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After the disaster (but before Krugman endorsed Klein's shock doctrine)


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 19 May 2013, 9:30 am CEST

Nate Roberts posted a link on Facebook to a recent piece by Paul Krugman essentially saying that he once thought Naomi Klein's views on neoliberalism were extreme, but now he thinks she could be right. This led me to look up an Anthropology Today editorial I published in April 2008 (half a year before the Lehman Brothers bust). This merely confirms my view that Krugman has no political analysis supporting his pet economic theories, whether Keynesian or Kleinian. There was no online link available (apart from behind a paywall), so I have decided to upload a pdf of the editorial here: afterthedisaster.pdf. Some excerpts:

Naomi Klein’s ‘The Shock Doctrine’ presents a monolithic account of ‘neoliberalism’ that leaves room for a solution only at the margins. Her account, which comes endorsed by many radical glitterati including John Le Carré, Arundhati Roy and John Berger, starts with the ‘Chicago Boys’ in Latin America’s Southern Cone during the early 70s. She covers much the same ground as David Harvey in ‘A Brief History of Neoliberalism’. [2] Harvey makes a contrast between the ‘embedded liberalism’ of the welfare state consensus from the 1940s to the 70s and the ‘disembedded’ markets that followed; Klein speaks of neoliberalism as a ‘counter-revolution’. Both cover the last three decades or so without attempting to place them in any larger analysis of modern world history. Harvey speculates about inflationary and deflationary routes out of neoliberalism, but Klein appears to see no end to it. Both authors try to tell One Big Story, the restoration of capitalist power by Reagan and Thatcher (with peripheral support from Pinochet and Deng); but Klein extends hers to include a string of disasters since the millennium (September 11th, the invasion of Iraq, the tsunami, Katrina). She represents this sequence as a wholesale looting of public assets by corporate interests in the name of Milton Friedman’s free market doctrine. ‘Disaster capitalism’ generates and feeds off ‘economic shocks’ and these seem to be multiplying since the time when ‘structural adjustment’ imposed brutal economic medicine on weak governments. After the dictators, Klein’s narrative takes in the economic warfare launched under quasi-legal auspices in Bolivia, Poland, China and South Africa. Thatcher’s revolution was rescued by success against the Argentine generals. Russia’s wealth was handed over to the ‘oligarchs’ for a pittance and then the IMF organized a boot sale of Southeast Asian assets to western corporations. And Israel’s coercive treatment of the Palestinians and Lebanon remains a laboratory for neoliberal repression everywhere. Developments within the United States all point in the same direction. Does she see any hope of something else, born perhaps of popular resistance to this class warfare? A concluding chapter of two-dozen pages (out of more than 500) addresses ‘the rise of people’s reconstruction’. Neo-liberalism’s nemesis is, wait for it, Morales! Hezbollah! Factory and farm co-ops in Argentina and Brazil! The French and Dutch rejection of the European constitution (the only reference to the EU in the whole book)! And Chavez of course. As people sort among the rubble of their societies, the final sentence tells us that “they are building in resilience—for when the next shock hits”. Naomi Klein’s totalizing vision of the contemporary world renders these scraps of resistance merely symbolic. What is ‘new’ about neoliberalism (or ‘neo-conservatism’ as it is called in America, where liberalism still evokes Roosevelt’s New Deal)? The state’s pretensions to manage national economies have been progressively dismantled everywhere, while its coercive powers have been expanded. Some were slower than others to catch onto the systematic stripping of public assets for private gain, profit accumulation with no acknowledgment of service, the erosion of civil liberties and the resurgence of racist imperialism. The overthrow of social democracy in the name of market fundamentalism may have been achieved by coercion in Latin America; the privatization of post-socialism was licensed plunder; small states in regions like Africa that were already being bled by debt interest were brought to heel by the ‘Washington consensus’. Maybe the public authorities in the United States have long been less squeamish about employing techniques of intimidation in support of corporate profit. But who persuaded the pillars of European social democracy to roll over without a fight? The wholesale capitulation of national political classes to an obscene logic of self-enrichment still needs an explanation. Neither Klein nor Harvey is much help here. To take another example from outside Europe, why would the leadership of the African National Congress throw away the legacy of the anti-apartheid movement in order to pander to international capital at the expense of their own long-suffering people? Naomi Klein’s chapter on South Africa is desperately thin, drawing on a handful of interviews to force the country into her all-encompassing vision, while ignoring the nuances of its history and place within the evolving world economy. The rise of a sociological rhetoric of ‘embeddedness’ in recent years reminds us that Karl Polanyi’s stock has never been higher than today. In ‘The Great Transformation’ [3], Polanyi debunked Victorian liberalism as the use of state power to secure the freedom of capital at the expense of all other interests. He condemned the high price the British working classes paid for the dominance of the ‘self-regulating market’; but there were also counter-movements within society like Chartism, as the victims of the new liberalism sought to defend themselves. Polanyi sometimes wrote of a ‘disembedded’ capitalism, but industrial markets remained thoroughly ‘embedded’: first, in their dependence on the state and second through the links they retained with a range of social institutions. Polanyi’s real objection was not to the market as such, but to ‘market fundamentalism’. It is, however, no longer as obvious as it was for Mauss, Polanyi and Keynes where the levers of democratic power are to be located, since the global explosion of money, markets and communications over the last quarter-century has severely exposed the limitations of national frameworks of economic management. We are clearly witnessing the start of another long swing in the balance between state and market. Central banks are pumping liquidity into failing asset markets. The rapid switch by the ‘masters of the universe’ from market triumphalism to the public begging bowl would be surprising, if it were not so familiar. Before long, a genuine revival of Keynesian redistributive politics seems to be inevitable. But the imbalances of the money system are now global. Society is already taking the form of large regional trading blocs; and the inability of the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank, IMF, WTO) to serve any interest beyond that of western capital has long been obvious. The strength of any push to reform global institutions will depend on the severity of the current economic crisis. A return to the national solutions of the 1930s is bound to fail. It will not do to place our trust for democratic renewal exclusively on small-scale initiatives in Latin America. The new combinations of money, machines and people emerging today must be addressed squarely. For all her vivid writing and journalistic effort, Naomi Klein’s monochrome synthesis promotes only a politics of evasion and despair. The world society that has developed in the last half-century has some features never seen before and many that are perennial. Any way forward will be worked out by China, Europe, the USA and regional leaders such as India, Brazil and South Africa. They will build on an existing diversity that is hardly illuminated by catchall phrases like ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘American capitalism’. We are in the middle of an economic disaster alright. So far the politicians, bankers and CEOs who got us into this mess seem to be surviving, even prospering. But before long, people everywhere will be asking loudly “What happened to our money, our jobs and our houses? How did we let them get away with it? How can we make sure it doesn’t happen again?” Things are likely to become a lot more turbulent yet; and debates about political economy will then need much more historical substance than literary fashion seems able to offer at present.

