The media seems to suggest that bilinguals are smarter and healthier than monolinguals. And although slightly exaggerated, they appear to be based on scientific evidence. But if we examine the evidence, is this actually true?
Read MoreHey, teacher, leave the kids alone!
What is the focus in education today? Is it to create autonomous citizens who can challenge the status quo, who can question the “standardised truths” given to them? Or is it to create voiceless human beings in a culture of conformity?
Read MoreQuestioning the ‘Over There’ and ‘A Long Time Ago’ of Imperialism
I am a social anthropology student who focuses on imperial memory rather than history. Often, people think I’m a history student or suggest that I talk to their colleague or friend somewhere in Africa/Asia/Latin America. This suggests to me that there’s a common conception present that imperialism was ‘a long time ago’ and ‘over there.’
Read MoreThe Powerful Language of Migration
What is this 'language of immigration'? Is there a way to talk about migration whilst avoiding any kind of direct or indirect discrimination? While it is easy to recognise the stereotypical inventory of metaphors, such as references to 'invasions', 'flows' or 'waves', commonly used to describe migration, in this article I argue that so-called politically-correct terminology can have significant negative consequences on the lives of migrants’.
Read MoreDiagnoses for Sale
In this piece, Lillian critiques a recent NHS England policy that has led to doctors getting paid extra for diagnosing dementia in their patients. The author articulates important insights in her assessment, addressing both healthcare and social policy implications, and finishes by proposing a potential way forward.
Read MoreEveryday Acts: Blurring the Individual and the Institution
“Organic Jim” is how he’s known as in Marchmont. Jim doesn’t have a home, as most people would define it, and he spends much of his time roaming around the streets of this area of Edinburgh. I first got to know Jim when I was walking home from a friend’s place. He was sitting next to a dumpster bundled up in blankets, and I asked him what his name was.
Read MoreThe cost of denying NHS staff fair pay
Energy coursed through my body during the opening address at the Royal College of Midwives Conference in November. Warwick criticised the UK government for its decision to deny NHS midwives the 1% pay increase that had been recommended for NHS staff, while increasing pay for MPs by 10%
Read More2014 in Review
Before we bid adieu to 2014 and open our hearts to the mystery of the New Year, however, we would like to take a moment to reflect on what has been and gone. As such, in what follows, the brightest and best of IANS staff contemplate what made the past year great, what it made it awful and, above all, what made it memorable.
Read MoreA Select History of Suing Oil Companies
For as long as stereotypes about the judicial system have existed, US-Americans have been infamous for suing. Indeed the USA’s fascination with litigation is enshrined in its constitution, the writers of whom made sure to include that a right to a ‘speedy trial’ was included in the documents first 10 amendments. In reality, however, our legal rights aren’t so easily executed.
Read MoreClimate change: why bother?
Another day, another warning about climate change. Or so it feels at times. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recently published their latest scientific report, pointing to causes and effects
Read MoreDoes our indigenous media project “destroy” tribal people?
Let’s have a debate… Whilst doing anthropological fieldwork in Tsumkwe I got involved with/co-founded a project which, in my humble opinion, is pretty exciting: CEDU is a grassroot organisation which is helping the Ju/’hoansi San, one of the oldest indigenous groups in the world, claim back their public image by producing their own media.
Read MoreNo Bob Geldof, I Won’t Give You My F***ing Money
This week saw the latest incarnation of the Bob Geldof charity juggernaut that is Band Aid, with the 1984 single ’Do They Know It’s Christmas’ being updated and re-recorded by a new generation of musicians and pop stars. And Bono.
Read MoreThe Great Flag Debate
On a cold and historic day in February 1964 the iconic red and white maple leaf flag was raised for the first time ending what would later be referred to as the “The Great Canadian Flag Debate”. Chances are you have never heard of the great flag debate, even though it was once the subject of a controversial and heated international dispute.
Read MoreThe “Traditional Family” Trope as American Religious Imperialism
This article looks at the use of so-called “pro-family” language in American politics and the fundamentalist religious notions this language represents. Additionally, it examines the exportation of these beliefs around the world, and the dangerous consequences this has.
Read MoreSelling Sex: A Matter of the Heart
Prostitution is a deeply contentious issue; an issue which, during the ‘sex wars’ of the 1980s, proved highly divisive for the feminist lobby; an issue which continues to attract impassioned debate from political commentators across the globe.
Read MoreWould an Anthropology of Ebola (help) find its ultimate cure?
The Ebola River has meandered through the Democratic Republic of Congo for eons, yet only recently has its name burst beyond its banks to flood the world. When the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 in a village close to the River’s banks it received little global attention or funding to find a treatment or cure.
Read MoreThe McDonaldisation of Love
Beauty standards are everywhere we look, every day. In these times of photo-shopped images, and social experiments such as the Dove Real Beauty stunt, the detrimental effects of media portrayals are at the forefront of everybody’s minds.
Read MoreWorrying over Booze in East Africa
In East Africa, alcohol and alcoholism are themes of considerable worry. This blog post reviews some of these concerns as they are expressed through everyday conversation and in the media.
Read MoreThe Isolation of Cancer
Can illness only be defined as the human experience of symptoms and suffering? I personally think there is more to illness, more to the experience, and more positivity which can be taken from it.
Read MoreCriticising the Criticism of the Ice Bucket Challenge
Like it or loath it, the ice bucket challenge was a massive success for Motor Neuron Disease (MND) associations. As of September, the challenge had raised over £6million for the UK MND Association and a cool $100million for the American ALS Association.
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