Getting to know my neighbours in the shadow of war
A fieldnote from Jaffa, Israel/Palestine (January 2014)
The Copenhagen Killing
In Denmark 25,000 small pigs die everyday, but it was the killing of a young male giraffe named Marius that caught the international attention. The killing also reveals the fine line between science and emotions, nature and culture and, yet again, the potential of the internet to quickly turn local events into global discussions.
Migration and things: little stuff that sometimes matters
What do people take into their luggage when they change their countries of residence? How does their attachment to things, places and people change over time?
What a woman should be like
A fieldnote from a hairdressing salon in Munich, Germany (December 2013)
Slovaks – a nation without memory?
It has become standard to speak about nation as if it were a living being. People can remember, but is it possible for a nation to remember too?
The rise of humanities in the new economy
Skills from human and social science are asked for because they produce value. Export companies ask for students with language skills and cultural knowledge, consulting companies ask for project managers with great communication skills, food producers hire cultural analysts that understand consumerism.