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In 2002 young Fadime Sahindal was brutally murdered by her own
father. She belonged to a family of Kurdish immigrants who had
lived in Sweden for almost two decades. But Fadime's relationship
with a man outside of their community had deeply dishonored her
family, and only her death could remove the stain. This abhorrent
crime shocked the world, and her name soon became a rallying cry in
the struggle to combat so-called honor killings. Unni Wikan
narrates Fadime's heartbreaking story through her own eloquent
words, along with the testimonies of her father, mother, and two
sisters. What unfolds is a tale of courage and betrayal, loyalty
and love, power and humiliation, and a nearly unfathomable clash of
cultures. Despite enduring years of threats over her emancipated
life, Fadime advocated compassion for her killer to the end,
believing him to be trapped by an unyielding code of honor. Wikan
puts this shocking event in context by analyzing similar honor
killings throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. She also
examines the concept of honor in historical and cross-cultural
depth, concluding that Islam itself is not to blame-indeed, honor
killings occur across religious and ethnic traditions-but rather
the way that many cultures have resolutely linked honor with
violence. In Honor of Fadime holds profound and timely insights
into conservative Kurdish culture, but ultimately the heart of this
powerful book is Fadime's courageous and tragic story-and Wikan's
telling of it is riveting.
"Resonance" gathers together forty years of anthropological study
by a researcher and writer with one of the broadest fieldwork
resumes in anthropology: Unni Wikan. In its twelve essays - four of
which are brand new - "Resonance" covers encounters with
transvestites in Oman, childbirth in Bhutan, poverty in Cairo, and
honor killings in Scandinavia, with visits to several other locales
and subjects in between. Including a comprehensive preface and
introduction that brings the whole work into focus, "Resonance"
surveys an astonishing career of anthropological inquiry that
demonstrates the possibility for a common humanity, a way of
knowing others on their own terms. Deploying Clifford Geertz's
concept of "experience-near" observations - and driven by an
ambition to work beyond Geertz's own limitations - Wikan strives
for an anthropology that sees, describes, and understands the human
condition in the models and concepts of the people being observed.
She highlights the fundamentals of an explicitly comparative,
person-centered, and empathic approach to fieldwork, pushing
anthropology to shift from the specialist discourses of academic
experts to a grasp of what the Balinese call keneh - the heart,
thought, and feeling of the real people of the world. By deploying
this strategy across such a range of sites and communities, she
provides a powerful argument that ever-deeper insight can be
attained despite our differences.
Through photographs and detailed case histories, Unni Wikan
explores the strict segregation of women, the wearing of the
"burqa" mask, the elaborate nuptial rituals, and the graceful
quality of Oman's social relations.
"Wikan does provide insights into the real position of these
secluded and segregated women. . . . All this is interesting and
valuable."--Ahdaf Soueif, "Times Literary Supplement"
"The book is detailed, insightful, and . . . engrossing. Anyone
interested in the day-to-day triumphs and sorrows of women who live
'behind the veil' will want to read this account."--"Arab Book
World"
"Wikan, a fine ethnographer, has an eye for everything that is
distinctive about the culture and . . . builds up a wholly
convincing picture. Above all, there is a sustained attempt to
penetrate the inner lives of these strangely serene people."--Frank
H. Stewart, "Wilson Quarterly"
"This book will certainly be of interest to all scholars concerned
with sexual identity in the Islamic world."--Henry Munson,
"American Anthropologist"
All over Western Europe, the lot of many non-Western immigrants is
one of marginalization, discrimination, and increasing segregation.
In this bold and controversial book, Unni Wikan shows how an
excessive respect for "their culture" has been part of the problem.
Culture has become a new concept of race, sustaining ethnic
identity politics that subvert human rights-especially for women
and children. Fearful of being considered racist, state agencies
have sacrificed freedom and equality in the name of culture.
