lecture by Haldis Haukanes, 30. 11., 14:00

In this presentation, I reflect on ethnography, temporality, and social change through a discussion of my own ethnographic research conducted over a period of more than 35 years in rural South Bohemia and South Moravia. I begin by considering some of the methodological implications of repeatedly returning to the same field sites. How do we, as anthropologists revisiting communities undergoing profound political and economic change, understand and interpret what is taking place? How do we observe and analyse social transformation, and identify markers of both change and continuity in places and among people we know well? And how do shifting theoretical and methodological perspectives shape what we are able to see?

To further explore ethnographies of continuity and change, I draw on empirical examples from themes that have been central to my research at different points in time, including discourses of rurality, rural identity and community, and everyday practices related to food production and preparation.

Bio
Haldis Haukanes holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Bergen, Norway, and is currently Professor at the Department of Health Promotion and Development, University of Bergen. For more than 35 years, she has conducted ethnographic research in  Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, focusing among others on post-communist transformation processes in rural communities, as well as issues related to gender and food work. Alongside her work in the Czech Republic, Haukanes has, since 2008, been involved in a range of research projects on gender, reproductive health and rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.

MONDAY 30.11. 2026, 14:00 CET

IE CAS CONFERENCE ROOM (NA FLORENCI 3, PRAHA 1, 5TH FLOOR)

ONLINE LINK MS TEAMS: HERE

Pdf here.