Natural Language and the Social Sciences


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 17 May 2013, 7:00 pm CEST

For my current project, which automates an approach to understanding decision making processes of elites, first developed by Robert Axelrod in the 1970s, I make use of two newly developed computational linguistic tools (see my github profile).

Rather than discussing the specifics of my current project, which you can read about here, I will use this space as an attempt to stimulate a discussion about the study of texts and language as a means to understanding culture, norms and collective behavior.

There is a long-standing tradition in all of the social sciences to analyse people's language as a means to understanding their motives, desires and actions (Marx in Economics, Weber in Sociology and most Anthropologists think of Linguistics as one of four subfields of their discipline).  Thus, it seems natural that text analysis, as practiced in the 21st century, should be an integral part of the social sciences.  However, it seems to me that there is still astonishingly little use of NLP (Natural Language Processing) in the social sciences and practically no use of the more cutting edge tools that have been developed in Computational Linguistics over the last few years, for example at Stanford, MIT, or Carnegie Mellon University.

Marx's "XI"th Thesis on Feuerbach is Not Explicit Enough.


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 15 May 2013, 7:18 pm CEST

Marx's "XI"th Thesis on Feuerbach is Not Explicit Enough.

" XI Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways. What is crucial, however, is to change it." (Theses on Feuerbach by Karl Marx, translated by Carl Manchester: en.wikisource.org/wiki/Theses_on_Feuerbach )

The world should be changed; but to what should it be changed? If we, collectively, don't know what the world should be changed to, we'll continue to change it in the same way we have been doing since times immemorial, and the world will continue to be changed according to the short-sighted visions of those who happen to be at the helm at the whichever time. I think that Marx's "XI"th thesis on Feuerbach is not explicit enough--Marx should have explained what he thought the world should be changed to. We try to change the world to our liking with most of our actions, but so far the results have been the transformation of the world from bad to worse, on the whole. A meaningful change is being desired; Any odd change will not do! A meaningful change will be desired by all, not only a majority of us. We all have to decide what we want to change to! More on this at www.ModelEarth.Org/ . Thank you, Mr. Jan Hearthstone.

What is anthropology? A film.


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 11 May 2013, 12:43 pm CEST

Globalisation are becoming increasingly international,


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 11 May 2013, 4:54 am CEST

in the post-modern era, people of the world back to the values​​, values ​​that are considered good by the people of the world, for example in the economy,  that dominate  the market. a growing number of small and independent businesses, the stronger economy of a country. but the other events arising in the forms of deviation, anarchy, fights between students robbery, murder, prostitution, fraud, rape, corruption, drug abuse, spread of street children (singers) are supposed to get a formal education, but the kids look living for a bite of rice, also occurred in the family, divorce, infidelity so that their children are still sacred have become victims due to the behavior of their parents. something like that until now there is no perfect solution and other forms of deviance is increasingly growing, both in rural and urban as if competing with the progress of time. could this be the beginning of the destruction of the world? Anthropology as a member share to my friends what kind of solutions we offer to menangaani increasingly complex problems.

