Journal of Urban Ethnology

So different, yet so similar: theoretical reflections about intimate relationships in urban middle class India

2025-12-03T16:53:25+00:00

Most scholars determine the extent of individual choice to delineate love and arranged marriages, as well as other types of intimate relationships, in India. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork among urban middle class in Delhi, I challenge this approach. I argue that as no choice is ever taken in a social vacuum, the love and arranged marriage dichotomy, theoretically embedded in the individualisation thesis, is ill understood. Its inadvertent consequence is reproduction of neoliberal myth of an individual “freed” of social influences and constraints.

Experimental ethnography and the experience of urban space. A case study of young Ukrainian migrants in Poznań

2025-12-03T16:55:06+00:00

This article explores the potential of experimental ethnography in studying how young migrants from Ukraine resident in Poznań perceive and familiarise themselves with urban space. Drawing on sensory and reflexive anthropology frameworks, the text examines how alternative research methods, such as sensory walking or automatic writing, can capture the sensory dimension of urban experience. The author, sharing the same lived reality as her research partners, considers the perspective of a researcher who is not quite at home, combining autoethnography with a participatory approach. The article also critically reflects on the limitations and challenges of experimental ethnography, highlighting its potential and methodological pitfalls.

Habituation to a place through action: an analysis of support rendered to female Ukrainian war migrants in an ethnographic perspective

2025-12-03T16:54:46+00:00

This article explores the activities of three non-governmental organisations operating in Lodz which provide support to migrants, with a particular focus on the experiences of Ukrainian women who arrived in Poland following the Russian invasion in 2022. The analysis centers on how these organizations (co-)create spaces that migrant women perceive as safe, supportive, and conducive to integration. Special attention is therefore given to (1) the forms of assistance provided specifically to forcibly displaced women in Lodz by these organisations and how this support has evolved over the past three years; and (2) the personal narratives of the migrant women themselves, highlighting their perspectives, coping strategies, and forms of engagement with the aforesaid organisations. The material comes from ethnographic research titled "Engagement and volunteer activities within the community of Ukrainian migrant women" conducted in July 2024 in the city of Lodz

A community of communities. An ethnographic portrait of a central Łódź parish

2025-12-03T16:53:49+00:00

The author portrays interpersonal relationships in the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Peace in Łódź, focusing on their role in shaping the identity of the parish community in an urban context. Based on ethnographic research, including in-depth interviews and participant observation, the multidimensional dynamics of social and spiritual ties are presented. The analysis reveals how daily interactions, rituals and communal engagement affect the building of community unity and its ability to adapt and create the future.

“Do communists live here?” The difficult heritage of Cracow’s Nowa Huta

2025-12-03T16:53:02+00:00

The question “Do communists live here?” became a pretext for the author to reflect on the common perception of the heritage of the city/district of Nowa Huta (NH) in Cracow (Poland). Methodologically, the considerations are embedded into the concept of the dissonant heritage and the authorised heritage discourse. The presented materials were obtained during classic ethnographic research. The research area included, among others, the “communism tours”.

Monuments in urban space as tools for the transformation of memory and national identity. Reflections on the example of the Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia

2025-12-03T16:53:05+00:00

Several decades have passed since the fall of communism in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, yet in some of them monuments dedicated to the Soviet Army still stand firmly on their pedestals. In general, however, relics of the previous system arouse strong emotions and become objects of protests, debates, political discussions, as well as actions aimed at their removal or destruction. In this context, the Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia stands out in particular as one having an exceptionally rich and interesting history that entered its next phase in December 2024, when, after many years of social pressure and legal proceedings, its dismantling began. In this article, I discuss the history of the creation of the Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia and its fate after the fall of communism, and I also cite the activities of various (creative and artistic, ideological and destructive) groups involved in its transformations. I also take into account the generational perspective and discuss the main dimensions of the conflict over the monument. The main thesis of the article is that objects of post-socialist heritage, which are a testimony to a past that is not always heroic and glorious, and therefore rejected, negated and displaced from the place they occupy in historical space and consciousness, can become an important tool for the transformation of memory and the shaping of national identity.

Practices, objects and affects as tools in the creation of contemporary heritage by ehtnocultural groups. The example of the Bambers of Poznań

2025-12-03T16:53:50+00:00

The Bambers (Polish : Bambrzy), descendants of immigrants from Upper Franconia, have been co-creating the cultural landscape of Poznań for three hundred years. They pass down their rich heritage from generation to generation, emphasising various elements that influence the group’s identity. Since the 1990s, they have been experiencing a cultural renaissance, part of the process known as ethnisation. This article analyses, according to Sharon Macdonald’s concept, the actions, objects and affects employed by the Bambers since the systemic transition in Poland to keep up a connection with the past necessary to maintain their heritage. These efforts demonstrate that the Bambers do not merely strive to reconstruct the past, but interpret it to ensure the continuity of their shared identity. Their activities align with contemporary understandings of heritage, which focus on utilising the past for contemporary purposes. The text is based on the author’s own qualitative research.

