racist bus drivers is a powerful metaphor for this condition. Its timeliness, readability and theoretical scope mean that the book deserves to find a place in advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses on globalisation, north-south migration and the political economy of migrant illegalisation. Its value as a teaching tool would have been extended by the inclusion of an index, and the bibliography is sometimes frustrating for readers keen to follow-up references, with the occasional missing references and some alphabetisation awry. Nonetheless, these do little to detract from the book's scholarly contribution to literature on migration, nor its relevance for policy debates in Europe about the unbidden consequences of border securitisation. MADELEINE REEVES University of Manchester (United Kingdom) Edwards, Jeanette and Maja Petrovic-Steger (eds.). 2011. Recasting Anthropological Knowledge. Inspiration and Social Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xi + 206 pp. Hb.: £55.00. IsBN: 9781107009684. Dedicated to the noted British anthropologist Marilyn Strathern; this compilation of papers by her former Ph.D students indicates both the immense applicability of the key concepts and theoretical insights of Strathern, as well as the remarkable range of topics to which this anthropological knowledge may be applied. As most people familiar with her work know, Strathern was a specialist in the societies of Melanesia but also of contemporary British society and issues of related to urban and complex societies including the universities of which most scholars are a part. Uniquely, her students extend themselves much beyond these concerns but bring themselves back to using her in innovative yet relevant ways. For example, Annelise Riles (this volume) extends Strathern's notions of personhood to analyse the way in which even corporates are viewed as and dealt with as persons. In the same way, her insights seem equally useful in unravelling the complexities of customary law and more importantly to understand the cognitive dimensions of understanding what "law" may mean to the people; or to understand how mosquitoes may form a part of the social environment of people in Africa. The various scholars contributing to this volume have referred not to the seemingly overt specificities of Strathern's works but to the underlying thoughts that stimulated these works in the first place. How is personhood constructed? What is the role of "analogic reasoning"? What are the methods of classification of the universe that people may use? Most importantly, Strathern had sought to see underlying unities in spite of overt differences, thus showing that transcending specific contexts the importance of "relational thinking" is universal. People always learn to make connections not only between things but also think of things as relations. Thus, her ideas of the role of kinship in other words relational thought that lie at the heart of a sense of belonging to a place, can be used in England as it can be used in Africa to define competing claims of resettlers and original inhabitants. Thus, what is pertinent here is not kinship but again the whole notions of relatedness that can be used variously and always. Therefore, women's ability to introduce gender into urban design depends not as much on the actual existence or availability of this knowledge but upon the manner in which this knowledge can be introduced into the prevailing relational structure of knowledge practices that may restrain women's participation. Thus, urban design and universities in general may have in common the problem of governance, to cope with global situations and not just values but pre-existing norms as to what is "normal. Consequently, African mosquito research laboratories, resettlers in Africa, women's urban design, kinship in England and atypical families in Latvia may all fall back into one mode of analogic thought and while touching each other at one point, diverge in their own ways encompassing many different lived situations and retaining conceptual boundaries. The question is what exactly is the common meeting ground of these scholars through their common mentor, Marilyn Strathern? How has she inspired and taught them to be what they are? That her influence is important is evidenced by the self-confessed acknowledgements but what exactly is that about? The last two papers are more personalised, and while the one by Maja Petrovic-Steger dwells upon Strathern's representation and portraits inspired by her works and her intellectual stimulation; the one by Adam Reed talks not only about her but in a more generalised and philosophical vein about the concept of "inspiration". The disjunction between inspiration and the creative culmination of this inspiration in a fresh piece of work has been beautifully analysed to contextualize not only Strathern but all the other contributors. Each of them has done their own fieldwork, thought their own problems and solutions and although "inspired" are independent scholars in their own right. The work that they have produced goes beyond this inspiration and may also be seen independently away from the binding figure of Strathern as multiple works in highly diverse anthropological topics by scholars each working their own way. In