scholarly journals Mechanisms of Identity Construction among Members of Pyramid Schemes in Iran: A Critical Ethnography

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-117
Author(s):  
Saeed Keshavarzi ◽  
Ali Ruhani ◽  
Soheyla Hajiheidari
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Setting ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Local Branch ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pyramid Schemes ◽  
Depth Interviews

Whereas the emergence of pyramid schemes exerted considerable impacts on people’s lives, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the experiences of members from the sociological perspective, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, this study illuminates social processes underlying participation in such schemes in a less studied social setting, Iran. This article also critically traces the social and psychological consequences of membership in pyramid schemes. We adapted a critical ethnographic approach, including participant observation of local branch offices, followed by 16 in-depth interviews with the former members of schemes. Our findings suggest that the practices deployed by the schemes lead to the building of social identity, namely, “superhuman,” mainly based on the misinterpretation of the real world. Finding the reality surrounded deliberately contrasted with the firms’ promises, the constructed identity fails, and members lose their social capital.

Preferences around the disclosure of dying: A vision from Portuguese society

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-68
Author(s):  
Ana Patrícia Hilário
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Good Death ◽  
Social Embeddedness ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural Preference ◽  
Palliative Care Units ◽  
Awareness Of Dying ◽  
Depth Interviews

AbstractObjectiveThis paper aims to explore the extent to which the “revivalist” discourse of a good death, which promotes an awareness of dying shapes the lived realities of palliative care patients and their families in Portugal.MethodAn ethnographic approach was developed. Participant observation was carried out in 2 palliative care units, and this was complemented by in-depth interviews. Ten terminally ill patients, 20 family members, and 20 palliative care professionals were interviewed.ResultsThe “revivalist” good death script might not be suitable for all dying people, as they might not want an open awareness of dying and, thereby, the acknowledgment of imminent potential death. This might be related to cultural factors and personal circumstances. The “social embeddedness narrative” offers an alternative to the “revivalist” good death script.Significance of resultsThe “revivalist” discourse, which calls for an open awareness of dying, is not a cultural preference in a palliative care context in Portugal, as it is not in accord with its familial nature.

scholarly journals Key considerations for facilitating employment of female Sudanese refugees in Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desireé Gaillard ◽  
Kate Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Government Information ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Initiatives ◽  
Sudanese Refugees ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Sydney Australia

AbstractThis research is a pilot study on identifying the social initiatives that could potentially provide employment opportunities for female Sudanese refugees settled in western Sydney, Australia. An interpretative ethnographic approach was employed to analyse academic literature, government information and data gathered through in-depth interviews with a not-for-profit organisation working with this community. The outcome of this research emphasises three fundamental questions that relate to community value, customer need and opportunity risk that need to be considered with respect to the limitations that are framed by the social initiatives identified in relation to reducing unemployment for these women. This study revealed an interesting observation: programs that make use of existing skills create new opportunities in the employment market, whereas programmes that provide new skills or a combination of new and existing skills, were more inclined to link to existing opportunities in the employment market.

Generative pedagogies from and for the social production of habitat: Learning from HIC-AL School of grassroots urbanism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Wesely ◽  
Adriana Allen ◽  
Lorena Zárate ◽  
María Silvia Emanuelli
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Popular Education ◽  
Global South ◽  
Generative Learning ◽  
Social Production ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Depth Interviews

Re-thinking dominant epistemological assumptions of the urban in the global South implies recognising the role of grassroots networks in challenging epistemic injustices through the co-production of multiple saberes and haceres for more just and inclusive cities. This paper examines the pedagogies of such networks by focusing on the experiences nurtured within Habitat International Coalition in Latin America (HIC-AL), identified as a ‘School of Grassroots Urbanism’ (Escuela de Urbanismo Popular). Although HIC-AL follows foremost activist rather than educational objectives, members of HIC-AL identify and value their practices as a ‘School’, whose diverse pedagogic logics and epistemological arguments are examined in this paper. The analysis builds upon a series of in-depth interviews, document reviews and participant observation with HIC-AL member organisations and allied grassroots networks. The discussion explores how the values and principles emanating from a long history of popular education and popular urbanism in the region are articulated through situated pedagogies of resistance and transformation, which in turn enable generative learning from and for the social production of habitat.

