Krista M. Harper

Great Expectations? The Changing Role of “Europe” in Romani Activism in Hungary

Krista Harper et al. — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:33:23 PST

Contemporary political action for ethnic and national minorities in Europe appears to be increasingly directed towards supra- and transnational structures. This development seems indicative of the growth of a European space for minority activism – a public space that is less state-centered, that allows claims to be framed in terms of European standards and therefore facilitates the emergence of an active European citizenship. In theory, this “Europeanization” of minority politics may offer minority activists additional avenues for raising demands about cultural recognition and economic equalization. This article seeks to identify the possible implications of the Europeanization of minority politics by exploring the case of the Roma (Gypsies), an economically and socially marginalized minority that is increasingly conceptualized as transnational and “European.” Especially in the context of the enlargement of the European Union the Roma have received a lot of attention from European institutions. We focus our analysis on Hungary, a new EU member state with an active Romani movement. While one would expect the Europeanization of minority politics to have positively affected the ways in which Romani activists in Hungary organize and mobilize, our analysis of documentary sources and interviews reveals a more complex picture. We identify an ambiguous understanding of the Europeanization of minority politics among various actors in Hungary and historically shifting ideas about the significance of “Europe” in Romani mobilization.

Radio interview: "Growth of far right in Hungary poses a danger to Roma"

Krista Harper et al. — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:02:13 PDT

Right-wing and far-right parties made significant gains in Hungary's recent national election. This rise in support has coincided with an increase in violence against Roma people. Peter Driftmier spoke with Krista Harper of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts and David Boromisza-Habashi of the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado in Boulder. (18:20 minutes)

Across the Bridge: Using PhotoVoice to Investigate Environment and Health in a Hungarian Romani (Gypsy) Community

Krista Harper — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:55:49 PDT

New Directions in Participatory Visual Ethnography: Possibilities for Public Anthropology

Krista Harper — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:12:10 PST

New visual technologies are changing the ways that anthropologists do research and opening up new possibilities for participatory approaches appealing to diverse audiences. Participatory digital methodologies include digital storytelling, PhotoVoice, and participatory geographic information systems (GIS), as well as community-based filmmaking, and participatory digital archival research. Over twenty years ago, feminist and postmodern anthropologists led a discipline-wide discussion of the ways that we produce and represent culture through ethnographic fieldwork and writing. Few of these critics, however, challenged the notion of the written text as the central medium of anthropological knowledge. More recently, public anthropology has reinvigorated discussion of the relevance of ethnographic knowledge. In public health and other applied fields, as well as much of contemporary feminist studies, community-based participatory research (CBPR) has gained prominence, and visual anthropologists have begun to embrace participatory approaches. These methodologies produce rich visual and narrative data guided by participant interests and priorities, putting the methods literally in the hands of the participants themselves. They appeal to wide audiences, allowing for access to and production of anthropological knowledge beyond the academy. This presentation gives an overview of public anthropologists' use of new media and discusses the implications of these approaches for scholarly production and advocacy.

This downloadable chart, "The Participatory Digital/Visual Research Process," provides a schematic overview of themes discussed in the presentation.

This presentation is part of the panel, "Public Anthropology/Public Culture: Image, Voice, and Participation in Public Visual Culture," organized by Sam Beck and Carl Maida and sponsored by the Society for Visual Anthropology.

Lives, Images, Audiences, Intentions: Participatory Visual Anthropology in a Hungarian Romani Neighborhood

Krista Harper — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:59:45 PST

Participatory visual methodologies open up new possibilities for community collaboration in the research process, appeal to diverse audiences, and produce rich visual and narrative data guided by participant interests and priorities. Presenting a recent research collaboration with a grassroots Romani (Gypsy) community organization in northern Hungary, I discuss ethical and epistemological questions raised in participatory visual research. In this project, our team used the PhotoVoice method to generate knowledge and documentation related to environment, health, and the lived experiences of social exclusion. I explore power relationships in the research process as well as historical and contemporary issues of documentary photography of the Roma in Hungary.