another dimension, this volume may also be looked upon as one that endorses the diversity of anthropological fieldwork and one that indicates how ethnographic and subjective analysis can throw insights into malarial research and attitude of states towards giant corporations as well as focus on family and kinship, even of "out" of "normal" variety. Gender, kinship and family retain the central position in these analyses thus making relevant anthropological theory in a changing world. Thus, change of focus does not necessarily imply change of method. It is the central paradigms that define a discipline, and anthropology is able to maintain these across a wide spectrum. What Strathern taught her students was a basic philosophy of approach that enabled them to navigate widely different worlds yet retaining a foundational attachment to the core of the discipline. In this sense, this volume justifies its claim to being dedicated to anthropology and its methods and goes beyond a usual volume dedicated to one particular scholar. It is not the particularity but the generality that is the contribution of this set of papers. It may not then be necessary to be familiar with Strathern's works to understand what is being said in this volume. One may read it as a general book about the relevance of anthropology and as the title suggests "recasting" this knowledge into a variety of field situations much beyond the classical concerns of anthropologists and yet being rooted in all that anthropology has stood for including doing fieldwork in Melanesia. SUBHADRA MITRA CHANNA University of Delhi (India) Hazan, Haim and Esther Hertzog (eds.). 2012. Serendipity in Anthropological Research. surrey and Burlington: Ashgate. xiii + 332 pp. Hb.: £65.00. IsBN: 9781409430582. Very often things do not go the way they were expected to, something unpredictable changes the course of the pre-planned fieldwork, unexpected circumstances bring new dilemmas to face and choices to make. These unpredictabilities are inextricable from the experience of the anthropologist during and also after the fieldwork. Each of these unexpected situations is left to us to interpret whether the situation was a failure or an opportunity. We are rationalising it in the same way as we are interpreting our experiences in the field before arresting them on paper. The story that we tell then is either the story of mishaps and irreversible obstacles, or the one of lucky sudden encounters and serendipitous insights. The latter is exactly the path that the authors and editors of the current book undertake. In their nomadic wanderings, moved by serendipity, they provide a wide range of described experiences, reflexive contemplations, styles and genres. The book gives a good overview of the textualisation of the polyphony of voices and perspectives on the Israeli 'desert of the real' in Zizek's terms (p. 2). The articles in this edited volume are stirred by the influential works of Emmanuel Marx, who introduced social anthropology to Israel, and was committed to his profound study of Bedouins of Sinai. His major interest pivoted upon the people on the move - nomads, immigrants, refugees. Likewise, the current collection of articles places nomadism as a reference point. It traces the innate nomadic faculty of the anthropologist that guides him through his fieldwork and back, transcending boundaries of understanding, up to the moment of publishing the text and even afterwards. Most of the articles of this book refer to materials gathered in Israel. However, they transcend the territorial bounds and set the nomadic routes guiding the reader from Bedouin "unrecognized villages" to the cities, from Japanese school to the Israeli army, from the memories of Holocaust to the spiritual travels and emotional involvement, and from the women's prison to the Israeli-Palestinian space. The keynote of all articles is the 'serendipitous dialogue between the hetero-logoi of the field and the accommodating logic of the anthropologist' (p. 4). The articles in the first section navigate and set the course for the reader addressing the process of transmuting the ethnographic encounter into the printed text. Evoking the notion of serendipity, Ugo Fabietti retells the story of the three princes of Serendip, showing that the serendipitous or abductive method so peculiar to anthropology is often reduced by the transition between "field" and "theory". The article by Emmanuel Marx exemplifies how too much of a relying on the previous research experience may lead to error, such as implementing Western ethnocentric constructs, or not noticing that the Bedouins are at the same time immersed in and dependent on the urban civilization. Hain Hazan demonstrates in his article the conceptualizations of reality and shows how "community" is an image. The second section, Mirage, starts with the discussion of self-critique in the dynamics of participant-observation by Eyal Ben-Ari. Shifra Kisch projects her manoeu- vres between different versions of reality as a serendipitous faculty of her anthropological journey. Her article is followed by a written confession and contemplation of Reuven Shapira about his own society kibbutz, showing how his career mistakes and obstacles were a part of discovering the unexplored parts of the field both