Fieldwork Methodology Research Articles

Islamist Feminism in Morocco: (Re)defining the Political Sphere

Islamist Feminism in Morocco(Re)defining the Political Sphere Meriem El Haitami (bio) introduction Religious trends in Moroccan feminism emerged as a result of the changing sociopolitical scene marked by the rise of political Islam in post-independence Morocco. Islamist movements began to play a significant role in attracting a broad following and absorbing women’s growing demands to be more engaged in political life. They advocate women’s rights while being inspired by religious principles; this, according to Fatima Sadiqi, is a “feminist act” as it allows women’s entry into the historically male-dominated structures.1 Sadiqi further argues that the fact that religious feminism in Morocco was not conceived as a reaction to liberal feminism makes rapprochement possible and constructs polyvocal expressions of political activism.2 In 2011 female Islamist activists gained particularly legitimacy in the context of the Arab Spring, which brought the conservative Party of Justice and Development (pjd) into power. The latter has contributed to a shift from the elite liberal state feminism to a more legitimate religious activism, and has introduced new spaces for contention, such as the emerging nuanced female political and civic expression(s) as well as the prospects for Islamist and secular women’s movements to cooperate and negotiate in order to ensure a democratic approach to gender issues. Therefore this article explores how Islamist women are positioning themselves vis-à-vis universal debates of democratization and women’s rights, especially when a number of academic studies suggest that Islamist or more accurately “post-Islamist” movements are not necessarily anti-democratic.3 Rather, such movements may figure as important forces toward a more democratic transition. Beginning with an overview of Islamist women’s participation as party members and political actors, this article addresses opportunities and impediments to Islamist women’s political integration in Morocco’s official political [End Page 74] sphere in the context of the Arab Spring. I argue that despite Islamist women’s increased insertion into the political sphere, they must yet negotiate two primary political fronts. Islamist women are underrepresented in government due to the resistance of male Islamist political leaders, and this limits the women activists’ influence over governance and policy making and perpetuates the long-standing institutionalized gender-based inequalities. Additionally, Islamist women activists who hope to shape new roles for women in Morocco must also contend with the hegemonic discourses of liberal political groups. The present study draws on ethnographic fieldwork I conducted over the course of two years as part of my doctoral research on women’s religious authority and activism in contemporary Morocco, in which I explore the interplay between religion and politics and how that impacts gender discourses and reconceptualizes debates on Islamic feminism and the modalities of Moroccan Islam. Fieldwork methodologies have entailed interviews with female religious and political actors in a variety of settings as well as observing their different dynamics in different religious and social structures. This essay lays particular emphasis on women’s role within Islamist movements based on the review of various media articles found through the internet and scholarship on the interplay between Islamism and women’s political participation. I limit my analysis to two major groups: the Party of Justice and Development and the Justice and Charity movement (al-Adl wal-Ihsan, also called Justice and Spirituality, js). Though these two groups share a similar vision of Islamizing Moroccan society, they have divergent political stances. I maintain that both groups reconceptualize public religion and promote women’s participation in politics; however, post–Arab Spring changes were not necessarily directed toward the long sought gender equality. Therefore, despite the Arab Spring having brought to the fore Islamist women’s expressions of activism, they are still not achieving equal gains in more formal processes of political action, and their voices have been sidelined under hegemonic state structures. the party of justice and development: islamist feminism redefined The Party of Justice and Development (pjd) was officially formed in 1998, out of the Unity and Reform movement, and became a political force when it won 42 out of 295 seats in the 2002 national legislative elections.4 The pjd accepts the monarchy’s legitimacy and acts within the state...

A methodology for qualitative archaeometallurgical fieldwork using a handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometer

Recent work aimed at provenancing metal slag from Sagalassos, south-west Turkey, as part of a study investigating the Roman iron industry in the area. Although previously samples of the slag material had been exported from the country for the purposes of analysis, a method of analysing the materials in-situ was required. It was decided that the best technique for achieving ‘in-the-field’ results would be handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (HH-XRF). A series of laboratory based tests were first performed in order to determine the ideal working parameters for the HH-XRF and the best method for preparing the samples. The results indicated that different slag (i.e. Ti-rich/poor) could clearly be distinguished amongst the powdered samples.A total of 45 metal slag were analysed in the field in order to see whether the slag could be qualitatively characterised based on provenance. The results of the field study indicated two principle groups (a high Ti – Zr group and a low Ti – Zr group). The Ca and Mn contents also split the data into two groups but these were not consistent with the previous Ti – Zr groups. These differences could be related to the choice of ores and fluxes used for iron production.

