Homework for September 22nd

Pages 101-118

In the article, “Urbanism As a Way of Life,” Louis Wirth describes how cities have a different mode of life than anywhere else. In order to say somewhere is a city, you have to take into account the many characteristics that make it a city. Size, density, transportation, communication, facilities, culture, recreation – these are all characteristics of an urban community. Not only are there many characteristics of a city, but there are also many variations in the people and neighborhoods.

Wirth talks about how the city affects people in the way they act and live. He says relationships are a lot different in the city than in rural areas. He says as city dwellers we become less open, less friendly, and more guarded. It’s a world of total strangers. Cities are highly competitive, and Wirth says the only reason we develop friendships is for selfish reasons. He also makes a statement that says the only thing that is keeping the city together are the laws in place.

While we discussed this in class, I became angry at all the assumptions that Wirth came to about cities. I can see on some level why he would make these points that he is, but I disagree with him in a lot of different ways. I believe we as a city are competitive, but I do not think that most people make friends for selfish reasons. I do believe people in cities have different relationships with people then people in rural areas, but I don’t think we are hostile and rude as Wirth makes it seem like.

Pages 119-130

Urban communities are full of complete strangers living together, and because of this, Sally Engle Merry wrote this article on Urban Dangers. Because of Wirth’s article, Merry decided to conduct her own study on the subject of urban dangers. She chose a subsidized housing project in the Northeastern part of the country to conduct her research. She studied the different people and ethnic groups that lived in the project. She was able to see how each group felt about their safety living in the projects. The turnover rate in the project was only 5%, but the sense of community was lacking. The ethnic groups were spread out over the neighborhood, but most of the residents maintained only close relationships with people of their same ethnicity. They would pass their immediate neighbors every day in the stairwells and not even attempt to get to know them.

As Merry got to know some of the residents, she began to see the difference in how each person felt about their safety. After more research, Merry states, “…[D]anger cannot be equated with the statistical probability of being the victim of a crime. Instead, it’s the individual’s interpretation of the surrounding environment.” She also suggests that it is not the people who are detached from the neighborhood that are dangerous, but it’s the ones who only appear to be attached.

I thought this was an extremely interesting article. I felt Merry gave her information in a very clear way.

Homework for September 29th

Pg 157-169

“In Motion”

Pardue did a study on social differences in Sao Paulo by focusing on the meaning of transportation. In this essay he wrote three different narratives that focuses on cognitive maps related to the social geography of Sao Paulo. In the first narrative, he compares trains, buses, and subways. Pardue interviewed a man names Robson and discussed the differences in the public transportation. Robson was a part of a working-class family that had a lot of pride. He explained that the bus is a more sophisticated way of traveling than the train because a bus affords views on life and perspective, whereas the train is a sardine can. His family knew the trains well, but if there was a family or group function, they would take the bus. He felt because the bus was above ground, it would help him be able to dream and enjoy the view of traffic. He felt the train was an undesirable way to travel and lowest legal form of transportation. 

In the next narrative, Pardue talked about a woman named Edilaine. She grew up in a working-class neighborhood where they had to take complicated forms of transportation to work. When she was older, she was able to work her from being a journalist to becoming an editor of a professional news release for doctors. She describes herself being different now, not in the way she looks, but in the way she acts and feels. After she married a doctor and moved to a different part of town, she forgot when she used to have to take complicated forms of transportation. She now has a private driver that takes her and her daughter where they need to go. 

The last narrative was about hip-hoppers and spacial occupation. The first hip-hoppers gathered around the subways in the 80’s. They targeted those public places to express that they were somebody. They believed that their confidence and rights to to public spaces were based on a morally deserved recognition. They used the public spaces as a way to accomplish greater things by getting recognition from society. 

This reading was very interesting to me. I love learning about what other people think of their communities and cities. 

Pages 171-184

“Urban Structures and Institutions”

“The Culture of Poverty”

This essay starts out by saying Wirth’s view are being challenged by other anthropologists because people are coming into the city and no matter what ethnicity, they are connecting with other people and it is a positive experience for them. It goes on to explain what Oscar Lewis studied, urban poverty. He explains it’s not the fault of people who lack sufficient economic resources, but it reflects the structural features of contemporary capitalist societies, lack of work opportunities. Government can sometimes be a help in those situations, but sometimes the government isn’t organized and people find other ways of surviving which are sometimes illegal. 

Lewis states, “The culture of poverty is both an adaptation and a reaction of the poor to their marginal position in a class-stratified, highly individuated, capitalistic society.” The culture of poverty is the way of life that develops in some of the poor that live in societies of low income, high unemployment rates, bilateral kinship system, cash economy, wage labor, ect. It tends to travel from generation to generation because of it’s effect on the children. They are so used to their way of life, that they never take the initiative to change it. 

