Gillian Evans (a cura di), Post-Industrial Precarity. New Ethnographies of Urban Lives in Uncertain Times

No doubt, this COVID-19 is drastic changes worldwide, which were led to unpredictable economic impact, public health concerns, which depended upon the transformation of how business was regulated and sustain for the long term. In this way, Market research plays a significant role in the pandemic situation where the consumer market rapidly evolved in the crisis. Taking the right decision in uncertain times is difficult, and in terms of market research, it faced various aspects in the uncertainty. It found the correct meaning in the recent outbreak of COVID-19. In fact, during this uncertain time, market research was necessary for regulating the business. Therefore, the study reveals the research, including consumer behavior, Diversified marketing strategies, and brand preferences as dependent variables. Whereas, independent variables are research and development by the marketers and business resilience. Marketer analyzed that short term action should be long term benefits for marketing strategies in the epidemic condition. The study was consisting of the data collection conduct from questionnaires. It analyzed through the SPSS from the different age group people belongs to different fields and draws the results from the collecting of data. The first section demonstrates the introduction. The second part provides the literature review. While the third part comprised the method section, the fourth was the result, the fifth was discussion based upon the result, and the final was a conclusion, which describes the outcome and future research development.

Ethnographers in ordinary times constantly strike a balance between two core concerns: gaining access and being ethical Textbooks and handbooks on ethnographic research have provided good insights into the ethical considerations and practical protocols for how to obtain access to field sites But how is this balance altered in calamitous times - times when a globally-relevant disaster is rapidly making itself known? In times of a pandemic when the value of non-life-saving research is increasingly being called into question and when «social distancing» is not only a norm but an injunction, how can we position ourselves to achieve ethical access? In this paper, we do not claim to reach a conclusive position on these questions Instead, we discuss the challenges that ethnographers face in times of calamity and explore alternative ethnographic strategies Specifically, we explore the utility of online ethnography and interface ethnography during the time of Covid-19 © 2020 Societa Editrice il Mulino All rights reserved

Avison and Malaurent (2014) offer the confessional ethnography of Schultze (2000) as an illustration of ‘theory light’ (a term that they invent) to serve as a contrast to ‘theory is king’ (a term, coined by Straub, 2009, that has taken on a life of its own, the underlying concept of which Avison and Malaurent call into question). At the same time, without much difficulty, one could just as readily interpret Schultze’s confessional ethnography as an illustration of ‘theory rich’ and thereby fashion an argument that Schultze’s confessional ethnography indeed follows what has become the edict that ‘theory is king’ (assuming that one were to subscribe to this edict in the first place). How one interprets Schultze’s confessional ethnography vis-a-vis the ‘theory is king’ edict depends, of course, on what one’s conception of ‘theory’ is. In this commentary, I will discuss ‘what theory is,’ ramifications of ‘what theory is’ for Schultze’s confessional ethnography.

This paper proposes a critical survey about the origins of ethnographic collections of Tierra del Fuego in Italian museums, as well as the historical records these institutions. The historical records of ethnographical museums are paramount archives to unveil the history of the objects, specially its acquisition and the historical context of the Italian institutions at that time. At the same time, ethnographical collections may be considered as documentary archives offering essential information about the social and material productive contexts of every item of the collections. Finally, a second aim of this paper is to offer relevant data about ethnographical Fuegian collections in Italy to Spanish speakers.

This paper is based on an ethnographic fieldwork that was carried out in Tuscany,
\nItaly, on blood gift and transfusion hospital ward with cord-blood donors, patients and doctors.
\nThe research was focused on the epistemological battle between the biomedical knowledge and
\nthe logics and the practices of gift in the healthcare space. By using the moral frame of gift, donors
\ncan increase their agency and can face the hegemony of clinical discourse. A theoretical change
\noccurs when we analyze the practices of gift and their development in a complex social body
\nlike healthcare space is. The representations of actors, the making of ideologies, the production
\nof meaning and the dialogue between different agencies structure the practices and should not
\nbe excluded by researchers. The ethnographic data show the need to go beyond the common
\ndichotomies between gift and market, “generalized altruism” and methodological individualism.
\nThe plurality of logics characterizing the healthcare space has in the conception of time a further
\nmisunderstanding: social actors at stake (the doctors, the patients, the donors) convey different
\nexperiences of time (the time of pregnancy, the time of work, the time of wait) that coexist inside
\nthe hospital ward. In particular, the biomedical discourse is unable to take into account the different
\naspects of time in patient’s experience. Thus, we observe different social constructions of time and
\nhow their development gives rise to personal, political, psychological, institutional conflicts