Garden of Eden or Desert Exile: The Mousterian of Hummal in context

Our view of MP cultural variability is blurred by site-specific problems as well as inadequate research concepts. The former are inherent in current fieldwork methodology and in the archaeological record itself. Excavation of Palaeolithic sites generally catches only parts of the entire archaeological record and thus leaves us with the sample size problem. Moreover, resolution of the archaeological record is often limited by the palimpsest problem which is especially given in spatially restricted sites (e.g. caves) coupled with a low sedimentation rate. Many research concepts not only neglect the resolution problem but also lack the consideration of scale when it comes to archaeological interpretation. Our aim is not to reinterpret the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic in the light of these challenges as this is outside the scope of this paper. Archaeological resolution and scale are nevertheless taken as guidelines for the integration of the Hummal Mousterian in a broader context. In doing so, we give a short review of current knowledge and show how a scale-sensitive approach can inform us about various aspects of the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic.

“Animals like us”: revisiting organizational ethnography and research

Purpose– Now that the human-animal distinction is increasingly critiqued from various disciplinary perspectives, to the point where some suggest even letting go of the distinction completely, the purpose of this paper is to argue that organizational ethnography should start to explore in more detail what this means for organizational ethnographic research, theory and analysis to include non-human animals in it.Design/methodology/approach– Revisiting the author’s earlier organizational ethnographic work in Zimbabwe on a private wildlife conservancy, an organization that was specifically set up for and around wildlife. At the same time these non-human animals were not taken into account methodologically nor featured at all in the empirical material or in the analysis. What could it mean for the analysis and conclusions if non-human animals would have been part of the equation?Findings– Since we live in a world shared between human and non-human animals, this also is true for the organizational lives. As scientific research increasingly shows that the distinction between human and non-human animals is more in degree than in kind it is interesting to note that nevertheless non-human animals usually produce deafening “silences” in organizational ethnographic work. Revisiting the author’s earlier organizational ethnographic work in this context the author shows how taking non-human animals on board of the analysis radically alters the outcomes of the research.Research limitations/implications– This paper reports on revisiting the author’s earlier ethnographic research, without actually doing the research itself again. In that sense it is a hypothetical study.Practical implications– Organizational ethnography might have to rethink what it would mean in terms of fieldwork methodologies if it would allow non-human animals as actual agentic stakeholders in the research and analysis. It would at least need to also think in terms of “research methodologies without words” as non-human animals cannot be interviewed.Social implications– The paper is based on a social justice perspective on human-animal relations. It tries to contribute to an intellectual argument to take non-human animals more seriously as “co-citizens” in the (organizational) life world. This may have wide ranging implications for the life styles, ranging from the types of food we eat, to liquids we drink, to the ways we think about the human superiority in this world.Originality/value– A highly self-reflexive account of the author’s earlier organizational ethnographic work, showing what it means theoretically if we take non-human animals seriously in organizational ethnographic research and analysis. At the same time it shows quite painfully organizational ethnography’s speciecist approach to research methodologies and processes of organizing.

‘Do You Respect Me?’ Drinking as a Social Catalyst in the Reindeer Herding Communities of European Russia and Western Siberia

This paper 1 analyses alcohol consumption amongst the indigenous communities of reindeer herders in the Russian North. It introduces the metaphor of the social catalyst to interpret a broad range of effects and motivations linked with drinking practices and discourses associated with alcohol. An anthropologi- cal fieldwork methodology allows entry into the sphere of cultural intimacy in order to understand morally suspicious practices usually hidden from the outside world. A non-normative approach is suggested to escape the moral trap of the 'social problem' discourse. Two main patterns of drinking practices, the 'losing face together' and the 'competitive drinking' spree are identified. Whereas the first can be associated with local traditions, the second is linked with male inter- action with and within the settler communities. Transgressive practices causing loss of control are examined for their social function and the different notions of 'strength' associated with drinking practices. All of them serve either to confirm, to transcend or to abandon social boundaries, status roles and relationships, which allows us to speak about alcohol as a social catalyst.

