Materialni vidiki transnacionalnih družbenih polj. Uvod

The author argues that ethnographic insights into migrants’ personal relations achieved through objects, and their involvement in social networks proved through objects, can open up new avenues of understanding and contribute to the creation of new conceptual lenses in studies of migration. Conceptual and methodological issues are discussed, and the themes outlined, that connect ethnographic examples presented in the contributions to this section. Most important is the reconsideration of the migrants’ presupposed collective identities. The claims to and representations of (usually ethnic) belonging may be detached from the ways in which people fashion their transnational social fields.Avtorica trdi, da etnografski vpogledi v osebna razmerja migrantov skozi objekte in njihovo udeležbo v družbenih mrežah, kot se kaže skozi objekte, lahko odprejo nove načine razumevanja migracij in prispevajo k ustvarjanju novih konceptualnih vidikov preučevanja le-teh. Avtorica razpravlja o konceptualnih in metodoloških problemih in oriše teme, ki povezujejo etnografske primere, ki so predstavljeni v prispevkih tega tematskega slopa. Najpomembnejša tema je premislek predpostavljenih kolektivnih identitetah imigrantov. Prisvajanja in reprezentacije (ponavadi etnične) pripadnosti so morda ločene od načinov oblikovanja lastnih transnacionalnih družbenih polj

"EKSPERIMENTALNA" ETNIČNOST: SUSRETI U DIJASPORI

Methodological pragmatism is more often than not employed in ethnographic enterprises, but not often discussed. Claiming that methodological discussions are most fruitful when referring to concrete research topics and the researcher\u27s dilemmas in the field, the author discusses pragmatic uses of her own self in constructing the field. Referring primarily to the shared ethnicity as the "experimental arena", she proposes an evaluation of the heuristic potentials of her meetings with people in diasporic contexts, and reveals some of the fieldwork situations important for gaining ethnological insights.Danas je antropologe i etnologe suvišno podsjećati na naivnost pozitivističkog pristupa etnografskom istraživanju. Svijest o političkom kontekstu svekolikog znanstvenog rada, o promjenjivom etnografskom autoritetu, o retorici i moći, te o ograničenjima etnografskih prikaza, postala je preduvjetom vrsnih etnografija, posebno onih koje se bave suvremenim pojavama i iskustvima. Jasno je da istraživač nije neutralan promatrač, već da svojim interakcijama s ljudima o kojima piše, pa i samom svojom prisutnošću u situacijama koje opisuje, utječe na takozvanu "građu". U ovome se radu raspravlja o situacijama u kojima je prisutnost istraživača ključni elemenat konstrukcije terena. Pritom je pojam konstrukcije terena (iz naslova zbornika urednice Vered Amit, u kojemu je iscrpno obrazložen) smatran dobrodošlom korekcijom etnološkog žargona prema kojemu etnolog "odlazi na teren". Iako je temeljem brojnih etnoloških radova, o metodološkom se pragmatizmu rijetko piše. Smatrajući da je metodološke diskusije najumjesnije voditi oko konkretnih tema istraživanja i dvojbi tijekom terenskog rada, autorica na primjerima razlaže uporabu svojih osobnih iskustava u dolaženju do istraživačkih uvida i pisanju etnografskog teksta. Prikazujući etničku pripadnost koju dijeli s ljudima čije stavove i aktivnosti istražuje kao "eksperimentalnu arenu", vrednuje heurističke potencijale svojih susreta s ljudima u dijaspori. Pokazuje zašto je u njezinu istraživanju među Hrvatima u Švedskoj terenski rad "intersubjektivni modus objektivizacije", kako ga definira Kirsten Hastrup, te zašto je etnografski tekst "prikaz intersubjektivnog svijeta terenskog rada" induciran prisutnošću istraživača. Prema toj paradigmi istraživač nije onaj koji promatra, već onaj koji vidi. Znanje ne počiva na opservaciji, nego na uvidu. Etnografski je rad naime bitno obilježen sučeljavanjem, a tek površno promatranjem. Zato tekst pisan na temelju terenskog rada nužno implicira i autobiografske momente. Autorica smatra da etnografsko pismo nije svodivo na metodu; upravo autorski značaj i oslanjanje na osobno iskustvo čine i pisanje i čitanje etnografskih tekstova posebno zanimljivima. To nastoji potkrijepiti prikazom terenskih situacija koje koristi za promišljanje promjenjivih pozicija insider-a i outsider-a – u istraživačkom, ali i u širem kontekstu etničke pripadnosti

