The Shifting Meanings of “(Il)Legality”: Indonesian Migrant Workers in the Netherlands

How do migrants become ‘illegal’? How does their ‘illegality’ affect their position in the receiving countries? Ratna Saptari discusses the experiences of Indonesian migrants in the Netherlands and how they try to obtain recognition amidst shifting positions of (il)legality.

Ratna Saptari • September 01, 2021 • 1 comment

Women on the Cutting Edge. Logging and Gender in Solomon Islands

Over the past weeks, The Guardian featured a mind-boggling series called Pacific Plunder, which focuses to a large extent on the effects of logging in Solomon Islands. In this blogpost Tessa Minter sheds light on the one story that remains untold: the story of women’s experiences.

Tessa Minter • June 22, 2021

Visualising solidarity

At the occasion of the open access launch of his book Ironies of Solidarity: Insurance and Financialisation of Kinship in South Africa (Zed Books, 2020), Erik Bähre reflects on the cover image: What does a man on his own have to do with the solidarity of South African insurance companies?

Erik Bähre • June 14, 2021

Marking the Unknown: tattooing, marriage, and the story of the Ologasi among the Pantaron Manobo of the Philippines

The Pantaron Manobo tell stories of a giant called the Ologasi. Besides being a mythic figure, the Ologasi acts to mark a limit to what is known in crucial domains of their society. This blog explores how Manobo tattooing and marriage practices are ways by which life’s uncertainties can be faced.

Andrea Ragragio • April 26, 2021

Describing time in writing: a shift towards the written statement in euthanasia with dementia

Drawing on extensive research on the end of life with dementia in the Netherlands, Natashe Lemos Dekker discusses how, despite the increasing importance of a written statement, the timing of euthanasia with dementia remains an ethical challenge.

Natashe Lemos Dekker • February 13, 2021

PortCityFutures in Rotterdam: Conversations on the Waterfront

This blog recounts the making of a series of small films portraying conversations between the authors at different sites in Rotterdam. The conversations are exemplary of PCF collaborative work on societal issues and future making in this port city region.

Sabine Luning, Carola Hein and Paul van de Laar • February 09, 2021

On the Use of Categories in Diversity Research and Policies

How do we deal with the categories of human difference – such as gender, race, ethnicity, ability, etc. – that scholars, policy-makers and citizens use in a search for more equality? Jasmijn Rana reports on an inspiring online roundtable organized by the CADS Leiden ‘Diversity Research Cluster’.

Jasmijn Rana • December 15, 2020

Surveys, Race and Symbolic Violence

This blog argues that the inhumane and racist treatment of non-white citizens in the Toeslagenaffaire, while shocking, draws on common racist logics we also encounter in seemingly innocuous surveys and research reports.

Wiebe Ruijtenberg and Anouk de Koning • December 07, 2020 • 1 comment

Studying missing data: an interdisciplinary approach to data gaps

Sarah Giest and Annemarie Samuels are kicking off this series 'Large Issues, Interdisciplinary Approaches' on interdisciplinary research and teaching at the Leiden Anthropology Blog. They offer one example of how talking across disciplines can open up novel questions and perspectives.

Sarah Giest and Annemarie Samuels • December 01, 2020