THE EARLY BYZANTINE SETTLEMENT AT LEUKOS, KARPATHOS

This article presents the methodology and results of archaeological fieldwork conducted at the small fifth to sixth centuryadport settlement at Leukos on the island of Karpathos in the Dodecanese. Fieldwork, undertaken from 2008 to 2011, comprised topographic, architecture and artefact surveys of the visible remains.

Imaging/Imagining Craftwork

This special issue is based on the proceedings of an anthropological workshop organized at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. It took the unique approach of reflecting on the intersection between the subdisciplines of visual anthropology and the anthropology of craftwork. Still and moving images are routinely used by anthropologists of crafts and techniques, yet the literature investigating such images critically is scarce. Arguably images of craft-making have certain characteristics that make them stand out as special cases of visual data derived from ethnographic research. Contributors here reflect critically on their own image-making practices in the field, and address a range of issues relating to fieldwork methodology, images of craft as objects in their own right, and participatory image-making practices.

Variational pragmatics and responding to thanks – revisited

Abstract In 2005, Klaus P. Schneider published a fascinating article with the title “‘No problem, you’re welcome, anytime’: Responding to thanks in Ireland, England, and the U.S.A.”. Adopting the then emerging and now established framework of variational pragmatics, Schneider’s pioneering paper presents the results of a study on differences between responses to thanks across different varieties of English using experimental discourse completion tasks (DCTs). The paper at hand revisits this cross-varietal analysis and presents the results of an empirical investigation of this same speech act based on natural data collected with the help of Labovian-style fieldwork methodology common in variationist sociolinguistics. The results reveal fundamental differences between the two data types and underline the fact that these different datasets address different research questions. The findings also highlight the existence of regional variation in the use of this speech act in spontaneous real-life interaction. Finally, the paper also puts forward the term imbalance reducer after thanks (IRAT) as a more appropriate term for the speech act of responding to thanks.

Why Did I Not Prepare for This? The Politics of Negotiating Fieldwork Access, Identity, and Methodology in Researching Microfinance Institutions

It has been increasingly recognized that undertaking qualitative research can pose many challenges for researchers. However, scanty literature focuses directly on the experiences of doctoral research students from developing countries studying in Western Europe and other similar geographic regions, and the challenges of doing fieldwork when they return “back home.” In this article, I use my experiences in the process of undertaking PhD fieldwork on two donor-funded microfinance institutions located in Zambia to demonstrate that doctoral students from specific regions (Africa in particular) undertaking research in their native countries can struggle to manage and make sense of the challenges and identity issues raised in their “familiar” environments. I also present a detailed discussion of how various gatekeepers and participants facilitated access, identity alteration, and the impact of insider–outsider positionality on collected data. It is concluded that organizational “politics” and local context can have significant bearing on power relationships, identities of researchers, and methodological preferences.

Activities PUC Water works: Kraljevo on reducing non revenue water

PUC 'Water' Kraljevo by forming the Department for measurement and leak detection in mid-2009 continues more actively to work on reducing of The Non-Revenue Water (NRW). In the past few years that there is the Department, the methodology of fieldwork, the methodology for data processing and analysis, as well as the procedure for giving work orders to remedy the problems in this area are established. As a product of that work and work on the mathematical model, the realization of activities in the planning of based zones balancing and reduction of pressure in the high pressure zones has started. The implementation of these activities began in late 2014. The subject of this paper, in addition to practical experiences and work methodology of the Department for measurement and leak detection, are the formation of DMA zones as a basis for the future permanent monitoring of the water supply system.