in the kibbutz and in the academic society. The topics of romanisation of the under-empowered as well as different heritage politics are addressed by Harvey E. Goldberg. The section closes with an elegant essay of Cedric Parizot who sets his emotional involvement in the field as a methodological target facilitating a deeper understanding of the complexities. The third section, The Journey, opens with a description by Susan Rasmussen of an arranged spirit possession ritual from the point of the construction of knowledge. Raquel Romberg describes her spatio-temporal journeys with a healer from Puerto Rico. In her article, Dana Siegel advocates the use of ethnographic methods in cultural criminology; Longina Jakubowska, after conducting her research on the Bedouins, introduces her study of elite reproduction in post-Soviet Poland. The book also aims at extra-disciplinarian social claims, which are concentrated mostly in the fourth section, Wandering. Nigel Rapport's article adds the analytic perspective on the liberal universalism with its ideal openness and multiplicity, and views city as an embodiment of 'global guesthood' (p. 199). Dale F. Eickelman provides an insight into the situations when the researcher does not comply with the expectations of sponsors or politicians. Esther Herzog together with her mother explores the memory landscapes of Holocaust experience and the ways her mother constructs her past and uses it in the present. The final section, Oases, starts with the Aref Abu-Rabi'a's analysis of the significance of colours in Bedouin society, followed by Frank H. Stewart's structuralist analysis of Bedouin society in Negev. The article by Alex Weingrod provides a good overview of the political significance of reburials in Israeli society. Lastly, Ofra Greenberg's essay gives the book a fine final touch, presenting a kaleidoscope of complex and vivid encounters with the destinies of her informants from the women's prison long after the termination of her research project, and her discovery of their more complex figures. This book will be a good help for anthropologists and social scientists interested in the Middle East, particularly in the complexities and layers of Israeli realities. This collection of articles succeeds to address theoretical and methodological questions, the paradoxes of representation and accumulation of knowledge. The variety of writing styles and genres adds a particular touch of multiplicity of contexts, perspectives and narratives arising from these serendipitous encounters. POLINA TSERKASSOVA University of Tallinn (Estonia) Hayoz, Nicolas, Leszek Jesien and Daniela Koleva (eds.). 20 Years after the Collapse of Communism. Expectations, Achievements and Disillusions of 1989 (Interdisciplinary Studies on Central and Eastern Europe, vol. 9). Bern: Peter Lang. 681 pp. Pb.: €50.90. IsBN: 9783034305389. The period of twenty years since the fall of communism in Central, South-eastern and Eastern Europe has seen the growth of a new sub-discipline of research, namely the post-communist studies. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and economists, to list only some, have produced a plethora of studies on the so-called post-communist, or post-socialist transformation processes of the geographical space from Russia to Albania since 1989. Against a background of a large body of books, articles, reports, reportages and journalistic accounts on post-communist realities, this book seems highly noteworthy. First, the papers collected here cover almost the entire European post-communist area, thus providing a general overview that has been missing or has not been fully exposed in some of the other publications on this topic. Second, the authors come from various disciplines and provide thus a multitude of voices and abundance of perspectives of analysis. And finally, third, what gives this book a remarkable flavour is the predominance of an insider's view. The majority of the authors originate from the countries they are writing about and thus they are describing and analysing the realities, which they intimately know, for better or for worse. By all means, the combination of a native's perspective with an in-depth analysis applied by scholars who look at post-communist realities from the outsider's point of view makes this book a remarkable achievement. The book contains an introduction, twenty nine papers grouped in three parts, and a list of short biographies of the authors. The introduction, written by the editors, starts by describing the story behind the preparation of this book and maps a general theoretical background on which the book stands. They distinguish three paths of sociopolitical post-communist transformation. The first one is called "accelerated transformation", and was the case of several former communist countries, which overcame the economic, social and political difficulties of the post-communist period and successfully joined NATO and EU. The editors find the exemplification of the second path in the case of former Yugoslavia, but they do not provide this path with a specific name. Finally, the editors stress the existence of a third path, which they call "abandoned transformation" and exemplify in the case of Russia and Belarus, although, in my opinion, such a list could include