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We are looking for a highly motivated anthropology master student to conduct ethnographic research within the ongoing SARATHI project (Progress through Financial Inclusion) in Bangladesh of the NGO Swisscontact. The focus of the ethnographic exploration is women’s perspectives, their choices and agency along with their interactions with power structures in interventions that aim to improve financial inclusion among garment factory workers.
SARATHI is a 30-month (January 2018- June 2020)[1] financial inclusion project, jointly funded by MetLife Foundation and Swisscontact. It aims to build an ecosystem where wage digitization promotes financial inclusion of Ready-Made Garments (RMG) workers, while also benefitting RMG factories and building a commercially-viable business model for the commercial banks that participate in the process.
Bangladesh’s RMG sector consists of 45% of the total workforce and contributes to 13% of the total GDP. RMG workers, despite their numbers, remain outside the purview of formal financial services as cash-based transactions have been the primary method of transaction made by and to businesses in the country. SARATHI is working with commercial banks and RMG factories to bring RMG workers, especially women, within the sphere of formal banking services. Through wage digitization, the project empowers RMG workers to conduct financial transactions as account holders and clients. The project activities are directed to find market-based and scalable solutions that address underlying constraints such as inadequate financial literacy; lack of access to formal banking services; and commercially viable business solutions for commercial banks to cater to the needs of the RMG workers.
While the project is professionally assessed and evaluated by Swisscontact within the usual structured measurement process, Swisscontact is keen to go beyond that and is interested in an anthropological study assessing the political-economic, social and cultural changes due to the financial inclusion project. It seeks to develop an understanding of the wider impact of financial inclusion and increased income. What has changed in the life of people due to financial inclusion? How do women perceive the changes? How do their choices and agency look like? How do they interact with changing power structures? These are only a few of the questions that might lead an ethnographic exploration of the broader political-economic changes experienced by women in interventions that aim to improve financial inclusion of RMG workers.
The chosen student will be encouraged to develop an independent research project during spring semester 2020 (in the Masterseminar Methoden) within the framework of the Swisscontact SARATHI project. This research would ideally culminate in their master’s thesis in social and cultural anthropology (Ethnologie) at the University of Zurich. Due to the tight time frame of the project, a report for Swisscontact would be due already by the end of August 2020.
Research will be partly funded by the project (contribution to board and lodging, translators, and research assistant) and access will be facilitated by the local partners in the project. Supervision will be provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
If you are interested in applying for this research internship please send a short CV and a letter outlining your motivation and a preliminary research idea to annuska.derks@uzh.ch by mid-February 2020.
Zurich, January 2020
[1] Since it is a Swisscontact internal project, there is a high chance that it will continue for another 4 years.
We are looking for a highly motivated anthropology master student (or an advanced BA student who plans to start his/her MA at ISEK in the near future) to conduct ethnographic research in tandem with an anthropology student from the University of Malawi. The research will take place within an ongoing project of the Center for Child Well-being and Development (CCWD) at the University of Zurich, funded by UNICEF Switzerland. The focus of the ethnographic exploration is the use of wearable technologies in interventions that aim to improve child welfare and development.
The CCWD project aims at evaluating innovative approaches for collecting data on child development in low-income countries, at much lower cost and at higher frequency than alternative data collection methods typically used by UNICEF and other international organizations. The project hopes to improve the data-base for decision-makers to make informed decisions. Disease prevention, detection, and epidemiologic control remain major challenges for the health care system in Malawi. The study plans to tackle this problem with the help of wearable technologies, devices that will track children’s and youth’s biomarkers on a weekly basis. Such non-invasive technologies generate data that will feed prediction models, which can then be used to trigger warnings to families and community health-workers (known in Malawi as Health Surveillance Assistants). The technologies, so the project hopes, will also enable fine-tuning child and youth development interventions that can be adjusted at high frequency, according to machine learning predictions of child health and development fed by the data on children’s biomarkers.
