[Friday Seminar Recap] Deliberate Design or Accidental Abuse? Misappropriations of Applied Anthropology in Global Design Consulting

Date: October 20, 2017

Speaker: Non Arkaraprasertkul (Department of Architecture, Design and Planning, Sydney University)

Title: Deliberate Design or Accidental Abuse? Misappropriations of Applied Anthropology in Global Design Consulting

Dr. Non Arkaraprasertkul

Since the 1970s, “design research” has become popular in the consulting industry. It is a form of research that emphasizes empathy, and aims to create demand for yet-to-be realized needs. Dr. Arkaraprasertkul started to investigate design research by introducing the idea of “Anthropology Inc.” raised by Graeme Wood. Nowadays, the largest margin of any market across the globe lies in everyday consumerism. Therefore, the consulting companies treat people’s everyday experience as a research subject of major value, and turn to anthropology and use the method of field research. Jane Fulton Suri, author of Thoughtless Acts and founder of Human Centered Design Research at IDEO, is a prominent figure in this field.

Dr. Arkaraprasertkul introduced the characteristics of design research. Design research relies on observing people as they act naturally, and empathy is a regarded as a crucial guiding principle, as the researchers defer judgement on value. Importantly, design research is clearly goal-oriented, and the goal is usually a commercial one. The key methods of design research, Dr. Arkaraprasertkul explained, are: go out and watch people; ask questions, no matter how “dumb” they appear; embrace extreme users; find people who break rules when using things and find out why; think about experience rather than things; think in verbs rather than nouns; and borrow ideas from other areas. Dr. Arkaraprasertkul then showed several examples of design research.

While it all looks great in principle, what Dr. Arkaraprasertkul experienced during his six-month fieldwork in a transnational global design consulting firm based at a first-tier city in China turned out to be less than ideal. He found out that in this firm, the design researchers, who were supposed to listen to their informants carefully, were too ready to instead speak on behalf of the informants. The interviews were mostly structured and directive, and the researchers often told the rest of the research teams what, as they believed it, the informants thought. Utmost emphasis was put on film and sound recordings, as they could be used as “solid evidence”. What’s more, Dr. Arkaraprasertkul sensed a strong sense of entitlement among the design researchers, who actually saw themselves more as consultants, would like to keep a distance from their informants, and held a deep sense of hostility toward “academic research”. Most importantly, Dr. Arkaraprasertkul pointed out, the researchers have to be result-oriented so as to meet deadlines and get paid. In conclusion, Dr. Arkaraprasertkul argued that the essence and spirit of anthropology is “diluted” in design research.

[Friday Seminar Recap] Between Mainstreaming and Marginalization: Kabaddi and Local-Global Disjuncture in Taiwan

Date: October 6, 2017

Speaker: Wyman Tang Wai-man (Department of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Title: Between Mainstreaming and Marginalization: Kabaddi and Local-Global Disjuncture in Taiwan 

Dr. Wyman Tang

Kabaddi is a traditional game popular in South Asia. As it is simple and requires no instruments, it is called “game of the masses”. Under the influence of the nationalist movement in India, this game was formalized and standardized into National kabaddi, which has been promoted to other countries and played in international games since 1990.

Dr. Tang first looked into why Taiwanese players are interested in playing kabaddi. After the Doha Asian Game in 2006, a Taiwan businessman brought Kabaddi to Taiwan. In Taiwan, Kabaddi is often thought of as “an Asian game for Asians”—since there are weight limits (85kg for male, 70kg for female), it is thought to be suitable for the smaller bodies of Asians. While such a discourse sounds like the popular racial discourse in sports, Dr. Tang argued that what people want to emphasize is an ideal that Kabaddi should be an inclusive game, which is not dominated by particularly strong and huge people but can also be played by different people with smaller body size. Having said that, Dr. Tang discovered that in practice, Kabaddi players do make many efforts to gain weight and approach the weight limit, though still believing that Taiwanese are born to play kabaddi. Also, this new sport gives new hope to many “elite athletes” who showed talent in sports during secondary schools yet failed to reach the top level. They shifted to kabaddi, which is still less competitive than the traditional sports, with the hope that it can give them the opportunities to join the national team.

Another major group of kabaddi players in Taiwan are the indigenous people. The popular discourse follows the ethnic stereotype, i.e. indigenous people are better at playing sports. In the media, some indigenous kabaddi players also compare playing kabaddi with their childhood experience of hunting. However, Dr. Tang’s conversations with indigenous players show that most of them do not believe there is a significant bodily difference between Han Chinese and indigenous players. What is indeed happening, as school teachers explain to Dr. Tang, is that for the indigenous students, their families are less likely to be able to afford tuition classes from secondary school onwards. To play sports and go through the elite athlete scheme is an alternative method to enter university without good academic results, and kabaddi is cheaper and less competitive compared with other sports. This is why indigenous students have a higher participation rate in kabaddi.

