Episodes
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In this episode Familiar Stranger Emma Quilty sat down with Associate Professor Oneka LaBennett to talk about her most recent book, Global Guyana: Shaping Race, Gender, and Environment in the Caribbean and Beyond
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In this episode Familiar Stranger sat down with Fijian author and political analyst Edward Narain and Associate Professor Tarryn Philips from La Trobe University.
Together Edward and Tarryn published Sugar: An Ethnographic Novel which reveals the extent to which the lives, health, and opportunities of Fijians are still dramatically affected by the country’s colonial past and entrenched inequality.
Set in Suva, with a tropical cyclone looming, Sugar follows three strangers from different cultural backgrounds as they find themselves entwined in a brutal murder: revealing inconvenient truths about the darker side of global development in Fiji.
The story follows a naïve but well-intentioned Australian health volunteer, a jaded Indo-Fijian amateur historian, and a troubled Fijian (iTaukei) teen caring for his diabetic grandmother. The reader is immersed in each character’s world and slowly comes to understand the historical and structural reasons behind Fiji’s diabetes epidemic, exploitative labour and trade practices, and the role Australia and other nations play in both.
Head over to our website for a full list of Links and Citations! -
Missing episodes?
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Producer’s note: Hi everyone, Executive Producer Matt here, just wanted to slide in here quickly and say that we recorded this panel a while ago, so you might hear some familiar voices! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to Irina, Andrew, Ruonan and Alex for all their effort in recording this panel! We hope you like it.
We’ve gone digging and we struck some gold!
We recorded this panel a little while ago at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science’s podcast studio with some of the PhD candidates based at the ANU.
In this panel, Familiar Stranger Ruonan opens the floor up to familiar Stranger Alex to talk about some of the differences he noticed around when it comes to “bushwalking”/hiking versus, you know, walking. The Strangers dive into the differences between the two and the interesting societal structures which determines if you’re a hiker or a walker.
Familiar Stranger Irina then poses a question around identity as individuals as well as anthropologists. It launches the Strangers into pensive thoughts around who they are, the communities they are interacting with and what makes us, us and them, them.
There were some really interesting topics broached on this panel and we hope you enjoy! -
Hello and Welcome back to The Familiar Strange!
We are so happy to be back and we can’t wait to keep talking strange with you all!
We’re kicking off this new season with a panel with Familiar Strangers, Alex D’aloia, Carolyn West, Timothy Johnston and Simon Theobald. We’re trying out a new format for panels this season, so make sure you reach out and tell us what you think.
In this panel episode, we dive back into 2020 and the US elections. The Strangers discuss what we as anthropologists can contribute to the conversations around the US. How can the methods, attitudes and values of anthropology be applied? Are anthropologists still relevant in this modern context? What can we as anthropologists bring to the table?
Head to our Website for a full list of links and citations.
We’ve been experiencing some difficulties with our Facebook page and Facebook Chats group. We’re hoping to get them up and running as soon as we can but for now follow us on Twitter @TFSTweets to stay up to date with our new releases! -
In this very special collaboration, TFS would like to present a two part roundtable we recorded at 2019’s AAS conference! It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to gather again and talk all things anthropology this year, but we hope that this might be enough to whet your appetite for more things to come in 2021! A big thank you to Dr Benjamin Hegatry, Dr Carly Schuster and Dr Shiori Shakuto for their hard work in putting together this roundtable discussion. We hope you enjoy!
Roundtable Participants
Christine Helliwell, Emeritus Professor, The Australian National University
Margaret Jolly, Professor of Anthropology, The Australian National University
Martha MacIntyre,Honorary Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
Francesca Merlan, Professor of Anthropology, The Australian National University
Kalpana Ram, Professor of Anthropology, Macquarie University
Kathryn Robinson, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, The Australian National University
Roundtable Convenors
Benjamin Hegarty, McKenzie Fellow, The University of Melbourne
Caroline Schuster, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, The Australian National University
Shiori Shakuto, Assistant Professor, The University of Tokyo – Tokyo College -
The end of 2020 is in sight! What a year it has been for all of us. The team at TFS would like to say thank you to all our listeners this year and to everyone who has listened in to our podcasts and read the blog this year! We are taking a short season break and we will return with some new and improved content in February 2021!
But keep an ear out for some special content we recorded last year at the AAS before the year is out!