While the main project is quantitative in nature, it also seeks to develop an understanding of everyday experiences of the children and youth who participate in this study. This means looking into the social life of these wearable technologies after they leave the health centre and enter the everyday lives of children in Malawi. How do individuals and communities interact with these technologies? How do children and their parents or guardians experience wearing watches that measure heartbeat, or going to the clinic on a weekly basis to measure their brainwaves? What interactions take place between people and technology that had not been envisioned in the design of the project? How is technology perceived by the people in the selected villages and how has this changed through the introduction of the project? How does the project affect the lives of and interactions between participants and non-participants? These are only a few of the questions that might lead an ethnographic exploration of the use of wearable technologies in interventions that aim to improve child welfare and development.
The project offers a unique change to offer an anthropological perspective on a specific development initiative. The chosen student will be teamed up with an anthropology student from the University of Malawi. The idea is that both students work together in developing the anthropological component of the research within the framework of the project on child development and conduct field research together in Malawi. The research would ideally culminate in their master’s thesis in Social and Cultural anthropology (Ethnologie) at resp. the University of Zurich and the University of Malawi.
Research will be partly funded by the project and access will be facilitated by the local partners in the project. Supervision will be provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
If you are interested in applying for this research internship please send a short CV and a letter outlining your motivation to annuska.derks@uzh.ch.
Liebe Studierende,
wir möchten Sie auf eine besondere Gelegenheit aufmerksam machen, die Forschung für Ihre Masterarbeit im Rahmen eines grösseren Projekts durchzuführen.
Wie Sie vielleicht gehört haben, ist das ISEK–Ethnologie Teil eines EU- Forschungsprojekts über Migration namens HumMingBird. Das Hauptziel des Projekts besteht darin, bessere Daten zum Verständnis von Migration zu erhalten und Zukunftsszenarien zu entwickeln.
Im Gegensatz zu Postulaten klassischer Migrationstheorien weisen neuere Beiträge darauf hin, dass die Mechanismen, die zu Migration führen, vielfältig sind, dass Migration oft schrittweise statt gezielt erfolgt, und dass Menschen ihre Hoffnungen, Pläne und Ideen von sich und der Welt unterwegs ändern können, wenn sie auf Hindernisse und Unwegsamkeiten stossen und neue Handlungsspielräume erfahren oder schaffen. Kurz gesagt, zum Verständnis des Phänomens ist ein vertieftes Wissen über den Alltag, den Migration mit sich bringt, unabdingbar, und hier setzen unsere Untersuchungen an:
Wir werden einerseits Forschungsarbeiten an Knotenpunkten von Migration und entlang von Transitrouten, wie Istanbul, Italien oder Bosnien, sowie verschiedene Interviewsequenzen mit Migranten durchführen, die sich bereits in der Schweiz und in Italien niedergelassen haben.
Alle interessierten Studierenden sind herzlich eingeladen, sich im Rahmen ihrer MA-Forschung an diesem spannenden Projekt zu beteiligen. Für weitere Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte bis zum 4. Dezember 2020 an daniela.dietz@uzh.ch oder peter.finke@uzh.ch.
Das Institut IZB ist ein Forschungs- und Entwicklungsinstitut der Pädagogischen Hochschule Zug. Wir fokussieren auf globale und internationale Dimensionen im Bildungsbereich, insbesondere auf Fragen im Zusammnenhang mit Migration, sozialen Ungleichheiten, Bildungschancen und sozialem Lernen. Als anwendungsorientierte Forschungseinheit haben unsere Projekte letztlich zum Ziel, zur Verbesserung von Bildungsqualität beizutragen.
Aktell ist bei uns ein Projekt angelaufen, mit dem wir Schulen gezielt darin unterstützen möchten, mit den alltäglichen Chancen und Herausforderungen im Migrationskontext produktiv umzugehen, dabei Anerkennung für Gelingendes zu bekommen und dieses Gelingende zu vestärken, auch kreative Lösungen für verfahrene Situationen zu finden und – durch Austausch mit anderen Schulen – sich gegenseitig mit interessanten Ansätzen zu inspirieren.