Dangerous vulnerability: Simultaneous prohibition and coercion in Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110514
Author(s):  
Einat Lavee ◽  
Tal Meler ◽  
Madlen Shamshoum
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Women Migrants ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Domestic Affairs ◽  
Depth Interviews

The objective of this study is to broaden understanding of how vulnerability is shaped more by social, cultural, and religious institutions than by individual life circumstances, exploring the case of Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men. Research often determines the vulnerability of a group, such as women migrants from an ethnic minority, by specific demographic characteristics. This common assumption has been challenged by calls to understand vulnerability as social processes intersecting with the action of the state and other social institutions. The study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes through which Palestinian-Israeli single mothers are simultaneously forbidden from and coerced into having relationships with men, drawing on a systematic analysis of data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 36 Palestinian-Israeli single mothers. The analysis exposed several mechanisms which forbid single mothers from having relationships with men, alongside mechanisms that permit, often even coerce, such relationships. These mechanisms are embedded in interrelated structural factors—massive differences in gender power relations, vast gender economic disparities, inability of most single mothers to support their families independently, and state policy of non-intervention in domestic affairs of ethnic minorities, and create a state of “dangerous vulnerability.”

Ritual as assemblage: feast of sacrifice experiences of Turkish consumers

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 476-494
Author(s):  
Ömer Torlak ◽  
Müjdat Özmen ◽  
Muhammet Ali Tiltay ◽  
Mahmut Sami İşlek ◽  
Ufuk Ay
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Assemblage Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theorize and empirically investigate the formation of consumer’s consumption ritual experiences and discourses associated with Feast of Sacrifice. Design/methodology/approach The authors have approached the data from assemblage theory perspective. By use of ethnographic participant observation and in-depth interviews, seven themes are uncovered and discussed: meaning of Qurban, preparation of the ritual, Qurban choice, meat, Qurban ritual, marketplace and framing of discourses. Findings This study provides a theoretical development in which it depicts that assemblage theory can be used in the context of religious rituals such as the Feast of Sacrifice. This suggests that parts forming the social phenomena include different meanings and functions in different assemblages to the ritual, which has a structure with a particular process, roles and content scenario. This implies that even the most structured social phenomena as religious rituals can be accepted as social assemblage where every individual experiences his/her own ritual with the parts that have ever-changing material and expressive roles. Originality/value This study will contribute to the literature on religious rituals and practices through viewing ritual as an assemblage including material and expressive features as well as human and non-human actors. Besides, this study aims to find out whether there is a constant consumer and the concept of ritual by focusing on buying experiences of consumer in Feast of Sacrifice in Turkey.

scholarly journals Social Construction of Masculine Women Identity

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.21) ◽  
pp. 326
Author(s):  
Zikri Fachrul Nurhadi ◽  
Ummu Salamah ◽  
Yully Destari ◽  
Novie Susanti Suseno
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Study Finding ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Environments ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this study to discover and reveal the social construction of masculine woman identity in terms of externalization, objectivation, and internalization. This study used a qualitative approach, with a method or theory of social reality construction of constructivism paradigm. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and literature. The study finding showed that the social construction of masculine woman identity in terms of externalization is influenced by internal and external factors. Internal factor is influenced by a family that makes informants show the social construction of masculine woman identity to the public. While external factor is influenced by association with male friend and technological advances (mass media) that have contributed to the formation of character, appearance style, and feeling to others. In general, social identity construction of masculine woman constructs her identity in a way  showed that masculine woman does not always have a negative character. In this case, a masculine woman can survive and adapt to the family, campus and community environments. The research finding showed that appearance changes will only happen if there is a will from the masculine woman herself, and the comfort level of masculine appearance can not change the identity.  