also few other post-communist countries. In the introduction, the editors deliberately choose not to discuss the ambiguities around concepts such as Central, Eastern, or South-eastern Europe and only slightly elaborate on the terminological differences between "communist" and "socialist". The book is structured not by countries or chronologically, but around problems faced by post-communist countries during the transformation period. Thus the first part, entitled Ambiguities of unfinished transformations, contains papers that deal mainly with political transformation in various former communist/ socialist countries. The second part, under the title Confronting the past, deals with the legacy of the communist period and its influence on the post-communist transformation. Finally, the third part, entitled Texts in changing contexts: values and meanings, includes papers that discuss topics related to axiological and other changes that post-communist transformation caused or left behind. In the field of post-communist studies, the dominant paradigm is that of focusing mainly on political and economic aspects of post-communist transformation. This is understandable, considering the fact that formerly communist/socialist countries faced radical political and social changes. The papers grouped in the first part of this volume follow this approach by focusing mainly on introduction or (malfunctioning of democratisation processes. However, the second chapter directs the attention towards issues related not strictly with the sphere of politics, but rather with phenomena that have serious impacts on how politics is done or undone in former communist countries. Under the lens of analysis come lieux de memoire as well as collective and social memory, nostalgia for and condemnation of communist years, mistrust for yesterday's nomenclature, which became today's democratic elite, politics of memory or finally politicising traumatic memories of both nations and individuals. The third part of the book expands the spectrum of analysis to also include the ways in which old values are transformed or replaced by new ones; the shift from the control over cultural life to free cultural activity and its influence on literature, arts and everyday life; a flood of travelogues and essays as literary genres that channel and express the often traumatic post-communist social changes; and finally moral and ethical discussions around ways of dealing with the communist past in the post-communist present. Therefore, the contributions included in this volume offer an unusual and highly valuable insight into the experience of communism and post-communism in Eastern, Central and South-eastern Europe. The comparative approach alongside its interdisciplinary character make this book a must for everyone interested in post-communist studies and the modern history of half of European continent at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. RIGELS HALILI Nicolaus Copernicus University of Torun and University of Warsaw (Poland) Hoffman, Danny. 2011. The War Machines. Young Men and Violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Durham and London: Duke University Press. xxii + 295 pp. Pb: $24.95. ISBN: 9780822350774. Danny Hoffman worked as a photojournalist; he documented the military conflicts in Africa in the 1990s and conducted his ethnographic fieldwork in Sierra Leone and Liberia after the war was officially declared over in both countries. The monograph provides a rich and complex account of the warfare on both sides of the Mano River, the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia, which spans the period from 1989 to 2003 and treats the war on both sides of the border as a single continuous war. The title of the book is somewhat misleading, for its chief subject is not child soldiers (the topic most popularly associated with this war), and not even young men, but rather it is an account of how war is produced (rather than reproduced) between the state and the individual inflicting the violence on the ground and what subsequently happens once the state officially draws an end to a conflict. The cover of the book depicts a faceless person in a traditional shirt with a machine gun in (assumably) his hand. This, however, illustrates more what the author later describes as the popular interpretation of the term "war machine", the physical male body inflicting mindless violence. In his analysis, Hoffman transcends the popular understanding by applying the term "war machines" as coined by French philosophers Deleuze and Guattari, which serves as an 'interdisciplinary toolbox through which to break apart theorising a turbulent, troubling, but potentially liberating time' (p. 7). As such "war machines" are not simply instruments for producing war, but rather they reflect the relationship between the state and the social actors perpetuating the violence on the ground. The direct conflict between the state and the war machine is what results in actual taking up of arms, and is thus fought according to the logic of the state. Moreover, the interplay between the state and the war machine results in active and inventive dealings that result in economic surplus. This emphasis on war as a creative and experimental market process is what makes Hoffman's