The Prayer of a Married Man Is Equal to Seventy Prayers of a Single Man

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 617-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAHIRA SHERIF
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Upper Middle Class ◽  
The Life Course

This study examines the central role of marriage among upper-middle-class Muslim Egyptians in Cairo, Egypt. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out over a total of 20 months by the author between 1988 and 1996. Using religious and legal sources as well as semistructured interviews and participant observation among two generations of 20 households, this study indicates that marriage continues to occupy a significant place in the life course of both upper-middle-class Muslim men and women. This article indicates that societal norms, as well as family structure and expectations, influence the prevalence of marriage as a necessary rite of passage for achieving adulthood among this class of Egyptians. Furthermore, this article describes the actual customs, beliefs, and practices associated with Muslim Egyptian marriages to counteract the Western bias that often obscures studies of this area of the world.

scholarly journals Pomiędzy miłością agapiczną a erozyczną. Praktyki miłości i związków intymnych wśród indyjskiej miejskiej klasy średniej

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-93
Author(s):  
Anna Romanowicz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Heterosexual Relationships ◽  
Arranged Marriages ◽  
Traditional Form ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork

Arranged marriages are the most common (and perceived as traditional) form of formalized heterosexual relationships in India. However, interest in relationships based on romantic love – especially among urban middle class –is increasing. The goal of the article is to present various practices related to romantic love, which cannot be inscribed in a rigid division for arranged and love marriages; to present everyday strategies and tactics, as they are being practiced by my research participants in context of sociocultural changes. The article is based on information gathered in ethnographic fieldwork (with a technique of participant observation) in Delhi.

scholarly journals Eligibility Criteria for the Upper Middle Class

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meilutė Taljūnaitė
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Class Model ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Us ◽  
Upper Middle Class

Each country has its own criteria for the upper middle class. On the other hand, it is clear that even the general principles that define the middle class in different countries differ markedly between them. The US and British criteria are often compared. The role of the family as an element of social stratification is important in the British upper middle class model. The article advocates the influence of family stratification on the formation of the upper (and not only) middle class in Lithuania. Not only does the upper middle class have self-employment, its income is above average and it has higher education, it also influences, identifies trends and fundamentally shapes public opinion (an aspect of its ‘social role’). The broad upper middle class is not so much a guarantor of the welfare state but of social stability in the country.

The Nightly Round: Space, Social Capital, and Urban Black Nightlife

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Anthony Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Spatial Mobility ◽  
The Social ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Spatial Isolation ◽  
Urban Blacks ◽  
Black Lesbians ◽  
Using Data

Using data generated from participant observation and semistructured interviews, I consider the ways in which nightlife, or what might be imagined as the nightly round—a process encompassing the social interactions, behaviors, and actions involved in going to, being in, and leaving the club—is used to mitigate the effects of social and spatial isolation, complementing the accomplishment of the daily round. Through an analysis of the social world of the Spot, I argue that understanding the ways in which urban blacks use space in the nightclub to mediate racial segregation, sexual segregation, and limited social capital expands our current understanding of the spatial mobility of urban blacks as well as the important role of extra–neighborhood spaces in such processes. Further, I highlight the ways that urban blacks use space in the nightclub to leverage socioeconomic opportunities and enhance social networks. While I found that black heterosexual and lesbian and gay patrons used space in similar ways at the Spot, black lesbians and gays were more likely to use the club as a space to develop ties of social support.

scholarly journals ICTs as the Bullring: A Case Study of the Rainbow Flag Incident in Cairo

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (Summer) ◽  
pp. 80-93
Author(s):  
Lara Mansour
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The State ◽  
Information Communication Technologies ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Upper Middle Class ◽  
The One

In this paper I am studying an incident that started with a concert in one of Cairo’s upper middle class districts, and ended up with a crackdown on the LGBTIQA++ Community in Egypt. In that incident Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) played a main role of contesting positions and representations of state and LGBTIQA++ persons in Egypt. Through the following lines, I am trying to unfold the intricacies of ICTs usage among both the state apparatuses and representatives of their discourse online on the one hand, and the LGBTIQA++ people and allies narratives. And how is it that this very same space acted as a presence- and forced absence- for both. My study is based on personal interviews with members who were directly involved in these events.

scholarly journals Thai Electoral Campaigning: Vote-Canvassing Networks and Hybrid Voting

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anyarat Chattharakul
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Dyadic Relationships ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
Electoral Studies ◽  
Political Factions

Based on evidence gathered through participant observation, this article illuminates the nature of vote-canvassing, previously a black box in Thai electoral studies. Offering a close-up study of the internal mechanisms of an individual Thai election campaign, this article reveals that vote-canvasser networks are underpinned by long-term dyadic relationships, both hierarchical and horizontal, between the candidate, vote-canvassers and voters. These networks continue to be the most important factor in winning elections. This article documents how candidates draw up an election campaign map and identify voters along residential lines to maximise their vote-canvassing strategy. The findings of this article challenge Anek's 1996 concept of “two democracies”, which argues that rural voters are influenced by money, local leaders, political factions and corrupt politicians while more well-educated, urban, middle-class voters are more oriented toward the alternative policies offered by competing parties. The case study of Kom's election campaign showed that the role of the much-vaunted middle-class voters is not decisive, even in suburban areas of Bangkok. While political marketing has grown in importance in Thai elections, it has not displaced traditional electoral practices. Thai society is, in fact, deeply fragmented and diverse – too complex to be divided in such a simplistic manner. This article suggests that rather than undergoing a linear transformation, political hybridisation is a key trend in Thai election campaigns.