Nebst dem direkten Austausch mit Bildungsfachleuten werden wir Erfahrungswerte, gute Ideen und praxiserprobte ‘Tipps und Tricks’ aus der Praxis recherchieren und für eine Website aufbereiten, mit theoretischen Hintergrundinformationen ergänzen und erklären und schliesslich in Form von Bild, Text und Ton (Podcasts) für den deutschsprachigen Raum zugänglich machen. Zudem planen wir Weiterbildungsangebote für Lehrpersonen und Module im Rahmen der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung sowie breite Disseminiationsaktivitäten im deutschsprachigen Raum, um die Informationen und erstellten Produkte bestmöglich zugänglich zu machen.
Die Wirksamkeit dieses Projekts steht und fällt mit der Frage, ob es uns gelingt, die effektiven Bedürfnisse der Bildungsfachleute zu verstehen und unsere Angebote möglichst direkt an diese Bedürfnissen anzuschliessen. Bedeutsam ist dabei das Erkunden von Anliegen, Sorgen, Ratlosigkeiten oder Resignationen, die oftmals nur auf der ‘Hinterbühne’ geäussert werden, als politisch unkorrekt gelten oder mit so viel Frustration verbunden sind, dass nur ein geduldiges Zuhören dazu führt, dass die darunterliegenden Bedürfnisse zum Ausdruck kommen. Zudem interessieren uns natürlich auch die kreativen, spannenden und inspirierenden Ansätze, die mitunter im Schulalltag entwickelt werden, von denen nur wenige erfahren und von denen andere aber – wenn sie davon erfahren würden – profitieren könnten.
Über eine Zusammenarbeit mit Studierenden der Sozialanthropologie würden wir uns sehr freuen. Wir sehen grosse Chancen insbesondere in zweierlei Hinsicht: Zum einen bietet die Sozialanthropologie und die ethnographische Methodologie hervorragende Möglichkeiten zur forschenden Annäherung an die genannten Perspektiven, Erfahrungen und Bedürfnisse von Lehrpersonen und Schulleitenden. Zum anderen ist die Rolle von ‘interessensneutralen’ Studierenden ideal, um insbesondere auch politisch Unkorrektes zu erfahren und damit letztlich wesentlich zur Anschlussfähigkeit von Angeboten im Rahmen der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung beizutragen.
Die Fragerichtungen werden sich – je nach Methodenwahl – in einem iterativen Prozess entwickeln und schärfen müssen, als Ausgangsfragen wären die folgenden denkbar:
Als theoretische Rahmungen bestehen ebenfalls viele Möglichkeiten, je nach Fokussierung der Fragestellung, etwa sozialkonstruktivistische, anerkennungstheoretische, systemtheoretische, diskurstheoretische, postkoloniale oder poststrukturalistische Theorieanbindungen.
Das Thema ermöglicht vertiefte Einblicke in einen hochrelevanten Bereich zu Fragen von Bildungsqualität im Migrationskontext und das bedeutsame Beitragen zum Füllen einer noch immer recht grossen Forschungslücke.
Über eine Zusammenarbeit würden wir uns sehr freuen, sind offen für weitere Anregungen oder Ideen und stehen für Rückfragen gerne zur Verfügung.
Dr. Carola Mantel
Januar 2020
Beck M und Jäpel F. (2019) Migration und Bildungsarmut: Übertrittsrisiken im Schweizer Bildungssystem. In: Quenzel G and Hurrelmann K (eds) Handbuch Bildungsarmut. 491-522.
Mächler S. (2001) Schulerfolg: kein Zufall. Ein Ideenbuch zur Schulentwicklung im multikulturellen Umfeld. Zürich: Lehrmittelverlag des Kantons Zürich.
Mantel C, Aepli M, Büzberger M, et al. (2019) Auf den zweiten Blick. Eine Sammlung von Fällen aus dem Schulalltag zum Umgang mit migrationsbezogener Vielfalt, Bern: hep.
Schweizerischer Wissenschaftsrat. (2018) Soziale Selektivität. Empfehlungen des Schweizerischen Wissenschaftsrates SWR. Expertenbericht von Rolf Becker und Jürg Schoch im Auftrag des SWR, Bern: Schweizerischer Wissenschaftsrat.
SKBF. (2018) Bildungsbericht Schweiz 2018, Aarau: Schweizerische Koordinationsstelle für Bildungsforschung.
We are looking for a highly motivated anthropology master student to conduct ethnographic research within the ongoing M4C project (Making Markets Work for the Chars) in Bangladesh of the NGO Swisscontact. The focus of the ethnographic exploration is women’s perspectives, their choices and agency along with their interactions with power structures in interventions that aim to enhance livelihood opportunities for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Bangladesh.
M4C aims to reduce vulnerability and increase wellbeing of vulnerable and marginalised dwellers living in the northern char region of Bangladesh. Chars are riverine land, susceptible to erosion and soil deposition, which remain disconnected from mainland either seasonally or throughout the year. Limited income and opportunities hinder formation of substantial livelihoods capital (financial, physical, human, social and natural) of char households, which is essential to cope with the vulnerable context (economic, physical, social, political and natural) of the chars (see: https://www.swisscontact.org/nc/en/projects-and-countries/search-projects/project-finder/project/-/show/making-markets-work-for-the-jamuna-padma-and-teesta-chars-m4c.html).
Char households are the target beneficiaries of this project. The major stakeholders of the project are multiple agricultural companies, micro-finance institutions and public sector organizations operating in Bangladesh.
While the project is professionally assessed and evaluated by Swisscontact within the usual structured measurement process, Swisscontact is keen to go beyond that and is interested in an anthropological study assessing the political-economic, social and cultural changes due to the M4C project. It seeks to develop an understanding of the wider impact of creating commercial livelihood opportunities for char households. What has changed in the life of people living in the chars? How do choices and agency of women look like? How do they interact with changing power structures? How do the poorest and most vulnerable perceive the changes? These are only a few of the questions that might lead an ethnographic exploration of the broader political-economic changes in interventions that aim to create commercial livelihood opportunities.
The chosen student will be encouraged to develop an independent research project during spring semester (in the Masterseminar Methoden) within the framework of the Swisscontact M4C project. This research would ideally culminate in their master’s thesis in social and cultural anthropology (Ethnologie) at the University of Zurich.
Research will be partly funded by the project (contribution to board and lodging, translators, and research assistant) and access will be facilitated by the local partners in the project. Supervision will be provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
The student is encouraged to participate in the activities related to Bangladesh provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
If you are interested in applying for this research internship please send a short CV and a letter outlining your motivation and a preliminary research idea to annuska.derks@uzh.ch by the end of December 2020.
We are looking for a highly motivated anthropology master student to conduct ethnographic research within the ongoing ASTHA project (Achieving Sustainability Towards Healthcare Access) in Bangladesh of the NGO Swisscontact. The focus of the ethnographic exploration are impacts and changes in everyday life for people in communities that are part of the program and how their choices of using more modern health care service interact with more “traditional” social structures. Of particular interest are also women community members’ and women community paramedics’ perspectives, their choices and agency along with their interactions with power structures in receiving and providing quality health care at the last mile in rural areas.
ASTHA was introduced in 2011 to increase youth employment through training and developing skilled Community Paramedics (CPs) and improve access to quality healthcare services in rural Bangladesh. The latest phase (2019 – 2022) is designed to facilitate the further improvement and popularisation of CP services to assure high-quality Basic Primary Healthcare services including Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning. It is jointly funded by Novartis and Swisscontact (see: https://www.swisscontact.org/nc/en/projects-and-countries/search-projects/project-finder/project/-/show/high-quality-healthcare-services-in-rural-areas-astha.html).
