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Local Perceptions (local + perception)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	83%

Selected Abstracts

Swazi Concepts of intelligence: The Universal versus the Local

ETHOS, Issue 4 2002
Professor Margaret Zoller Booth
The Swazi concept of "intelligence " is analyzed in this article from both a historical and a contemporary perspective. It investigates the meanings of hlakaniphile (the closest translation for "intelligence") and how and why perceptions of this term have changed throughout the 20th century and continue to vary today. Utilizing historical and anthropological sources with contemporary local parental ethnotheories regarding intelligent behaviors, the article analyzes the impact of Western culture on meanings of the Swazi concept. Throughout history, as Swazi and Western societies have influenced each other, hlakaniphile continues to include a local perception of social skills. However, the definition has begun to incorporate more Western notions of intellectual competence, as reflected in academic achievement [source]

Land use/cover changes and their implications on rural livelihoods in the degraded environments of central Tanzania

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2009
Richard Y. M. KangalaweArticle first published online: 3 FEB 200
Abstract This paper examines the changes in land use/cover types in the degraded environment of central Tanzania over the last 45 years, and how such changes have influenced agricultural and livelihoods sustainability, especially in the Irangi Hills. Changes of land use/cover were measured through aerial photographs interpretations, while local perceptions and description of change were addressed through household interviews and field observations. The results of this study show that there have been variations over the years in terms of both the areas and spatial distribution of cultivated fields. The total land cultivated increased from 31% in the late 1970s to 35% in early 1990s, mainly because of agricultural expansion to sandy watercourses and former grazing areas. Water courses shrank by 55% between late 1970s and early 1990s providing new areas for cultivation. Over the last 45 years, the open and wooded grasslands, and tree-cover types covered about 40% of the total land area, ranging from 29% in 1960 to 43,45% between late 1970s and early 1990s. Spatial and temporal distribution of the cultivated fields and other vegetation cover types were influenced by differences in the scale of land degradation, and the soil-conservation initiatives that have been implemented. With increasing pressure on the land, however, sustaining livelihoods through agricultural production in the area remains a critical challenge. [source]

Healing Herbs and Dangerous Doctors: "Fruit Fever" and Community Conflicts with Biomedical Care in Northeast Thailand

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2007
Jen PylypaArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200
In Northeast Thailand, khai mak mai (fruit fever) is a local, ethnomedical category of illness identified by community members as untreatable by biomedical health providers. The illness is believed to be incompatible with several substances that may induce death, including fruit as well as two forms of medication associated with biomedical care: injections and intravenous solution. Consequently, fevers suspected of being khai mak mai are treated by herbalists while biomedical health services are avoided and feared. In this article, I examine local perceptions and treatment of khai mak mai. I also explore the context and consequences of concerns about the inadequacy of biomedical care, as well as the social meanings associated with the illness and the political-economic context that shapes both the meanings of, and everyday responses to, fevers suspected of being khai mak mai. [source]

Techniques of vision: photography, disco and renderings of present perceptions in highland Papua

THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 1 2004
Eric Hirsch
This article draws on ethnographic and historical materials to interpret several related photographs and ritual images created by Fuyuge-speakers of highland Papua. The images are analysed as techniques of vision. That is, the images are shown to bring forth present perceptions in a timely manner, as evaluated by Fuyuge men and women. It is shown how the representations are informed by distinctive Fuyuge retentions of the past in the present, and extensions of the present in the future. The article suggests that the tendency to ,read' photographic images for their semiotic connotations misses the local perceptions at work in their creation and use. Rather, photographic and ritual images are analogous to the relations of persons that produce them, with their mutually connected temporality. [source]

GENERATING THEORY, TOURISM, AND "WORLD HERITAGE" IN INDONESIA: ETHICAL QUANDARIES FOR ANTHROPOLOGISTS IN AN ERA OF TOURIST MANIAD

ANNALS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRACTICE, Issue 1 2005
KATHLEEN M. ADAMS
This article is broadly concerned with the unique ethical quandaries anthropologists face when conducting research in touristic milieus, as well as the ethical dilemmas that ensue once we have left the field and are engaged in constructing theoretically informed portraits of the communities we researched. Specifically, drawing on experiences in two contrasting Indonesian field settings (Tana Toraja and Alor), I explore the ways in which contemporary anthropological theories about culture, identity, and identity politics can collide with local perceptions and local tourism-generating aspirations, placing researchers in potentially problematic ethical terrain. [source]

THE CHALLENGE OF ,TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICES'FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE APPROACHES IN ARCHAEOLOGY,

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2000
B. SILLAR
Recently several anthropological and sociological studies have interpreted technologies as cultural choices that are determined as much by local perceptions and the social context fly any material constraints or purely functional criteria. Using the example of ceramic technology we consider how materials science studies can contribute to and benefit from this understanding of technology as a social construct. Although we acknowledge some potential difficulties, it is our contention that both materials scientists and archaeologists have gained much and have much to gain by cooperating together to study ancient technologies, and that the concept of ,technological choices'can facilitate a wider consideration of the factors shaping technological developments. [source]