inspection of violence unique, placing it more within the realm of political economy rather than the comfortable anthropological category of "culture." By looking beyond the cultural explanations for violence, the author attempts (and succeeds) to globalise our view of African warfare. The monograph consists of seven chapters. The first provides the history of what the author entitles the Mano River War (the continuous war in Sierra Leone and Liberia from 1989 to 2003), which provides an excellent resource for those interested in understanding violence in West Africa. Chapters Two and Three detail the development of the kamajors, the ethnic Mende grassroots community defence (originally hunters') group, into a national militia that forms part of the CDF (Civil Defence Forces), the Sierra Le-onean pro-government paramilitary movement. Here, the author is interested how various (often mythical) representations of the past were used to strategically create new futures for the kamajors as well as how the institutionalisation of the organisation prepared it for both war and economic activity such as diamond mining. Hoffman argues that as kamajor troupes became diamond-digging crews and security forces at the same time, they simultaneously participated in both military funding and fighting. Chapter Four describes the patronage relationships that characterise the social interactions in the region and extend into military life. The author argues that as violence is a way of life for these men, the whole fabric of the kamajors' social lives has become militarised. It is via patronage networks that men without resources (clients) gain access to the economic means of survival be it a diamond or fighting field. Hoffman goes on to demonstrate that while there is little personal freedom for the clients, they still manage to implement various strategies for survival. Chapter Six expands on the urban space as a locus for 'experimentation and creative bricolage' (p. 163) and its links to militarism via the spatial concept of "barracks," the complete social arrangement by which violence is 'contained and deployed' (p. 169). The author insists that this conflict should not be viewed as a 'bush war,' but rather the war that 'made the city' and is 'made by it' (p. 165). The kamajors, who were originally from the countryside, played an important role as both protector and menace to inhabitants of Sierra Leone's capital city, Freetown. Chapter Six is by far the most ethnographic of all the chapters as it presents a day-to-day description of life in one of the "barracks" - the Brookfields hotel in Freetown, where many of the kamajors resided illegally until they were evicted in 2003. Chapter Seven addresses the occult dimension of the conflict by examining the practice of "bullet proofing" the body, which was allegedly part of the kamajor initiation process and, in the author's view, presents an inventive defensive practice in the context of war. All in all, the book provides an impressive array of information for understanding the kamajor role in the Mano River War and creates the sense of what complicated economic and military concurrences are in motion across the region. As a photographer, the author provides outstanding illustrative material of 50 photographs and a brief reflection on what the increasing visualisation of the African conflict means. It is my impression, however, that there is too much information about this little-understood conflict for the author to accommodate into a book of barely 300 pages, which in turn means that the parts of the book are too dense for those not familiar with the conflict to grasp easily. An addition of a table of main acronyms and a timeline of the key historical events would have been helpful for non-Africanists. Further, the author insists that this is a narrative-driven ethnography. However, the absence of a section on methodology obscures exactly how the information was extracted. While the author must have had to be quite creative under the circumstances, a more open discussion of the methodological challenges would have been appreciated. Last but not least, this reviewer observed much unused potential for gender analysis that was foreshadowed but never implicitly analysed in the book. War has historically been a gendered activity. Considering the author's adeptness in offering innovative insights, this issue would have made for fascinating reading. In conclusion, this monograph offers a perceptive examination of the actors who perpetuate violence in West Africa and, as such, it is a must read for anybody invested in understanding the region or the global nature of violence in it. KARINA VASILEVSKA-DAS Riga Stradins University (Latvia) Rice, Timothy. 2011. Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music and Musicians (Essays in Honor of Robert Grafias). Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate. xix + 342 pp. Hb.: £65.00. ISBN: 9781409420378. Anthropology and ethnomusicology have many common interests and goals, but where is the boundary between them? The contributors of this edited volume explore the common ground between anthropology and ethnomusicology, providing accounts about methods, ways of teaching, musical projects and musicians. The current book is a collection of nineteen short essays from all over the world, covering the territories of the 'seven of the nine major regions of the world' (xiv): Africa, the United States, South Asia, East Asia, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East; it is probably simpler to say that the book does not cover Latin America and the Pacific. Such a broad scope of regions is justified by the themes underlying the publication. One is the idea of an ethno-musicological encounter with music and musicians. Thus, when there are so many "musics" and musicians to encounter, it is no surprise that the encounters may be short and sometimes of a rather teasing character. Another underlying idea of this book is that the essays are honouring the founder of the ethnomusicology program at the University of Washington, Robert Garfias. He is an eminent scholar, film-maker and world music educator, whose model of teaching includes the so-called world music performance program, which is discussed in this book as an interactional method for obtaining both auditory and cultural knowledge of music itself. Garfias was particularly in favour of training ethnomusicologists as anthropologists, an idea which migrates throughout different essays in this book, all referring to Garfias. The volume begins with an introductory chapter by Robert Garfias, which is an auto-biographical account of his own path towards ethnomusicology. The authors in this volume allocate particular importance to the practice of doing ethnographic fieldwork in ethnomusicology, trying to bridge the domains of ethnomusicology and anthropology, but at the same time keeping the disciplinary divide. The first part of the book is symbolically dedicated to the encounters with musicians, while the second concentrates on the encounters with music. Although it may seem that it is difficult to separate music from musicians, but in the end, the idea of such division is shown to be valid. The chapters in the first part of the book document encounters with individual musicians, most of whom are distinguished masters in their field. The first chapters may attract researchers interested in teaching techniques. Uso-pay Cadar describes the flexible way in which his mother, a famous kolintang performer taught him to play, and which he later implemented with his American students. Patricia Shehan Campbell provides an insight into various teaching techniques of different artists visiting the University of Washington. Sean Williams draws a musical portrait of the Irish sean-nos singer Joe Heaney and the representations of the Famine in Ireland in songs. Karl Signell reflects on the process of understanding of the Turkish makam system as a student of Neced Ya§ar, the most distinguished tanbur player; and Timothy Rice's chapter questions the criteria for understanding the artistry in musical performances of Bulgarian bagpipers. Andrew Killick's study explores how and why a culture at large values a particular individual, in his case, the Korean musician Hwang Byungki. The remaining chapters in this part of the book have an even stronger biographical touch. Richard Jones-Bamman grants biographical attention to a Sami joik singer Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa. The conclusion is drawn in the chapter by Daniel Neuman, a reflection on the importance of his encounters with outstanding musicians, resulting in the insights in his own academic career. The second part of the book focuses on the encounters with music, which happen when an ethnomusicologist generalises the encounters with the musicians up to the level of interpretative statements about how music functions and acts within the community. Such encounters with music can happen on four levels: through recordings, in rituals and performance events, in cultural ideas and social circumstances, and from the perspective of a particular discipline. In this part, Philip Yampolsky exposes the creation of the Music of Indonesia recordings series; and Gavin Douglas analyses the aesthetic sound choices in commercial recordings of Burmese music produced in Burma and abroad. Irene Markoff raises the topic of tradition and radicality of a Turkish musician Ali Ekber Qigek. Larry Shumway summarises the changes in music and religion in the modernizing Japan; and Yoshitaka Terada reflects on the identities of the performers of Okinawan dance. Philip Schuyler provides an engrossing account of a situation he encountered in Marrakech, when two Arab and Berber musicians broke the spheres they occupied traditionally and performed together. The next chapters open more explicitly the social contexts and the circumstances in which an encounter with music occurs. Hiromi Lorraine Sakata shows how Afghan music is shaping political representations. Bruno Nettl discusses the theory of song ownership among the Blackfoot Indians; and Fredric Lieberman provides an insight into the delicate engineering principles and acoustic faculties of a Chinese qin. Finally, in the concluding chapter Simon Ottenberg explores the ways in which disciplinary orientations shape historical musicology, ethnomusicology and anthropology. He summarises the relation between anthropology and ethnomusicology in comparison to situational ethnicity, when one acts in an ethnic way only in some situations. He refers to it as 'situational ethnomusicology' (p. 301), assuming that ethnomusicologists view themselves sometimes as ethnomusicologists, or music educators, and sometimes as anthropologists. Ottenberg summarises that the relationships of anthropology and ethnomusicology will continue to change, but without hostility or confrontation. This book will be a good help for anthropologists interested in ethnomusicology and for social scientists whose areas of interest are connected to music. Moreover, each chapter includes a good number of references to the musical recordings of the mentioned artists, as if inviting readers to listen and sonically experience the music that they read about. POLINA TSERKASSOVA University of Tallinn (Estonia) Hart, Keith, Jean-Louis Laville and Antonio David Cattani (eds.). 