Should immigrants be allowed to take their children, who have been
born and raised in one country back to the "homeland" to be married
against their will? Should schools provide bilingual instruction,
even when it means that children of immigrants will never learn to
speak their mother tongue? Where should immigrants' loyalties
lie-with their country of birth or their country of residence? What
is the meaning of citizenship in this multicultural world? These
are among the questions that Wikan confronts, comparing her native
Norway to Western Europe and the United States. Writing with power
and grace, she makes a plea for a renewed moral vitality and human
empathy that can pave the way for more effective social policies
and create change.
"I, without earning a penny, have to be the provider!" Thus Umm Ali
sums up the nearly impossible challenge of her daily existence.
Living in a poor neighbourhood of Cairo, she has raised eight
children with almost no help from her husband or the Egyptian
government and through hardships from domestic violence to constant
quarrels over material possessions. Umm Ali's story is amazing not
only for what it reveals about her resourcefulness but for the
light it sheds on the resilience of Cairo's poor in the face of
disastrous poverty. Like countless other poor people in Cairo, she
has developed a personal buoyancy to cope with relentless economic
need. It stems from a belief in the ability of people to shape
their own destiny and helps explain why Cairo remains virtually
free of the social ills - violent street crime and homelessness -
that have eroded the lives of poor people in other major cities.
Unni Wikan first met Umm Ali and her family 25 years ago and has
returned almost every year. She draws on her firsthand experience
of their lives to create an intimate portrait of Cairo's back
streets and the people who live there. Wikan's approach to
ethnographic writing reads like a novel that presents the
experiences of Umm Ali's family and neighbours in their own words.
As Umm Ali recounts triumphs and defeats - from forming a savings
club with neighbours to the gradual drifting away and eventual
return of her husband - she unveils a deeply reflective attitude
and her unwavering belief that she can improve her situation.
Showing how Egyptian culture interprets poverty and family, this
book attests to the capacity of an individual's self-worth to
withstand incredible adversity. Unni Wikan is the author of "Behind
the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman" and "Managing Turbulent Hearts:
A Balinese Formula for Living", both published by the University of
Chicago Press. She is fluent in Arabic and has conducted extensive
fieldwork in Egypt, Oman, Bali, Bhutan and New Guinea.
How do Balinese manage to present to the world the clear, bright
face, the grace and poise, that they regard as crucial to
self-respect and social esteem? How can the anthropologist pass
behind the conventions of such a complex culture to recognize what
is going on between people, in terms that convey their own
experience?
Wikan's study of the Indonesian island of Bali is an absorbing
debate with previous anthropological interpretations as well as an
innovative development of the anthropology of experience.
This is indeed an important book, a landmark in studies of Bali and
one surely destined to have major theoretical impact on
anthropological research well beyond that famous Indonesian
island.--Anthony R. Walker, Journal of Asian and African Studies
Friedman and a distinguished group of contributors offer a
compelling analysis of globalization and the lethal explosiveness
that characterizes the current world order. In particular, they
investigate global processes and political forces that determine
networks of crime, commerce and terror, and reveal the economic,
social and cultural fragmentation of transnational networks. In a
critical introduction, Friedman evaluates how transnational capital
represents a truly global force, but geographical decentralization
of accumulation still leads to declining state hegemony in some
areas and increasing hegemony in others. The authors examine the
growth and increasing autonomy of indigenous populations, and the
massively destabililizing effect of migration processes. They
describe the rapid increase in criminalization of ethnic and
immigrant groups as well as an increase in class stratification,
creating new forms of social confrontation and violence. In
addition to ethnic, identity-based conflict there are analyses of
transnational criminal networks, which also represents
disintegration of larger homogeneous territories or hierarchical
orders. The authors ask us to reevaluate the dynamics of
globalization the contradictions of centralization and
fragmentation around the world as we discover how best to transform
these conditions for the future. This research was originally
funded by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Globalization, the
State and Violence will be a valuable reference in anthropology,
social theory, international politics and economics, ethnic
conflict, immigration, and economic history.
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