Organizational ethnographies have provided many insights about the nature of work that have subsequently been tested using archival and survey methods. To extend their use from generating ideas to testing theories, the author codes and analyze data on organizational characteristics and workplace experiences from the existing population of English-language ethnographies (N =108). The analysis confirms existing understandings, such as the importance of job autonomy for pride and effort. The analysis also generates new findings, induding the finding of a positive influence of organizational effectiveness on both coworker relations and relations with management. Methodological checks indicate that data from organizational ethnographies can be coded reliably and without bias. However, the initial ethnographic observations differ somewhat based on ethnographers' theoretical orientations and time spent in the field. The article concludes with a discussion of possible extensions of the analysis to other subfields in sociology that have accumulated bodies of ethnographic observation

We examine the choices, dilemmas, and opportunities confronting ethnography at a moment in which face-to-face interaction is deemed dangerous and prohibited by many university human subjects committees As scholars who have examined vulnerable seniors through intense engagement, we recognize that our presence can spread disease, just as we might become infected by those very informants Yet, ethnography serves a necessary role in charting the conditions of the vulnerable and identifying points of intervention The Covid-19 virus and its effects on research might truncate the granular observations that have made ethnography such a profoundly incisive method in the short term, but it may also permit reflection and methodological innovation that can contribute to both theory and policy In this vein, our unwanted hiatus provides an opportunity to work on longstanding concerns such as ethnographic transparency while simultaneously advancing innovative styles of research Whether we will seize this opportunity remains uncertain © 2020 Societa Editrice il Mulino All rights reserved

The introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) by the Premier League in 2012, and the subsequent formalization of sports psychology support, has resulted in increased opportunities for sports psychology practitioners to deliver their work within football academies (Nesti, 2012). The recognition of psychological support by the EPPP adds a new importance for us to better understand the impact of the lived experiences of applied practitioners within professional football clubs on their professional development and identity formation (Mitchell et al., 2016). The data on which this thesis is based has been drawn from research collected during a 3-year period from 2014 to 2017, where I (the researcher) occupied a dual role as a practitioner-researcher within the organisation of study. More specifically, I was responsible for the delivery of a psychological development program to academy players, support staff, and parents, and for the collection of data using ethnographic research methods. The first empirical chapter explored the use of practitioner-researcher ethnography as a research approach in sports psychology. Critical reflections highlighted some of the challenges that I faced whilst engaging in this dual role. Findings from this chapter highlighted the value of ethnography in encouraging the development of critical thinking skills, and self-awareness. However, a number of moral and ethical dilemmas arose because of the research demands. Therefore, it is suggested that a variety of support mechanisms (peer support, ethnography club) may help ethnographer’s better deal with challenging research situations that they may face. Following on from this, chapter 3 of the thesis used creative narratives to illuminate the impact of my experiences of delivering psychological support within one professional football club on my professional development, and identity as a sports psychology practitioner. My development journey aligned to the ICM (Cote, 2016), and was not smooth, or without challenge. In contrast, it was a rocky road (Collins & MacNamara, 2012), signified by a number of critical moments (Littlewood & Nesti, 2011). The challenges that I faced within the professional football club occurred as a function of the organisational culture (Roper, 2008), and ran parallel with the experiences of the youth players within this particular social context. The findings from this chapter suggest that identity is not a distinct end-point that sports psychology practitioners reach at the conclusion of their professional training. In contrast, identity is argued to be a fluid concept, continually evolving based upon the experiences that we have. Chapter 4 of the thesis followed the same structure as chapter 3, and presented the lived experiences of academy footballers over a longitudinal time frame. The findings that emerged within the chapter suggest that despite considerable changes in professional football over recent years the traditional masculine culture of this particular social context has remained reluctant to change (Nesti, 2012), and may be detrimental to the healthy psychological development of players who exist within it. Finally, chapter 5 of the thesis used action research principles to document the design, delivery, and evaluation of the psychological development program that was implemented within the professional football club. More specifically, interviews, focus groups, and evaluation sheets were used to attain the perspectives of key stakeholders (players, support staff, parents). The findings from this chapter demonstrated the complexities of psychological development, especially within the professional football culture. A level of confusion was present between stakeholders regarding the efficacy of the program. Although all individuals agreed that the program was beneficial in facilitating communication, and creating a supportive environment, there were discrepancies regarding its impact, and the nature of delivery.

