Comparative Ethnography of Alternative Spaces

ANDREAS BANDAK University of Copenhagen, DenmarkLARS FUNCH HANSEN Malmö University, SwedenLARS HØJER University of Copenhagen, DenmarkBRIAN ARLY JACOBSEN University of Copenhagen, DenmarkHELEN KRAG University of Copenhagen, DenmarkDORTHE HØVIDS POSSING University of Copenhagen, DenmarkSTINE PURI University of Copenhagen, DenmarkBIRGITTE SCHEPELERN Johansen University of Copenhagen, DenmarkLARS OVE TRANS University of Copenhagen, DenmarkMARGIT WARBURG University of Copenhagen, Denmark

• Introduction: A Comparative Ethnography of Alternative Spaces; J.Dahl, E.Fihl & B.S.Johansen The United Nations and the Indigenous Space; J.Dahl The Legitimacy of South Indian Caste Councils; E.Fihl"Gambling Is Gambling": Creating De-contextualized Space at an Indian Racecourse; S. Puri Frontier Zones of Diaspora-Making: Circassian Organisations in Turkey; L.F.Hansen A Politics of Place - the Scaling and Re-scaling of Events in Young Muslims' Internet Use; D.H.Possing Voices and Exits in Oaxacalifornia:The Reconfigurations of Political Spaces in the US-Mexican Context; L.O.Trans An Alternative National-Religious Space: The Danish Seamen's Church in Singapore; M.Warburg A Space to Gaze from Hence to Thence – Chechens in Exile; H.Krag States of Exception: Effects and Affects of Authoritarianism among Christian Arabs in Damascus; A.Bandak Escalations. Spying and Totalitarianism in Western China and Beyond; L.Højer

"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