Toward a Method of Industrial Ethnology

Paper by Frederick C. Gams

Foreword

Foreword by Frederick C. Gams

The Diesel-Electric Locomotive as a Work Environment: A Study in Applied Anthropology

Paper by Frederick C. Gams

Election Monitoring in Oromia: What Are the Conditions for Democracy?

Professor Gamst, a member of the Joint International Observer group (JIOG), reports the problems he monitored during the 1992 electoral campaign and voting activities in the strife-ridden region of Oromia in Ethiopia. His analyses illuminate the background institutional barriers and the politically competitive reasons for the failure of the elections. Gamst discusses the nature of the multitudinous Oromo people and the consequences of any election victory by them for the destiny of Ethiopia. He also describes the sometimes violent aftermaths of the failed election of 1992 and its follow-up election of 1994, in which the Oromo were again denied reasonable participation in government. He closes questioning of U.S. policy and its relation to the election failure

21–25 July 2003 in Hamburg: 15th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies

Conference ReviewATTENTION: Due to copy-right no online publication is provided

Interruptions, discussion de midi et cercles de soutien. Une ethnographie de la réparation collective dans la restauration des locomotives à vapeur

peer reviewedChristophe Lejeune addresses nostalgia through the study of a peculiar Belgian steam engine restoration association. Through participant observation of the volunteer’s activities, Lejeune provides a vivid account of the heterogenous resources mobilized to preserve heritage locomotives. He shows that repair relies on the circles of other members for deliberation, advice, and assistance. Shop talks not only plan gestures; they accompany, inflect and instruct actions, in a continuously reconsidered process. In addition, repair hinges upon technical and material resources, available through a dedicated collection of decommissioned rolling stock (used as design models and for spare parts), as well as contacts in national railroad companies. Such sociotechnical networks make possible the collaborative renovation of antique trains and the enhancement of their instrumental and aesthetic qualities