This thesis examines how human connections to place, specifically between the Manilikarr clan and their estate in the East Alligator River region of western Arnhem Land, have changed during the Holocene. I focus on the later Holocene, in particular the period since regional freshwater wetlands formed, as it is this environment that retains ontological significance for local Aboriginal groups in the East Alligator River region today. Aboriginal connections with place are also more decipherable in archaeological horizons that are comparable and contiguous with ethnographic records, as is frequently the case for ‘freshwater’ archaeological sites of recent times. As Aboriginal people engaged with wetlands, they created both freshwater places and personhoods through symbiotic processes of inscription. Freshwater landscapes in the East Alligator River region were imbued with memories, meanings and social significance and became crucial to Aboriginal economic, ecological and cosmological structures. My research examines both when, and how, processes of co-inscription between people and place occurred, primarily through archaeological excavations at three rock-shelters in Manilikarr Country (Ingaanjalwurr, Birriwilk and Bindjarran). The results of these excavations, together with subsidiary evidence from ethnographic recordings, historical sources, rock art research, and palaeoenvironmental studies, indicate that ethnographically recalled Aboriginal engagements with, and significations of, the freshwater landscape in Manilikarr Country emerged within the past 700 years. Customary Aboriginal connections with the freshwater environment remain culturally relevant today, although they are increasingly compromised by cultural change. The impacts of Western worldviews continue to pose enduring challenges for customary engagements with Country, especially among younger generations. Such challenges mean that research like that presented in this thesis, which examines Ancestral-into-present relations between wetland landscapes and people, is of social, cultural and political significance considering contemporary risks posed by rapid social and environmental change. While members of Manilikarr Country ethnographically identified as ‘freshwater people’ and continue to do so today, senior members are keenly aware that decreasing engagements of younger generations with their Ancestral landscapes (as Country) threatens the longevity and future of their identity as freshwater peoples. It is these connections to place and Country that form the subject of this thesis.

In this essay we outline two conceptual frameworks that may help ethnographers do their research and analysis during Covid-19 First, we develop the concept of «blindsight ethnography», a means through what ethnographers may be able to detect that which they cannot see Second, we turn to Ermakoff's (2014) conceptualization of «the exceptional» - cases that stand apart due to their peculiar nature, but which allow for classificatory, paradigmatic, and heuristic innovation Drawing upon Hidalgo's experience of doing ethnographic research in the wake of Covid-19, we outline some ways to navigate and even leverage this current moment, and articulate three practical steps ethnographers can take in these exceptional times © 2020 Societa Editrice il Mulino All rights reserved

This thesis focuses on the metamorphosis of the Greek cuisine at times of crisis and the ‘exoneration of the Greek rural’ by the Athenian middle class. My research as a ‘native’ anthropologist took place in Athens in the mid-2010s, when the effects of the financial crisis had established significant behavioural and social changes that penetrated food procurement and sharing practices. I investigate the new social and market formations, focusing on upscale delis in Athens and the middle-class Athenians who own and shop at these spaces. I engage with the chefs and cooks who create a New Greek Cuisine in the fine dining restaurants of the city. My ethnography brings together different spaces (the village and the city), as well as different temporalities, and how these are imaginatively reproduced through food practices. In search of the threads that bring the rural past into the urban present, I unveil the interconnections between Athenians and their foods at times of crisis and the emergence of a moral economy that protects social identities. Memories of the rural past, and the powerful role of food as a trigger of memory is central to this process. The thesis argues that previously denigrated rural foods are transformed into luxury items of value and associations with Greek rurality are exonerated, as Athenians are renegotiating their identities at times of crisis. This research contributes ethnographically to unveiling the shifting notions of the rural and the urban, tradition and modernity, and how the preservation and invention of foodways are redefined and negotiated in the creation of Greek cuisine. It illustrates how national and class identities, as well as individual and collective memories, are renegotiated and redefined at times of crisis in Greece. Beyond Greece, by engaging with food and the senses (smell and taste) as tropes of resistance at times of crisis, this thesis contributes ethnographically and theoretically to anthropological debates on precarity, moral economy and the political role of commensality.