Fluid kinship: Race, power, and the hydrosocial order of water flow along New Mexico’s acequias

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 718-735
Author(s):  
Elise T Jaramillo
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Water Conflict ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
Material Reality ◽  
Depth Interviews

In New Mexico, the marketization of water rights, urbanization, and the legacies of colonialism divide neighbors and pit them against one another over water. New Mexico’s acequias (community irrigation ditches) are organized by water flow, and the physical and interpersonal connections that enable it and are enabled by it. I examine the way that the social and material reality of water flow troubles deeply embedded racial and socioeconomic divisions by creating what I call fluid kinship: a social space that flows like an acequia, according to a topography of human relationships. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with acequia users in New Mexico, I elucidate how fluid kinship can reshape the terms of water conflict into unexpected configurations. By drawing attention to fluid kinship, I seek to elucidate the potentiality of the acequia as a counter-geography of relatedness and possible reconciliation.

Diverging Opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-243
Author(s):  
Kim Kwok (郭俭)
Keyword(s):  
Economic Reform ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Chinese Immigrant ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Chinese Migrants ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socialist Economic ◽  
Inductive Methods ◽  
Unequal Opportunities ◽  
Depth Interviews

AbstractThis paper aims to explore firstly, the distribution of economic opportunities in the Chinese immigrant economy, and, secondly, how opportunities have gradually diverged among Chinese migrants against the backdrop of increased globalization and Chinese transnationalization. Conceptually, it departs from the literature of immigrant economy as well as transnationalism, in particular, Chinese transnationalism. Methodologically, qualitative and inductive methods including in-depth interviews and participant observation are employed. By revealing that some Chinese migrants enjoy economic opportunities induced by transnationalization process while some others are deprived of them, this paper questions the much-celebrated effects of the social mobility of immigrant economy. This paper sheds light on how unequal opportunities can be exported from China channeled by transnationalization, as unequal pathways of Chinese migrants in Vienna, among other cases in Europe, appear to extend the divergent experiences of winners and losers of the late-socialist economic reform in China.

Hybrid Masculine Power: Reconceptualizing the Relationship between Homosociality and Hegemonic Masculinity

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven L. Arxer
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Social Setting ◽  
Hybrid Form ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Masculinities ◽  
Small Group Interaction ◽  
The Relationship

Most research on heterosexual interaction among men focuses on ideologies, discourses, and practices that correspond to conventional renditions of hegemonic masculinity. Specifically, previous research suggests heterosexual men in homosocial interaction tend to suppress non-hegemonic meanings in constructing a sense of masculinity. Less attention has been given, however, to the ways in which men in homosocial settings conceptualize and negotiate with masculine ideals so as to produce a “hybrid” form of hegemonic masculinity that appropriates non-hegemonic practices. This study examines the production of hybrid hegemonic masculinity through participant observation of men in the social setting of a college bar. Results show that although men did align themselves with conventional hegemonic masculinity, they also incorporated gender practices associated with non-hegemonic masculinities. Interestingly, men often engaged in emotive sharing and preferred cooperation to competition as strategies in small group interaction for reproducing domination over women and subordinate masculinities. The argument is made that hybrid hegemonic masculinity may signal a shift in the landscape of hegemonic masculine power that increasingly appropriates alternative masculinities as a way to protect and reproduce gendered power and privilege.

scholarly journals Cycling in(to) Society: Integration and Social Mobility in Copenhagen

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-38
Author(s):  
Tanja Karen Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Forward Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Social And Physical Environment ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews

Integration and the processes involved are increasingly becoming more important in anthropological studies as the world is globalising. However, individual experiences of migrants, especially those of women, are often not considered in academic research. Therefore, I aim to include personal experiences of migrant women by studying those in the context of integration in Copenhagen. I conducted fieldwork over two months in the city of Copenhagen through participant observation in a cycling course created by the Red Cross, along with several informal interviews and five in-depth interviews with key informants. This article examines how integration is perceived, whether intersecting physical and social mobility can aid integration, and what impact gender has on these processes. Integration in this context is argued to be a form of social mobility, one that describes a forward movement into society. The process of integration for the women considered in this research is aided by cycling, as moving through the city physically promotes social mobility. Cyclists learn to navigate both the social and physical environment around them, and they gain access to services as well as opportunities in the labour market.

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