The Effectiveness of Corporate Governance in Uganda: The Case of Private Companies

This paper examines the effectiveness of rules, procedures and Acts as instruments of corporate governance in Uganda, with interest in the performance of private companies. An extensive review of literature and ethnographic observation of the dynamic of corporate governance in private companies indicate that much as the private companies have adopted a hybrid regulatory framework of corporate governance, loopholes do still exist that have hindered the effectiveness of these instrument in the performance of private companies. Therefore there is need for strengthening corporate governance systems; however some of the weakness are attributed to the unsolved debate on key issues of corporate governance globally that trickles down to Uganda’s young corporate governance system in the private sector.

Social Construction of Extremism: Case Study of South Punjab

South Punjab, the land of Sufi saints, and epitome of peace and love has transformed into the fulcra of militancy in last two decades. The current study draws the connection between society (social-organisation) and social interaction with the construction of individual’s perceptions and behaviours. The study also underscores the flaws lie in the social composition of society of South Punjab that contributes to the construction of violent perceptions and behaviours, and trigger individuals to join militant wings. The research was conducted in Multan- a district of South Punjab. The qualitative methods: ethnographic observation and semi-structured interviews are used in this research. Purpose sampling is used to select sample population encompassing people from diverse social backgrounds. The findings of the research unfold those prime social institutions including religion, education, economic and government are mal-functioning, due to which region became heartland of militancy.

The time–space tactics of Chinese Buddhist and Taoist believers under state–religion tension

This study explores the experience of elderly rural Buddhist and Taoist believers in communist China where the ruling party has maintained decades-long regulatory control over religion. Based on ethnographic observation and oral histories, the analysis begins with how the actors made sense of and coped in their relationship with the state during the fieldwork period (May–June 2020) when state regulations restricted public religious practice because of COVID-19. The analysis then looks back on how practitioners experienced tightening state ideological control from the early 2010s to before COVID-19; further back at the religious revival during the opening and reform (1980s–2010s); and finally, the Cultural Revolution period (1960s–70s) when strict atheistic measures were imposed. Their narratives reveal the practical logic (habitus) which practitioners used to mediate their resistance against and compromise with the authoritarian state. Specifically, four logical modes that involve actors’ different time–space tactics were identified, namely state–religion disengagement, state–religion enhancement, religious (dis)enlightenment, and karma. The implications of these ostensibly conflicting modes of thinking in mediating the actors’ resistance–compliance interface in contemporary China are discussed.

Fitting materials: Costume flows, intra-actions and agency in and around the fitting room

The costume fitting room has long been considered an essential space in developing a character, with many actors crediting the fitting as a critical stage in creating or understanding their character. In these spaces, characters and costume designs emerge and evolve. This article argues that active in this emergence are actors, designers and costumers and the costume itself. This research explores the costume’s agentic nature in the performance-making process, using ethnographic observation of Australian theatre costume fitting rooms. It evidences the multiple, disparate and sometimes surprising elements that impact character portrayal and design development. The agency of the costume as a creative partner is currently a topic of debate in costume research. Leaning into this conversation, this article draws on Karan Barad’s perspectives of new materialism to argue for greater consideration of the costume’s influence and value in forming a performance work. Recognizing this contribution and the affective power of costume prompts a challenge to the structures and practices surrounding actors and costumes and how they intra-act. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications for current industry rehearsal, production and costume practices.

Multiplicity of encounters. Zur Begegnungskapazität des öffentlichen Raums am Beispiel der HafenCity Hamburg

The planning of urban districts involves ideas of how people in cities would like to and should best encounter each other. The term “encounter capacity”, which denotes social as well as material dimensions of enabling “social mix”, has emerged in the reflexive planning practice of Hamburg’s HafenCity to increase the realisation of encounters through planned public space. This article explores the conception and reality of encounter capacity. It is based on commissioned research in the districts of the urban development area which were completed in 2015. The term “multiplicity of encounters”, developed from ethnographic observation and borrowed from the work of Doreen Massey, refers to the multiplication of encounters within specific horizons of meaning: neighbourliness, eventfulness and trendiness. The high-priced housing and consumption possibilities, the image of an exclusive district and the group-specific rhythms of everyday life are selectively but never completely cancelled out by these factors.