The objective of this dissertation is to highlight the way history is taught in Peru, more specifically in Chavin de Huantar. As well as bring to the light the complex dynamics that revolve around this teaching, including the education system and the archaeological, local, and national government policies. This study becomes important in a world where Indigenous Peoples and women continue to be excluded from historical narratives made for the public. The main motivation to conduct this work was the need to decolonize the way history is taught and transform it into an empowering topic that can potentially contribute to a more just world. The aim of this research project was to answer the following research questions: (a) What do children in Chavin de Huantar, Peru know about their local past? (b) How do different institutions, organizations, and community members influence such teachings? and (c) How can archaeologists contribute to a more empowering and less oppressive teaching of the past? To accomplish this objective an ethnography of learning with a critical epistemology was conducted during August 2016 and August 2017. This ethnography included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, photo and drawing elicitation with children, and two outreach projects (a summer camp and a teacher workshop). This work also includes a large number of photographs to contextualize the reader and make her/him/they feel more present at Chavin during my research, while I describe the surroundings and circumstances in which learning occurred while I was there. This dissertation is divided in seven chapters. Chapter one provides the reader with a literature and theoretical background, while in chapter two I provide a general discussion and context of Chavin de Huantar as a town and as the archaeological UNESCO world heritage site with the same name. Chapter three will be dedicated to describing the methods used throughout this ethnography and applied public archaeological outreach. In chapter four, I begin to answer the proposed research questions. While in Chapter seven I will provide final remarks and conclusions. My research and analysis has brought to light that children in Chavin de Huantar have a basic understanding of Chavin as a “Golden-Age”. This time period is promoted by the local and national government to incentivize tourism as well as what most archaeological work is concentrated on. In addition, local and national institutions mostly concentrate on this time period ignoring over 3000 years of local history, with some exceptions, especially the National Museum of Chavin. In addition, the political and communication problems between the town and the archaeological project “Research and Conservation project in Chavin de Huantar” influence strongly the lack of knowledge children and other community members have about the archaeological site. Although there is a constant blaming among the institutions of whose fault it is that children do not now too much about their history, my research provided evidence that in each one of these institutions there are people willing to work in collaboration in order to benefit children. In chapter six, I will provide details about two projects created and implemented in collaboration: a summer camp and a teachers’ workshop. These projects seemed to be well received in the community but more like them need to continue in order to have sustainable results. However, these projects proved that collaboration is possible and necessary. I conclude this dissertation providing recommendations for numerous stakeholders in Chavin de Huantar and in Peru, including the archaeological project, the municipality of Chavin, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Education.

This study has explored the experiences of lone mothers and their labours as lone- mother students in Higher Education and en route to accessing Higher Education. The main aim of the study was to investigate barriers and constraints in provision of support for lone mothers wishing to study in Higher Education. The importance of education for lone parents has been well documented (Fryer, 1997; Scottish Office,1998; Powney et al., 2000), and there has been a plethora of research undertaken on Higher Education. However, the connection between the lone mother and education has not received much attention; little is known about the support that is offered to lone mothers whilst accessing Higher Education. Research by the National Union of Students (NUS) (2009) has shown that in many ways the responsibilities of mothering and mothers have not been considered by educational institutions as many courses operate in a climate of assumption that most students are free from family obligations of providing care. Due to lack of empirical research undertaken in this area, this study adopted a qualitative ethnographic approach to investigate the lives of lone-mother students. Furthermore, the study was conducted by an international student from Pakistan who is a lone mother herself and whose experiences also form a part of this research. An ethnographic approach was adopted and developed, to enable a holistic understanding of the lone mothers’ experience in Higher Education and specifically in relation to their cultural background. Hence, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were opted for to collect data.The research revealed in-depth knowledge about the relationships that the lone mothers share with their children, extended family, friends and with studies. The data suggested the need for socio - economic support for lone mothers in Higher Education. The qualitative inquiry method used in this study allowed for an examination of the phenomenon of ‘lone motherhood’. The depth, range and longitudinal nature of the data allowed to see contradictions or contrasts in the data (e.g. extrinsic/intrinsic motivations), as well as changes and developments over time (anxiety/self-esteem). The iterative approach also enabled emerging theories and concepts to develop and to be tested over time (e.g. ‘modelling’, ‘utopian’ narratives). Thus, the ethnographic approach enriched the possibilities of ‘grounded’ theorising, and also improved the possibilities of extending previous studies. Thus it indicates that lone-mother students’experiences of education are complex and therefore it is argued that the study of lone- mother students should be extended to conduct further research into different aspects of lone mother students in Higher Education.