Material Practices of Being and Belonging in Transnational Social Fields

Autorica predlaže preusmjeravanje interesa za predmete kao reprezentaciju društvenih odnosa prema samoj materijalnosti predmeta u transnacionalnim migracijskim kontekstima. Više pažnje valja posvetiti onome što ljudi čine da bi održali veze kojima su konstituirani transnacionalni društveni prostori. Te su veze bitno materijalno određene, a često i ovisne o predmetima koje migranti nose, šalju, primaju i koriste. Primarnost istraživačkog fokusa na diskurse identiteta i pripadanja upitna je; razumijevanje bivanja – praksi i iskustava u kojima predmeti igraju važnu ulogu – nužno je za razumijevanje načina na koji ljudi (p)ostaju akterima u transnacionalnim društvenim prostorima.The author suggests the shifting of interest from the object of representation of social relationships to the material nature of objects in transnational migrational contexts. More attention has to be dedicated to what people do in order to maintain links which constitute transnational social spaces. Those links are materially defined and frequently depend on objects the migrants carry, send, accept and use. Setting research focus on the discourses of identity and belonging is questionable; understanding of being – practices and living experiences in which objects play the vital role is essential for understanding the ways in which people become and remain active agents in transnational social spaces

Material Practices of Being and Belonging in Transnational Social Fields

Autorica predlaže preusmjeravanje interesa za predmete kao reprezentaciju društvenih odnosa prema samoj materijalnosti predmeta u transnacionalnim migracijskim kontekstima. Više pažnje valja posvetiti onome što ljudi čine da bi održali veze kojima su konstituirani transnacionalni društveni prostori. Te su veze bitno materijalno određene, a često i ovisne o predmetima koje migranti nose, šalju, primaju i koriste. Primarnost istraživačkog fokusa na diskurse identiteta i pripadanja upitna je; razumijevanje bivanja – praksi i iskustava u kojima predmeti igraju važnu ulogu – nužno je za razumijevanje načina na koji ljudi (p)ostaju akterima u transnacionalnim društvenim prostorima.The author suggests the shifting of interest from the object of representation of social relationships to the material nature of objects in transnational migrational contexts. More attention has to be dedicated to what people do in order to maintain links which constitute transnational social spaces. Those links are materially defined and frequently depend on objects the migrants carry, send, accept and use. Setting research focus on the discourses of identity and belonging is questionable; understanding of being – practices and living experiences in which objects play the vital role is essential for understanding the ways in which people become and remain active agents in transnational social spaces

How Does Place Matter to Highly Skilled Migrants? Work/Non-work Experiences of International Physicians in Norway and Sweden

The article tackles the question of how place matters to migrant physicians in the regions of Agder in Norway and Skåne in Sweden by exploring how place-specific conditions affect their experiences in the work, private, family and social domains of life. For this purpose, the article uses thematic analysis of the narrative material gathered through 25 semi-structured interviews. The lens of work/non-work domains, combined with a practice-oriented approach to place, highlights the complexity of lived experiences as they evolve in a particular context. Three main findings are identified: the non-homogenous significance of place across life domains, the vital role of transborder connections and obligations that affect individual and family resources for work/non-work negotiations in the place of settlement and the limits to the skill-based privileges in the place of settlement, which are notable in the domain of work but not replicated in non-work domains.publishedVersio

Conceptualising Continuity: A Material Culture Perspective on Transnational Social Fields

Positioned at the intersection between ethnology, migration research and studies of material culture, the article argues for recognising the importance of the material layers of transnational social fields. Drawing on Levitt and Glick Schiller’s analytical distinction between ways of being and ways of belonging, it exemplifies how a material culture perspective contributes to a balanced understanding of migrants’ lives as positioned in both material and discursive terms and equally importantly formed by practices as by representations. Three theoretical statements, grounded in the analysis of ethnographic material, are elaborated in the article. They refer to the presence of objects in another location, the continuity of practices perceived as normal, and the practice-based feeling of emplacement. Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and Hage’s discussion of hexis are used to explain the interconnectedness of these statements. The article suggests that studying the changes of habitus that occur due to migration is needed for a deeper understanding of the processes of migrant emplacement through practice