Head over to our website for more links to some cool things happening over our summer break. -
This week, we bring you an interview with Dr. Ashley Carruthers. Ashley is a lecturer of anthropology at the Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology. His research interests include migration, mobilities, rural-urban relationships, networks and infrastructures, farming, organic agriculture, bicycles, and he has conducted in-depth fieldwork in Vietnam.
It’s also Familiar Stranger Clair’s first interview! We hope you enjoy it!
In this interview we talked about an organic farming community called Thang Dong. It’s located in a peri-urban region near Hoi An. We discussed what insights that WE, urban dwellers and subjects of modernization, could glean from the farmers’ organic agriculture project, which prevented them from being displaced. The project can be seen as a hybrid of multiple temporalities, where the traditional, the modern, and the postmodern are entangled in a non-linear manner. It is also an assemblage or a network of various agents, including non-human actors like the land, or the chemical fertilizers. We talked a lot about Latour’s Actor Network Theory, his book Down to Earth and We Have Never Been Modern. But don’t worry about it being too theory heavy, Ashley has tons of fun stories along the way! We also talked about the emerging culture of cycling as a leisure activity in Vietnam, and how the elites may inadvertently bring about some public good while benefiting themselves.
Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!
on’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Clair Zhang
Podcast edited by Clair Zhang and Matthew Phung -
Surprise! We are so pleased to show you all a collaborative project we did with our friends and yours at Myanmar Musings!
In this very special episode, Familiar Stranger Alex D’Aloia sat down with Luke Corbin, Anthea Snowsill, Michael Dunford and Dinith Adikari to discuss all things Myanmar. Join us as we explore the tea shops of downtown Yangoon all the way to the mountains of the Northern Shan state. We talk about masculinity, ethnicity and agricultural practises. It was such a pleasure to have collaborated with Myanmar Musings and we hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Thanks again to Luke Corbin from Myanmar Musings for collaborating with us! We hope to work with you again in the future!
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alex D’Aloia and Luke Corbin -
On this week’s panel, we feature the president of the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, Hanne Worsoe and Dinith Adikari who is a PhD candidate from the Australian National University.
Hanne kicks us off [1:37] by discussing a recent article by Judith Butler about the recent US election. She asks us to consider how identity politics has come into play more and more, not only in the US election, but also in Australia’s elections. How important do you think identity is when it comes to politics? Should Politics with a capital P be separate from identity?
Continuing in the same vein as Hanne, Dinith [6:31] discusses the spectacle that has been the US election. He poses a commonly repeated question of “why do people care so much about the US election?” What do you think? What motivates people to keep up with elections not in their own countries?
Next, Carolyn [11:31] changes topics to discuss deepfake technology. We have covered this topic previously too, but Carolyn asks some questions about the potentially insidious applications of this technology, and begs the question who owns your face and likeness? How do you think the likeness of people could be used?
Finally, Alex [15:50] the self-professed nerd asks the strangers to consider how our likes and dislikes are shaped by society and social interactions and what that means to us as Anthropologists. If we know how and why these likes and dislikes arise, shouldn’t that answer all the questions of anthropology? What do you think? Where do you think likes and dislikes come from?
Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations
Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alex D’Aloia and Matthew Phung -
“How much time do you actually need to spend with someone to “accurately” represent their lives?”
This week, we bring you an interview with Diana Tung who is currently doing her field work in the city of Iquitos in Peru. This is also executive producer Matt’s first interview!
Diana discusses all things fieldwork and how things have changed since we have experienced a global pandemic. We talk about how she has had to adapt her methods and how very different things are when compared to the start of the year. We also touch on serendipity and how it played into her field work. Finally, we discuss the passing of David Graeber and the effect that he had on her work and our work being a representation of the people we work with.
Quotes
“I think if you’re hanging out with people and the same topic comes up over and over again, it’s probably something you should be paying attention to”
“Just because you didn’t know about it beforehand or you weren’t paying attention to it beforehand doesn’t mean it's not important to the people you’re hanging out with”
“Sometimes it does work, and when it does I”m very very thankful other times I spend the entire week waking up in the middle of the night to download a program”
“It’s really important of course to maintain your relationships with people back home, but having someone close by who I knew could step in and help me when I really needed help at any time I think that kind of support is priceless”
Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats and let us know what you found most interesting in this episode. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Matthew Phung -
This week we bring you a panel with Anthea Snowsill who is currently doing her research with the Intha people of Myanmar. In this panel We’d also introduce our newest Familiar Stranger, Carolyn West. Welcome to the team Carolyn!
