Ethnologia Europaea

Liberating the Ethnological Imagination

This article presents state of the art ethnology and anthropology of Europe as indicated in the programmes of two international conferences to be held in 2008. The author discusses the parameters of pertinent research topics and suggests three themes that are especially relevant for present-day Europe as a field of ethnographic research. They concern migration, citizenship and Europe beyond the EU. Conceptual lenses other than those of culture and identity are proposed, referring to places, practices and experiences.

This paper discusses Spanish ethnology and its current place in Spanish scholarship. The purpose is to examine possible future directions for the field. After first examining the history of ethnology in Spain, we then turn to examining the role of ethnologists in European societies today, as well as the concept of emergency ethnology. This last refers to the need for developing tools and theories to enable ethnologists to activate rapid-response mechanisms in crisis or emergency situations, and in that sense or context, serve as a meaningful social force.

Twenty fishing families from a coastal village in northern Denmark are establishing a brand new kind of guild in order to take out huge loans in the local banks. To understand why this is necessary and how they are doing it, the intriguing interplay between European governments and a whole set of life-modes struggling for mutual recognition must be explored, including EU politicians, civil servants in the ministries, workers’ unions, private capital investors, regional authorities, environmental organisations, and self-employedfishing families. A new law introducing a forced legal process of maritime enclosure marks a turning point in the struggle. In the space of two years, this process has brought nearly 80 percent of all Danish fishing boats into the hands of venture capitalists.“Traditional” European in shorefishery, however, is not necessarily dying; the twenty young fishing families are part of a larger, more complex European battle for recognition of common maritime resources in the EU. A contrasting comparative European ethnology is needed to explore this type of on-going contradictory European cultural processes.

This article compares two major attempts to frame comparative studies of European cultures in the recent history of folklore and anthropology, in 1967 and 1988. The examination of these two examples addresses the present construction of a new effectiveness in Europeanism, this effectiveness relying on the anthropologists and the folklorists’ ability to share skills and competencies. The article tries to assess some essential factors which will determine tomorrow’s Europeanism. Different possibilities for dealing with the European context are emphasized, such as reaching a new unity between anthropology and folklore, taking into account theoretical knowledge on mankind in the different professional organizations, privileging in-depth comparisons, and answering institutional agendas.

In order to be part of the socio-political dialogue within Europe, anthropologists have to address questions which are policy relevant. In this paper, I examine under which epistemological and methodological conditions the study of kinship – a core topic of the discipline – can become useful in the debates regarding family changes in contemporary Europe. Next to large statistical databases that delineate gross divergences and convergences in family trends, the anthropological gaze helps explain various lifemodes. As part of this scheme, an ongoing programme aiming at comparing kinship interactions in various European countries, KASS (Kinship andSocial Security) is presented.

This article discusses how the soundscape of citizenship ceremonies is part of the materialization of citizenship in the twenty-first century. In this comparative research on citizenship ceremonies in West European countries, the use of the performative approach has led to a changed focus from the textual discourse and rhetoricof the citizenship ceremonies to what is actually done. In the ceremonies, citizenship is not only enacted in different discourses and versions of bodily practice. It is also materialized in flags, certificates, information folders, pins, medals, food and beverages, and in various soundscapes comprising recitation of oaths, playing children, folk music, and singing of national anthems. These soundscapes are the primary focus of this paper, thus promoting the idea of an ethnology of sensory experience andmaterialization.

When the ninth congress of SIEF takes place in Derry in 2008, the society celebrates its 80th anniversary. As an international scholarly society it has served as a catalyst for cooperation, exchange and debates. However, its long history has been strongly marked not only by national differences, but also by uncertainties and existential doubts – as to whether it comprises one or more disciplines, the relationship to general ethnology or anthropology, and whether it should cover thematically only Europe or the whole world. Even the name of the discipline has been a bone of contention. The article traces the motivation for international cooperation within the field(s) and discusses the problems of the unity of the discipline(s), its definition and delimitation, with a focuson the postwar period.