2024
- 12 november, 2024. Eco-influencers y activistas en Instagram: imaginarios emergentes ante la crisis climática. Elisenda Ardévol (UOC). 16h, Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. hybrid session
- 3 October, 2024. Quantifying social networks extracted from qualitative ethnographic monographs. Beatriz Patraca, Regnar Kristensen & Miroslav Pulgar (UAB). 16h, Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. hybrid session.
The ethnographic monograph has traditionally served as the flagship of anthropologists, offering rich and multifaceted descriptions of social and cultural phenomena. However, as a qualitative and interpretive science, little effort has been made to systematically quantify the comprehensive social and cultural relations depicted within them. Traditionally, “rich” ethnography has been equated with “messy” data by statistically inclined scholars. Yet, with the rise of big data and artificial intelligence, social scientists are increasingly embracing the complexity of such “messy” data. Building upon the strong tradition in GRAFO of bridging quantitative and qualitative research, we propose utilizing ethnographic monographs as a unique form of “messy” dataset to conduct ex post facto social network analyses. They are rich in details, social and cultural complex, and comprehensive. We just need to “scrap” or “mine” the social network described in them.
We selected two monographs for this exploration: “The Children of Sanchez” (Oscar Lewis, 1963) and “The Children of Gregoria” (Regnar Kristensen and Claudia Adeath, 2020). Both meticulously detail the lives of extended families living half a century apart in the marginal zones of Mexico City, employing the same ethnographic narrative style. The former describes a social network of 227 individuals, while the latter portrays one of 170. Starting with a close reading of both monographs, we quantified the relationships between individuals, weighing their economic and violent interactions, and recorded also other aspects of their social relationships (kinship, affinity, friendship, gender, generational differences, etc.). Subsequently, we conducted social network analyses on the “scraped” data using Gephi and R. The results were remarkably clear. They significantly challenged previous interpretations and gave new insights into household economics, gender roles, and violence. We shall present some of our findings in the seminar and set the stage for discussing our experience with “datafication” of rich, complex, ethnographic monographs.
- 18 September, 2024. Combining Text Mining and Social Network Analysis in the Big Data Era. Giulia Verdoliva, Università Degli Studi Di Perugia. 16h, Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. hybrid session.
In the dynamic field of social sciences, automated textual analysis emerges as a crucial tool with remarkable transformative potential. This seminar highlights the extraordinary opportunities offered by this approach, with particular reference to digital ethnography. The study of texts not only makes it possible to handle and interpret large volumes of unstructured data but also opens up new perspectives in understanding social phenomena. Through tools such as sentiment analysis and topic modeling, researchers can explore and decipher complex narratives and discourses from a wide range of digital sources, including social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, as well as qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews. This type of analysis allows for revealing prevailing sentiments, emerging trends, and underlying themes that would otherwise remain hidden from traditional methods. Moreover, the use of tools such as co-occurrence analysis in texts facilitates the discovery of relationships between words or concepts within a text corpus. Also, it offers deep insights into cultural and social dynamics.
- 10 June, 2024. Workshop “Ethnote: A New Digital Tool for Fieldnote Collection, Sharing, and Processing”. Emilie Munch Gregersen and Sofie Læbo Astrupgaard from the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS). 15:30- 17:30h.Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Ethnographic fieldnotes can contain more detailed and thorough descriptions of social phenomena than other data sources. Their open-ended and flexible character makes them especially useful in explorative research. However, fieldnotes are typically highly unstructured and personalised by individual researchers, which makes them harder to use as a method for data collection in collaborative and mixed-methods research. More precisely, the unstructured nature of ethnographic fieldnotes presents three distinct challenges: 1) Ethnographic fieldnotes are traditionally handwritten in notebooks during fieldwork, requiring hours of retyping and organisation at a later point 2) Fieldnotes often contain idiosyncratic writing difficult to comprehend by any other than the author 3) These factors make it more challenging to compile and compare fieldnotes from different ethnographers in collaborative projects. To solve these three challenges, we introduce “EthNote” free progressive web app available on desktop and mobile for systematically collecting, processing, and analysing fieldnotes. Via predefined fieldnote templates, EthNote allows individuals or teams to collect similarly structured fieldnotes, images, and audio, among other data sources securely in one place, using any mobile or desktop device.
- 13 May, 2024. La violencia en los márgenes y los límites de nuestro entendimiento, Javier Auyero (University of Texas). 16 h. Sala de Juntes de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Hybrid session.
Based on ethnographic fieldwork and research in judicial archives, this presentation focuses on interpersonal violence in areas of high marginality to illustrate the political dimension of what we call “concatenations of harm.” The concatenations are political in a double sense: a) they are shaped by state interventions (legal and illegal), b) both victims and perpetrators understand them as caused by state actors, either directly (in the form of police repression) or clandestinely (in the form of collusion with actors linked to crime).
