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Articles on Ethnography

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What if prehistoric men and women joined forces in hunting parties? gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images Plus

‘Man, the hunter’? Archaeologists’ assumptions about gender roles in past humans ignore an icky but potentially crucial part of original ‘paleo diet’

If hunter-gatherers went beyond nose-to-tail eating to include the undigested plant matter in a prey animal’s stomach, assumptions about gendered division of labor start to fall apart.
Ukrainian designer Margarita Chala stands next to shoes symbolizing war crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians at the Old Town Square in Prague in 2023. Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images

When there are no words: Talking about wartime trauma in Ukraine

Trauma can affect how people remember and describe experiences. Many survivors express their pain through objects and physical symptoms, an anthropologist explains.
Protesters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 20 call for the governor to lift restrictions meant to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

What are the ‘reopen’ protesters really saying?

A scholar of social participation finds shared themes across protests in many states, not all of which fit common popular or media narratives about the events.
Hari Ibu presents an opportunity to explicitly acknowledge the difficulties faced by janda and other women marginalised in their community. http://www.onlineakselerasi.com/2017/12/hari-ibu-gmni-palopo-suarakan-stop.html

Living in the shadows of the Indonesian mother: the stigma, shame and opportunities as a widow or divorcee

Janda stereotypes pervade the lives of the Indonesian women who are marginalised in their community, forcing them to live precarious lives.
Is a cassette player an “ordinary object” or a “mystery”? It depends on whom you ask, and ethnography can help you ask the right questions. Yoshikazu Takada

Why teach ethnography to managers (in the big data era)?

Big data is all the rage in management circles and beyond, yet little is said about the understanding needed with such voluminous data. An important lesson can be learned from ethnographic research.
Margaret Morton’s photographs of the homeless highlighted their makeshift dwellings as symbols of creativity and resourcefulness. © Margaret Morton

How the homeless create homes

Even though they don’t consistently have a roof over their heads, the homeless do their best to create a routine, form communities and make a home – just like the rest of society.
A painting from Botha’s Shelter in the Ndedema Gorge in the Drakensburg, said to be home to a rich tapestry of San art and life. Wits University Press

An enigmatic theme in San rock paintings is finally unlocked

Formlings are representations of flying termites and their underground nests. They are associated with botantical subjects considered by the San to have great spiritual significance.

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