How field linguists have been investigating linguistic diversity: Commentary on Davis, Gillon, and Matthewson

How field linguists have been investigating linguistic diversity:Commentary on Davis, Gillon, and Matthewson Willem de Reuse I begin by congratulating Davis, Gillon, and Matthewson (DG&M; 2014) on this clear, eloquent, provocative, and insightful article. There are many points in this article on which the so-called ‘D-linguists’ and ‘C-linguists’ will wholeheartedly agree, regardless of their theoretical backgrounds. My comments focus on five areas where a more nuanced approach might have been helpful. I conclude with a substantial objection to the article. This objection has more to do with DG&M’s perception of fieldwork as conducted and defined by ‘D-linguists’ than with the investigation of linguistic diversity. I first consider the following statement in the ‘fieldwork methodologies’ section (p. e189): Of course, this [reliance on grammatical intuitions of native speakers—WdR] entails a methodological commitment to the validity of such intuitions. In our own experience, we have found that our consultants—many of whom do not read or write their first language, and almost none of whom have any formal training in linguistics—are remarkably consistent in their judgments of very complex structures, over literally years of elicitation. To evaluate this quote fairly, let me be clear that we agree on the validity of intuitions, and that intuitions are useful in semantic and syntactic elicitation, indeed in any sort of elicitation. What puzzles me in the quote above is the assertion that linguistically unsophisticated speakers are ‘remarkably consistent’ and are this way ‘over literally years of elicitation’. My own experience with speakers of two endangered languages of North America, Western Apache of Arizona (twenty years of fieldwork experience) and Hän Athabaskan of Alaska and Yukon Territory (seven years of fieldwork experience), is surprisingly different. Like the authors, I cultivate and value a close personal and collaborative relationship with the speakers of these languages, but I do not find this remarkable consistency at all. On the contrary, speakers change their minds over the years. Not only do they change their minds regarding judgments, but they even provide volunteered forms that directly contradict forms volunteered earlier. There is not only interspeaker variation, but intraspeaker variation as well. It is not unusual for the same speaker to volunteer a form and, a few weeks, months, or years later, reject it as something s/he would never say. So let me say that I am puzzled by DG&M’s report of the consistency of the Northwest Coast speakers. I must assume that the elders of this area are more native-language dominant and/or have much better language recall. It may be that the authors report more consistency because their focus is on syntactic and semantic elicitation, whereas most of my Athabaskan fieldwork involves morphological elicitation. But then again, I see no reason why syntactic or semantic complexity would be more amenable to consistency than morphological complexity. If anything, I would expect morphology to be more stable than syntax. In any case, our contradictory experiences are worthy of mention. Of course, the degree of language endangerment has something to do with it. Speakers of Western Apache, part of a community of c. 6,000 speakers, are not nearly as inconsistent [End Page e227] in their judgments as are the nine remaining speakers of Hän Athabaskan. It is well known that terminal speakers tend to increase morphological complexity and do so in inconsistent ways, as documented for a Scottish Gaelic variety by Dorian (1981). My second comment has to with §3.1, ‘Condition C meets Nuu-chah-nulth’. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the data or DG&M’s conclusion that condition C does not hold in the Nuu-chah-nulth language (or in other languages). What I am curious about is n. 13 (p. e191), reproduced in full here: As has been known at least since G. Evans 1980, these judgments can be affected by focus, or more broadly by a distinction between presupposed and asserted content. Focus has been controlled for in the Nuu-chah-nulth examples given here. But how does one reliably control for focus when eliciting data from elderly speakers of an endangered language? One has to find...

Land Use Dataset Collection And Publication Based On Lucas And Hilucs

Abstract Spatial data have become very important phenomena within the last decade in Europe due to a strong support from the political spectrum with regard to related legislation and resulting in financial support to several research, educational, and enlargement projects. INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) Directive indeed defines the principles for the harmonization of spatial data infrastructure in the European community, including Land Use and Land Cover data themes. INSPIRE defines a methodology on how to transform datasets to common data models, but it does not cover the process of data collection and update, because it is out of its scope. Evaluation of the Land Use dataset derived from remote sensing products complemented by fieldworks has been realized since 2006 by Eurostat within the LUCAS (Land Use and Cover Area frame Survey) project. The work presented in this paper follows the LUCAS fieldwork methodology, which was applied during the fieldwork in July 2014 in the City of Zagreb (Croatia), to use at the local (municipal) geoportal level. The surveying groups collected point features with the following data type attributes: Land Use codes defined by HILUCS (Hierarchical INSPIRE Land Use Classification System) and optional Land Cover codes defined by LUCAS classification. In addition, photographs representing the observed areas were collected by cameras embedded in the mobile GIS platforms. An update of original topological layer was performed and Web GIS components for sharing the newly developed datasets were implemented. The results presented provide a suitable proposal for fieldworks methodology and updates of a land use database in line with the INSPIRE directive applicable at a local spatial data infrastructure level.