'ultra-conserved' words.


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 8 May 2013, 3:59 pm CEST

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/01/1218726110.full.pdf+html?sid=db5c763d-45b9-439c-9c37-862cea886622

A new research paper in linguistics points to the fact that some cognate words are so widespread in Euro-Asiatic languages that they probably point to a common trans-continental language spoken as long ago as 15,000 years: these include cognates of 

I, thou, we, mother, give, pull, fire and flow

What are anthropologists to make of this commonality underlying difference? Post-structuralists, for example, may want to take note of the deep endurance of the words 'I'' and 'who'.

An anthropologist in all but name?


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 8 May 2013, 4:16 am CEST

Reading this review of a new book about the "anti-utopian reformer with keen eye for detail" Albert Hirschman, I found myself thinking of OAC founder Keith Hart. I wonder what Hart will think of being seen as resembling Hirschman, in a complimentary way.

DSC06658


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 8 May 2013, 1:11 am CEST

by Ariuntamir Max East taiga, Tsagaan nuur sum (village), Khovsgol province, Mongolia. Reindeer herders

The idea of the informal economy: a further work in progress report


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 4 May 2013, 8:17 am CEST

More on the idea of the informal economy: My earlier post (14 April) was a work-in-progress report on a study of 'the idea of the informal economy', with particular reference to Melanesia (and specifically to pre-modern Papua New Guinea). In time it will be extended to the modern (colonial and post-colonial) period.

That earlier post provided links to three papers which had appeared to that point. A fourth paper, titled "Preconditions for an informal economy: ‘trucking and bartering’ in New Guinea", is now available, while the full set can be also be downloaded. This latest paper considers the extent to which pre-modern trade in Melanesia constituted any preparation for engagement with the market. It reviews explanations of trade and exchange in 'aboriginal' societies, from Adam Smith in the eighteenth century and the German historical school in the nineteenth, to their modern heirs and critics. The view of trade as due to a natural human tendency to 'truck and barter' is counter-posed against a conception of exchange as the product of socially regulated customs, in the manner of The Gift.

Malinowski's account of the kula, and its (mis)interpretation by Van Leur, the historian of Asian trade, raises the question whether Melanesia possessed any counterpart of the travelling Asian peddler. To consider this question, the paper examines the traditional trading systems of regions which would later become the hinterlands of three modern towns (Rabaul, Port Moresby and Goroka). In preparation for later discussion of these towns' colonial experience, the paper surveys the traditional trade of the New Guinea interior, the long-distance seaborne trade of the coasts and islands, and the particular case of the Gazelle Peninsula. It draws conclusions which throw some light on the question of Asian-style 'peddling' in Melanesia.

Finally, the paper considers how Keith Hart's concept of 'informality', derived from Weber's notion of rational/legal bureaucracy, could be seen as applicable to the early colonial setting of New Guinea. It finds a piquant correspondence between a highly bureaucratized German New Guinea and the Weberian original, located back in Bismarck's Berlin.

Keywords: informal economy, natural economy, premodern trade, kula, hiri, Van Leur, Malinowski, Weber, Keith Hart, Mauss, Fisk, German New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia

Social Tourism and Gentrification in Seville (spanish)


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 3 May 2013, 12:15 pm CEST

Los procesos de gentrificación están siendo estudiados desde hace ya más de setenta años. Desde las primeras aproximaciones relevantes al tema en el Lóndres de los años sesenta, pasando por la eterna discusión en torno a los factores que los inducen, esto es producto vs. consumo, pasando por la introducción de diferentes elementos para explicar y aplicar conceptos culturales y sociales a los procesos de gentrificación, o su interacción con fenómenos actuales como el Programa Erasmus (Malet, 2.013), existe una amplia muestra de literatura académica sobre el tema. Surgen así numerosos artículos y comunicaciones, incluso guías y manuales, que recogen la preocupación por este asunto, así como propuestas para luchar contra estos procesos. Y todos coinciden en una cosa: entender la gentrificación como la conversión de zonas de clase obrera marginadas socialmente del centro de las ciudades en zonas de uso residencial para las clases medias(Zukin, 1.987).

