Transcript The workings of a Danish Medical Anthropologist

The workings of a Danish Medical
Anthropologist
Lecturer: Mrs. Hanne Katrine
Alsbirk(尤汉娜)
Medical Anthropologist (MA)
Free-lance consultant
Interpretress: Ms. Grace
Ma(马晴燕) (MA),Sun Yat-sen
University
Opening and presentation
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Why anthropology?
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Why applied?
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Academic positioning and practical
examples
Fieldwork in Ubud, Bali,
Indonesia 1996-1997
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Reproductive health ,
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women,
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Inforrmants: women of reproductive age,
local health providers,
pharmaceutical professionals,
local laypersons of Sudra caste
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case studies
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working with professionals supervisor and expert PhD
medical anthropologist Mrs.Tine Gammeltoft and local
counterpart medical anthropologist Dr. Kumbara, Udayana
University Denpasar Bali, Indonesia
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Preparing field work and funding
going to the field with a fellow
student
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finding the relevant location
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doing the field study
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functioning in the field
“being systematic in an intuitive way”
working with informants
having an assistant helps language
barriers and isolation
developing skills as you go along,
returning to the desk, analyzing and
‘writing up’ the analysis.
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Research focus:
How does the traditional
Balinese Caste system influence
modern women’s reproductive health
practice?
Litt.: “Fertility Regulation as
SocioCultural Challenge” (Danish
version)
Going to the field
Examining field sites
Anthropologist
Local counterpart
Local conterpart
Informant
Assistant
Bureaucracy
School Health Consultant in Thanh Hoa,
Vietnam 2000-2002 for PATH
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Definitions
Practitioner roles in anthropology
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What roles are there?
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1. Traditional academic roles of
anthropologists = teaching +
research in college or university
most frequent
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2. Applied roles = practitioner roles, mostly in
organizations and groups, public and non profit
policy researcher
evaluator
impact assessor
needs assessor
planner
research analyst
advocate
trainer
culture broker
expert witness
public participation specialist
administrator/manager
change agent
therapist
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3. Free-lance role (commercial and
private sector work)
Typical applied anthropology jobs
consist of many roles
“anthropologist” is not commonly
used as a job title
Content area for applied work
EXAMPLES
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DEFINITION OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY:
WHAT IS IT?
defining the content is difficult,
Simply say that “applied anthropology is
anthropology put to use”
The generalized and fuzzy quality of that
definition is appropriate to the changing job
market.
Thinking more precisely is however useful…
At a general level one can think of anthropology
as having two aspects, one is concerned with
solution of theoretical problems, another with
solving practical problems…
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examples from Copenhagen university :
current research
In VN I worked as a school health
consultant solving and changing and
proposing…
both terms encompass a lot of
diversity!
As will be shown later, basic or
theoretical anthropology often builds
on practical work which serves as the
basis of important theoretical
developments
it is a useful distinction
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Defining the field:
look at the anthropological practice
consider activities typical labeled applied anthrop
“Applied anthropology is a complex of related, researchbased, instrumental methods, that produce change or
stability in specific cultural systems through provision of
data, initiation of direct action, and/or the formation of
policy. This process can take many forms, varying in terms
of problem, role of the anthropologist, motivating values,
and the extent of action involvement” (quote, Willingen
1993)
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= broad range of products:
1) Information (most important!)
2) Policy (constructed on the info generated)
3) Action (motivated by the generated information)
Most typical product: INFORMATION
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Ethics = standards of performance and
behavior
“The essential core of the professional
ethics of applied anthropology is the
nature of the potential and manifested
impact on the people involved” (quoted
from Willingen 1993, p.41)
the anthropologist vs. other information
seekers (priests, lawyers, physicians,
journalist, detectives, etc.)
Anthropologist: asks informants for help
and give confidentiality in turn
EXAMPLES
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Finding work in Vietnam
working for international NGO re child and
women’s health problems
how to deal with language barriers
teaching others about anthropological
methods and developing patience in
reality: test, test and test again…
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Funding for IEC materials
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networking globally
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meeting the ethnic people of Thanh
Hoa,
working with the Black
persons
H’mong lay
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reading/writing English texts – with
Danish eyes and mind
new projects follow old projects,
avoiding overcrowding and
overlapping in the field.
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Working in multi-disciplinary settings.
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Time factors in project cycles.
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Research questions:
What factors influence health
decisions?
Will local people invest in new
health remedies?
Local people’s custom
Working in a team
Vietnamese
Vietnamese
Young informants
School uniform
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Discussion in plenum
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Thank you for attendence