Carolyn [1:25] kicks us off by discussing the recent documentary The Social Dilemma. She asks us to consider if social media and the global nature of the internet has created more separation and polarisation. What do you think? Has the internet changed how you debate or discuss certain issues?
Next Alex [5:46], discusses the personhood of corporations. Often called Corporate personhood, Alex asks us to consider how we interact with these “entities” as individuals and as a collective. What do you think? Does the idea of a corporate personhood feel strange to you?
Then Anthea [12:10], introduces the panel to the Buy Nothing Movement. She discusses the different social norms surrounding selling and gifting material possessions such as blenders or even used mattresses. Have you heard of the Buy Nothing Movement before? Would you sleep on a used mattress???
Finally, Simon [16:37] discusses how the effects and presence of colonialism are different depending on one’s location. He asks the panel how Australian colonialism is seen around the world and reflects on how “racism is complicated”. What do you think? Do you think colonialism and its prevalence varies from place to place?
Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations! -
'The reasons why uniforms exist is for various reasons. Among them is to visually identify a staff member, which is a functional reason - a really practical reason, rather. It's also to take away any outside... personality that can come through on the person's body.'
This episode, Caitlin Setnicar, Australian National University anthropology graduate with First Class Honours (2018) and current Business Designer at ThinkPlace, chats with Dee. They unpack customer service abuse and the many frameworks in place that allow this normalised violence to happen and continue happening, discuss some pathways to applied anthropology and consulting work, and explore how ethnography can be portrayed through cartoons.
You can learn more about ThinkPlace at https://www.thinkplaceglobal.com/
Quotes, Links and Citations can be found at our website https://thefamiliarstrange.com/
Check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and let us know what you found most interesting in this episode or share your own retail 'horror' story. Let's keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Deanna Catto
Podcast edited by Deanna Catto and Matthew Phung -
For the panel this week we welcome Luke Corbin from Myanmar Musings and Familiar Strange alumnus Jodie Lee Trembath!
Simon starts us off [1:31] by discussing his recent culture shock in moving to Germany from Australia. Simon thought that experiences with fieldwork and working with other cultures would have prepared him better for a rapid transition to another culture. The Strangers offered some other perspectives about culture shock and their own experiences. What about you? when you went over for fieldwork or even moving to another country, did you experience culture shock?
Jodie then poses a question to the rest of the strangers, “as an anthropologist, what is story to you?” This question stemmed from Jodie’s recent obsession with the book series The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. The Strangers debated what even constitutes story and how different disciplines and cultures share knowledge. What do you think constitutes a story?
Next, Luke [11:58] discusses the fastest selling cologne in the Australian perfume industry and how smell and masculinity are related in Australian culture. It might surprise you what the cologne is and what it smells like! The Strangers offer some personal anecdotes about masculinity and how it has shifted over time. What do you think? What does masculinity smell like?
Finally, Alex [17:30] discusses the bureaucracy of play and games discussed by the late, David Graber’s in his book, The Utopia of Rules. Alex brings up how even a game based in imagination and role playing such as Dugenons and Dragons, there are still rules that people need to follow. To play, you have to participate in bureaucracy. This leads Alex to ask the question “Is imagination built on rules? Should we rethink conceptions of play?”
Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alex D’Aloia and Matthew Phung -
This week we bring you a very very special episode!
Last year we partnered with the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, or ANSA for short and recorded their roundtable at the AAS held at the Australian National University!
The roundtable discussion featured the likes of Dr Marcus Barber, Dr Sophie Chao, Dr Jayne Curnow, Dr Derek Elias, Dr Bronwyn Hall and Leslie Pyne and was hosted by ANSA president Dr Hanna Jagtenberg. All of whom have a wide array of experiences as anthropologists and in their professional careers.
Throughout the roundtable, Hanna asks the guests how they got to their respective positions, some of their learnings over their careers and what sort of skills have they transferred over from their anthropological work.
The audio quality might be a bit different from what you are used to because we recorded at a conference venue and not at our usual studio!
Head over to ANSA’s Twitter and Facebook page and let them know you liked this collaboration!
And head to our website for a full list of links and citations!