The yin and yang of introducing a sales culture: the Amalgam Bank Case

Purpose– The purpose of this study was to explore the introduction of a “sales culture” at one of the ten largest US banks. Identifying and analyzing the existing human relations problems should enable constructive competitive improvements to be made in the future.Design/methodology/approach– The major findings of our interviews with tellers and customer service representatives are compared to how the managers presented the sales culture, as well as the relevant cultural literature. The metaphor of the yin and the yang will be used to shed light on the tense and fluctuating interconnection of certain phenomenon.Findings– Amalgam Bank’s sales did increase, but unanticipated problems also surfaced. The new sales duties slowed service and irritated customers. The teller referral quota proved unrealistic. The sales incentive point system provided little motivation. The negative tended to be stressed in sales meetings. When employees raised concerns, their managers replied with silencing behaviors. Further, there were double standards, lessened career opportunities and some inconsistent managerial practices. Increased turnover and resistance ensued. Addressing these problems should bring the parties’ interests into better balance and produce a more stable and competitive culture.Research limitations/implications– Doing a comparative analysis can confirm what aspects of the sales culture literature are relevant and where inductive modifications might be called for. Consideration needs to be given to what results might be due to a poor managerial implementation, and what results can be attributed to the conflicting aspects of the original service-oriented culture and the new sales culture. More fieldwork needs to be done to provide confirmation for these findings and expand upon them.Practical implications– Both theory and practice could be improved by integrating material from anthropology, sociology, human relations, organization culture and marketing.Social implications– This paper focused on the social issue of culture change. Utilizing competitiveness as an outcome variable, the social implications of this study are tremendous.Originality/value– This study goes back to the roots of the Human Relations movement: fieldwork. In an era where most scholars hand out surveys and analyze corresponding numbers, the current authors actually went out in the field and meticulously interviewed the subjects. This increased the quality and depth of the survey, while providing a true barometer of the reaction to the proposed culture change. Although this method of study is not original, it is hardly ever done anymore in a “survey-driven” research environment. This fieldwork methodology is one of the most important contributions of this paper.

Should I stay or should I go? Incorporating a commitment to fieldwork throughout an academic career

In this paper, four researchers who share a commitment to applied research and fieldwork methodologies reflect on the ambiguities associated with maintaining and adapting this commitment to changing professional, personal, and contextual situations. The authors focus on the use of fieldwork for the study and support of agricultural change in sub-Saharan Africa, as an example of a setting and topic in which long-term work in the field can improve understanding and support contextualized development. In analyzing a range of experiences associated with maintaining and adapting fieldwork approaches, we complicate and build upon the assertion that professional development pulls international development practitioners and applied researchers away from the field. The experiences analyzed in this paper suggest that the situation of changing orientations toward the field is not dichotomous, and that instead, a commitment to fieldwork can result in innovative approaches to remaining at least partially focused ‘outward’ and ‘downward.’ We argue that the epistemological underpinning of situated fieldwork, which recognizes partiality in knowledge and understanding, also requires reflexivity on the part of applied researchers. The reflections and analysis presented here broaden and ground conversations about research ethics, methodological consistencies, and innovative approaches to fieldwork.

General Pitt-Rivers and the Evolutionist Anthropologists

The twentieth-century discipline of social anthropology, with its reliance on fieldwork methodology, grew out of the work of nineteenth-century evolutionist anthropology as expounded by John Lubbock, J. F. McLennan, E. B. Tylor, and others. In this article I show how General Pitt-Rivers ignored the ideas of these writers and how his own approach thus became irrelevant to the development of social anthropology as a discipline in the United Kingdom.

