June 28
Prof. Rosalie Stolz

Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universtität Berlin

"Pioneering concrete in northern Laos"

Concrete is on the rise and cement, ‚world’s most used material, after water’ (Archambault 2018), is leaving imprints on the built landscape around the world. Associated with modernity and aspirations (Forty 2016), concrete is prevalent in transformations of houses and the build landscape world-wide and also in the uplands of northern Laos, where it increasingly replaces bamboo and timber houses.

In this talk, Rosalie Stolz will sketch the move to concrete in northwestern Laos based on her ongoing research among and with Khmu speakers. She will specifically focus on how aspirations feed into choosing concrete as a new building material, how concrete impacts on sociality and in how far appropriating concrete can be regarded as innovative agency of upland pioneers.

Join us on-site in the Graduate School, Hittorfstr. 18, 14195 Berlin, room 010/011 [different location than usual]

Or online in our Webex room:
https://fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin/j.php?MTID=m794436243b11f9800d0d1fa0ed00f3b7
meeting ID: 2731 960 1442, password: BASsummer23

About the Berlin Anthropology Seminars

This seminar series constitutes a joint initiative by anthropologists from the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at FU Berlin, ZMO, and Ethnologisches Museum. It intends to shape and cultivate an inclusive platform and open regular meeting point for exchange and discussion on current research by Berlin-based anthropologists. Please spread the word among colleagues, junior or senior, who may be interested. For further questions contact m.oschwald@fu-berlin.de

Organizers: Paola Ivanov, Claudia Liebelt, and Kai Kresse.