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While one can cite a wide range of local and international development co-operation promoting social change in the social position of women in Nepal, one also sees changes arising from local communities themselves. Local and international concepts of change do not always coincide; indeed they sometimes clash. The need for change and development in women's social position is a given in development discourses, yet the definitions of change and development are complex, incorporating as they do colonial and imperial power structures intertwined with local hierarchies and inequalities. Alongside these considerations, one finds traditional elements that support women's wellbeing and social change in communities, yet are not always recognised in development discourses and practices. In this ethnographic inquiry in the field of social work, I analyse the change process(es) in the women's social position in Nepalese rural communities. I view social change as a complex transition towards multiple goals with varying rhythms. My analysis lies at the intersections of the international and local, and conceptual and practical knowledge bases. The study seeks to contribute to the discussion on international social work, with particular emphasis on decolonising and feminist approaches. My main research question is: How can one promote ethically sustainable social change processes with the women in globally and locally marginalised communities? I also ask how is the women's social position in Nepalese rural communities shaped at the intersection of traditions and transition; how do the global and local driving forces reshape the women's social position; and how are the women's perspectives and environments that promote the transition in their social position related to the international paradigms of development and social change. My analytical focus is on the activism and perspectives of the women participating in the research in their particular environment and their links with communal and societal structures and international politics. My primary research material consists of the data collected in six months of ethnographic fieldwork (from 2012 to 2013) and in return visits to Nepal totaling an additional month (in 2014, 2015 & 2016) working with two women's communities in rural Nepal. The research encounters took place in the communities' daily contexts and the registered organisations that local women had established. The data include group, pair and individual discussions with the women, as well as my participatory observation. The study takes account of the women's perspectives from multiple social positions, from both the centres and the margins of the communities. My earlier experiences with communities elsewhere in Nepal, gained in seven different periods of living and working in the country (during 2005–2011), provided in-depth background knowledge of the context. Throughout the study I reflect on questions of ethical knowledge production and epistemological hierarchies and privileges. The research also discusses how equality and social justice are promoted within social work research, on the level of both ideology and practice. The findings illustrate that the women assumed diverse roles and positions in their communities and daily settings. These positions were actualised in the women's social relationships and communal roles—as wives, daughters-in-law, mothers, 'sisters', community activists and leaders—as well as in their duties and responsibilities—maintaining the household, nurturing, ensuring survival, and representing culture and religion. The analysis indicates that the women were subject to multiple social restrictions but that they also played an essential role in their communities, one which expanded to bringing about transformations. The women's aims in and tools for producing social change were diverse and linked to their daily realities and traditions as well as to their close relation to the land and spirituality. Their goals culminated on a concrete level in improving their means of livelihood and fighting poverty, and on an abstract level in their being seen and heard. The research highlights the value of the traditions that supported the women's wellbeing and of the cultural and religious practices and ideologies that they sought to maintain. It also