Then, how is it like to play kabaddi in Taiwan? Dr. Tang introduced that in 2008, Taiwan was recognized as a member in the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF). Since then, Taiwanese team has been participating in the international tournament. In 2014, the Professional Kabaddi League (PKL) was established in India, and two Taiwanese players have joined the league so far.

In Taiwan, having the opportunity to join the national team and play in international matches is very important. Many jobs in the sports field are low-paying and unpromising. The ideal career for an athlete is to become a school PE teacher as it gives a stable, good income. Yet, through the formal channel, the chance was small. By contrast, if a player can join the national team and play in the international game, their chance to become a licensed coach in a school will be raised to a great extent. However, Dr. Tang pointed out that the Taiwanese team’s chance of participation in various international games are still very limited.

So, Dr. Tang asked, why are the opportunities for Taiwanese kabaddi players so limited? He answered this question by analyzing the global politics in kabaddi. India is an emerging economy. The profits generated in the PKL are not enough for promotion of kabaddi in wealthier countries. On the contrary, money flow from these countries to India, if they want to join the India-centered global kabaddi club. For the poorer countries, IKF send them various resources to develop kabaddi, looking forward to a good return from selling products and broadcast rights in the long run. Taiwan, however, is in an embarrassing position. Taiwan developed kabaddi without the support from the government, and India can reap little direct benefits from Taiwan to India. Dr. Tang argued that the in-between role of Taiwan – neither too poor, unlike Nepal, nor too rich, unlike Japan – made it difficult for Taiwan to get on the kabaddi train.

Talk and Concert: Sheng-xiang and Band 【生祥樂隊·講座+演唱會資訊】

The Department of Anthropology and Chung Chi College are honored to invite Mr. Lin Sheng Hsiang, the song writer, vocalist and moon guitarist of Sheng-xiang and Band to give a talk on his experience of participating in social movements via music.

Anthropologists are curious about cultural differences — why are we all human beings even though the differences between us are huge?  Yet, in fact, people from one society could also be sharply different from each other. When the majority in a society are interested in accumulation, self-enterprising, and a (materially) abundant life of success, there are people who are more interested in simple, rustic life: staying in one’s village and appreciating floating clouds and beautiful mountains. Mr. Lin is one such person: he cannot help but cares about the dying farming villages, hopeless marginalized groups, and polluted environment that one can easily find in any intensely industrialized society. Soon after he graduated from college, he realized that he can hardly adapt to the music industry in Taipei that relies on packaging a lot. When he then learned about the development of anti-dam campaign in his home town Meinong, he returned home without hesitation and started planting the seeds of protests with his unique rock n’roll mixed with Hakka mountain songs. Why did he not give up his concerns for the marginalized, the farming villages and the environment when he struggled to support his family in spite of being a critically acclaimed and awarding-winning musician? Why did he say that musicians and songs alone won’t bring changes even though he has been questioning the policy of favoring industrial development over agriculture and has been singing stories of the distress of home-leaving youth continuously for 20 years? Please join us to find out about Lin Sheng Hsiang’s persistent journey on both music and social activism. (The talk will be conducted in Mandarin.)

After the talk, the 6-musician Sheng-xiang and Band will present in full band their newest album Village Besieged, concerning petrochemical industry and pollution, at Sir Run Run Shaw Hall on 18 October. Toru Hayakawa, the bassist of Sheng-Xiang and Band once commented: “Being a musician is about being honest with oneself.” Anthropologists and musicians both believe in understanding through bodily practices. Join us to listen, find and cultivate the seed of change in your heart.  

人類學家始終對不同社會間的文化差異充滿好奇。然而，其實同一個社會裡的人也能天差地遠：在多數人想要積攢資本、出人頭地的同時，也有一些人更看重鄰里家人感情，希望從土地中汲取踏實生活的養分。屢獲殊榮的生祥樂隊主唱林生祥先生也是如此：放不下在工業化的社會中被榨取的農村、被壓抑的底層、被污染了的空氣、土地和水，他在大學畢業後，義無反顧地回家種田、參與運動，以客家山歌，溫柔而有力地唱出反抗的搖滾精神。

面對著獲獎無數卻難以養家糊口的困境，他為何沒有放棄社會關懷？用二十年的時間，以歌聲質問重工輕農政策、唱出全球化帶來的離地失魂之後，他又為什麼說音樂不能改變社會？10月16日晚上7:30，且聽生祥描繪他心中那片不曾停耕的田地。


