A Comparative Ethnography of Alternative Spaces

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. An Introduction to Alternative Spaces

   • Jens Dahl, Esther Fihl, Birgitte Schepelern Johansen

   Pages 1-18

3. The United Nations and the Indigenous Space

   • Jens Dahl

   Pages 19-40

4. The Legitimacy of South Indian Caste Councils

   • Esther Fihl

   Pages 41-63

5. “Gambling is Gambling”: Creating Decontextualized Space at an Indian Racecourse

   • Stine Simonsen Puri

   Pages 65-83

6. Frontier Zones of Diaspora-Making: Circassian Organizations in Turkey

   • Lars Funch Hansen

   Pages 85-109

7. A Politics of Place: The Scaling and Rescaling of Events in Young Muslims’ Internet Use

   • Dorthe Høvids Possing

   Pages 111-128

8. Voices and Exits in Oaxacalifornia: The Reconfigurations of Political Spaces in the US-Mexican Context

   • Lars Ove Trans

   Pages 129-149

9. An Alternative National-Religious Space: The Danish Seamen’s Church in Singapore

   • Margit Warburg

   Pages 151-174

10. A Space to Gaze from Hence to Thence: Chechens in Exile

    • Helen Krag

    Pages 175-196

11. States of Exception: Effects and Affects of Authoritarianism Among Christian Arabs in Damascus

    • Andreas Bandak

    Pages 197-218

12. Escalations: Spying and Totalitarianism in Western China and Beyond

    • Lars Højer

    Pages 219-237

13. Back Matter

    Pages 239-252

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Through ethnographical cases, this book examines the ways in which social groups position themselves between cultures, states, moralities, and local/state authorities, creating opportunities for agency. Alternative spaces designate in-between spaces rather than oppositional structures and are both inside and outside their constituent elements.

• Aby Warburg
• ethnography
• Internet
• United Nations

"In this exciting volume Esther Fihl and Jens Dahl have brought together a group of collaborators to grapple with questions of identity, place, and power in the contemporary world. In developing the concept of alternative spaces the authors help us conceptualize how people around the world are shaping their lives in relation to but without being dictated by nation-states, enduring cultural and religious forms, and new technologies. Ranging from indigenous rights activists in the United Nations to caste councils in South India, from the political struggles of Mexican migrants in the United States to the position of Christians in Syria, and from racecourse gambling in India to the Danish seamen's church in Singapore, each contributor offers a wide-ranging and unique perspective on how groups of people are shaping more or less stable alternative spaces in the wake of globalization. Most importantly, A Comparative Ethnography of Alternative Spaces rescales ethnographic comparison itself and thus offer a new window into how social life is organized." - Johan Lindquist, Associate Professor, Social Anthropology, Stockholm University

ANDREAS BANDAK University of Copenhagen, Denmark LARS FUNCH HANSEN Malmö University, Sweden LARS HØJER University of Copenhagen, Denmark BRIAN ARLY JACOBSEN University of Copenhagen, Denmark HELEN KRAG University of Copenhagen, Denmark DORTHE HØVIDS POSSING University of Copenhagen, Denmark STINE PURI University of Copenhagen, Denmark BIRGITTE SCHEPELERN Johansen University of Copenhagen, Denmark LARS OVE TRANS University of Copenhagen, Denmark MARGIT WARBURG University of Copenhagen, Denmark

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