Chernobyl Stories and Anthropological Shock in Hungary

Krista Harper — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:40:18 PDT

The Budapest Chernobyl Day commemoration generated a creative outpouring of stories about parental responsibilities, scientific knowledge, environmental risks, and public participation. I examine the stories and performances elicited by the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1996. In these “Chernobyl stories,” activists criticized scientific and state paternalism while engaging in alternative practices of citizenship. The decade between the catastrophic explosion and its commemoration coincides with the development of the Hungarian environmental movement and the transformation from state socialism. Chernobyl Day 1996 consequently became an opportunity for activists to reflect upon how the meaning of citizenship and public participation had changed in those years as well. First, the Chernobyl explosion drew into question the authority of scientific expertise and Cold War notions of technological progress, provoking the “politicization of knowing” for many activists. Secondly, personal memories of the 1986 disaster reflect how Chernobyl presented everyday life dilemmas that caused many parents and professionals to see themselves as citizens and environmentalists, a process I term the “politicization of caring.” I analyze the political implications of framing the environment as lifeworld, drawing from sociologist Ulrich Beck’s concept of “anthropological shock.”

Environment as Master Narrative: Discourse and Identity in Environmental Conflicts (Special Issue Introduction)

Krista Harper — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:52 PDT

Although postmodern philosophers proclaimed the death of the master narrative of enlightenment (Lyotard 1984), the environment has become a quintessentially global narrative. Throughout the world, people are imagining the environment as an object threatened by human action. Environmentalism proposes to organize and mobilize human action in order to protect the endangered environment (Milton 1995). Sociologist Klaus Eder posits that ecology has become a “masterframe,” transforming the field of political debate (Eder 1996). The articles assembled in this special issue investigate the rise of the environment as a master narrative organizing political practices.

The Genius of the Nation versus the Gene-Tech of the Nation: Science, Identity, and GMO Debates in Hungary

Krista Harper — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:36:21 PDT

Introduction In the late 1990s, Hungarian politicians, environmentalists, and agricultural lobbyists weighed the pros and cons of allowing genetically modified (GM) food and seeds to enter the Hungarian market. Starting around 1994, a small group of Hungarian environmentalists began researching GM issues. Initially, they feared that as a post-socialist country seeking foreign investment, Hungary would become prey to multinational corporations seeking an ‘emerging market’ with a lax regulatory environment. The terms of the debate were reframed over time, notably following 1998, when a number of European Union member states banned the imports of GM foods and when Hungarian expatriate geneticist Árpád Pusztai was caught in a high-profile media controversy after expressing misgivings about the health risks associated with GM foods. The Hungarian public, previously agnostic on the subject of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), was suddenly engrossed in a debate that came to draw upon two key symbols of contemporary Hungarian national identity: the figure of the scientist and that of the industrious peasant producing wholesome food. With Hungary’s entry to the European Union, concerns about GMOs, food safety, and science and technology policy, have taken on an increasingly high profile in public debates about the European enlargement process.

'Wild Capitalism’ and ‘Ecocolonialism’: A Tale of Two Rivers

Krista Harper — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:20:23 PDT

The development and pollution of two rivers, the Danube and Tisza, have been the site and subject of environmental protests and projects in Hungary since the late 1980s. Protests against the damming of the Danube rallied opposition to the state socialist government, drawing on discourses of national sovereignty and international environmentalism. The Tisza suffered a major environmental disaster in 2000, when a globally financed gold mine in Romania spilled thousands of tons of cyanide and other heavy metals into the river, sending a plume of pollution downriver into neighboring countries. In this article, I examine the symbolic ecologies that emerged in the two moments of environmental protest as well as Hungarian activists’ reflections on the changing political ecology of the region in their discourses of “ecocolonialism” (ökógyarmatosítás) and “wild capitalism” (vadkapitaliszmus).

