Institute for Social Anthropology

ABSTRACT The ethnographic novella “Simmering in the Corridors” blends fiction and ethnography to reflect on academic life within a Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. It addresses institutional racism, colonial legacies, and power dynamics in academia. Through personal experiences and collective actions, it creates a nuanced portrayal of decolonization and reform processes within academic practice.

Abstract One of the fundamental principles of Tibetan pharmacology is that all substances – correctly understood and used – have medicinal properties. This includes animal parts and products, which, like in other Asian medical traditions, constitute an integral part of Sowa Rigpa’s classical pharmacopoeia. But what about their use in contemporary Tibetan medical/pharmacological practice? How have these practices, most notably regarding animal products, been shaped by the transformations of Sowa Rigpa during the twentieth century and its more recent industrialization? Based on over twenty years of ethnographic and textual materials as well as a review of the scant existing scholarly literature, this article argues that we can observe a partial pharmaceutical defaunalization in Sowa Rigpa. This stands in sharp contrast to the Chinese context, where the industrialization of Traditional Chinese Medicine coincided with a dramatic medicalization of all kinds of animals.

This study investigates the influence of social norms on male caregiving in Uganda and considers the implications for tailoring and scaling the REAL Fathers mentoring program across six regions. By identifying key norms and reference groups, the findings inform strategies to enhance father engagement in early childhood development within culturally and socially relevant frameworks. This study employed an exploratory Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) approach, integrating in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and community validation workshops to identify and prioritize social and gender norms across the study regions. We found that norms influence male engagement in care giving directly, by setting expectations for how men should behave with their wives and children. Norms also have a strong indirect influence through social expectations about what is appropriate for men and women related to power, decision-making and gender roles. Data shows that the norms and the reference groups that sustain them are consistent across cultural regions and the social sanctions that enforce the norms are largely intangible. We also found some exceptions to the norms. For norm shifting interventions to be effective, practitioners should be intentional in engaging reference groups and take advantage of exceptions to norms as leverage points for behavior change. Also, the different norm shifting strategies adopted should be able to address the complexity and interconnectedness of the norms.

Abstract This article explores the entangled practices of drawing and ethnographic fieldwork through a series of illustrated vignettes from Athens. Written from the perspective of a self‐described “bad anthropologist,” I reflect on the tensions between theory and experience, visibility and failure, and the messy subjectivity of the fieldworker. Drawing—sketchy, ironic, sometimes raw—is treated neither as a romanticized gesture nor a tool for “impact” or mere “illustration.” Instead, it is foregrounded as a thinking practice, an analytical tool, and a situated act—a way to reckon with what escapes writing, to process visual and affective intensities, and to reimagine relationships with theory, memory, and self. The article critically engages with established scholars not to name‐drop but to advance its argument through situated dialogues as a form of theoretical storytelling and speculative fabulation. As an anti‐heroic anthropologist, in the article, I challenge the macho tropes of classic fieldwork and the institutional dynamics that determine what counts as “valid” ethnographic experience. Rather than offering generalizable conclusions, I argue for a mode of ethnographic writing and drawing that embraces awkwardness, contradiction, and the freedom to be and feel awful.

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Abstract Since 2004, LTER-Europe has been paving the way for a formal European Research Infrastructure “Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological Research Infrastructure (eLTER RI)” designed for ecological and socio-ecological monitoring and research across Europe. Social-ecological systems research considers systemic relations between human activities and ecological processes, which allows to identify trends and feedbacks in their interaction. To represent both systems, it is important to integrate a variety of qualitative and quantitative data. We therefore collected 117 socio-ecological datasets for the Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) platform Eisenwurzen and provide an overview of the availability and accessibility of these data. We then cross-referenced these datasets with the current list of eLTER socio-ecological Standard Observations for the period 1970–2023. We observed an increase in the availability of all quantitative data, as well as their level of resolution, over the observation period. The evaluation showed that datasets exist for all Standard Observations studied, but their coverage varies considerably, especially for long time series. While information on land use systems and resource use was quite abundant, data on consumption, livestock and regional economy were rather scarce. As no qualitative data were publicly available, we included an exemplary sample and developed a data scheme that allows the integration of qualitative datasets into the eLTER information management framework.

Correction to: Scientific Reportshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72148-x, published online 23 September 2024 The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez which was incorrectly given as Gonzalo Jiménez Aranda. The original Article has been corrected.

In this article I introduce the digital diary method as a multimodal, participatory qualitative approach for investigating everyday digital practices within digital ethnography. This method enables participants to document their media practices and daily activities over time by creating digital diaries that incorporate written, audiovisual, and creative elements. By encouraging the recording of multimodal data—including text, images, photos, voice recordings, and videos—the method provides rich insights into participants’ experiences and emotions. These diaries are later collaboratively reviewed and reflected on with researchers, and they offer a platform for both researchers and research partners to gain fresh insights and deeper understandings of the material discussed. The participatory nature of digital diaries highlights the agency of research partners, who maintain control over what they share and its interpretation, as illustrated through examples from my own research with refugees in Vienna on their transnational care relations. Applied selectively with key research partners, the method provided valuable insights, with participants gaining a deeper understanding of their media practices and care relationships through self-reflection. The integration of online and offline practices within these diaries demonstrates the interconnectedness of digital and lived experiences, challenging the traditional dichotomy between the two. Overall, the digital diary method not only enhances ethnographic research but also serves to explore the evolving role of digital media and its integration into broader social and cultural contexts.