10月18日晚上8點，生祥樂隊將全員到齊，演繹獲得2017年金曲獎評審團大獎的作品《圍庄》。獨立音樂人和人類學家一般，都相信親身感受的力量。生祥樂隊貝斯手早川徹先生曾說：「做音樂的人就是要對自己誠實」。誠意邀請你一起來，以音樂翻土，找到自己心內的種子。

   

Moods and Emotions through Indian Kathak Dance 印度卡塔克舞活動

On 21 September 2017, there was an Indian classical dance program “Moods & Emotions through Indian Kathak Dance” organized at CUHK campus. This program was initiated by the Centre of Urban History, Culture and Media (CUHCM) of the Institute of Future Cities (IOFC), and co-organized by the Multiculturalism in Action Project (MIA).  It included a seminar, a music workshop, and a dance workshop on kathak, a 2000-year-old dance from northern India. It was a great honour and privilege to have Ms. Sunayana Hazarilal and her team to be the guest speakers of this program. Ms. Hazarilal is an internationally acclaimed kathak dancer who has conducted kathak workshops in various countries including the United States, Italy, and Germany. In 2011, Ms. Hazarilal was awarded the Padma Shri (the fourth highest civilian award in India) by the Government of India.

2017年9月21日，香港中文大學校園裡舉行了一系列關於卡塔克舞的講座、音樂工作坊和舞蹈工作坊。是次活動由未來城市研究所 (IOFC) 城市歷史、文化與傳媒中心（CUHCM）策劃，並由多元文化行動計劃（MIA）協辦。卡塔克舞是一種擁有二千年歷史的北印度古典舞。我們很榮幸邀請到Sunayana Hazarilal 女士和她的音樂團隊作為活動的嘉賓講者。Hazarilal女士是國際知名的卡塔克舞者，多年來在世界各地如美國、意大利和德國等地舉辦過不少卡塔克舞工作坊。在2011年，Hazarilal女士獲印度政府頒發第四級公民榮譽獎 —— 蓮花士勛章。

The seminar, “Kathak: History, Gender, and National Identity”, was moderated by Prof. Andre Elias, an ethnomusicologist at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Ms. Hazarilal gave a talk to introduce the development of kathak, as well as notions of gender and identity in the dance.

講座“卡塔克：歷史，性別，與國家身份認同” 由香港浸會大學民族音樂學者Andre Elias教授主持。Hazarilal女士除了介紹卡塔克舞的發展，亦討論關於卡塔克舞中的性別和身份認同等議題。

Ms. Hazarilal demonstrating some basic movements in kathak and their meanings

Hazarilal女士示範卡塔克舞的基本動作及其意義

The kathak music workshop saw the music team: sitar player Ms. Prajakta, tabla player Mr. Kalinath Mishra, and vocalist Mr. Somanth Mishra displaying their musical talents. The workshop was moderated by Prof. Jeffrey Levenberg, an ethnomusicologist at the Music Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. During the workshop, participants learnt about the Indian music rhythm known as “tintal”. It is made up of 16 symmetrical beats upon which a performance can be laid. The audience were also treated to a mesmerizing session of soothing beats and hypnotic strumming of the sitar, creating a calming atmosphere in the room. The vibes of a fast paced Hong Kong society was dissipated momentarily as everyone in the room closed their eyes to enjoy the soothing tunes. 

在卡塔克音樂工作坊中，音樂團隊展示了他們的非凡才華。團隊成員包括西塔琴演奏家Prajakta女士、塔布拉手鼓演奏家Kalinath Mishra先生和歌唱家Somanth Mishra先生。工作坊由香港中文大學音樂系民族音樂學者Jeffrey Levenberg教授主持。工作坊講解了印度音樂中的節奏 tintal，它以十六拍為一個循環，是卡塔克舞音樂的基本節奏。在西塔琴迷人的樂聲中，大家的思緒飄到窗外的山林。現場每個人都合上眼，放下心頭的顧慮，靜靜地欣賞優美的西塔琴聲。

Mr. Mishra teaching a participant how to play the tabla

Mishra先生指導參加者如何拍打塔布拉手鼓

 

Ms. Prajakta on the sita

Prajakta女士示範西塔琴的指法

At the kathak dance workshop, participants were at their feet stamping to the beats of the tabla. Ms. Hazarilal set the standards high, introducing to participants first the slow beats, which gradually culminated to faster and faster beats. Participants had a good workout and had fun coordinating the swaying of their hands with their feet stamping to the rhythms. It was a really enjoyable workshop with participants laughing and trying their best to keep up with the beats. Ma. Hazarilal and her team were the most encouraging teachers, shouting praises and encouragements to participants throughout the time. The three workshops ended in the early evening. To show our appreciation to the guests, a vegetarian dinner was held at the new vegetarian restaurant on campus, hosted by Prof. Siumi Maria Tam, Director of the CUHCM and the MIA.