- 11 April, 2024. EthNote: A new digital tool for fieldnote collection, sharing, and processing. (Morten Axel Pedersen, August Lohse & Emilie Munch Gregersen, Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science, SODAS). 16 h. Sala de Juntes, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Hybrid session.
Ethnographic fieldnotes can contain richer and more thorough descriptions of social phenomena compared to other data sources. Their open-ended and flexible character makes them especially useful in explorative research. However, fieldnotes are typically highly unstructured and personalized by individual researchers, which makes them harder to use as a method for data collection in collaborative and mixed-methods research. More precisely, the unstructured nature of ethnographic fieldnotes presents three distinct challenges: 1) Ethnographic fieldnotes are traditionally handwritten in notebooks during fieldwork requiring hours of retyping and organization at a later point 2) Fieldnotes often contain idiosyncratic writing difficult to comprehend by any other than the author 3) These factors make it more difficult to compile and compare fieldnotes from different ethnographers in collaborative projects. To solve these three challenges, we introduce ”EthNote” free progressive web app available on desktop and mobile for the systematic collection, processing, and analysis of fieldnotes. Via predefined fieldnote templates, EthNote allows individuals or teams to collect similarly structured fieldnotes, images, and audio, among other data sources securely in one place, using any mobile or desktop device. In this presentation, we present EthNote and use cases from our own mixed methods pilot study at a politics festival as well as user cases from testers of the platform to show how adopting this new digital tool can allow individuals and teams to overcome the three aforementioned challenges of fieldnotes, while retaining the flexible and explorative character of ethnographic research, which is a key strength of ethnographic fieldwork.
- 18 March 2024. Experiencias y percepciones sobre sexualidad, riesgo y campañas de prevención de ITS/VIH por estudiantes universitarios.(Eduardo Leiva, UAB), 16h., Sala de Juntes, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Hybrid session
Las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) representan un importante problema de salud pública, acarreando altos costos, tanto sociales como económicos. Cada día, más de millón de personas contraen una infección de transmisión sexual en todo el mundo. En esta presentación doy cuenta de la fase cualitativa de una investigación que busca diseñar una intervención digital de prevención de ITS/VIH con jóvenes universitarios. A partir de grupos focales se abordó la experiencia y percepción que tienen sobre sexualidad, riesgo y campañas de prevención.
Los resultados muestran que la educación sexual es escasa, reducida a lo biológico, cargada de prejuicios y sesgos de género, y un limitando manejo de información sobre sexualidad y salud sexual por parte de la población estudiantil. Se evidencian estrategias vacilantes de prevención, no logrando motivar ni ofrecer oportunidades para la toma de decisiones conscientes y autónomas en salud sexual. Las campañas de ITS/VIH se evaluaron poco inclusivas, lejanas y basadas en el miedo.
Se concluye que las intervenciones en salud sexual han fallado en sopesar aspectos experienciales de la sexualidad juvenil, basándose en modelos de comportamiento ideal y estereotipado, desechando narrativas en primera persona y su rica complejidad. Asimismo, es imperativo innovar en la prevención de ITS/VIH, formulando intervenciones basadas en un diseño integrador, multidisciplinar y situado, que valore la teoría y la experiencia de las poblaciones objetivo
Striving for a better yet potentially lonelier life in the era of modern technology: transnational labor migrants in the international logistics centers of Copenhagen and Barcelona. (Regnar Kristensen, UAB). 17h.Sala de Juntas, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Sesión híbrida
Logistic warehouses, which provide us with enormous amounts of global goods, have become one of the main magnets for transnational labor migrants. Despite the use of highly advanced technologies, the warehouses surrounding most modern cities still employ a vast number of unskilled laborers to pick, pack, and deliver client orders. However, their bosses are now computers that communicate with them in their own language, instructing them on where to go, what to pick, and where to deliver, among other tasks. LEAN processes have eliminated many team managers, leaving these modern workers in a sort of no-man’s- land.
During their off-duty hours, these workers also engage with social media. I am interested in understanding how they form new social relations in a foreign setting. How do they socially integrate into the society that surrounds them? Comparing labor migrants in similar working conditions in Copenhagen and Barcelona, I also explore the influence of social and cultural structures on their desires, behaviors, and abilities to form new social relationships. As I am currently in my fieldwork, I will present and discuss my preliminary results.
- January 29th, 2024. Using Social Network Analysis to understand the social organization of knowledge transmission: an Indian case study. (Matthieu Salpeteur, IRD). 16 h. Sala SeminariA – Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Hybrid format.
Previous research has shown that social organization may affect the distribution of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) within local communities of natural resource users in multiple ways. However in this line of research the potential role of informal relationships has mostly been overlooked. In this paper, we study how two types of informal relationships, namely migration partnership and friendship, affect the distribution of LEK within a community of transhumant shepherds from the Kutch area (Gujarat, India). Using social network analysis, we map three networks (migration, male friendship, female friendship) and compare with similarity-based quantitative approaches the clusters extracted from these networks in relation to four domains of LEK: knowledge about soils, about ethnoveterinary practices, about sheep breeds, and in ethnobotany.
Our results show that 1) migration clusters are associated with significant variations in LEK across three domains of knowledge, while 2) friendship clusters are associated to minor variations. We relate these results to the importance of common practical experiences involved by joint migration. Moreover, kin relations are shown to strongly underlie friendship ties and the formation of migration groups, and as such appear as a potential driver of the dynamics of the local LEK system.
2023
- November 29th, 2023. Multilevel networks and integrated health care in Australia. (Chiara Broccatelli, Marie Curie Researcher, GRAFO-UAB). 16 h. Seminari A, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, hybrid format.
This research aimed to evaluate Project ECHO®, an online mentoring and networking health program, and its network outputs within the frameworks of integrated health care and multilevel networks. We focused on health-related knowledge transmission among the network of professionals through formal and informal channels, and across different health and non-health sectors and organisational systems. The multilevel approach informed the data collection strategy and the application of network measures. We then used Multilevel Exponential Random Graph Models to understand the interdependence of advice- knowledge sharing behaviours between and across health professionals and their agencies. Finally, we incorporated network generated results within an evaluation framework for establishing the efficiency of the implemented network health program along four pillars.
You can access the full seminar here.
- October 4th, 2023. Redes Sociales y Salud: lecciones aprendidas con programas de prevención en población latina en Miami, Estados Unidos. (Mariano Kanamori, Universidad de Miami). 16h. Sala de Juntas, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, hybrid format.
El Dr. Kanamori nos presentará sus estudios cualitativos acerca de cómo las redes sociales de las personas latinas en el sur de los Estados Unidos influyen en el argumento de la dependencia del alcohol en las mujeres y el consumo de marihuana en los niños. Igualmente nos presentará su modelo de intervención basado en redes sociales llamado PreParados, el cual fusiona cuatro métodos del análisis de redes sociales (diádico, egocéntrico, sociocéntrico y bimodal) con el análisis espacial. Este modelo es capaz de identificar cómo las estructuras e interacciones de las redes sociales combinan las redes de riesgo sexual de hombres latinos y no latinos, y cómo se superponen las redes de riesgo sexual y de consumo de drogas, Finalmente, nos hablará de cómo usar visualizaciones de redes sociales en estudios controlados aleatorizados (RCT, por sus siglas en inglés) que miden la efectividad de un paquete de estrategias de implementación que incluyen apoyo social, farmacias, organizaciones comunitarias y medicación para la prevención del VIH.
- June 16, 2023. A Relational Perspective to Social Cohesion. Miranda Lubbers (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). 16h. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, en formato híbrido.
In this talk, I will present the ERC advanced grant project “A Network Science Approach to Social Cohesion” (PATCHWORK), which started in 2021. The project investigates the relational bases of the concept of social cohesion in five European societies (Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland), drawing upon a multidisciplinary framework. For this aim, we use a personal network perspective, and we are particularly interested in the weaker forms of sociability. We use a mixed-methods approach that combines a cross-national survey, qualitative interviews, and agent-based modeling.
Yo can access the full seminar here.
- May 26, 2023. Critical States and Cocaine Connections. Henrik Vigh (University of Copenhagen). 16h. Sala de Juntas de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Hybrid format.
With a fourth of the cocaine consumed in Europe passing through the region every year and a large part of the political and military elite being involved in the illegal dealings, Guinea-Bissau has become a global matter of concern. On the one hand it is seen as an exemplar of a modern ‘narco state’. On the other, it is feared that the Guinea-Bissauan state will be corrupted and ruined by the cocaine connections bringing the country closer toward an anarchic lack of formal governance. That cocaine connections induce failed states and that failed states contaminate seems, as such, to be the common argument concerning the international agencies working on the issue. However, if we look at the picture in social and historical terms, the international society seems to have misinterpreted the logic of the phenomena and inversed its causality. The Guinea-Bissauan state is not on the verge of collapse because of the influx of cocaine and the presence of the drug cartels. Rather than inducing a crisis within state, the cartels have targeted Bissau exactly because of the critical state of affairs. The attractiveness of Bissau as a drug hub is directly related to the decline, abandonment, and geo-political neglect start with. Building on longitudinal ethnographic studies with people involved in the trade, this paper traces the influx of cocaine into Bissau and looks at the social and societal logics that maintain and perpetuate its existence in the country.
- May 11, 2023. Double session. 16h. Sala de Juntas de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Hybrid format.
Una Cruz en el desierto. Paisaje y ritual en la sierra andina. Wilson Muñoz (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de París). 16h.
