Friends of Deakin Anthropology, you may be interested in this event convened by our colleagues at the University of Melbourne Anthropology Seminar Series:

I use long-term research in an Indian village to examine how a generation of young men re-evaluate their local environment following a period of migration. I develop Karl Mannheim’s notion of ‘fresh contact’ to argue that young men aged between 25 and 34 who have lived outside their home re-appraise their village economically, physically and spiritually when they return home, with particular emphasis on how young people re- engage with ghosts and the problem of spirit possession. I highlight the spatial nature of ‘fresh contact’, drawing attention especially to young men’s focus on developing a good ‘mahaul’ – a Hindi word meaning ‘atmosphere’. I also examine how earlier experiences inform the actions of a relatively ‘old’ set of youth aged 25-34, highlighting the temporal nature of fresh contact. My research highlights the value of examining young people’s histories and undertaking long-term ethnographic research.

Biography

Dr Jane Dyson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, University of Melbourne. She has worked for 15 years in the Indian Himalayas, examining issues around gender, work and social transformation with a focus on children and young people. Her research has been published in a book, Working Childhoods: Youth, Agency and the Environment in India (Cambridge University Press, 2015), and in journals including American Ethnologist, Economy and Society, and JRAI.

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