Massive shortage of medically trained healthcare providers in rural communities is a crude reality for Bangladesh. There are alarmingly 0.66 healthcare providers per 1000 population in the country while the WHO recommendation is 2.28 per 1000 population. Despite this huge gap in workforce, the burgeoning youth population (15 to 25 years) in Bangladesh is suffering from acute unemployment and underemployment. As a result of the project’s previous efforts, the CP Training Program is now an established 2-year course offered to youth by private and public training institute and governed by Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
While the project is professionally assessed and evaluated by Swisscontact within the usual structured measurement process, Swisscontact is keen to go beyond that and is interested in an anthropological study assessing the political-economic, social and cultural changes due to the skilled healthcare provider project. It seeks to develop an understanding of the wider impact of promoting quality health care and increased youth employment and income. What has changed in the life of young Community Paramedics? How do young healthcare providers make choices and enact agency? How do they interact with changing power structures? What has changed for people in rural communities due to community paramedic services? What has changed for other providers of health care services? These are only a few of the questions that might lead an ethnographic exploration of the broader political-economic changes in interventions that aim to develop skilled Community Paramedics and improve access to quality healthcare services.
The chosen student will be encouraged to develop an independent research project during spring semester (in the Masterseminar Methoden) within the framework of the Swisscontact ASTHA project. This research would ideally culminate in their master’s thesis in social and cultural anthropology (Ethnologie) at the University of Zurich.
Research will be partly funded by the project (contribution to board and lodging, translators, and research assistant) and access will be facilitated by the local partners in the project. Supervision will be provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
The student is encouraged to participate in the activities related to Bangladesh provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
If you are interested in applying for this research internship please send a short CV and a letter outlining your motivation and a preliminary research idea to annuska.derks@uzh.ch by December 2020.
Zurich, September 2020
We are looking for a highly motivated anthropology master student (or an advanced BA student who plans to start his/her MA at ISEK in the near future) to conduct ethnographic research within an ongoing project of the Center for Child Well-being and Development (CCWD) at the University of Zurich, in collaboration with UNICEF Switzerland. The focus of the ethnographic exploration is the use of wearable technologies in interventions that aim to improve child welfare and development.
The CCWD project aims at evaluating innovative approaches for collecting data on child development in low-income countries, at much lower cost and at higher frequency than alternative data collection methods typically used by UNICEF and other international organizations. The project hopes to improve the data-base for decision-makers to make informed decisions. Disease prevention, detection, and epidemiologic control remain major challenges for the Malawian health system. The study plans to tackle this problem with the help of wearable technologies, devices that will track children and youth’s biomarkers on a weekly basis. Such non-invasive technologies generate data that will feed prediction models, which can then be used to trigger warnings to families and community health-workers (known in Malawi as Health Surveillance Assistants, or HSAs). The technologies, so the project hopes, also enable fine-tuning child and youth development interventions that can be adjusted at high frequency, according to machine learning predictions of child health and development fed by the data on children’s biomarkers.
While the main project is quantitative in nature, it also seeks to develop an understanding of everyday experiences of the children and youth who participate in this study. What life do these wearable technologies lead after they leave the health centre and enter the everyday lives of children in Malawi? How do the children experience having to wear watches that measure their heartbeat, or having to come to the clinic on a weekly basis to measure their brainwaves? What interactions between people and technology take place that had not been envisioned in the outline of the project? How is technology perceived by the people in the chosen villages and how has this changed through the introduction of the project? These are only a few of the questions that might lead an ethnographic exploration of the use of wearable technologies in interventions that aim to improve child welfare and development.
The chosen student will be encouraged to develop an independent research project within the framework of the project on child development. This research would ideally culminate in their master’s thesis in social and cultural anthropology (Ethnologie) at the University of Zurich.
Research will be partly funded by the project and access will be facilitated by the local partners in the project. Supervision will be provided by ISEK-Social Anthropology.
If you are interested in applying for this research internship please send a short CV and a letter outlining your motivation and a preliminary research idea to annuska.derks@uzh.ch.
Zurich, September 2020
