Greyness Is Aged, Bearded Is Adult

I explore how Yoruba people ascertain who is junior, who is senior, and the mark of equality beyond obvious age, as well as the social function of these distinctions in everyday life. The social ranking of people as either senior, junior or …

Training as a Rite of Passage

Following the transformative journey of Kenyan geothermal professionals throughout a training programme in Iceland and back to their homes, I argue that such long-term training in foreign countries can function as a rite of passage. The coll…

Doing Being Senior/Junior

In this article, I will reconsider the naming and kinship relationships of the !Xun San in north-central Namibia from the perspective of child socialization. I will thereby deconstruct the naturalized view in which ‘relative age’ (a concept …

“I’m Bigger!”

Pre-school age children in European contexts are known to use labels like ‘big’ and ‘small’ to orient to age differences, very often to highlight differences in physical and social competence (Häll 2022). This research report explores Datoog…

“Before, we didn’t eat manioc flour”: Historical and social transformations in food techniques among Indigenous Peoples of the Rio Negro basin in the Brazilian Amazon

Manioc flour is currently considered one of the main foods consumed by Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. It is fundamental both to the traditional diet and to adding an “Indigenous flavor” to urban dishes. This article presents an analysi…

Asian Ethnology

precarity emotions secularization Fukushima Pure Land Buddhism Since the triple disaster of 2011, parents in Fukushima Prefecture have been raising their children under a cloud of uncertainty about possible radiation in their environment. This article …

Asian Ethnology

folklore tricksters horror infanticide adaptation retelling violence The Assamese film Kothanodi (2015) radically demonstrates how film adapts to folklore, rather than the other way around. It actively contributes to the folkloric tradition, notably th…

Asian Ethnology

Taiwan material religion Daoism ritual whip craft cultural improvisation Among the most ubiquitous ritual implements in modern Taiwan, the ritual whip functions to dispel demons and to summon spirit soldiers, the material embodiment of a fearsome serpe…