Suomen Antropologi Volume 36, 2/2011
Articles
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Editor’s Note
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 3-4.
Abstract
The second issue of the year starts with the keynote lecture delivered by Professor Keith Hart at the Finnish Anthropology Conference 2010. Hart’s lecture, hailed as a tour de force by conference participants, addresses the necessity of forming a more holistic perception of economy. It is closely connected to a book project titled The Human Economy, a collaboration of scholars from many parts of the world, which discusses the possibility of building an economic democracy that would not be subservient to the narrow laws of the neoliberal order. In the article version Hart ponders more specifically on the significance of value theories—the theme of the conference— for the said project. The 2010 conference left many fond memories and here I want to remind the readers of this year’s conference which will be held in Helsinki (5th–7th October 2011). Check the Society website for the full conference programme and further details. The second article of this issue is by Alla Bolotova from the University of Lapland. It deals with the perceptions of non-built environments developed by the migrant populations of the industrial cities of northern Russia. Bolotova shows how the migrants have formed an affectionate tie to the new localities and how the natural environment around the standardized uniform Soviet style urban centers plays a key part in this process.
The forum section offers a very interesting and multifaceted discussion on the role of anthropology in resolving of global environmental problems. The forum titled Culture, Exchange, and Global Ecology introduces four authors whose own research has touched the topic in different ways. The discussion starts with Professor Alf Hornborg’s (Lund University) piece about the marginal position of anthropological and/or cultural analysis in public debates about ecological issues and what could be done to improve the current state of affairs. This is followed by comments and insights from Anja Nygren (University of Helsinki), Laura Rival (University of Oxford) and Anand Pandian (Johns Hopkins University). The book reviews received for this issue share a common theme: hence a subtitle Urban social justice, borders and movements. This issue also includes a separate section for conference reports.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all our readers who took the time to complete our recent reader survey. The response was positive. According to the survey, the overall content of the journal as well as the quality of its different sections (articles, research reports, forums, and reviews) were rated good. In addition to that, 57 per cent of the respondents deemed Suomen Antropologi a very important or somewhat important channel for publishing their own work. On a bit more alarming note, 72 per cent of the respondents were not aware that the journal is electronically available through the EBSCO Academic Search Complete database. Obviously, this is something that needs to be highlighted in the future. One of the most important objectives of the survey was to find out how the readers of the journal would respond to the possibility of going electronic. A vast majority, 72 per cent, stated that they would continue being members of the Society even if Suomen Antropologi became an electronic publication. Presently, no decisions have been made on the matter, but it is an option that has to be seriously considered. The publishing grants that the journal receives have decreased significantly in recent times and consequently a larger part of the Society’s income has been allocated to cover the costs of the journal. Needless to say, this has had a negative effect on our other activities: there have been fewer resources for organizing conferences, seminars, movie nights and such events. As the journal staff is working mostly on a voluntary basis, the only feasible way to save money would be to reduce the printing costs. The readers will be kept posted on future developments.
I would like to end this editorial note by thanking the former Editor-in-Chief Marie- Louise Karttunen for her very important, inventive and resilient work for the journal during the past five years. I have had the pleasure of working with her for most of that period and in the future I hope to be able to match the high standard set by her, as well as her predecessor Karen Armstrong. Perhaps the most important legacy that we should cherish from Marie-Louise’s editorship is the idea of forging the journal into a global forum for Finnish anthropologists. Five years ago, when Suomen Antropologi became a fully English-language publication, she stated that the policy of the journal is to work towards consolidating its position as a platform where scholars working in Finland could present the findings of their research as well as their opinions to a global audience. Correspondingly, the journal should also be a channel through which the global audience is able to reach Finnish readership. This is certainly something for which we will continue to strive in the future. Fortunately for us, Marie-Louise will not be leaving the journal completely but will continue working in a different capacity. -
Building the Human Economy: A question of value?
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 5-17.
