Convenors: Jelena Tosic and Andreas Streinzer
The EASA Anthropology of Economy Network held its 2017 workshop at the University of Vienna, convened by Andreas Streinzer and Jelena Tosic. The theme of “Deservingness” focused on the transformations of power, inequality and morality in contemporary Europe and beyond. The core approach was to trace such assessments of deservingness in three ethnographic fields – refugees and migration, debt and austerity, and the privatization of care and welfare.
The convenors introduced the theme in an introductory talk and on the following one and a half days, ten papers were presented on deservingness under the three themes. All in all, there were 20 participants from all career levels between PhD students and professors. Furthermore, the workshop drew participants from neighbouring fields such as political anthropology, feminist anthropology and the anthropology of migration.
Besides the highly stimulating intellectual engagement and work on the ethnographic papers and conceptual approaches towards deservingness, the participants enjoyed the leisurely sides of Vienna and took their discussions further to coffee houses and restaurants. The convenors are pleased with the effort and commitment of the participants proving that deservingness is a topic of high relevance that deserves to be made explicit in further ethnographic and conceptual work.
Friday, October 27th
Introduction: Deservingness – Genealogies, Struggles and Ideologies
Andreas Streinzer, University of Vienna and IfS Frankfurt/ Main
Jelena Tošić, University of Vienna and University of Bern
DEBT RELATIONS – STATES, MARKETS AND DEBTORS
Insolvency, inequality and moral deservingness: the case of the Greek household-protection law, Theodora Vetta, University of Barcelona
Discussant: Carlo Capello
The Moral Economy of Debt: Contesting and (Re-) Regulating Household Debt in Post–Credit Boom Croatia, Marek Mikus, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/ Saale
Discussant: Esra S. Kaytaz
(UN)DESERVING MIGRANTS/REFUGEES
Deserving EU citizenship: The case of undocumented Italian migrants in Belgium, Jean-Michel Lafleur, Elsa Mescoli, Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies of the University of Liège
Discussant: Patricia Matos
The construction of deservingness in co-ethnic and pro-refugee philanthropic actions in Hungary, Zakarias Ildiko, Institute for Minority Studies, HAS Center for Social Sciences, Budapest
Discussant: Don Kalb
Risk-taking and Deservingness in Migration: the case of irregular migration in Turkey, Esra S. Kaytaz, Coventry University
Discussant: Marek Mikus
Guests and other unwanted subjects: On im/moralities of deservingness between EU and Turkey, Sabine Strasser, University of Bern
Discussant: Theodora Vetta
Saturday, October 28th 2017
CATEGORIES, POLICIES AND NEGOTIATIONS OF DESERVINGNESS
The politics of needs and rights: charity, deservingness and distribution in austerity Portugal, Patricia Matos, University of Barcelona
Discussant: Elisa Lanari
“Here, morality is a sense of entitlement:” citizenship, deservingness, and inequality in suburban Atlanta, Elisa Lanari, Northwestern University
Discussant: Sabine Strasser
The Ritual Neoliberal: An anthropological insight into the policies of activation for unemployed people in Turin, Carlo Capello, University of Turin
Discussant: Ildikó Zakariás
The relational politics of deservingness in the context of postsocialist transition and the rise of neo-nationalism of a national-socialist bent, Don Kalb, University of Bergen