Echoing the Environment in Kam Big Song

Kam big song is an important genre sung within Kam (in Chinese, Dong) minority communities in southeastern Guizhou, China. It has traditionally served as a medium for transmitting historical, philosophical and ecological knowledge. Since the 1978 reforms, this region of Guizhou has been increasingly drawn into the national labour economy and has experienced a surge in economic development. The ensuing youth migration to urban centres, growing school attendance rates, and a marked rise in television viewing have led to a decline in Kam singing amongst younger generations. Nevertheless, in recent years certain forms of big song have featured increasingly in staged Kam cultural performances intended for broader audiences. Kam big song was recognised as a form of National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2006, and was included on UNESCO's Representative List of the ICH of Humanity in 2009. This study draws upon various big songs that I learnt during almost twenty-four months of musical research in rural Kam regions from 2004 to 2011. It illustrates the cultural and ecological significance of this musical tradition, and the importance and complexities of its maintenance at a time of social transformation.     

Qualitative life course methodologies: critical reflections from development studies

This article reflects on two experiences of applying qualitative life course research in development studies. The first methodology centred on the elicited narratives of older people in Buenos Aires exploring their lifetime relations with their children and their current well-being. The second employed semi-structured interviews with young adults in Zambia to investigate their trajectories towards economic empowerment. In both methodologies, the roles of linked lives and of wider social, economic and political changes were central. The article contributes to critical reflection on methodological choices and trade-offs, by focusing on dilemmas that arise from a desire to address policy makers and more quantitatively-orientated researchers. It explores three themes: the challenges of making sense of disparate narratives of linked lives; the possibilities for engaging with individual subjectivities; and different strategies for situating individual experiences in dynamic social, economic and political contexts.     

The "swinish multitude": controversies over hogs in antebellum New York City

In the first half of the nineteenth century, New Yorkers fought passionately over the presence of hogs on their streets and in their city. New York’s filthy streets had cultivated an informal economy and a fertile environment for roaming creatures. The battles—both physical and legal—reveal a city rife with class tensions. After decades of arguments, riots, and petitions, cholera and the fear of other public health crises ultimately spelled the end for New York’s hogs. New York struggled during this period to improve municipal services while adapting to a changing economy and rapid population growth. The fights between those for and against hogs shaped New York City’s landscape and resulted in new rules for using public space a new place for nature in the city.