I believe that Lewis has a pretty dark view on poverty in cities. I don’t wholly agree with him on everything. but I do have to agree with him and say generally poverty does travel through the generations because people don’t teach their children how to be responsible people. Now, I am not saying that all poor people are like that, and some really try their hardest to get out of the situation that they are in. I think that it is very difficult for them to do that though, because many times they have no support from their family and friends and they don’t necessarily know how to get out by themselves. 

Homework for September 15th

Foster and Kemper article, pg. 5-19

The article by Foster and Kemper describes how the study of urban anthropology has developed over the years. It started with fieldwork in the rural areas, and from that experience, it helped broaden the field of studying in urban areas. Most fieldwork in the urban areas started after WWII. Anthropology has evolved over a period of time. First, anthropologists were only interested in primitive people and cultures, then it grew to peasant societies and rural areas, and finally it grew to the cities.

Starting out in the field can be difficult. Anthropologists have to find the right area in which they want to gather information. They have to overcome culture shock and work to meet people to interview. Finding the right informants and then networking is a huge part of fieldwork.

I am thankful for all of the studies anthropologists have done to figure out communities and work to make them better.

Bestor article, pg. 20-35

Ted Bestor’s article focused on his studies of Tokyo, Japan and the way common people live there. Although Tokyo is the center of contemporary Japanese life, Bestor want to study and experience the way the communities in the city behaved. He had difficulty in finding the perfect place to settle down and conduct his research. One of the people he met there was able to point out a great neighborhood that was a mix of many kinds of people.

Networking was a large part of his studies. Who he met and whom they introduced him to was very important in getting his questions answered and in giving him a lot of information he needed. He was able to make great friends by helping out in the community instead of just always observing. It built trust with the Japanese. He learned that asking questions over and over again all the time eventually turned up the answers he was looking for. Networking also really helped him learn about the Tsukiji wholesale seafood market – the largest seafood market in the world.

Another way he did his research was by reading signs and observing homes and buildings. In Japan you can find a lot about a home if you read the signs on the houses. You can figure out if someone passed away recently or if someone is famous or a big part of the community.

I think Bestor had wonderful techniques to figuring out this Japanese community. He was very thorough and made himself apart of the community.

Gmelch and Gmelch, pg. 82-96

This article showed the big differences in cities vs. rural areas. There were two groups of students doing fieldwork in Barbados and Tasmania. This article showed the differences of the data found out by the students and the difficulty each group had. Students in the city felt as if they didn’t really understand the community they were living in because they weren’t in everyday contact with their informants and there were a lot of distractions for them. The students in the rural area had very intimate contact with people. They were able to spend lots of time gathering information and learning about the community. They did run into some problems though with privacy issues because the community was so close knit.

I think that this research was very interesting and I enjoyed reading about the contrasts of both communities and what the students learned. 

Homework for Sept 22, 2011

Malerie Brill                                                                                                 9/21/11

Urban Anthropology, SSN 182

Homework #2

Pages 101-118

In the article, “Urbanism As a Way of Life,” Louis Wirth describes how cities have a different mode of life than anywhere else. In order to say somewhere is a city, you have to take into account the many characteristics that make it a city. Size, density, transportation, communication, facilities, culture, recreation – these are all characteristics of an urban community. Not only are there many characteristics of a city, but there are also many variations in the people and neighborhoods.

Wirth talks about how the city affects people in the way they act and live. He says relationships are a lot different in the city than in rural areas. He says as city dwellers we become less open, less friendly, and more guarded. It’s a world of total strangers. Cities are highly competitive, and Wirth says the only reason we develop friendships is for selfish reasons. He also makes a statement that says the only thing that is keeping the city together are the laws in place.

While we discussed this in class, I became angry at all the assumptions that Wirth came to about cities. I can see on some level why he would make these points that he is, but I disagree with him in a lot of different ways. I believe we as a city are competitive, but I do not think that most people make friends for selfish reasons. I do believe people in cities have different relationships with people then people in rural areas, but I don’t think we are hostile and rude as Wirth makes it seem like.

Pages 119-130

Urban communities are full of complete strangers living together, and because of this, Sally Engle Merry wrote this article on Urban Dangers. Because of Wirth’s article, Merry decided to conduct her own study on the subject of urban dangers. She chose a subsidized housing project in the Northeastern part of the country to conduct her research. She studied the different people and ethnic groups that lived in the project. She was able to see how each group felt about their safety living in the projects. The turnover rate in the project was only 5%, but the sense of community was lacking. The ethnic groups were spread out over the neighborhood, but most of the residents maintained only close relationships with people of their same ethnicity. They would pass their immediate neighbors every day in the stairwells and not even attempt to get to know them.

As Merry got to know some of the residents, she began to see the difference in how each person felt about their safety. After more research, Merry states, “…[D]anger cannot be equated with the statistical probability of being the victim of a crime. Instead, it’s the individual’s interpretation of the surrounding environment.” She also suggests that it is not the people who are detached from the neighborhood that are dangerous, but it’s the ones who only appear to be attached.