La Cruz es un objeto omnipresente en el paisaje andino. A diferencia de otras imágenes católicas, esta tiene una especial y poderosa presencia en el territorio, presentándose en formas y lugares muy diversos. Además, si bien la Cruz fue utilizada como el artefacto predilecto de la evangelización colonial y luego como una herramienta contra la idolatría hasta la república, hoy su culto posee una extraordinaria adhesión en la población andina que habita el desierto más árido del mundo (Desierto de Atacama), situado en el norte de Chile. Así, cada mes de mayo estas comunidades precordilleranas se congregan en sus pueblos de origen con un único fin: celebrar la fiesta de la Cruz. ¿Qué vínculos específicos existen entre los celebrantes y la Cruz que nos ayuden a comprender esta peculiar adhesión? Esta comunicación intentará responder esta pregunta, basada en una etnografía realizada durante más de 20 meses en el Valle de Codpa, ubicado en la sierra del norte de Chile. Mostraré concretamente cómo en el culto a la Cruz se reconstruyen vínculos sociales, territoriales y sagrados particulares que permiten comprender su éxito en la zona.
Yo can access the full seiminar here.
Antropología Audiovisual: Diálogos entre el Cine Documental y la Intervención Territorial. Víctor Villegas (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – Etnocinema). 16:45h.
La presentación se centrará en torno a la Antropología Audiovisual (AA) como Metodología de Investigación y Divulgación de las Ciencias Sociales a través de la Plataforma Etnocinema (www.etnocinema.cl). En primer lugar, se abordará la relación entre AA y Cine Documental desde el foco de la ciudad y el patrimonio cultural a partir de dos piezas audiovisuales que he dirigido: La Quebradilla (2020) y La Chimba (2022). En segundo lugar, se abordará la relación entre Antropología Audiovisual e Intervención Territorial a partir de experiencias de Cine Comunitario con jóvenes, desde los proyectos: “Aquí Nos Vemos”, Promoción de la Salud Mental en Jóvenes desde la cocreación de relatos audiovisuales (2022) y “Tirando el Corte”: Cine Comunitario como expresión de una antropología visual (2023).
Yo can access the full seminar here.
January 22, 2023. The secret of the business” Lightening the shadows of the second-hand clothing market from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Alba Valenciano (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). 15:30h, Sala de Juntes, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres. Hybrid format.
Second-hand clothing markets are booming, and they have become one of the many resources for greenwashing the fast-fashion industry and conspicuous consumption practices in most parts of the world. The paper explores the second-hand clothing value chain as a (re)commodification process that it does not only turn “rags to riches” for some but also generates embittered financial opportunities for others. By presenting an ethnography of the everyday use of imported second-hand clothing bulk bales by Guinean female petty traders, I show how second-hand clothing is used to retain and distribute value. The paper revolves around the role of the market (place) in shaping commodities and their uses. While the volatile market in which Guinean petty traders operate is filled with insecurity, the second-hand market-place generates the possibilities to navigate this uncertainty. The second-hand clothing bale becomes, at once, a commodity, a financial resource, and an ecological problem once it hits the market-place stalls in Malabo.
2022
-December 14, 2022. Double Seminar session:
#AmazoníaViVaHumanidadSegura: transnacionalismo político indígena, ciberactivismo y redes sociales. Karla Nahuelpán (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). 16:00h, Sala de Actes, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, en formato híbrido.
A mediados del siglo XX, comienzan los movimientos sociales indígenas en América, esto tras las políticas asimilacionistas por parte de los Estados-nación. Sin embargo, ya en la década del 90, ciertos movimientos indígenas dieron un vuelvo en su forma de hacer activismo, realizándolo de manera digital. Este hecho ha generado no tan solo mayor visibilización del movimiento indígena, sino que también ha forjado relaciones transnacionales entre organizaciones indígenas con organismos internacionales y ONG’s. Este es el caso de la Coordinadora de Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica, quienes han hecho de lo digital una herramienta para el activismo indígena.
Puede ver el seminario completo aquí.
Who Follows Whom on Twitter: Homophily in Twitter Follower Networks. Alexi Quintana Mathé (Investigador visitante Northeastern University). 16:45h, Sala de Actes, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, en formato híbrido: ENLACE.
The structure of ties among users of a Social Media platform strongly conditions the content users see and experience on the site. In particular, the extent that relationships on the platform are segregated based on attributes such as partisanship has important implications for how information flows on it. This talk presents an analysis of homophily in following relationships on Twitter for a sample of 1.1 million U.S. users matched to administrative data, including age, race/ethnicity, sex, location, and partisanship information. We look at how these variables are associated with having a tie on Twitter and find geographical distance to be the most important variable. In contrast, partisanship homophily is not as relevant as concerns over polarization generally imply.
Yo can access the full seiminar here.