緊接下來是卡塔克舞蹈工作坊。Hazarilal女士是要求甚高的老師。她以認真和嚴謹的態度帶領參加者從慢至快的節奏學習基本步。在揮動雙手的同時，大家要顧及雙腳踏地的節奏是否準確。雖然要協調僵硬的身體並不容易，但大家都樂在其中，享受著卡塔克舞的樂趣。Hazarilal女士和她的音樂團隊不時為大家打氣，並給予耐心指導。活動於傍晚結束。為表謝意，由擔任CUHCM 所長暨MIA總監譚少薇教授在中大素食餐廳與嘉賓聚餐。

Ms. Hazarilal teaching the basic steps of kathak

Hazarilal女士指導卡塔克舞基本步 

Art and performance is a very good way for one to have deeper insights into the ethos of another culture. Throughout these sessions, participants gained a whole new insight on kathak, they learned how to appreciate other cultural artforms from an intercultural perspective. Indeed, it is a celebration and attest to the vibrant diversity and cultures of Hong Kong.

表演藝術確實是一個很好的切入點讓大家深入地了解不同文化。這一連串的印度古典舞活動不但讓參加者獲得了全新的卡塔克舞體驗，亦讓大家學習如何從跨文化角度欣賞不同文化的藝術形式，確實是一場印證香港作為多元文化大都會的體驗活動！

 

Thank you all for your participation!

感謝大家的參與！

Reporter: Amy Phua

記者：潘玫燕

Translator: Connie Lee

翻譯：李穎彤

[Friday Seminar Recap] From a Victim of Exploitation to an Advocate of Migrant’s Rights: A Journey and Lesson Learnt

Date: September 22th 2017 (Friday)

Speaker: Eni Lestari (International Migrants Alliance)

Ms. Eni Lestari

Eni Lestari is an Indonesian domestic worker and migrant rights activist who has been working in Hong Kong since 1999. In the Friday Seminar titled “From a Victim of Exploitation to an Advocate of Migrant’s Rights: A Journey and Lesson Learnt”, Ms. Lestari examined the troubled reality faced by migrant workers and discussed how bottom-up empowerment of migrant workers can be possible by telling her own story.

Ms. Lestari started by explaining how she ended up in Hong Kong: Being a daughter of a poor family in East Java, Indonesia, her dream of going to university was crushed by the Asian financial crisis (1996-1998), which left her family in debt. The only hope she saw was to become a migrant worker, and it took her more than one year to convince her parents to let her go. “I will go to Hong Kong—at least, I heard, they have holidays there, and I can call you to let you know I am alright,” said the young Ms. Lestari to her worried parents.     

Yet, Ms. Lestari did not expect that she would be confined in an “agency training camp”, which to her was almost like a prison. She told the audience how workers recruited by brokers had to live in a shabby room without access to information, decent food, proper accommodation or good hygiene. After five months, Ms. Lestari flew to Hong Kong, only to fall into another “trap”—her identity documents got confiscated right upon arrival; she was underpaid and denied rest days by her employer. Regardless of Ms. Lestari’s religious belief, the employer tried to force her to eat pork. In the cold winter that Ms. Lestari had never experienced before, she was only provided with two short sleeve T-shirts. And there were a lot of prohibitions: she was not allowed to use the phone, to use the washing machine, to pray, to weep in the night, to go out of the house or to talk to other people. Ms. Lestari ran away after 7 months.

“It took me so long to even get to know what it means and to realize that it was illegal for the employer to treat me like this,” Ms. Lestari recollected. She understood her experience not as an individual misfortune, but a social problem. Indonesia, the 4^th largest nation in the world, is rich in natural resources, yet, landlessness, a high unemployment rate, poverty, economic inequality, poor social services, corruption and militarization characterize the harsh reality Indonesians find themselves in. Ms. Lestari explained how the labor export program is a big industry aiming to minimize social problems caused by massive poverty by exporting labor and earning revenues from remittances and fees. As the labor export business is outsourced to private recruitment agencies, direct government protection and accountability becomes unavailable to individual migrant workers, Ms. Lestari pointed out.