A Photovoice Participatory Evaluation of a School Gardening Program through the Eyes of Fifth Graders

Catherine Sands et al. — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:32:49 PDT

In the springtime, fifth grade students at the Williamsburg Elementary School in rural Western Massachusetts ask to snack on sorrel and chives from the school garden, between planting potatoes and building a shade structure for their outdoor classroom. They are members of the first cohort of the curriculum-integrated program initiated by Fertile Ground, a grassroots organization in western Massachusetts. The children’s delight in the fresh greens they have grown marks a national phenomenon: the farm-to-school movement. With limited resources, parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community activists are developing inroads to better school food and food education, by constructing school teaching gardens, visiting neighboring farms, engaging in classroom cooking projects and community harvest meals, and providing lasting farm and cafeteria procurement connections. This wave of national activism has arisen in response to the alarming diet-based childhood health crisis, and a desire for hands on experiences that connect young people to the land, food, history, their community – and themselves.

During Spring 2008, Fertile Ground underwent a participatory evaluation project, in which fifth grade students assessed the value of inquiry-based, hands-on learning in the school garden through the Photovoice method. Photovoice research places cameras in the hands of community members so that they themselves document and discuss their concerns and perspectives (Wang, et al., 1996). The research was designed to gain insight about the students’ knowledge of food, nutrition, and community food systems, having participated in six years of hands-on programming in the school garden. The research also aimed to illuminate the students’ impressions of leadership, fellowship, care for the land and community that have arisen out of Fertile Ground farm-to-school programs.

The Photovoice study was designed by Fertile Ground Director Catherine Sands, undergraduate anthropology intern Lee Ellen Reed, and Maggie Shar, Fertile Ground program coordinator and instructor. Professor Krista Harper supported the project with her expertise in research methods and with equipment from her newly established Photovoice Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This article outlines the context of school garden learning programs and its relevance today, delineates the methodology of our research, its assets and limitations, and offers an example of youth-driven, participatory Photovoice research and evaluation for farm-to-school programs.

Green Carnivores, Mad Cows and Gene Tech: The Politics of Food in Hungarian Environmentalism

Krista Harper — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:21:35 PDT

Anthropologists and sociologists, from Levi-Strauss to Bourdieu, have observed that consuming food is a profoundly social act through which people express relationships and perform concepts of social order. Historically, food has provided a rich political symbol and rallying point, from the Boston Tea Party to the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 in colonial India, when Muslim and Hindu

troops rebelled against their British officers upon learning that their rifle cartridges were greased with suet and lard -- foods considered impure according to religious dietary taboos. Food features in Eastern Europe’s history of political

conflict; for example, the December 1980 Solidarity strikes in Poland were touched off by government announcements of Christmastime food shortages (Kubik 1995). Since 1989, food and daily provisioning has become the most immediate medium through which Eastern Europeans experience the vast political and economic shifts following the collapse of state socialism in their daily lives.

Perhaps no other area of contemporary political action has as much to say about food as the international environmental movement. In the past decade, Greenpeace activists have battled McDonald’s and Monsanto, the chemical agrobusiness giant. Grassroots environmental

groups in Cuba, the U.S., Argentina, and Mexico have advanced the cause of organic agriculture. The Slow Food movement, which began in the mid-1980s as a neighborhood action against the construction of a McDonald’s outlet at the Spanish Steps in Rome, went on to forge connections between gastronomical and ecological survival and has established chapters throughout the globe (Petrini 2003, Stille 2001). Food safety scares, from Alar-coated apples to mad cow disease, have

spurred alliances between consumer advocacy groups and environmental organizations in North America and Western Europe (James 1993, Strydom 2002). How do environmental activists politicize foods, and how does this process differ

cross-culturally? Drawing from my ethnographic fieldwork among environmentalists in Hungary in 1995-97 and 2000, I explore political discourses on food, diet, and risk.

International Environmental Justice: Building the Natural Assets of the World’s Poor

Krista Harper et al. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:06:41 PDT

In recent years, vibrant social movements have emerged across the world to fight for environmental justice –- for more equitable access to natural resources and environmental quality, including clean air and water. In seeking to build community rights to natural assets, these initiatives seek to advance simultaneously the goals of environmental protection and poverty reduction. This paper sketches the contours of struggles for environmental justice within and among countries, and illustrates with examples primarily drawn from countries of the global South and the former Soviet bloc.

