R Fraser
Biographic Data
| ID | 53699 |
|---|---|
| NAME | R Fraser |
| GIVEN NAMES | R |
| FAMILY NAME | Fraser |
| SIGNATURE | FRASER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Sichuan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2690-2136 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 113 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Material imaginaries of the new iron curtain
The “social imaginary” has been critiqued for its overly deterministic qualities and resemblance to concepts of culture. Our article interrogates the materiality of the indeterminate at a time of heightened global uncertainty. Furthering a rapid response, material methodology in anthropology, we examine objects, animals, and infrastructures that disrupt and reinscribe border imaginaries in differential and unexpected ways in Sør-Varanger, on the …
Tears in the taiga
This article explores the complex entanglements of alcohol, human agency, and more‐than‐human relations among Ewenki reindeer herders of northeast China. Drawing on twenty years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Da Xing'anling Mountains, I examine how alcohol is both a potent cultural substance and a site of existential tension. I show how alcohol mediates social relations, reinforcing friendship, status, and gendered identities, while simultaneou…
That-which-must-not-be-named
In this paper, I describe the practice of sharing and eating wild\nmeat amongst the Orochen in northeast China, a community of\nhunters who are no longer allowed to hunt due to state conservation policies. I show how for Orochen meat is the material\nintermediary between the human and nonhuman worlds, offered\nto the fire before meals and to animal spirit-masters during hunting. I suggest this demands reflection of what we might call the\nontolog…
In-Between the Rural and the Urban
In this paper, I describe the experience of rural-urban migration amongst herders to Ulaanbaatar's ger-districts. I show how this problematises conventional notions of rural-urban migration and suggests a particular form of urbanisation in Mongolia. Following one particular household as they move from the countryside to the city, I show how for many new migrants adaptation to urban life is tied to the transposition of existing skills - and the le…
A museum in the taiga
In this paper, I describe the building and use of a new cultural-ecological museum in the Orochen Autonomous Banner in northeast China. I describe the various uses of the museum and how it is perceived by different actors, including: (1) for the presentation of ‘authentic’ Orochen culture by the museum designer; (2) for generating new economic opportunities by the local government; (3) for storing traditional handicrafts by Orochen heritage trans…
The “Heritage-isation” of Photographs
In this paper I present a case of visual repatriation amongst the Orochen ethnic minority in Northeast China. I describe what happens when a photo collection - the Ethel John Lindgren Collection at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge - is returned to a host community who are an officially-recognised ethnic minority in China and, as a result, are subject to particular policies, discourses, and funding strategi…
Cultural heritage, ethnic tourism, and minority-state relations amongst the Orochen in north-east China
In this paper, I describe the impact of cultural heritage classifications amongst the Orochen ethnic minority in north-east China. Building upon the expanding literature on critical heritage studies, I argue that while heritage is often used as a top-down strategy by the Chinese state for rural and economic development, particularly in minority areas, it is important to consider the bottom-up experiences of heritage-making and the use of heritage…
The Preservation and Interpretation of δ 34 S Values in Charred Archaeobotanical Remains
The measurement of sulphur isotope (δ 34 S) values in charred plant remains has the potential to inform understanding of the spatial configuration and ecology of crop production. We investigated the effects of charring, manuring, oxidation and anaerobic soil conditions on modern cereal grain/pulse seed δ 34 S values, and assessed the effect of chemical pre‐treatment on charred modern and archaeobotanical grain/seed δ 34 S values. We used these re…
Tents, Taiga, and Tourist Parks
Motorcycles on the Steppe
In this paper, I explore the use of motorcycles among herding households in Mongolia, which are fast becoming ubiquitous features of everyday life. First, I outline the position of technology in academic debates and the tendency to envision technological change in teleological and revolutionary terms. Approached from a revised perspective of skilled practice, I argue against such accounts, emphasising the polydirectional ways in which people expe…
Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices
Stable carbon isotope analysis of plant remains is a promising tool for researchers studying palaeoclimate and past agricultural systems. The potential of the technique is clear: it offers a direct measure of the water conditions in which plants grew. In this paper, we assess how reliably stable carbon isotope discrimination can be used to infer water conditions, through the analysis of present-day crop plants grown at multiple locations across t…
Forced Relocation amongst the Reindeer-Evenki of Inner Mongolia
In 2003 the chinese Reindeer-Evenki were relocated to a purpose-built settlement, justified on the grounds of environmental conservation and development. although some had favoured the move, others interpreted this as an attack on their lifeworld, with a number of herder-hunters choosing to remain in the forest where they reside in five campsites. This paper traces the development of the relocation from the perspective of three competing levels o…
Politics is Economics Distilled
Spain on the Brink
The following report is the fruit of a three-week visit to the Spanish state in February 1976. In many hours of discussion, with economists and politicians, businessmen and trade-union officials, workers and Left militants, a single, apparently simple theme oriented my enquiry. What was the concrete possibility of
Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices
Stable carbon isotope analysis of plant remains is a promising tool for researchers studying palaeoclimate and past agricultural systems. The potential of the technique is clear: it offers a direct measure of the water conditions in which plants grew. In this paper, we assess how reliably stable carbon isotope discrimination can be used to infer water conditions, through the analysis of present-day crop plants grown at multiple locations across t…
