SOAN 309: Colonization and Development
Last Updated 11-2-99
OVERVIEW OF THE ETHNOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT:
This assignment has four major parts:
I. Reading the text
II. Presenting a report to the class on the text [detailed below]
III. A written version that elaborates on II and incorporates critiques [see Written Reports on Ethnographic Reading]
IV. Critiques of other reports [see Critiques of Ethnographic
Reports]
The ethnographies that you are reading all present some aspect of colonial or neocolonial relations and forms of development. I have several goals in having you read them:
to see a colonial situation in detail, rather than abstract generalities
to summarize that account and share it with the class
to use the ethnography to explore the scope and limits of the general readings
to think critically about BOTH the general readings AND the this specific ethnography
to learn about colonialism by listening to the reports of others
The reports you will make, both oral and written, are directed at achieving these goals. Because there are so many aspects of colonialism, and because the four ethnographies differ significantly, I am giving you a focus, or approach for your presentations and reports.
TOPICS:
Each group will pick one of the following two approaches:
1. How does this ethnography demonstrate, illustrate, or exemplify the various principles we have seen discussed by Wolf, Memmi, and/or world-systems theory? Included here are ways in which general principles are demonstrated in detail.
2. How does this ethnography differ from, extend, or contradict the various principles we have seen discussed by Wolf, Memmi, and/or world-systems theory? Included here are NEW general principles that have not been discussed in the earlier readings.
Thus, one group will be reporting on their ethnography focusing how it is similar to issues we have already discussed. The other group will be reporthing on how it is different.
Sometime the difference between these two will be blurry. For instance, if an ethnography goes into sufficient detail, it may reveal processes and changes that were not discussed in the broader theoretical accounts. Another example would be in time frame. Most of our readings have focused on the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a few of the ethnographies focus on the 20th century. This is new, both in the sense of recent, and in the sense we have not spent much time discussing these processes [at least yet, as of 11/3/99]. But, if they are continuations of earlier processes they would be similarities. If they are sufficiently different, they are differences. The fuzzy part here is how much is "sufficiently different." That is what each group will need to decide among themselves.
It is not only acceptable, but even useful, if the group taking the first approach argues that some part of the account fits within their focus and the group taking the second approach argue that the same part fits their approach. This should lead to an interesting discussion or debate during the presentations.
It makes more sense for the group taking the first approach, similarities, to start the presentation, and to be followed by the group describing differences. This means, among other things, that in the presentation, the first group will do more summarizing, so they may take a bit longer in presenting. The second group will have slightly shorter time, and should only summarize those parts not covered by the first and which are relevant to their analysis. Both groups, however, will need to have summaries in their written reports.
THE REPORT:
I. CONTEXT: The first element of your report [oral and written]
is to locate it in space, time, and world-system time. For example, Ancient
Futures is in northern India, on the Tibetan Plateau, on the borders of
China, India, Tibet, and Pakistan. The account takes place in the latter half of the
twentieth century. While this is late capitalism, or contemporary world-system,
Ladakh itself, seems to have only recently experienced incorporation into the modern
world-system. Thus, it is more like nineteenth century colonialism, but with the
twentieth century wrinkles of neocolonialism and contemporary technology. The
account makes clear, but does not delve into previous colonial or colonial like
experiences, such as participation in the Silk Road trades, being part of British colonial
India, then part of India.
This should take less than a minute, although some of the ethnographies will be clearer, hence shorter, others will be more complex.
II. SUMMARY: Once the ethnography is placed in context, you will need to summarize its findings. Here you will need to boil detailed descriptions to basic, general summary. This, too, will vary with each ethnography. Think about this as an "executive summary," or as briefing fellow students on a book for an exam on it. That is, you are not repeating the book, but hitting the highlights. How do you decide what goes in the summary? If it is necessary in order to make sense of what you report in parts III or IV it goes in; if it does not skip over it.
This part should take, for the first group, from 5 to 10 minutes. This is not much time, as we have seen from the presentations, so you need to work on boiling the summary down to basics, and to rehearse the presentation so you know how long it will take. For the second group, this should take only 2 to 5 minutes, if that. Remember in the presentation, you need only summarize those things the first group did not cover, but which are relevant to what you argue in parts III or IV. This means you will need to "adjust on the fly" as you hear what the other group presents.
III. SIMILARITIES or DIFFERENCES: In this part of the report you will need to address the appropriate general topic listed above: how this ethnographies reflects [similarities] or diverges from [differences] from the general issues we have discussed in class. You have two tasks here: (1) identify the elements you will discuss--briefly, a list will do; and (2) explain how and/or why these elements are similarities or differences. For those presenting after the first round, you may also refer to issues discussed in the earlier presentations. I not only find acceptable, but encourage comments that note that this or that similarity/difference is much like the one reported in xxx ethnography. This is the meat of your report. This part should take 5 to 10 minutes.
IV. CRITIQUE: Here you should assess how useful and clear this ethnography is in helping to understand, exemplify, modify, etc. the processes of colonialism and development. Note well: this is an intellectual critique, not a literary or writing critique. The major criterion here is: How much do we learn about colonialism and development from this ethnography. This part should take 1 to 4 minutes.
OTHER POINTS FOR PRESENTATION:
Do the best you can to keep the presentation part to 20 minutes total for first group, 15
for the second. That way we will have 10-15 minutes for discussion/debate between
the groups and for questions asking for clarification from the audience. Obviously,
you cannot use the long end of the suggested times above for all 4 elements and fit in the
allotted time. You will need to adjust the parts so that the total fits. This
means you must make choices about what to present, and in how much detail.
HANDOUTS: I encourage handouts. They might include things like the following:
a map which shows the region your ethnography discusses [remember only one quarter of the class is reading each ethnography, so the others will not have the maps that you have in the ethnography]
dates and names if those relevant
any other "facts" that will be easier for the audience [the rest of the class] to have in front of them while you talk
a list of the points you are discussing as similarities or differences
With a little creativity at the reducing photocopier, you should be able to get all this on one page. Please put the group number, group members, and the full reference to the ethnography on the page. That way others may refer to it in their reports, and you will, in your final written draft be able to refer to other presentations.
The written report [see Written Reports on Ethnographic Readings] will follow the same format. But have more detail and incorporate critiques of the presentation and evidence from other reports. You may find that in presenting and summarizing you find new topics or issues to address when you write up your final draft.