Ethnography-based art practices are opening up alternative possibilities for doing fieldwork, by involving different senses and deploying assorted strategies and media through practices in which is used in both the acquisition and the transmission of ethnographic knowledge. In this photo essay we present “Woundscapes. Suffering, creativity and bare life”, an ethnography-based art exhibition collaboratively produced by 11 anthropologists and artists from different countries. Woundscapes reflects the viewpoints of the EBANOCollective setting out to claim the place of ‘art’ with fragments of ethnography, and the place of ethnography with ‘artistic’ objects, producing an interference in the established circuits of academia, and at the same time in those of contemporary art. The use of collaborative and participatory methods and art practices in the acquisition and diffusion of ethnographic knowledge reflects the dialogical and processual nature of ethnographic mutual understanding, and at the same time creates a dynamic interchange between memories, dreams, visions, emotions and anxieties, revealing aspects of social reality which remain invisible – if observed only through the lens of the social sciences – and mute – if recounted only in the pages of academic monographs.

Research on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Development involves assumptions about the potential of such technologies to engender social transformations and development. Corporate organisations have financed studies that seek to understand the impact of such technologies in a bid to push for their business agenda (Castells et al., 2007; Vodafone, 2005; ITU, 2004) and also act as a means of helping developing nations eradicate poverty levels in the wake of the millennium development goals (MDGs). This kind of development is seen as synchronic, without considering the target populations’ involvement in decision making, and also tends to dictate what development should look like in the eyes of most development economies where such ICTs like mobile telephones have come from. Such development is also considered as being linear in nature (Melkote and Steeves, 2003; Donovan, 2011). This thesis is an attempt to advance the second kind of development that is diachronic in nature, which pays attention to the interrelationships of human technology rather than the former that privileges technology as engendering social transformations and development. This kind of development has been conceptualised as maendeleo, a Swahili term that denotes process, participation, progress and growth. Unlike the first perspective of development that views technology as causing changes, maendeleo sees social transformations and development as an interaction between mobile telephony users and their specific contexts. It is a localised understanding of development from the participants’ encounters with mobile telephony in their everyday life. This thesis thus examines the role of mobile telephony in the social transformation and development of the Marakwet people of rural Kenya, using ethnographic methods of data collection and assemblage theory as theoretical framework. Historically the Marakwet community of Kenya suffered from decades of insecurity due to cattle-rustling with their neighbours. Since its advent in Marakwet a decade ago, mobile telephony still remains complex. On one hand, it is seen as answering the insecurity question by allowing users to alert each other in case of an invasion, but at the same time is seen as the source of more insecurity, especially since mobile phones can also aid the enemies to cattle-rustle. Physical meetings that are the domain of most Marakwets are also affected by the technology, with it being seen as reducing the need for social gatherings, yet enhancing it at the same time. Mobile money transfers, discussed as M-PESA, have not been spared either regarding services deemed to boost development and bring about social cohesion, on one hand, while still believed to cause disharmony within households and also be a ‘risky’ endeavour with lack of sufficient money deposit security, on the other. Twenty-five ethnographic interviews were conducted with 12 households, taking into account age, gender, literacy levels and the length of time the device had been accessed by users. The interviews were complemented with data obtained from 5 focus group discussions among homogeneous groups (women, men, clan elders, girls and boys). The findings show that mobile phone is implicated in everyday life of the people of Marakwet, challenging concepts such as co-presence, power and gender relationships, interpersonal networks and also the idea that the use of mobile telephony in the region incorporates older modes of communication models such as the community horn. Mobile telephony influences and is influenced by all areas of community life: health, education, and agriculture, religion forming assemblages of people (users), financial institutions, government and mobile phone service providers. This thesis challenges the dichotomisation of society into micro (individual or household) and macro (national or societal) that ignores the intermediate or meso levels. The boundaries suggested by such categorisation are blurred by communication technologies that re-define terms, such as time and space, public or private places, here and there. In a way, macro and micro distinctions also assign power to macro forces to determine the micro, which in the advent of technologies, the micro can only be changed if they so wish and not necessarily because change has been decided, packaged and delivered to them via mobile telephony or any other communication technologies. Instead, it is how they negotiate power, gender relations, cultural inclinations and socio-economic dispositions in their domesticated use of mobile telephony that facilitates social change and development. Key words: Assemblage, Maendeleo, M-PESA, Social transformation, Co-presence, Development and Sharing.