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alessandra Prunotto and Matthew Phung -
This week we bring you another zoom panel! Featuring Mike Dunford who is a Phd candidate in anthropology at the Australian National University and Sophie Chao who you might remember from our last panel and her interview on her work with the Marind People.
To kick us off Alex [1:39] reflects on how we have to be performative in some ways to achieve what we want. Alex is in the process of applying for academic jobs and apparently “running a microbrewery that makes beer and liqueurs” and “running a bakery in Bali” aren’t acceptable answers to “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Alex asks the strangers, why aren’t those answers acceptable? How do we make them acceptable? What do you think? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Next Sophie [6:47], ponders interdisciplinarity and asks how to best work and collaborate with researchers who work in the “hard” sciences. Sophie was inspired by her recent presentations at Sydney University’s"Interdisciplinarity in a More-Than-Human World”. With the current global pandemic, maybe we do need to be more collaborative? What do you think? How have you used other methods/collaborations with other disciplines in your work?
Next Michael [13:07] discusses how our new online existence has affected his fieldwork. He has been feeling “extractive” and almost “forcing” interactions with his interlocutors. He asks us to consider what the different “levels” of e-communication mean and what the norms surrounding them are. Is a Zoom call more formal than a phone call? What do you think?
Finally, Dee[18:09] asks about how reciprocity appeared throughout the strangers fieldwork and field experiences. She was inspired by one of our earlier blog posts which you can read here. She asks the strangers what some of their experiences with reciprocity in the field were? What sort of situations they ended up in because of the sense of “doing right” by someone who had helped them? What is the strangest situation you’ve been in during fieldwork because of reciprocity?
Head to our website for a full list of links and citations!
Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Deanna Catto and Matthew Phung -
A content warning before this interview. Today’s topic centres around human trafficking activites in the Mekong reagion and our guest does mention some of the physical abuse that does take place in these situations.
“I’m still to this day, very supportive of the UN if I’m going to put my policy hat on if you like”
This week, we bring you an interview with Dr Sverre Molland who is currently head of Discipline in ANU’s Anthropology and Archaeology department. He is also on Alex’s PhD Supervisory panel! Some of Dr Molland’s research interests include, migration, government and politics of Asia and the Pacific and security. Previously, Dr Molland has worked with the United Nations Development Programme as part of the anti-trafficking efforts in the Mekong region.
Dr Molland’s most recent work, “Sedentary Optics: Static Anti-Trafficking and Moblie Victims”discusses the potential weaknesses of anti-trafficking initiatives and how they can often be at odds with what the victims and the communities that are being affected actually need.
Throughout this interview with Alex, Dr Molland discusses how often well meaning Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) can operate in contrast to how governments want to operate. He also discusses the challenges and learnings from his time working for United Nations Development Programme and academia. He details how the outcomes of both policy and academia can often be different in their applications and use by both private and state actors.
Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations! -
Welcome back to a new season!
With Covid-19 restrictions still in place, we bring you another Zoom panel! For this reason, the audio quality will be a little different to our usual studio sound.
This week, we are joined by Sophie Chao, who we interviewed previously about her use of multispecies ethnography during her time with the Marind People and our very own Deanna Catto!
Firstly, our guest this week Sophie Chao [01:49] starts us off by thinking about what we do as anthropologists in relation to the global pandemic. Sophie has had to alter her ethnographic practices because of how things have become “suspended” in the face of Covid-19. She asks us to consider how we as ethnographers and anthropologists need to adapt our methods and our ethics to suit this strange new world. How have you had to adapt your ethnographic methods?
Simon [06:49] then reflects on human difference through exploration of the Yezidi creation stories. The Yezidi people are an ethnic and religious minority in Northern Iraq who have two different creation stories which result in two different “peoples”. Simon poses questions of how we, as anthropologists, are able to work with people who have varying world views about themselves and their relationship to others. How do we navigate working with people that have different world views that might be contrary to our own?
Deanna [11:36] reflects on how Covid-19 has affected shared spaces, such as her dojo where she practises Karate and how her practise has been forced online. She mentions Durkheim’s Collective Effervescence and how she has been able to train online with Karate masters who ordinarily are invited to large yearly gatherings. The group reflects on how Dee’s virtual dojo has created an “e-effervescent” landscape. Have you had to do the awkward goodbye at the end of a zoom call?