“And How Pretty They Are!”: Lawn Tennis, Tourism, and Gender Relations at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 1880s-1920s

2021 ◽  
pp. 009614422098334
Author(s):  
Robert J. Lake
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
High Class ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Upper Middle Class ◽  
And Gender

In the four decades straddling the turn of the nineteenth century, the small Ontario town of Niagara-on-the-Lake experienced marked growth in its tourism industry. Catering predominantly to wealthy upper-middle-class Canadian and American visitors, the lake-side settlement offered numerous opportunities for polite recreation. Chief among them was lawn tennis, a sport that sat somewhat outside of the mainstream in terms of its high-class, mixed-sex participation demographic. While its players were imbued with a strong amateur philosophy, local boosters recognized the sport’s potential to generate tourism income through its two tournaments, but this hinged on the outward presentation among its players/guests of refined gentility—a reflection of both class and gender—both on and off the court. This article considers how lawn tennis tournaments fit into the town’s burgeoning tourism industry, and examines gender relations—particularly the role of women—in relation to this development.

scholarly journals “God is my bosom buddy”: experiencing faith and the role of ethnicity in Roma and Kaale missionizing among Roma in Estonia and Latvia

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-28
Author(s):  
Eva-Liisa Roht-Yilmaz
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Local People ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Current Case ◽  
Specific Approach ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
It Impacts ◽  
Mission Work ◽  
Born Again

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork materials in the form of participant observation and interviews and looks at the mission encounter between the Kaale (Finnish Roma) missionaries and the traditionally Lutheran, Russian Orthodox or Catholic Roma in Estonia and the Vidzeme region in Latvia. The aim of the article is to discuss the role of ethnicity in the mission work conducted by the Kaale and by the local Roma. I demonstrate how the usage of ethnic elements and a culture specific approach in mission relates to bodily and emotionally experiencing God’s presence among the born-again Roma community in this region and how it impacts the success of the mission. Pentecostalism is known for its promise of equality of all peoples before God and at the same time for accommodating its proselytizing message to different conditions, fitting its mission to the local people and situation. This becomes also apparent in the current case where in the multicultural and multilingual mission setting sensations and aesthetics take up an especially important role.

Mommy Knows?

2020 ◽  
pp. 139-158
Author(s):  
Madhurima Das
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Economic Capital ◽  
Distinct Form ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Neoliberal India ◽  
Crisis Managers

Globalization and its imminent effect on education have received attention in recent years. Less widely acknowledged is the discussion of the role of middle-class mothers who are stuck amidst the changes in their children's education and future. With the aid of in-depth face-to-face interviews and extensive participant observation in Kolkata, this chapter examines how middle-class mothers resort to commercial solutions to help manage their crisis in a neoliberal India. The crisis managers in the form of “mom-schooling” agencies support and coach mothers to negotiate with the changing education system and parenting methods that have become highly Americanized. In this chapter, the author uses Bourdieu's theory of conversion of capital to argue that mothers in Kolkata are acting as “converters” of capital with the help of commercial mom-schools by converting economic capital to a distinct form of cultural capital that they transfer to their children for the latter's success in a global economy.

scholarly journals Religion and spirituality in contemporary dreams

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Nell
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
South African ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Semistructured Interviews

This article examines the spiritual value and role of dreams in the lives of South African Christians, based on the findings of a qualitative research project in which semistructured interviews were used to examine the dream-related beliefs and practices of contemporary Christians. The findings indicated that dreams are still considered to be of distinct religious value and importance by a significant number of the Christian participants who took part in the study. Specifically, the participants reported that their dreams often serve as source of spiritual inspiration, insight and guidance, as well as feedback on decisions and ways of living. It was also indicated that dreams sometimes constituted an important natural resource in coming to terms with bereavement. In response to this, the article closes with a call for a re-evaluation of the position and value of dreams in contemporary Christianity, and offers several practical suggestions for working with dreams in a spiritual context.

Tour Guide Perspectives on Representations of Slavery at a Heritage Museum

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Velvet Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Tour Guides ◽  
Memorial Museum ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Us ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
Guided Tours

In recent years, scholars have called for greater recognition and representation of the role of slavery and the contributions of the enslaved at a multitude of heritage sites in, and outside, of the US. The framework of difficult heritage, as grounded in difficult knowledge, draws attention to the problems associated with the processes of heritage-making, including the challenges faced by those tasked with representing traumatic pasts as well as by those who encounter the representations. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory study was to obtain the perspectives of tour guides regarding a greater representation of slavery at one possible heritage museum, the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas, USA. These guides are crucial actors because they are responsible for both representing the heritage of slavery and managing a potentially complex range of visitor responses to these representations. The study drew from participant observation of guided tours of the museum property and semistructured interviews with museum staff, including those individuals who are directly responsible for guiding tours or play a supporting role in tours. While the guides indicated that they felt slavery was, indeed, an appropriate topic at the site, they expressed concerns about expanding representation of the topic. These concerns included the logistical constraints faced on tours, their knowledge of and comfort with the topic, and their perceptions about visitor expectations for the museum.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document