27 items | 129 visits
Collection of resources related to Latin American anthropology
Updated on Apr 03, 09
Created on Jun 26, 08
Category: Cultures & Community
URL:
IN THIS ARTICLE, I EXPLORE THE PRACTICES of self-representation used by indigenous leaders or dirigentes (as they are often referred to in Spanish) from the Zápara Nationality of Ecuador, one of the smallest indigenous groups in the Ecuadorian Amazon. These dirigentes have used indigenous languages, specifically Zápara and Kichwa, to symbolize their authenticity when interacting with non-Zápara outsiders. Zápara dirigentes' emphasis on Zápara and Kichwa as indicators of their communities' legitimacy has been important for creating political space for the Zápara in Ecuador. However, by equating indigenous languages with authenticity, Zápara dirigentes have also partially obscured and invalidated Zápara histories and practices. For example, they have downplayed the use of Spanish in their communities when representing them to outsiders and have highlighted rival indigenous leaders' lack of knowledge of the Zápara language to discredit them. By examining the complexities of these dirigentes' representational practices, I contribute to a more complex understanding of how indigenous leaders in Latin America have articulated new expressions of indigenous authority and power in their processes of self-representation.
The Initiative for the Regional Integration of Infrastructure in South America is the latest and largest in a series of bank-financed schemes to bring "development" to the Amazon Basin—and more trouble to the region's indigenous communities.
Experiments have become a popular method to study altruism and cooperation in laboratory and, more recently, in field settings. However, few studies have examined whether behavior in experiments tells us anything about behavior in the “real world.” To investigate the external validity of several common experimental economics games, we compare game behavior with prosocial behavior among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of lowland Bolivia. We find that food-sharing patterns, social visitation, beer production and consumption, labor participation, and contributions to a feast are not robustly correlated with levels of giving in the economics games. Payoff structure and socioecological context may be more important in predicting prosocial behavior in a wide variety of domains than stable personality traits. We argue that future experimental methods should be tailored to specific research questions, show reduced anonymity, and incorporate repeat measures under a variety of conditions to inform and redirect ethnographic study and build scientific theory.
Bolivian troops have arrested the governor of a northern province wracked by deadly anti-government violence in recent days, state television reports.
27 items | 129 visits
Collection of resources related to Latin American anthropology
Updated on Apr 03, 09
Created on Jun 26, 08
Category: Cultures & Community
URL: