Savage Minds Around the Web

The Trouble with Networks: John Postill at Media/Anthropology reviews the work of Vered Amit and questions why networks have become the model for understanding globalization and media.

In the Field: The BBC interviewed Charles Briggs about the work he and his wife are doing tracking an epidemic of unknown origin in the Orinoco valley.  While the article focuses on the mystery of the unidentified disease, Briggs states that basic investments in public health would help curb the death toll (as high as 10% in one village).

Coming to a Theater Near You?  Secondhand, a new documentary about the global circulation of used clothes, is slowly gaining momentum on the film festival circuit.  Looks interesting.

Native American Economies: National Public Radio broadcasted this piece about the effect of the slowing (halting?) U.S, economy on the cultural practices of Native Americans.  According to NPR, rising travel costs prohibit families and individuals from traveling the sometimes huge distances necessary to participate in Native American pow-wows.  As a result of low attendance, peripheral economies of artesanal work sold at pow-wows are also suffering.  For a different look at of economies of Native North America, check out Lorenz’s review of Jessica Cattelino’s new book, High Stakes

Home Decorating:  Material World presented Adam Drazin’s work on the material culture of the homes of Romanian immigrants in Ireland.  Drazin asks how can anthropologists imagine materialities which evoke absence or deprivation, as the neglected domestic spaces of these immigrants demonstrate an ambivalent attitude to both old and new ‘home.’