Chapter 1 Introduction

This volume draws its inspiration from perspectives that have developed over the last few decades in media anthropology. These include seminal works such as Bourdieu’s (1993 ) analysis of cultural production, Larkin’s (2008 ) study of the impact of media technologies on cultural form and Ginsburg’s (1995a , 2002 ) work on indigenous media. Methodologically, the volume relies heavily on ethnography; each of the contributions is grounded in qualitative research. Most of the chapters are based upon data that their authors collected while doing long-term research. Typically, such research involves building up lasting relationships with one’s interlocutors, learning about their ideas, attitudes and practices by accompanying them in everyday life. Taken together, the various contributions explore how media that is made for audiences deemed indigenous is produced, shared, and viewed or ‘consumed’. The chapters explore the social and political impact of old and new media technologies and media content in relation to the (re)formulation, contestation and (re)defi nition of mediatised representations of indigeneity, and how this bears upon perceptions and conceptualisations of nation in South Asia

Improviseerimisoskuse arendamiseks kasutatavad meetodid Eesti kesk- ­ja kõrgema astme muusikakoolide rütmimuusika kitarriõppes

Minu lõputöö uurib kitarriõppe valdkonda rütmimuusika erialal Eesti kesk- ja kõrgastme muusikakoolides. Nendeks koolideks on G. Otsa nimeline Tallinna Muusikakool, H. Elleri nimeline Tartu Muusikakool, Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia ning Tartu Ülikooli Viljandi Kultuuriakadeemia (TÜ VKA). Antud teemat ajendas mind uurima kolmeaastane töökogemus TÜ VKA-s, kus õpetades olen hakanud otsima ja katsetama meetodeid, mis aitaksid tudengitel luua tugevat baasi kitarril improviseerimisel ja oma helikeele leidmisel, seda eriti jazzmuusika stiilis.http://www.ester.ee/record=b5142914*es

Reimagining spaces, species and societies in the Himalayas

Himalayan environments have changed, and are changing, due to the ways in which people have interpreted, sourced, and utilised them. Scholarly analysis of the transformations induced, be it in deforestation, dam building or glacial melt, foreground how man is shaping the world in the Anthropocene. Alternatively, multispecies studies have shown how people invariably depend on, and are being shaped, by the dedicated environments in which they find themselves. Rather than people existing independent of these, their lives are the product of ‘co-becoming’ (Country et al 2016: 1) or ‘becoming-with’ (Haraway 2008: 12) a variety of spaces and species. In relation to the Himalayas, the two angles of enquiry outlined above have so far seldom been combined. In an attempt to engage with this lacuna, the contributions to this special issue scrutinise the changing framing and interpretation of human and non-human relationships, and the way these find expression in everyday life. At the same time, the contributions explore how large-scale interventions instigated by state making, development initiatives and the expansion of commercial ventures have transformed, and continue to transform, mountain spaces and species, generating new societal contexts in which these acquire new meanings.Global Challenges (FSW

Performing the Garo nation? Garo Wangala dancing between faith and folklore.

Global Challenges (FSW

Negotiating life: Garo death rituals and the transformation of society

Negotiating Life analyzes the funerals of the Garo, a matrilineal hill society of the Indian State of Meghalaya. Garo funerals serve to dispose of the corpse, and to guide the soul of the deceased to the afterworld. In addition, the rituals allow for the reorganization of social relationships among people and their Houses. Mortuary rituals are instrumental in the transformation of the dead from social persons into anonymous ancestors. Particularly in the latter sense, the dead are a source of authority and prestige, and play an important role in structuring social relationships among people. The author argues that Garo mortuary rituals derive much of their significance from the transfer of gifts between representatives of the deceased and the people who attend a mortuary ritual. The kind of gifts that can be offered depend on the relationship that people trace to the deceased. The acceptance and rejection of these gifts is decided in processes of negotiation. Consequently, gift exchange plays an important role in defining and (re)constructing social relationships. It is shown that people's participation in rituals of death is of structural importance to Garo society and allows them to reconstruct life in the context of death.LEI Universiteit LeidenThe Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Tropical Research (NWO-WOTRO, the Hague); the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (New Delhi); Leids Universitair Fonds (LUF)Interculturele studie van literatuur en samenlevin

Who owns the hills? Ownership, inequality, and communal sharing in the borderlands of India

Across the uplands of Northeast India, sedentary forms of agriculture are gradually replacing shifting cultivation. In the process, land holdings are becoming “privatized.” As commonly held land becomes inaccessible or dis- appears, and mechanisms that formerly called for the redistribution of wealth transform, social inequality increases. The location of the Garo Hills at the border with Bangladesh renders the area a peripheral borderland, in which the Indian state exerts its presence. In his historical analysis of upland societies of the Zomia massif, James Scott (2009) emphasizes how the modern state strives to control and “make taxable” all of its subjects. For Tania Murray Li (2014), the development of neoliberal markets is the primary driver of change, as she shows based on long-term research in rural Central Sulawesi (Indone- sia). While the effects of both these transformative forces can be clearly felt, in the Garo Hills the ongoing dissolution of communally managed land and the creation of privately owned plots is nonetheless held in check by the persistent social obligation to maintain at least a certain degree of communal sharing. This article is a contribution to a special issue on ‘Agrarian Change in Zomia’, guest-edited by Erik de Maaker and Deborah E. Tooker.W07.04.030.249Global Challenges (FSW

LDE HERITAGE CONFERENCE on Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals:

Heritage—natural and cultural, material and immaterial—plays a key role in the development of sustainable cities and communities. Goal 11, target 4, of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasizes the relation between heritage and sustainability. The International LDE Heritage conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals, which took place from 26 to 28 November 2019 at TU Delft in the Netherlands, examined the theories, methodologies, and practices of heritage and SDGs. It asked: How is heritage produced and defined? By whom and in what contexts? What are the conceptions of sustainability, and in what ways are these situational and contextual? How can theoretical findings on heritage and SDGs engage with heritage practice? The conference built on the multidisciplinary expertise of academics in the humanities, social, and spatial sciences, notably the interdisciplinary crossover research program, Design & History, the new theme of Heritage Futures at TU Delft, on active collaboration within the LDE Center for Global Heritage and Development (CGHD), and on heritage-related research conducted by the three partner universities Leiden, Delft and Erasmus in Rotterdam by further associated partners in the consortium and internationally. At TU Delft the research programs bring together different departments and disciplines: architecture, urbanism, history, landscape architecture, real estate and management, and engineering. They aim to further an interdisciplinary understanding of the transformation of the built environment and, through the consistent use of the past, to enable buildings, cities, and landscapes to become more sustainable, resource-efficient, resilient, safe, and inclusive. Researchers from Leiden University approach heritage from a broad variety of disciplinary perspectives, such as archaeology, museum studies, cultural anthropology, and area studies. Heritage research at Leiden University explores processes of heritage creation, and the appreciation and evaluation of material and immaterial heritage, to gain new insights into the cultural constitution of societies. Creating, acknowledging, and contesting heritage tends to be politically sensitive as it involves assertions and redefinitions of memory and identity. History and social studies scholars from Erasmus University in Rotterdam add further insights into heritage practice. This conference created a setting where academics and heritage practitioners could explore these questions from specific perspectives. It brought together 120 academics and practitioners keen to develop their understanding of and their input into heritage conservation, and to increase their contributions towards the development of sustainable cities and communities. The three-day conference combined a variety of formats. Participants engaged in nine academic sessions with peer-reviewed papers, eight roundtables on strategic goals, and six workshops spent applying specific methods and tools