underscores the importance of taking these elements into account in development discourses and practices. I reflect on the women's perspectives in the light of feminist and decolonising theorisation. This theoretical analysis led me to identify five goals of the transition in the women's social position: decolonisation of subjectivities, renegotiation of social hierarchies, decolonisation of epistemologies, feminisation of the economy, and redistribution of space. Achieving these aims requires critical reflection on global and local power imbalances and recognition of the hierarchies between the different actors within the transition process. The research indicates that the focal transition in the women's social position was pervaded by power imbalances that created ruptures and transgressions in social, gendered, spatial and epistemological dimensions. The study argues that changes towards greater social justice can be achieved by bridging the gaps between the epistemologies from the Global South and North, centers and margins, practice and theory as well as spirituality and rationality. The research prompts the conclusion that ethically sustainable change in women's social position in the global and local margins is promoted by solidarity that includes dialogue, alliance and exchange, on both the conceptual level and in practice. The inquiry provides insights on the value of striving for holistic inclusion and of respect for diversities as a basis for locally relevant and contextually specific social work practice. ; Naisten sosiaalisen aseman muutos on yksi keskeisimmistä tavoitteista kansallisessa ja kansainvälisessä kehitysyhteistyössä, joka vaikuttaa laajasti Nepalissa. Samaan aikaan paikallisyhteisöt edistävät sosiaalista muutosta ruohonjuuritasolla. Eri tasoilla ajetun muutoksen suunnat, keinot ja tavoitteet ovat moninaiset, ja ne ovatkin usein ristiriitaisia keskenään. Ne sisältävät myös kolonialistisia ja imperialistisia valtarakenteita, jotka kietoutuvat paikallisiin hierarkioihin ja epätasa-arvoon, mikä monimutkaistaa muutoksen dynamiikkaa. Monimutkaisuutta lisää se, että kulttuuristen ja uskonnollisten perinteiden merkitys naisten ja yhteisöjen hyvinvoinnissa sekä muutoksen taustavoimana usein sivuutetaan kehitysyhteistyön keskusteluissa ja käytännöissä. Tässä sosiaalityön etnografisessa tutkimuksessa analysoin naisten sosiaalisen aseman muutosprosesseja sekä niiden tavoitteita nepalilaisissa maalaisyhteisöissä. Tutkimus tarkastelee sosiaalista muutosta kompleksisena siirtymänä, jolla on moninaisia suuntia. Samalla se valottaa keinoja muutoksen eettiseen ajamiseen. Osallistun tällä tutkimuksella kansainvälisen sosiaalityön keskusteluihin painottaen erityisesti dekoloniaalista ja feminististä lähestymistapaa. Analyysini paikantuu paikallisen ja kansainvälisen tason sekä teoreettisen ja käytännöllisen tiedon risteyskohtiin. Tutkimukseni tehtävänä on tuottaa tietoa siitä, miten eettisesti kestävää sosiaalista muutosta voidaan edistää paikallisesti ja globaalisti marginalisoitujen naisten rinnalla. Etsin vastausta tähän kolmella yksityiskohtaisemmalla kysymyksellä: 1) Millaiseksi naisten sosiaalinen asema muodostuu perinteiden ja muutosten risteyskohdassa; 2) Miten globaalit ja paikalliset muutosvoimat risteävät naisten sosiaalisen aseman muutoksessa; 3) Miten naisten omat näkemykset ja ympäristöt, jotka ajavat sosiaalista muutosta, suhteutuvat kansainvälisiin keskusteluihin kehityksestä ja sosiaalisesta muutoksesta. Tutkimukseni analyyttinen fokus on naisten kokemuksissa sekä niiden yhteydessä yhteiskunnallisiin rakenteisiin ja kansainväliseen politiikkaan. Olen tuottanut ensisijaisen tutkimusaineistoni kuuden kuukauden etnografisessa kenttätyössä (2012–2013) sekä uudelleen vierailuilla yhteensä kuukauden ajan (vuosina 2014, 2015 ja 2016) kahdessa naisten yhteisössä Nepalin maaseudulla. Tutkimuskohtaamiset paikantuivat yhteisöjen arkikonteksteihin sekä paikallisten naisten rekisteröimiin ja johtamiin organisaatioihin, joiden tavoitteena oli edistää kylien kehitystä ja parantaa naisten asemaa. Empiirinen aineisto on tuotettu naisten ryhmä-, pari- ja yksilöhaastatteluilla sekä osallistuvalla havainnoinnilla. Tutkimukseen osallistuneet naiset asemoituivat sekä yhteisöjen keskiöihin että marginaaleihin. Tutkimusta edeltävät kokemukseni Nepalissa vuosilta 2005–2011 seitsemän eri jakson ajan toimivat kenttätyöni