Neanderthal settlement patterns during MIS 4–3 in Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain)

A 314 km2 archaeological survey in Sierra de Atapuerca between 1999 and 2003 found 180 open air settlements. The objectives of this study were twofold: to develop a fieldwork methodology with full-coverage and high-intensity that would permit the discovery of all prehistoric settlements in and around Sierra de Atapuerca; and to document and study the Upper Pleistocene, the only hitherto unknown period in the Sierra de Atapuerca, as it has not been preserved in the caves under excavation, and also the groups which inhabited Atapuerca at this time, the Neanderthals. Results from 31 Middle Palaeolithic sites confirm the inhabitation of the Sierra in MIS 4–3 and show settlement patterns of hunter–gatherer groups which inhabited Sierra de Atapuerca in the Upper Pleistocene.

Un fil d’Ariane dans le Dendi

In 2012, Lucie Smolderen started a study of the textile industry techniques in the Dendi region (North Benin). However, all activity in this domain had been abandoned forty years before. Direct observation of the techniques in their original context was thus impossible and she was obliged to resort to systematic interviews with ex-artisans in order to conduct her study. During these interviews, ex-spinners often proposed demonstrations of their former activity. Considering these technical reconstitutions – and the concrete circumstances in which the interviews themselves took place – led to a rethinking of her fieldwork methodology. The contextualized approach, as it is developed here, changes the epistemological status of the reconstitutions themselves. They are not mere demonstrations of the technical act, but become privileged channels of access to a global social environment that has disappeared. This article proposes to follow the development of these ideas, which like Ariane’s thread guide us through the labyrinth of the fieldwork. Illustrator Romain Minguet’s artwork contributes to a more global and immersive understanding of the complexity of the relationships between the observer and the observed, the present and the past, the technical and the social aspects of this type of study.

Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change

Understanding the challenge that climate change poses and crafting appropriate adaptation and mitigation mechanisms requires input from the breadth of the natural and social sciences. Anthropology's in-depth fieldwork methodology, long engagement in questions of society-environment interactions and broad, holistic view of society yields valuable insights into the science, impacts and policy of climate change. Yet the discipline's voice in climate change debates has remained a relatively marginal one until now. Here, we identify three key ways that anthropological research can enrich and deepen contemporary understandings of climate change.

Fuzzy Frontiers: A Performative Materialization of Intentionality

"Borders, Corridors, and Lines of Desire: Outposts of Improvisation on the Unmarked" is a large-scale, interdisciplinary, performative research project that aims to bring together our involvement with improvisation and our interest in ethnographically addressing the forces that expand and constrain culturally inflected ways of being throughout the borderlands of South Texas (USA). Borders and borderlands have long captured the attention of scholars and critically informed artists who rightfully regard these interstatial environs as frontiers of identity, where states are at "the extremity of their power" to shape the quotidian lives of the people who actually inhabit these fuzzy frontiers. In this project, we are interested in investigating, contemplating, processing, and communicating how individuals (either acting alone or collectively) are able to exercise their agency in responding to and challenging global flows, and how improvisation (as both a critical musicking practice and a fieldwork methodology) might move and illuminate this agency. Several key questions that are carrying us into our research project include: Does improvisation engender strong, flexible identities in individuals? Or do individuals with strong, flexible identities gravitate toward improvisation? To what extent does improvisation already play a part in the circulation of ethical dialogue and action throughout South Texas? How can one claim all of one's personal histories without locking oneself into fixed models that placate to the contours of iconic images? Could our research provide a critical localized and humanized perspective of what Appadurai has called "globalization from below"?

Between external prescription and local practice The uses of official knowledge by adult education professionals in Portugal

This article presents the results of research where the main objective was to achieve a better understanding of the uses made by professionals in the adult education sphere of the official knowledge that provides the framework and guidelines for their work. The study was undertaken using Bernsteins theoretical model of the structure of official pedagogical discourse, and employed an essentially ethnographic fieldwork methodology to analyse the work of a team of adult education specialists working in a local development association in the north of Portugal. The results of the study show that the team was able to make both reproductive and recontextualising use of official knowledge, thereby demonstrating that, even in workplaces where external prescription is extremely influential, it is possible to put official knowledge to alternative i.e. more effective, locally-adapted use.