Hace unas semanas publiqué aquí un post relacionado con este aspecto. Se trata del dedicado a la luchas vecinales que se producen en Sevilla, concretamente en el contexto del barrio de San Luis y la Casa Vecinal del Pumarejo. El conflicto de este grupo de vecinos con el Ayuntamiento de la ciudad ha tenido gran repercusión y prueba de ello son los correos y comentarios alentadores que reciben desde distintos los confines del planeta. Concretamente desde uno de estos confines, la ciudad australiana de Moreland, en el estado de Victoria, la plataforma que impulsa las actividades del Pumarejo ha recibido hace unos días una carta de apoyo a sus proyectos e iniciativas.

Hasta aquí todo normal si no fuera porque la persona que firma la carta, la cual se define a sí misma como “trabajadora del Ayuntamiento de Moreland y consultora independiente especializada en temas de desarrollo comunitario y participación ciudadana“, cita como elemento destacable que las iniciativas de la Plataforma y la Casa “podrían ser una fuente de buena publicidad y turismo social, contribuyendo así a mejorar la imagen de Sevilla en estos tiempos de dificultades económicas“. Y aquí es donde encontramos la, por llamarla de alguna manera, perversión.

La labor de los vecinos puede derivar en un auténtico “Caballo de Troya” de la gentrificación. No es que yo me lo invente, existen estudios en este sentido desde finales de los ochenta (Caulfield, 1.989). Tal y como nos señala la consultora australiana, las luchas vecinales, la situación de conflicto y la recuperación patrimonial de la Casa del Pumarejo, pueden convertirse en una fuente de atracción desde el turismo social, esto es, actuar como desencadenante de todo un proceso final de desplazamiento de la población actual del barrio a través del turismo. Así, lo que comienzó como una respuesta ciudadana contra las políticas públicas de higiene y rehabilitación social y urbana sobre uno de los barrios más céntricos y señeros de Sevilla, puede llegar a desembocar, inesperada e involuntariamente, en el mismo fin pero con la actituddesinteresada e inadvertida de los vecinos. Una auténtica paradoja.

Cómo frenar estos procesos debe ser objeto de estudio para todas aquellas disciplinas que se consideren comprometidas con el entorno más cercano.

Referencias bibliográficas

Cauldfield, J. (1.989) Gentrification and Desire, Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 26 (4) (aquí)

Malet, D. (2.013) “Procesos de revalorización patrimonial en el barrio de Alfama: el papel de los estudiantes Erasmus en la tematización de la ciudad” Etnográfica [Online], vol. 17 (1) | 2013 (aquí)

Zukin, S. (1.987) “Gentrification: Culture and Capital in the Urban Core“ Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 13. (1987), pp. 129-147 (aquí)

Local banknotes as social aid in times of crisis


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 2 May 2013, 5:41 pm CEST

Local banknotes as social aid in times of crisis?

Billetesmunicipales.com

Billetes municipales y regionales. "Regiogeld", civl war notes, cupons and social aid.


Everyone's Blog Posts - Open Anthropology Cooperative 2 May 2013, 5:36 pm CEST

Can local banknotes help? ¿Billetes municipales y regionales? "Regiogeld", civl war notes, cupons and social aid.

www.billetesmunicipales.com

LOCAL ECONOMY. SPANISH LOCAL BANKNOTES.


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 2 May 2013, 5:03 pm CEST

Regional spanish Papermoney both current and old

Princess monastery.


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 1 May 2013, 1:46 am CEST

by Ariuntamir Max This monastery's figure is like a elephant. Here is one of the mongolian meditation practicing place. In Terelj national park, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

FesX


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 26 Apr 2013, 2:25 pm CEST

by Larry Stout Do not go unguided into the maze!

IstanbulX


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 26 Apr 2013, 2:25 pm CEST

by Larry Stout Hagia Sophia > Ayasofya Museum: 1,481 years.

CasablancaXX


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 26 Apr 2013, 2:25 pm CEST

by Larry Stout The minaret is 20 m higher than the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

AlhambraX


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 26 Apr 2013, 2:25 pm CEST

by Larry Stout From al-Andalus to los Reyes Cristianos!

Coded Clothes display


All Photos - Open Anthropology Cooperative 25 Apr 2013, 5:09 pm CEST

by Tony Eccles For many communities coding is an integral expression of the traditions, nationality, status and spirituality through which people define their personal identity and place in society. For others, it’s to attain an ideal of beauty promoted by their society, or to deliberately reject that ideal in order to pursue individuality.

Which Holidays Have Multiple Meanings?


Forum Discussions - Open Anthropology Cooperative 24 Apr 2013, 8:23 pm CEST

Hey, Open Anthro Coop!

 

So, I did some brief research at Holi, the Festival of Colors, and discovered that it may have a radically different meaning to Krishna Consciousness than it does to traditional Hindus. Check out the whole adventure at http://ashkuff.com/blog/?p=1667

 

My question for the forum: what other holidays have multiple meanings? I figure it's gotta be most of them, right?

--- Ashkuff | www.ashkuff.com | How to use anthropology, in business and ADVENTURE!!!

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