Contribution short abstract:

Sowa Rigpa’s center-periphery dynamics are more evident in the untold lives of its practitioners than in the analytical study of this Tibeto-Himalayan medical system. Its marginalized practitioners participate in the anthropologist’s quest for knowledge. What is and ought to be at stake for both?

Contribution long abstract:

This reflexive essay on the evolving roles of an anthropologist therefore delves into the creation of spaces between activism, personal accountability, and friendship with marginalized communities. Sowa Rigpa medical practitioners (amchi)in the remote regions of Kinnaur and Spiti (Western Himalayas, India) face many challenges, including livelihood, knowledge transmission, and medical legitimacy. A state-led paradigm shift towards modern scientific principles complicates these issues further, along with a focus on institutionally driven research and education. Amchi, their patients, and relatives are increasingly summoned by scientists and anthropologists to participate in documentation and modernization efforts. Still, they also express a meta-narrative that speaks of their frustrations and exhaustion in being approached as subjects of study, not catalysts for policy change or welfare.

Taking a theoretical cue from Gayatri Spivak and her work “Can the Subaltern Speak?” my paper reflects on if the Sub-Altern can indeed speak, who do they want as listeners? What does listening entail, and how can the anthropologist be a conduit for catharsis? What do they want to be done with the things they say? Emphasizing a self-reflective stance, I shift the focus to the questions posed by the people I work with, rather than on predefined research inquiries. I also draw on emotional conversations and Buddhist teachings that led me to dissect my own institutional privilege with the marginalization of ‘non-institutionally trained’ amchi.

Contribution short abstract:

Using autoethnography and African Feminism(s), I explore the impact of changing ecologies on indigenous feminist knowledge, and raise the poignant question of how to pass on life-sustaining traditions when the natural resources essential for these practices are dwindling.

Contribution long abstract:

The Eastern Cape province of South Africa has some of the largest rivers in Southern Africa. Many of the towns through which these rivers run are underdeveloped and isolated from national economic activity and service delivery. As such, Xhosa people- a Bantu ethnic group indigenous to the area- have increasingly relied on rivers for life and livelihoods. With the intensifying and multiple overlapping planetary crises, climate scientists estimate that rivers globally cannot generate sustainable livelihoods for much longer. Less visible is the resultant slow death of cultures and heritage. Xhosa women teach their grandchildren how to make household tools and utensils out of reeds collected along the riverbanks for domestic use and to sell; a common practice which incorporates storytelling and intergenerational knowledge (re)production in crafting. Using autoethnography and African Feminist probing into the attempted erasure of indigenous feminist knowledge as a consequence of changing ecological landscapes, I take seriously the question: When the reeds have all dried out, how do we teach our young the life-sustaining ways of our elders?

Contribution short abstract:

In 2022, I participated in an ethnography film exploring Sheffield's political culture. As an Ethiopian visual anthropologist, I was excited to conduct research in the Global North. However, the experience was more rewarding and complex than anticipated.

Contribution long abstract:

In June 2022, I received an invitation to participate in an ethnographic film exploring the political culture of Sheffield. As an anthropologist from Ethiopia, I was thrilled to conduct fieldwork in the global north. Thus, I embarked on an ethnographic film called "Mugut" Debate: The Wheels of Democracy in Sheffield, ultimately produced in 2024. During my field research, I discovered that while fieldwork in Sheffield was similar to those in remote Ethiopian villages, the work dynamics and co-creation proved challenging. The collaborative process was an enriching experience but required careful consideration and communication to navigate the complexities of a heterogeneous team. I am excited to share my experience during the upcoming roundtable to stimulate a discussion on the boundaries of anthropological research and how we can expand it further in a globalised world.

Keywords

Collaborative ethnography, bargaining power, gatekeepers

Contribution short abstract:

The paper explores how rumors in the Punjab region carry epistemological values, transmitting cultural knowledge and heritage through folklore and stories. It emphasizes the cultural significance of rumors and their vital role in preserving cultural heritage and communal solidarity.

Contribution long abstract:

Through this paper, I would like to delve into the multifaceted role of rumors within the cultural fabric of the Punjab region, specifically examining how rumors serve as a form of academia for its inhabitants. How within this rich cultural tapestry, rumors are vehicles for the transmission of cultural knowledge and heritage, manifesting as folklore and stories passed down through generations. I would like to draw upon media anthropology and cultural transmission theories, to investigate the nuanced interplay between rumors, academia, and cultural dissemination.

I will explore the Punjab region's vibrant cultural landscape, emphasizing the centrality of oral traditions, storytelling, and folklore in shaping the collective identity of its people. And how these narratives, often dismissed as hearsay, embody significant cultural teachings, historical insights, and communal wisdom.

Moreover, I would like to emphasize the need to recognize the cultural significance of rumors as not merely speculative tales but as fundamental components of Punjab's epistemological tradition. By acknowledging the parallels between rumors and Western epistemological values, this research underscores the vital role of these narratives in preserving cultural heritage and communal solidarity.

Contribution short abstract:

Colonial Anthropology has led to a reductionist view of indigenous people as people with no agency. This gets further complicated in post-colonial states like India having a predominantly caste society, which carries forward this view in policy-making. This paper argues for decolonising this view.

Contribution long abstract:

Most anthropological research methodologies are rooted in colonial pedagogies and are based on western pragmatism, in which researchers study the ‘Other’; the subject that cannot reply or contribute to the research. This problematic method has led to a reductionist view of indigenous people all over the world, positing them as backward, savages and barbaric to name just a few. This further becomes problematic when post-colonial states like India, blindly carry forward colonial anthropological constructs in policymaking thereby leading to further socio-economic-psychological exclusion of the indigenous people. In this paper, I propose the praxis of various decolonial-based, community-integrated, and indigenous methods such as ‘Participatory Learning Action’ or ‘Collaborative Ethnography’ to reject the reductionist approach of one method and place more emphasis on empirical evidence to decolonise knowledge produced in the context of various research activities. This work will ultimately diverge from epistemological research of western and colonial space of knowledge, and scientific gaze. It will initiate a view to see the world through the lens of the Global South, such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia, combining ideas from indigenous areas and marginalised institutions to challenge the generalisation of hegemonic assumptions that undermine other kinds of knowledge (Schulz, 2017 & Tuhin Smith, 2014). The paradigm shift, borrowing from Kuhn (1962), is possible when humanities and social science scholars around the world consider not only adopting local norms of working with, by, and for Indigenous/Native communities within research programs but more importantly make them co-creators and the main stakeholders of epistemic creation.