#iamhere: Collective Counterspeech and the Quest to Improve Online Discourse

This article examines the Facebook group #jagärhär, a Sweden-based collective of thousands of people who have made a regular practice of responding en masse to what they regard as hateful comments online. #jagärhar is one of the largest and best-organized collective efforts to respond directly to hatred online anywhere in the world. Drawing on data collected through ethnographic observation and interviews, the article explores two primary research questions: (1) how do the external counterspeech actions of group members work to counter hatred (and, sometimes, misinformation)? and (2) how do the internal practices of the group keep members engaged? I argue that instead of focusing their work on preventing future hateful speech (presumably by changing the minds or incentives of those who post it), #jagärhär members fight against its effects—attempting to lessen the impact of the hateful speech by hiding it in the comment threads, speaking to the “movable middle” rather than those posting hatred, and encouraging more counterspeech against it.

Niñez, migración y derecho a la educación. Vulnerabilidades y consecuencias en la movilidad Estados Unidos-Oaxaca, México

This article aimsto analyze the extent to which the right to education of immigrant and returned children from the United States to Oaxaca, Mexico,is guaranteedafter the Trump administration increased containment of immigration policies with significantrepercussions for adult Mexicans and their offspring. A qualitative methodology integrated by ethnographic observation techniques with and without participation, interviews, discussion groups,and documentary analysis has been used. The main findings show that the infringement of the children’sright to education increases their vulnerability with a decisive impacton their educational, social,and labor present and future. The originality of the study lies in the approach to the consequences of return onchildhoodand their right to education in the state of Oaxaca, not attended enough by migratory studies, which is also a contribution.

The sensing eye: Intimate vision in couple dancing

Vision tends to be associated with the mind and theorized as the least bodily sense. Notably, the eye often symbolizes distance. Foregrounding the fleshy embeddedness of the gaze through an analysis of jitterbug, the present article stresses the bodily and intimate significance of vision in dancing. Analyzing ethnographic observation and interview data, we develop a phenomenological approach to dance and gaze that stresses the need to address multi-sensoriality, adding vision to the perspective of tactile-kinesthetic touch. However, the article develops a more-than-optic perspective on “dancing as vision.” The “sensing eye” is analyzed, first, as a body technique central to couple dancing and, second, as the use and meaning of vision across spatial distance, as between dancers and bystanders. Throughout the article, the dance floor unveils connections between eye and body, self and other, and passive and active and thus pushes notions of emplacement and embodiment.

Moving Lightly over the Earth

In the novel The Rings of Saturn (1995), the German writer W. G. Sebald recounts his solitary journey to the town of Suffolk (UK) at the end of his years, while he also reflects on some of the dramatic events that shaped World War II and his personal memories. In this work, he takes on a particular narrative tactic defined by the interaction between the text and images that creates a special type of montage in which he seems to draw from cinematic language. I argue that, drawing on Sebald’s work, we can imagine a form of ethnographic observation that involves the creation of a cinematic map through which to explore the memories and imagination of individuals in relation to places where they live. I explore the day-to-day lived experiences of unemployed people of Sulcis Iglesiente, through their everyday engagement with, and situated perceptions of, their territory. I describe the process that led me to build Moving Lightly over the Earth, a cinematic map of Sulcis Iglesiente through which I explored how women and men in the area who lost their jobs as a result of the process of its deindustrialization give specific meaning to the territory, relating it to memories of their past and hopes and desires for the future.

The making and UN-making of consensus: Institutional inertia in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee

This article examines the process of text-based negotiations surrounding the documents of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It focuses on revisions to the Operational Guidelines of the Convention and utilizes ethnographic observation and textual examination to show how alternative, and often the most controversial, proposals are silenced through the practice of consensus. It expands anthropological perspectives on the inner workings of intergovernmental institutions and adds to the literature on heritage regimes by providing examples from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) most prestigious intergovernmental committee. Ultimately, the article enhances our understanding of the political tensions and practical limitations of policymaking within intergovernmental organizations in the United Nations, including UNESCO.