Abstract
The author has always been sceptical about the use of value theory in anthropology. Here he considers its scope in relation to a project linked to the publication of The Human Economy: A Citizen’s Guide in 2010. This international project, which aims to develop an alternative to free market economics, is outlined briefly. The main source for the present lecture is Marx’s theory of the commodity as value-form. This leads to an examination of the concept of commoditization which is defined as a quasi-historical sequence, the progressive abstraction of social labour. The approaches of Marx and Mauss must be reconciled if we are to bring Marx’s value theory up-to-date. Four main points are identified as showing how the human economy project might benefit from the previous discussion of value. The lecture concludes with some remarks on the significance of value theory for anthropologists.
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Engaging with the Environment in the Industrialized Russian North
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 28-36.
Abstract
This article deals with the complexity of relations of urban dwellers with the natural environment. It explores a rich variety of practices in engaging with non-built environments developed by the population of mining cities in the Murmansk region, Russia, founded during the Soviet period, showing how recent settlers adapt to new conditions, gradually transforming the environment into a place of dwelling. Both physical space and residents’ ideas about the place are shaped by a principle of division between the spheres of work and of leisure whereby the natural environment has acquired the meaning of leisure. Perception of the natural environment outside the urban territory developed by settlers over time contributes to the formation of people’s attachment to local places.
Other Material
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FORUM: Culture, Exchange, and Global Ecology
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 37-50.
Abstract
Alf Hornborg: Culture, Exchange, and Global Ecology: What makes anthropology relevant for public discourse on the human condition (37)
Anja Nygren: Culture, Exchange, and Global Ecology: What role for anthropologists (40)
Laura Rival: Ecological Threats and New Promises of Sustainability for the 21st Century (43)
Anand Pandian: Anthropology and the Image of the World (46) -
REVIEWS: Urban Social Justice, Borders And Movements
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 51-59.
Abstract
Afia Afenah: Review essay. David Harvey. Social Justice and the City and Susan Fainstein: The Just City (51)
Magdalena Kmak and Antti Sadinmaa: Sharam Khosravi. Illegal Traveller: An Auto-Ethnography of Borders (56)
Susann Ullberg: Gisa Weszkalnys. Berlin, Alexanderplatz: Transforming Place in a Unified Germany (57) -
CONFERENCE REPORTS
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 60-71
Abstract
Eeva Berglund: Planning for People—anthropologists in dialogue with planning scholars: A new demand for anthropological expertise? (May 3rd 2011, Helsinki) (60)
Heidi Härkönen: Latin American Feminism: Challenges for Global Justice Movements (May 2nd 2011, Helsinki) (70) -
Interesting New Publications
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 36(2) 2011: 72.
Abstract
Barnard, Alan 2011. Social Anthropology and Human Origins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chatty, Dawn and Bill Finlayson (eds) 2010. Dispossession and Displacement: Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press/British Academy.
Crouch, David 2010. Flirting with Space: Journeys and Creativity. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Depraz, Natalie, Francisco J. Varela and Pierre Vermersch 2011. A l’épreuve de l’expérience: Pour une pratique phénoménologique. Bucharest: Zeta Books.
Finnegan, Ruth 2011. Why Do We Quote? The Culture and History of Quotation. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers.
Fitzgerald, Sharron 2011. Regulating the International Movement of Women: From Protection to Control. Abingdon: Routledge.
Ingold, Tim 2011 Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. Abingdon: Routledge.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce 2011. The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Mathur, Hari Mohan 2010. Resettling Displaced People: Policy and Practice in India. New Delhi: Routledge India.
Puuronen, Vesa 2011. Rasistinen Suomi. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
Raento, Pauliina 2011. Kuuba: maa, kansa, yhteiskunta. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
Saghi, Omar 2010. Paris-La Mecque. Sociologie du pèlerinage. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Sutton, Sharon E. and Susan P. Kemp (eds) 2011. The Paradox of Urban Space: Inequality and Transformation in Marginalized Communities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Vuorinen, Heikki S. 2010. Taudit, parantajat ja parannettavat: lääketieteellinen historia. Tampere: Vastapaino.