kontekstuaalisena ja kulttuurisena taustana. Eettisen tiedontuottamisen sekä epistemologisten hierarkioiden ja etuoikeuksien kysymykset ovat olleet keskeisiä pohdintojani läpi tutkimusprosessin. Niihin liittyy olennaisesti kysymys, miten tasaarvo ja sosiaalinen oikeudenmukaisuus kietoutuvat osaksi sosiaalityön tutkimusta käytännöllisellä ja ideologisella tasolla. Tutkimus osoittaa, että naiset saivat moninaisia rooleja ja asemia heidän yhteisöissään ja arjessaan. Nuo roolit ja asemat toteutuivat naisten sosiaalisissa suhteissa – vaimoina, miniöinä, äiteinä, 'siskoina', yhteisöaktivisteina ja johtajina – sekä tehtävinä ja vastuina – kodinhoitajina, hoivaajina, elättäjinä ja kulttuurin ja uskonnon edustajina. Naisten tarinat kuvastivat monitasoisia marginaaleja ja erityisesti köyhyyden kanssa kamppailu oli niiden keskeinen elementti. Naisten yhteisöllinen asema näyttäytyi samaan aikaan keskeisenä ja rajoitettuna, mikä näkyi myös muutoksen edistämisessä. Naisten keinot sosiaalisen muutoksen ajamisessa olivat moninaiset ja ne linkittyivät muun muassa arkeen, perinteisiin, maahan ja hengellisyyteen. Heidän tavoitteensa kiteytyivät elinkeinon parantamiseen, köyhyyden vähentämiseen sekä pyrkimyksiin tulla kuulluiksi ja nähdyiksi. Tutkimustulokset painottavat, että perinteisiin ja paikallisyhteisöhin kiedotut muutosvoimat – kuten hengellisyys ja tunteet –, jotka ajoivat naisia ajamaan muutosta, ovat eettisesti kestävän sosiaalisen muutoksen ydintä. Analysoin naisten näkemyksiä sosiaalisesta muutoksesta dekoloniaalisen feministisen teorian valossa. Identifioin viisi muutoksen suuntaa, jotka tunnistavat ja reflektoivat kriittisesti paikallisia ja kansainvälisiä valtarakenteita: naisten subjektiviteetin dekolonisaatio, yhteisöllisten hierarkioiden uudelleenneuvottelu, talouden feminisaatio, epistemologioiden dekolonisaatio, sekä sosiaalisen tilan uudelleenjakaminen. Naisten aseman muutos, joka kietoutui paikallisiin ja globaaleihin valtarakenteisiin, synnytti railoja sekä rajojen ylityksiä sosiaalisella, sukupuolisella, tilallisella ja epistemologisella ulottuvuuksilla. Tutkimus esittää, että muutos kohti sosiaalista oikeudenmukaisuutta tavoitetaan rakentamalla siltoja erilaisten kuilujen, kuten globaalin Etelän ja Pohjoisen, sosiaalisten ja taloudellisten keskusten ja marginaalien, käytännön ja teorian, sekä henkisyyden, ruumiillisuuden ja rationaalisuuden välille. Tutkimustulosten pohjalta väitän, että eettisesti kestävää sosiaalista muutosta voidaan edistää dekoloniaalisesti ja feministisesti orientoituneella solidaarisuudella, joka sisältää dialogin, liittoutumisen (alliance) ja vaihdon (exchange) paikallisten toimijoiden kanssa. Tutkimukseni tuottaa syväluotaavia näkökulmia holistisen inkluusion ja moninaisuuden kunnioittamiselle, mitkä ovat kulttuurisesti relevantin ja paikallisesti erityisen sosiaalityön perustaa.

This paper explores the relationship between Rastafari herbalists and tuberculosis in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Marginalized and impoverished communities are the worst affected by the TB epidemic, and government-funded biomedical treatment plans are struggling to address the problem. Anthropologists have thus begun to explore the social and cultural factors influencing the prevalence of the disease. The Rastafari herbalists represent an important avenue for affordable alternative healthcare, when biomedical care is insufficient, socially and culturally inappropriate, or simply unavailable. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and unstructured interviews conducted in the homes and workplaces of these healers, I found that many Rastafari herbalists believe they have superior treatments for tuberculosis, and often discourage the use of biomedicine. This is the result of a long history of oppression and inequality, in which bureaucratic systems of control – and the biomedical systems they include – have kept knowledge and resources away from marginalized peoples who need them most, thereby reproducing and deepening structural inequality. Using reflexive analysis, I sought to challenge the dominant modes of anthropological engagement and knowledge production as themselves mechanisms of hegemony. Finally, some suggestions have been provided regarding the future of anthropology, and its quest to enable tangible and positive change in the lives of its research participants.