Ms. Lestari then turned to her “empowerment journey”: After running away from the abusive employer, she was sheltered in Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, where she was trained to learn English, knowledge about migrant workers’ rights and organizational skills, and assisted in handling cases of fellow migrant workers. Ms. Lestari discussed the challenges in organizing: the migrant workers are afraid of losing their jobs and prosecution and many feel that their condition is a given and cannot be improved anyway. “No ordinary people in our society hold a mic, so even just to make the domestic workers speak in public is a big empowerment,” commented Ms. Lestari. The activists also have a hard time dealing with intimidation from agencies, lack of support and even reactive response from fellow migrant workers as they engage in educating, organizing and mobilizing the grassroots.

The International Migrants Alliance, of which Ms. Lestari is currently the chairperson, was established in 2008 in Hong Kong and aimed to bring the voices of grassroots migrants, refugees and displaced people into regional and global policy-making. “Our presence is seen as ‘temporary’ and is made invisible,” said Ms. Lestari, “And our voices unheard. When we are called upon to talk, we are only expected to provide testimony about our suffering. We are never asked, ‘what do you want’ or ‘what is your wish’, as if we were people with no brains and no feelings. This is why we have to take the initiative and speak for ourselves.” 

Ms. Lestari wrapped up by trying to debunk the myth of “migration for development”, analyzing how the global capitalist system in the day of neoliberalism has led to displacement, impoverishment and suffering of people.

During the talk, Ms. Lestari effectively combined her personal story with structural analysis, and impressed the audience with vivid stories, a good sense of humor, and her determination to fight for the rights and welfare of migrants.

The Audience

在9月22日的「星期五研討會」中，國際移工聯盟(International Migrants Alliance)現任主席Eni Lestari女士分享了她從剝削的受害者到社會運動家的轉變歷程。她分析了其中折射出的移工面臨的艱難處境，並探討由下而上的賦權如何可能。 Lestari女士來自於印度尼西亞的一個貧困家庭。亞洲金融風暴使他們陷入債務之中，也碾碎了她的大學夢。外出務工似乎成為了唯一希望。Lestari用了一年多的時間說服父母，「我要去香港……至少，我聽說，他們有假期，我可以打電話給你們報平安。」

在中介公司運作的訓練營幾近被「囚禁」了五個月之後，Lestari終於前往香港，卻遭到種種不合理對待：甫一抵埗，她的身份證件就被中介公司沒收。雇主付給她的工資遠低於法律規定、也不準許她放假。即使Lestari有宗教信仰，雇主仍然強迫她食用豬肉。在Lestari未曾經歷過的濕冷的香港的冬天，雇主只給她兩件短袖T恤。Lestari被禁止使用電話、使用洗衣機、祈禱或是自行離開住所，甚至連和別人說話也不被允許。她在夜晚偷偷哭泣，卻被責罵說這會帶來厄運。七個月後，Lestari逃走了。

「我花了很長時間才反應過來那意味這什麼……我甚至不知道我的雇主那樣對待我是犯法的。」Lestari回憶道。在Lestari看來，她的經歷並非個人的不幸，而是社會問題的反映。Lestari闡述了印度尼西亞社會面臨的種種困境：農民失去土地、失業率高企、貧富懸殊、人民普遍貧困、社會服務不足、貪污與軍事化嚴重。在這一社會背景之下，能夠賺取外匯、補貼國內經濟的勞動力出口就成為了一大支柱產業。而勞動力出口這盤生意又被政府外包到私人中介公司，使得個體移工缺乏正規的保護與保障。

逃離虐待她的雇主之後，Lestari去到白恩逢女移民工庇護中心(Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge)。在那裡，她學習了英文、與移工權利相關的知識以及進行組織工作的技巧。Lestari表示，要動員移工參與運動，同樣困難重重：他們往往害怕失去工作、遭到迫害，也常常覺得他們的處境無法改變。

國際移工聯盟(International Migrants Alliance)成立於2008年，致力於將基層移工、難民和流離失所人民的聲音帶進地區與全球性的政策制定過程之中。「我們的存在總被視為是『臨時』的，不被真正看見。當我們被召去講話的時候，人們都只是期待我們以受害者的角色，訴說我們遭受過的苦難。然而，從來沒有人問過我們，『你想要什麼？你的願望是什麼？』似乎我們是沒有大腦、沒有感情的人。因此，我們必須為自己發聲。」

Lestari女士以分析全球資本主義體系如何導致人們流離失所並陷入貧困作結，並呼籲聽眾以各種方法支持移工運動。在這場講座之中，Lestari女士將親身經歷的個人故事與結構性的社會分析緊密結合。她的幽默感與為移工福祉而奮鬥的堅定決心，給聽眾留下了深刻的印象。