Finally, Alex [16:45] discusses the problems with field notes. He notes that as time progresses, the memories, the sights and the sounds attached to his field notes start to fade. Alex also discusses how easy it is to plant false memories. Dee mentions that even the memories of our interlocutors can be flawed and that we need to be aware of how we as anthropologists are seeing the world.
Head over to our website to check out the links and citations from this episode!
Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alex D'Aloia and Matthew Phung -
Just like that, we have already made it through half of what can only be described as a crazy year. To bring this season to a close, we recorded a short message from our homes (hence the differing audio quality ... we are KEEN to get back to the podcast studio soon) as we are still in the midst of corona virus restrictions. But despite the challenging times that 2020 has brought, we've loved bringing you content this season.
This season we welcomed many guests onto our panels, including Kirsty Wissing, Sophie Pezzutto and Saidalavi P.C., and Yasmine Musharbash, and released interviews with Amita Baviskar, Robert Borofsky, Baptiste Brossard and Sophie Chao. We've talked about many topics on the podcast, from the meaning behind Maggi 2-minute noodles to imagined communities during a pandemic, from walking the line between 'friend' and 'researcher' or 'anthropologist' and 'activist' to the social dimensions of Alzheimer's Disease. And that's just on the podcast! We also released many incredibly, thought-provoking blogs about Shaligrams, emojis, cross-cultural perspectives on Covid-19, studying religion as an 'outsider' and racism reproduced through conversations about ice cream. If you haven't checked them out yet head over to https://thefamiliarstrange.com/blogs/
We also wanted to say a fond farewell to Jodie, as she is stepping down from her roles at TFS. During her time at TFS, Jodie has had a variety of roles, including Managing Editor, Social Media Manager, The Familiar Strange Chats Facebook Group Host and Moderator. We can't imagine TFS being as it is today without Jodie. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
TFS will be back with more content on July 27, until then make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and if you're interested in writing for us head over to www.thefamiliarstrange.com/writeforus to see our style guidelines. We can't wait to keep talking strange with you soon.
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Deanna Catto
Podcast edited by Matthew Phung -
“Because for a few hours, maybe sometimes a few days, you can shed your human skin and you can take on the body of a creature that will allow you to fly, to swim through the rivers, to glide across the canopy”
This week we bring you an interview with Dr Sophie Chao, who won the 2019 Australian Anthropological Society's PhD Thesis Prize with her thesis titled "In the Shadow of the Palms: Plant-Human Relations Among Marind-Anim, West Papua”. Dr Chao is a multispecies ethnographer who utilises the ontological turn in her work. Broadly, The Ontological Turn"is a movement whereby we don't just consider if people have a different perspective on the world, but live in a different world.
If that sounds confusing, don’t worry, because Dr Chao does an excellent job in describing how ontology is used in her work. Dr Chao has published multiple writings about her time spent in Western PNG such as In the Shadow of the Palm: Dispersed Ontologies Among Marind, West Papua and The Plastic Cassowary: Problematic ‘Pets’ in West Papua among many others. Dr Chao’s research interests include dreams, medical anthropology and environmental anthropology.
Dr Chao sat down with Familiar Stranger Alex D’Aloia in Sydney University’s podcast studio to discuss her experiences with the Marind-Anim people and their relationship to the growing palm oil industry. Dr Chao details the conflict between the native Sago palms and the introduced oil palms. She discusses how the introduction of these oil palms is damaging the community in more ways than imagined. Dr Chao makes constant reference to ontology and how it has informed her experience of “walking the forests” with the Marind-Anim people.
Quotes
“Practically everyone I knew had at some point or another been eaten by oil palm”
“This idea of taking seriously a dream for instance, the idea of taking seriously the possibility of someone being eaten by a plant really really mattered for ethical as much as political reasons”
“The idea of ontological anthropology is not that I necessarily have to believe what these communities are telling me is their reality, but I should at least allow myself the possibility of believing that it may be true”
“It is less me going into the field as an ontologist, than me trying to understand Marind themselves as ontologists of their own changing worlds”
“I suppose my stance as an anthropologist, first and foremost my commitment is to the people I work with. And it's their perspectives their making, their fashioning of reality that for me takes precedence”
If you want a full list of links and citations, head to our website!
Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!
If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.
Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange
This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Alex D’Aloia and Matthew Phung - Show more