2010. The Human Economy. London: Polity Press. 320 pp. Pb.: $19.95. IsBN: 9780745649801. In 2008, the burst of the speculative mortgage bubble, the Credit Crunch and the subsequent international financial crisis represented a turning point in the international debate about the economy. Since the late 1990s, works including Klein's No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs (2000) or Gray's False Dawn (2002) have highlighted critical features of neoliberal doctrine and the financialisation of the economy. However, it is only after the Credit Crunch that public international debate started questioning the present understanding of economics and capitalism. In the face of this debate, this book, edited by Hart, Laville and Cattani, proposes a new way of understanding the global economy. While neoliberals had explained it as the result of impersonal forces, such as offer, demand, inflection, and institutions dis-embedded from society, the editors propose a new understanding, which Hart has termed the Human Economy, as a replacement to neoliberalism as described in Harvey's A Brief History of Neoliberalism in 2007. They explain that 'in order to be human, the economy must be at least four things: 1) It is made and remade by people; economics should be of practical use to us all in our daily lives. 2) It should address a great variety of particular situations in all their institutional complexity. 3) It must be based on a more holistic conception of everyone's needs and interests. 4) It has to address humanity as a whole and the world society we are making' (p. 5). As expressed by the editors (p. 10), the Human Economy represents a further development in the theorisation of an Other Economy alternative to neoliberalism that continues a broader discussion started back in the early 2000s with the first World Social Forum held in Porto Allegre in 2001. The experience of the Social Forums led to a vivid debate in South America and in continental Europe in which politicians and scholars took part. From this debates, works, such as Latouche and Harpagès' Le Temps De La Décroissance (2010), Petrini's Slow Food Nation (2007) or Laville and Cattani's Dictionnaire De L 'autre Économie (2006), stemmed. Besides the few English translations of some of these works, the results of this strand of research remain scarcely known to the anglophone public. In this respect, this volume was an attempt to bridge this gap by presenting the state of art of the international discussion. The book is divided into five sections covering different areas of this debate, exploring the discussion about the world economy (Part I World Society pp. 20-75), human relationships (Part II Economics with a Human Face pp. 75-154), ethics (Part III Moral Politics pp.155-210), community engagement (Part IV Beyond Market and State pp. 211-300) and the new sectors and features of the economy emerging in the past decade (Part V New Directions, pp. 301-360). The book collects 32 brief essays wrote by international well-known scholars, such as Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Globalization pp. 21-31), Chris Hann (Moral Economy pp. 187-198), David Graeber (Communism pp. 199-210), and Catherine Alexander (The Third Sector, pp. 213-224). Each essay offers a survey of the debate highlighting the principal theoretical points developed in the course of the last decade, and proposes an essential bibliography of further reading to better explore the subject. In this respect, the essays represents, rather than ground-breaking contributions to the on-going debate, clear and useful starting points for a research tackling the key areas of the current economy. They offer insight into different topics, encompassing subjects traditionally explored by anthropology, such a Gift (by Alain Caillé) and Local Development (by John M. Bryden), and other aspects of the economy that have only recently entered the scope of the discipline, such as Alternative Energy (by Arnaud Sales and Leandro Raizer) and Microcredit (Jean-Michel Servet). The book is a useful reference tool for students and researchers in economic and development anthropology, and can be added to other encyclopaedic works such as Beck-ert and Zafirovski's International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology (2006), Barnard and Spencer's The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology (2010) or Carrier's A Handbook of Economic Anthropology (2005). MICHELE FILIPPO FONTEFRANCESCO Durham University (United Kingdom)