| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to look more closely at the processes involving the adoption of internet in a Nepali mountain village. Two and a half months of fieldwork was performed at a primary school and a cybercafe in Namche Bazaar, Solukhumbu district, Nepal. My aim is to be informative about the processes revolving around the internet in a general global sense. Therefore my thesis is more concerned with the internet than the particular cultural setting of Nepal or Namche. I will be concentrating on the sociotechnical system consisting of the internet, computers and people (both Nepali and tourists). Point one: my approach is informed by the distinction between modern and traditional, which in simplified terms is the degree of reliance on context. For characterisation I am using Edward Hall's categories of high-context and low-context. Point two: my approach is also informed by the critique of point one, of the idea of low-context communication, of context-independence, of abstract modernity. For this I rely on the actor-network theory. Internet used to be seen as a monolithic placeless cyberspace which would make us all similar to each other. My main finding is that this is not always the case. It is a collection of different people doing different things while embedded in their social contexts. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5106 |
| Abstract: | This thesis deals with the way women in Minyanka society are being forced to take on responsibilities that,in former times, were exclusively by their men. for the Minyanka people, control over productive resources has traditionally been centralized in the hands of the head of the household; almost always the husband. it'is been the man of the house who's been in charge of economics decisions and the supervision of family affairs.But nowadays, with such large numbers of men absent from their home villages in search of wage labour, the entire complex of customary gender roles is seriously disrupted. In fact, this constitutes one of the major challenges confronting the nation state. this thesis will, for the most part, focus on what happens to a particular woman after her husband has, more or less permanently, left the family. My main informant is a mother of nine children. I have sought, in my writing - and in the accompanying video - to examine and depict her everyday lifeworld, especially those aspects of it which pertain to the theme of altered gender roles. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5095 |
| Abstract: | In Adjelhoc, women, in most cases, prefer to stay at home throughout their entire pregnancy and to get help in childbirth only from traditional midwives, even if they live near a community health centre which could provide them with modern care. To lessen the gap between the community and the local health workers, DDRK is currently supporting six traditional midwives in Adjelhoc in acquiring modern skills and equipment. Collaborating with DDRK these traditional midwives have been given a new task as middle-persons between the community and professional health workers of bringing women to the health centre both for antenatal visits and for childbirth. The integration of traditional midwives into the local health system is seen as beneficial for health workers. However, traditional midwives, who have always been highly respected because of their knowledge and the vital assistance they offer the community are now having their status threatened due to the reluctance of local women to visit the health centre (especially in earlier stages of their pregnancy). Traditional midwives find themselves in an ambiguous position between the professional health sector (health centre and DDRK) and the community. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3659 |
| Abstract: | The Great Patriotic War was one of the cruelest wars of the twentieth century. Especially great suffering in the USSR it brought to children. They grew up very quickly. This generation did not have childhood; their childhood was embedded in the war. Keeping their war memories alive Galina and Slava Lebedevy as one of the representatives of this generation decided to establish an organization named "Children burnt by war" in Arkhangelsk putting as their main aim the transmission of their knowledge to young generations as a means of creating continuity in society. My initial hypothesis when starting my research was that the war was a major social event that had a decisive influence on the formation of the identities of the elderly people who experienced the war in their early childhood, and that this could be seen as the motivation behind the establishment of this organization. As I started to analyze their narratives and follow their lifelines I discovered that there were other important factors involved. The creation of the organization of the Lebedevys was also a way of adaptation to new conditions of life: lacking support from the state after the breakdown of the USSR they started their struggle for social justice to enhance the life of the people of their generation. They wanted to restore their position in the new society, to regain dignity and counteract the rapidly decreasing respect from the younger generations. Through the establishment of the organization, they have become actively involved themselves into the political life of the city and the country in order to be heard, understood and recognized. Today their organization has a very important meaning and brings positive motivation to the lives of the elderly in Arkhangelsk. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3460 |
| Abstract: | I studied migrant fishermen and their social life in Londji Plage in South of Cameroon. It was to analyze how migrant fishermen integrated the life, how the commercialization of fish is organized, the migrant’s careers, the role of canoe owner’s wives and fishermen’s wives in the economy and the relation between migrant and state bureaucracy. The fishing activity is completely modernized by Nigerian fishermen; they brought new canoes, nets and out board motors. Canoe owners and fishermen are always in conflict, canoe owners accuse fishermen to steal the catch as we see in the film and fishermen also are complaining about the relation between canoe owners and buyers. It is a personal conflict between them. There are differentiation between Nigerians and fishermen from the North in their careers. Nigerians fishermen have an advantage to be canoe owners by inheritance and replacement in the fishing activity. Fishing is a way of livelihood for Nigerian migrant fishermen and has being their occupation for generations. It is difficult for fishermen from the North to be canoe owners because most of them become fishermen in Londji Plage but Hassan is one of the migrants from the North who has a canoe. Northerners can be canoe owners by saving money and collecting the fishing equipment. To integrate the local community migrant fishermen also use interethnic marriage. The wives of canoe owners and fishermen are also involved in the commercialization of fish particularly smoked fish, roasted fish and fried fish. They contribute to the economy of the family and household. In spite of their integration in the life, migrant fishermen from Nigeria are threatened by the police and they have to pay the resident permit each year. But to get access to the fish resource they negotiate with the representative of Minepia and the transaction is beneficial to each other. Keywords: Migrant, fishermen, social field, actors, fishing activity. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10037/3456 |
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