This working paper is also accessible at the folllowing URL:

http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/28d064d65f/publication/107/

A newer, revised version of this article appears in the 2007 edited volume, Reclaiming Nature: Environmental Justice and Ecological Restoration, James Boyce, Sunita Narain, and Elizabeth Stanton, eds., pp. 326-48. Chicago: Anthem.

From Democratization to Globalization to Justice: Political Generations in Hungarian Environmentalism from the 1980s to the 2000s

Krista Harper — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:13:56 PDT

This presentation applies sociologist Nancy Whittier's concept of "political generations" to explore political identities and strategies appearing over time in the Hungarian environmental movement. I discuss the rise of democratic environmentalism in the 1980s, the shift to a more professionalized and globally oriented activist stance in the 1990s, and the emergence of social justice frames associated with the newest cohort of environmental activists of the 2000s.

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism and Postsocialist Political Ecology in Hungary

Krista Harper — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:30:24 PDT

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.

Across the Bridge: Using PhotoVoice to Study Environment and Health in a Romani Community.

Krista Harper et al. — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:58:07 PDT

This photo essay is the product of a partnership between Prof. Krista Harper, the Sajó River Association for Environment and Community Development, and community organizer Judit Bari. The project took place in a small city in northeastern Hungary hit hard by factory closings since the collapse of state socialism in 1989. The Roma community, about 20% of the town’s population, has been especially vulnerable. A team of six young people participated as photographers and discussion participants, working closely with Harper and Bari. Other community members joined discussions of the images. The team held a photo exhibition in the neighborhood where the photos were taken, inviting city council members, health care providers, and environmentalists from a city nearby. The team held another exhibition in Budapest. Ministry officials, academic researchers, and activists took part in a formal discussion. Harper and Bari presented the team’s photographs at the United Nations Committee on Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in Geneva.

Environmental Justice and Roma Communities in Central and Eastern Europe

Krista Harper et al. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:33:39 PDT

Environmental injustice and the social exclusion of Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has roots in historical patterns of ethnic exclusion and widening socioeconomic inequalities following the collapse of state socialism and the transition to multi-party parliamentary governments in 1989. In this article, we discuss some of the methodological considerations in environmental justice research, engage theoretical perspectives on environmental inequalities and social exclusion, discuss the dynamics of discrimination and environmental protection regarding the Roma in CEE, and summarize two case studies on environmental justice in Slovakia and Hungary. We argue that when some landscapes and social groups are perceived as “beyond the pale” of environmental regulation, public participation, and civil rights, it creates local sites for externalizing environmental harms.

Citizens or Consumers?: Environmentalism and the Public Sphere in Postsocialist Hungary

Krista Harper — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:00:13 PST

Much of the most vital activism of the post-1989 environmental movement in Hungary addresses the development of consumer culture and the expansion of transnational corporations in East-Central Europe. In actions against McDonald's conquest of the urban landscape and the ubiquitous presence of advertisements for transnational corporations, activists contrast cherished notions of decentralization and local control with the emergence of an imperialistic, global consumer culture. These issues came to the forefront of environmental debates while I was living in Hungary from 1995 to 1997, conducting ethnographic research on environmental groups. This paper will present several cases of Hungarian

activism against well-known transnationals, examining how issues of the public sphere-public space, public access to information and debate, and public participation-are redefined as "environmental" struggles.

I begin with an account of the environmental movement's role in the democratic opposition movement of the 1980s and then launch into discussion of Hungarian environmental activism in the 1990s. In the next section, I introduce the major environmental groups involved in anticorporate activism and discuss Hungarian environmentalists' response to the expansion of McDonald's and Coca Cola's attempts at holiday "goodwill marketing" in Budapest, the capital city. The last section delves into the political implications of environmentalist, anticorporate activism for the public sphere in Hungary, focusing on issues of local control of public space, marketing and public debate, and the political dilemmas of public participation in a consumer society.