Clothes Talk: Youth Modernities and Commodity Consumption in Dakar, Senegal

Based on twelve months of fieldwork in Dakar, Senegal and funded by the Wenner Gren Foundation, this thesis examines how in the context of contemporary globalization, increased volumes of luxury commodities shape the modern consciousness of individuals in a developing African city. This project specifically examines this phenomenon through a study of youth clothing consumption. Dakar is a consumer society with particular consumer dynamics. In addition to class, patron-clientage and kinship are central to understanding contemporary patterns of consumption in Dakar. Clothing is a commodity that has been radically altered by urbanization and the globalization of manufacturing processes and advertising. Clothing is also a realm of cultural expression that has particular importance to Dakarois and it is the focus of many urban consumption competitions. In this study, the cultural dynamics of clothing consumption are examined through an integrated lens of the private and public dimensions of commodities. A balanced examination of the symbolic meanings and patterns of circulation and exchange reveals how youth are critical to an understanding of Dakar clothing practices and Senegalese consumption competitions in general. It illuminates how youth are liberated and oppressed by clothing consumption in the current context of globalization. The data for this dissertation was collected using a combination of traditional and non-traditional research methods. In addition to participant observation, household surveys and semi-structured interviews, youth participants produced teen fashion magazines based on their own photography and writings, and authored a street language dictionary. The collaborative research methods adopted in this study demonstrate how anthropology is an additional external force shaping clothing consumption along with transnational migration, media and decentralized production. Dakarois\u27 intense interest and awareness of clothing commodities and competitions are not pure outcomes of globalization or Senegalese cultural life. Rather, they are the result of local and global phenomena intersecting with one another while shaping the relationships between people and things

The Trinity Reporter, November 1996

https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/reporter/2082/thumbnail.jp

Serbian Artistic Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija : identity, significance, vulnerability

The readers of this Catalogue and the visitors of the exhibition Serbian Artistic Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija: Identity, Significance, Vulnerability will be able to discern its essential aims and messages. They have been elaborated and explained in the Collection of Papers to be published during the exhibition. However, we feel that a brief clarification of the selection criteria and the presentation is in order here as well. From the outset the exhibition was conceived in two segments. The aim of the first was to once again remind the Serbian and international public of the fact that the Serbs have inhabited the territory of Kosovo and Metohija for over a thousand years, since the time of Stefan Nemanja to the present day continuously fostering diverse artistic activities that have produced a remarkably rich artistic heritage. In this vast treasury of art, the works created owing to the efforts of Serbian rulers, members of the nobility and highranking church dignitaries are, of course, particularly notable for their beauty and artistic value. Many of them were destroyed a long time ago; some are now kept in international collections; and many monuments are immovable cultural properties that could not be displayed except as copies or video presentations based on the latest technology. Nevertheless, the masterpieces of Serbian art from various development periods are by no means underrepresented here. The exhibition, however, is not anthological in character; instead, it aims to present a comprehensive and unembellished picture of the Serbian artistic heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. Hence, in addition to exhibits of extraordinary esthetic value, it also includes those of a more modest artistic merit which nonetheless bear testament to the willpower and survival efforts invested in preserving the continuity of artistic creation in the difficult Ottoman period of Serbian history. To offer a comprehensive picture of Serbian art in Kosovo and Metohija, the exhibition also showcases selected 20th-century paintings and sculptures by artists who were born in this area. At the first glance and out of the context elaborated above, it might seem that some exhibits do not belong to the field of visual and applied art: monastic charters, typika and beadrolls; ktetorial and funerary inscriptions; various acts of administrative, civil and economic law; and other documents of a similar nature that bear witness to the deep roots of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and their achievements in all spheres of life, which paved the way for the creation of art. No less informative are the incidental notations in manuscripts made by both humble scribes and the highest church dignitaries about their day-to-day affairs and troubles and sometimes even about major events in far-off lands. Valuable evidence on daily life in the medieval period is also found in the selected archeological material collected in various excavations, particularly in Novo Brdo; the group of items from the extensive collection of ethnographical heritage of Kosovo and Metohija offers a glimpse into the urban life of Serbs in this area in the second half of the 19th century. The monumental icons of enthroned Jesus Christ and the enthroned Virgin painted by Longin, a Peć monk and one of the leading Serbian artists from the period of Ottoman rule, have been given pride of place at this exhibition. Made for one of the iconostases in the Church of Christ Pantokrator of the Dečani Monastery, they have been transferred from the monastery treasury to the National Museum in Belgrade and subjected to extensive conservation and restoration works. Although their conservation treatment has yet to be completed, they are displayed here to highlight the importance of the care and commitment of the relevant institutions of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church to the preservation of the cultural heritage of Kosovo and Metohija. Underlining the extraordinary importance of the cultural treasures displayed here for the nation that created them, the exhibition also shows how natural and necessary it is for our institutions to remain involved in its protection. In view of the antagonistic and even destructive attitude of the local Albanian community towards the Serbian artistic heritage, this need is more pressing than ever. The centuries-long history of this attitude is documented in a separate segment of this exhibition – a selection of photographs that provide unambiguous testimony about this continued destruction, which has intensified and become increasingly ruthless in the closing years of the 20th and the first years of the 21st century. This exhibition would not have been possible without the help of numerous institutions and individuals, colleagues and friends. It is our great pleasure to name at least some of those whose efforts went beyond the call of duty and professional commitment and whose dedication warrants wider acknowledgements than those provided in the impressum of this catalogue: first of all, Academician Vladimir S. Kostić, President of SASA, who first suggested this idea and then, as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, did everything in his power – at times, it seems, even more than that – to ensure the best possible presentation of this exhibition. We are also indebted to the other members of the Organizing Committee, particularly Academician Gojko Subotić for his helpful advice and suggestions. His Eminence Teodosije, Bishop of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo- Metohija, has bestowed his blessings and facilitated the display of many works of ecclesiastical art whose absence would have made this exhibition far less comprehensive. Deacon Vladimir Radovanović, Director of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and Bojan Popović, Curator of the Gallery of Frescoes, did everything in their power to provide and prepare the exhibits owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Gallery of Frescoes. We have enjoyed the full support and assistance of Rada Maljković, Curator at the Gallery of SASA, and Jelena Mežinski Milovanović, Deputy Director at the Gallery of SASA. The conservation-restoration treatment of many important exhibits is the result of the diligent efforts of Milodarka Kocev, Conservator- Advisor at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, and Radovan Piljak, Conservator-Advisor at the National Museum of Belgrade. Editorial secretaries Marka Tomić Đurić and Bojana Stevanović, copy editors Ivana Ignjatović and Miljana Protić, and Miroslav Lazić (graphic design and prepress) have shown remarkable dedication in the preparation of this Catalogue. We are especially indebted to the contributors who accepted the daunting task of writing catalogue descriptions in a short time. Nenad Makuljević and Srđan Marković have provided invaluable assistance in the selection of more recent artworks.Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ; 14

Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo

How do keyboards make music playable? Drawing on theories of media, systems, and cultural techniques, Keys to Play spans Greek myth and contemporary Japanese digital games to chart a genealogy of musical play and its animation via improvisation, performance, and recreation. As a paradigmatic digital interface, the keyboard forms a field of play on which the book’s diverse objects of inquiry—from clavichords to PCs and eighteenth-century musical dice games to the latest rhythm-action titles—enter into analogical relations. Remapping the keyboard’s topography by way of Mozart and Super Mario, who head an expansive cast of historical and virtual actors, Keys to Play invites readers to unlock ludic dimensions of music that are at once old and new

The role of founder experience in industrial development: Firm entry, growth and diversification in Pakistan's textile industry during trade liberalisation.

Firm entry, growth and diversification are central drivers of industrial development. However, firms often perform very differently when facing the same institutional environment. Using original data from field research in Pakistan, I find evidence of diverging firm performance in Pakistan's textile industry during trade liberalisation in which only two thirds of Pakistan's textile firms maintain their pre-liberalisation level of exports and market share is gained by better performers. Using data on firm origins and growth, I show how firm performance is related to pre-founder (or Director) experience which includes education, industry-related employment and industry exposure. Representative case studies show that this experience is manifested in the firm's entry strategy, its initial production and organisational capabilities, and persists via its procedures to improve productivity, quality and marketing. In particular, higher managerial quality results in effective recruitment and incentives which enable workers to improve shop-floor performance. Further, I analyse Pakistan's broader industrial diversification to date and show that an increase in competition during trade liberalisation encouraged firm diversification as profitability of the textile sector fell. However, I find that most textile firms and business groups enter protected domestic industries while, in contrast, the founders of firms in higher value-added sectors such as pharmaceuticals and information technology have greater industry-specific education and experience. This further highlights the role of founder experience in shaping industrial diversification and the firm-level roots of growth. In conclusion, I suggest how policy measures to accumulate industry-related experience and increase firm competition could enable low-income countries to break out of the equilibrium of poor industrial development

PROCEEDINGS 5th PLATE Conference

The 5th international PLATE conference (Product Lifetimes and the Environment) addressed product lifetimes in the context of sustainability. The PLATE conference, which has been running since 2015, has successfully been able to establish a solid network of researchers around its core theme. The topic has come to the forefront of current (political, scientific & societal) debates due to its interconnectedness with a number of recent prominent movements, such as the circular economy, eco-design and collaborative consumption. For the 2023 edition of the conference, we encouraged researchers to propose how to extend, widen or critically re-construct thematic sessions for the PLATE conference, and the paper call was constructed based on these proposals. In this 5th PLATE conference, we had 171 paper presentations and 238 participants from 14 different countries. Beside of paper sessions we organized workshops and REPAIR exhibitions

Сборник научных работ студентов Республики Беларусь «НИРС 2012» / редкол.: А. И. Жук (пред.) [и др.]

Сборник включает статьи лауреатов, а также авторов работ первой категории XIX Республиканского конкурса научных работ студентов 2012 года. Статьи рекомендованы к опубликованию редакционной коллегией и печатаются в виде, предоставленном авторами, без дополнительного редактирования