The tales of ethnogenesis vs. other determinants of the Vilamovians’ ethnic distinctiveness

2025-12-03T16:54:16+00:00

The tale of the Vilamovians’ Flemish ethnogenesis of has been an important part of their narrative about themselves since at least the 19th century. It provides evidence of their distinctiveness from both Germans and Poles. It also appears when presenting other markers of Vilamovian distinctiveness, such as folk dress and the Wymysorys language, or when talking about the past shared by the members of the group. Emphasising non-German ancestry was particularly important when telling about the Second World War and the post-war persecutions. Every story, even about distant times, is constructed in the present and is influenced by what is happening today. For the oldest generation, the Vilamovian culture is a relic of the past, unchanged since the arrival of the first settlers. Young people involved in revitalisation of Wymysorys language, on the other hand, emphasise the uniqueness of their culture. The narrative of the oldest and youngest generations is united by the message that they are different from both Germans and Poles. Thus, it is a form of alternative storytelling to the nationalist discourse that divides people into national categories.

Tiskriwin in Aɣlan, Algeria: revitalising traditional neighbourhood committees for modern challenges

2025-12-03T17:21:50+00:00

This article takes as its geographical context the M’Zab, a region known for its social, doctrinal and historical particularities, but also for its own institutional organisation. These institutions include tiskra/tiskriwin, the traditional version of neighbourhood committees that have been adapted to modern forms of association. The aim is therefore to look back at these neighbourhood committees, their origins, their organisation and their role in a Mozabite town. The research underscores the integral role of tiskriwin in promoting local solidarity and cultural continuity in the M’Zab valley. Despite evolving under national policies, these associations retain traditional wisdom and community support, ensuring their ongoing relevance in neighbourhood governance and social cohesion. To achieve this, in addition to documentary research, we carried out field surveys. The survey took place mainly in the ksar of Ghardaïa, with some return visits to the town of Béni Isguen. The aim was to find out how these tiskriwin were structured and managed, and what roles they fulfilled. By analysing all these sources, interviews and documents, we were able to understand how the tiskriwin were organised and what role they played within their communitites.

A marginal heritage? Local practices of Rabari pastoralists and the cultural representation policy in India

2025-12-03T16:53:52+00:00

In the period of heritagisation and tourism, India witnesses changes not only in the centres on the UNESCO World Heritage list, but also the small, local, previously little known sites of religious practices. Small-scale lists of places worth visiting in a given region are compiled, adding to the lists of the wonders of the world or informative lists (tentative lists) of places to visit. This article explores the transformation of an annual ritual performed by the Rabari pastoralist community in the Kutch region of India, analysing it through the lens of heritagisation and spectacularisation. The ritual in honour of the goddess Bhad Mata, once deeply rooted in religious practice and pastoral cosmology, is increasingly reframed as a cultural heritage performance, consumed by tourists, researchers and institutional observers. The author demonstrates how spiritual embodiment and trance, particularly through the figure of the bhopa (ritual medium), become not only expressions of devotion, but also sites of meaning production within a changing cultural economy. The paper distinguishes between the emic meanings ascribed to the ritual by its participants and the etic frameworks imposed by external agents, including heritage institutions. It argues that heritage is not a neutral legacy of the past but a dynamic, contested space where identity, memory and agency are continuously negotiated. The case of the Rabari illustrates how heritage remains a living, affective, and politically charged process situated at the crossroads of the sacred, the market, and cultural policy.

The “personal city” in the contexts of night and autoethnography

2025-12-03T16:54:15+00:00

Inspired by the category of “personal city”, in the article I present reflections about my own experiences related to living and exploring urban places and spaces that are important to me. I refer the considerations on this concept to the context of the night and the specific type of method and narrative style associated with autoethnography. Therefore, I walk through the downtown area of Łódź, referring to both my own biographical roots and the more general framework of memory, and I recall the example of night wanderings in New York, as well as the night aspects of feeling and recognising space in the context of a personal, intimate research attitude. Recalling Andrzej Majer’s category, I refer to other concepts that go along with it: memory, cultural determinants of emotions, sensual and narrative search for the phenomenology of places and spaces.

“My street” in a foreign city – a London experience

2025-12-03T16:53:22+00:00

In the summer of 2008, I came to London with the intention of finding a job in my profession. The place where I stayed became “my street”, to which I returned with sentiment in the following years, not only in my thoughts. In this article, I attempted to analyse my personal relationship with that place. The work contains an autoethnographic description and a reflection on the source of the emotional attitude to a temporary place of residence abroad from the perspective of a migrant and a tourist. The interpretative background is provided by Adam Majer’s concept of the “personal city” and the theory of place attachment derived from environmental psychology.

Personal journeys to the imagined America of Mrągowo

2025-12-03T16:54:45+00:00

This article aims to explore the festival heritage of Mrągowo, which since the 1980s has contributed to shaping an image of an “imagined America”. Using concepts from the anthropology of tourism, particularly Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism, the study examines journeys to a “personal city” – a space linked to individual memories of a specific historical reality. Mrągowo’s version of America is also interpreted as an “imagined homeland” – a vision of freedom longed for by the citizens of the People’s Republic of Poland at the time. The analysis considers both physical travels, in the form of tourist visits, and symbolic journeys, as during festival days the city’s residents immerse themselves in a different, imagined space. To answer the research questions, qualitative methods were used, including in-depth interviews and a semiotic analysis of Mrągowo’s urban landscape.