This article reviews the ways in which class, status, social mobility and their cultural ramifications have been considered (or failed to be considered) in recent ethnographic studies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It argues against the trend of privileging "resistance" to an oppressive state as a theoretical frame for documenting social phenomena in Iran: lifestyles and consumption patterns cannot be interpreted merely as signs of political rebellion because they are endowed with symbolic value as status attributes in a society whose class configurations are shifting. I present a number of sources and concepts that help to rethink these phenomena, and show how the experience of Afghan refugees living on the margins of Iranian cities illuminates both the opportunities and constraints created by the Islamic Republic's uneasy mix of political Islam, populism and neoliberalism. A focus on aspiration to upward mobility becomes a useful analytical lens that allows us to sidestep reductive dichotomies such as tradition/modernity or religion/secularism that are in practice blurred by its very pursuit.

This study aims to specify the mechanisms by which sociolegal control affects group solidarity in two localities of urban marginality in Israel-Palestine: the Mahatta, a segregated Palestinian district in Lod, an Israeli "mixed" city, and the Jalazon refugee camp in the West Bank, only 20 miles from Lod. This research contrasts two distinct social morphologies: internal cohesion in the Jalazon camp and atomization in the Mahatta district. It also highlights the opposition between feelings of trust and pride in the camp and feelings of distrust and shame in the district. Both localities have internal lines of division. In the camp, there are divisions on the basis of place of origin, clan membership and political affiliation. In the urban district, there are divisions on the basis of ethnicity and oldtimer/newcomer status. Yet, Jalazon camp dwellers actively work to deactivate potentially paralyzing fractures, to develop and preserve internal solidarity, prevent or quench camp infighting, and purse collective actions while symbolically investing in the camp as a source of dignity and pride. By contrast, in the Mahatta district, residents experience social fragmentation, mutual distrust, and routine violence and blame one another for their failed attempts at collective organizing. I explain these different profiles of group solidarity, moral worldviews, violence, and politics as products of their distinct regimes of sociolegal control. By "sociolegal control," I mean the control exercised by the institutions of the ruling power and enshrined in its legal norms and dominant discourses. I argue that the Jalazon camp dwellers navigate a regime of sociolegal control that has (unintended) collectivizing effects while the Mahatta residents negotiate their existence against a regime of sociolegal control that has (mostly intended) divisive effects. There is a triadic structure of authority at work in the refugee camp, which includes the Israeli army, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) and the Palestinian Authority (PA); camp dwellers are pushed by all three to valorize their group solidarity as a fundamental resource to both nourish from within and defend collectively against external threats. In contrast to the processes in play between Jalazon refugees and the authorities that influence their solidarity in the camp, the Israeli state's security apparatus is the only institutional actor at work in the Mahatta district, and I argue that it serves to create social fragmentation and mutual suspicion among the urban residents, thus pushing them towards strategies of individual exit.This study has a threefold relevance for theorizing mechanisms of group solidarity among marginalized populations in their connection to the role of the state as a "group maker." First, I propose that a given state can distribute different techniques of control towards different segments of a population cast or kept outside of the sphere of official or full membership. This focus on the state's distribution of forms of sociolegal control towards subcategories within an "unwanted" population helps us understand the formation of internal cleavages among people that otherwise recognize nationhood as a principle of membership. Second, by focusing on place-specific forms of sociolegal control, this study problematizes two distinctions: that between democratic and illiberal forms of state and that between the post-industrial Global North and the Global South. Using localities of urban marginality--refugee camps, squatter settlements, and urban districts of relegation--as a terrain for the theorization of group formation draws attention to how modern states, including democratic ones, might use illiberal practices and discourses driven by ethnoracial or ethnonational motivations towards segments of their citizenry. A third related theoretical point emerging from this study is that legal categorization, especially the opposition between the categories of refugees and citizens, does not have a fixed content in terms of its effects on group solidarity and political identities.