Cultural heritage, ethnic tourism, and minority-state relations amongst the Orochen in north-east China
In this paper, I describe the impact of cultural heritage classifications amongst the Orochen ethnic minority in north-east China. Building upon the expanding literature on critical heritage studies, I argue that while heritage is often used as a top-down strategy by the Chinese state for rural and economic development, particularly in minority areas, it is important to consider the bottom-up experiences of heritage-making and the use of heritage…
In-Between the Rural and the Urban
In this paper, I describe the experience of rural-urban migration amongst herders to Ulaanbaatar's ger-districts. I show how this problematises conventional notions of rural-urban migration and suggests a particular form of urbanisation in Mongolia. Following one particular household as they move from the countryside to the city, I show how for many new migrants adaptation to urban life is tied to the transposition of existing skills - and the le…
A museum in the taiga
In this paper, I describe the building and use of a new cultural-ecological museum in the Orochen Autonomous Banner in northeast China. I describe the various uses of the museum and how it is perceived by different actors, including: (1) for the presentation of ‘authentic’ Orochen culture by the museum designer; (2) for generating new economic opportunities by the local government; (3) for storing traditional handicrafts by Orochen heritage trans…
Forced Relocation amongst the Reindeer-Evenki of Inner Mongolia
In 2003 the chinese Reindeer-Evenki were relocated to a purpose-built settlement, justified on the grounds of environmental conservation and development. although some had favoured the move, others interpreted this as an attack on their lifeworld, with a number of herder-hunters choosing to remain in the forest where they reside in five campsites. This paper traces the development of the relocation from the perspective of three competing levels o…
That-which-must-not-be-named
In this paper, I describe the practice of sharing and eating wild\nmeat amongst the Orochen in northeast China, a community of\nhunters who are no longer allowed to hunt due to state conservation policies. I show how for Orochen meat is the material\nintermediary between the human and nonhuman worlds, offered\nto the fire before meals and to animal spirit-masters during hunting. I suggest this demands reflection of what we might call the\nontolog…
The Preservation and Interpretation of δ 34 S Values in Charred Archaeobotanical Remains
The measurement of sulphur isotope (δ 34 S) values in charred plant remains has the potential to inform understanding of the spatial configuration and ecology of crop production. We investigated the effects of charring, manuring, oxidation and anaerobic soil conditions on modern cereal grain/pulse seed δ 34 S values, and assessed the effect of chemical pre‐treatment on charred modern and archaeobotanical grain/seed δ 34 S values. We used these re…
Motorcycles on the Steppe
In this paper, I explore the use of motorcycles among herding households in Mongolia, which are fast becoming ubiquitous features of everyday life. First, I outline the position of technology in academic debates and the tendency to envision technological change in teleological and revolutionary terms. Approached from a revised perspective of skilled practice, I argue against such accounts, emphasising the polydirectional ways in which people expe…
Spain on the Brink
The following report is the fruit of a three-week visit to the Spanish state in February 1976. In many hours of discussion, with economists and politicians, businessmen and trade-union officials, workers and Left militants, a single, apparently simple theme oriented my enquiry. What was the concrete possibility of
Politics is Economics Distilled
Forced Relocation amongst the Reindeer-Evenki of Inner Mongolia
In 2003 the chinese Reindeer-Evenki were relocated to a purpose-built settlement, justified on the grounds of environmental conservation and development. although some had favoured the move, others interpreted this as an attack on their lifeworld, with a number of herder-hunters choosing to remain in the forest where they reside in five campsites. This paper traces the development of the relocation from the perspective of three competing levels o…
Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices
Stable carbon isotope analysis of plant remains is a promising tool for researchers studying palaeoclimate and past agricultural systems. The potential of the technique is clear: it offers a direct measure of the water conditions in which plants grew. In this paper, we assess how reliably stable carbon isotope discrimination can be used to infer water conditions, through the analysis of present-day crop plants grown at multiple locations across t…
Tents, Taiga, and Tourist Parks
Motorcycles on the Steppe
In this paper, I explore the use of motorcycles among herding households in Mongolia, which are fast becoming ubiquitous features of everyday life. First, I outline the position of technology in academic debates and the tendency to envision technological change in teleological and revolutionary terms. Approached from a revised perspective of skilled practice, I argue against such accounts, emphasising the polydirectional ways in which people expe…
The Preservation and Interpretation of δ 34 S Values in Charred Archaeobotanical Remains
The measurement of sulphur isotope (δ 34 S) values in charred plant remains has the potential to inform understanding of the spatial configuration and ecology of crop production. We investigated the effects of charring, manuring, oxidation and anaerobic soil conditions on modern cereal grain/pulse seed δ 34 S values, and assessed the effect of chemical pre‐treatment on charred modern and archaeobotanical grain/seed δ 34 S values. We used these re…
Cultural heritage, ethnic tourism, and minority-state relations amongst the Orochen in north-east China
In this paper, I describe the impact of cultural heritage classifications amongst the Orochen ethnic minority in north-east China. Building upon the expanding literature on critical heritage studies, I argue that while heritage is often used as a top-down strategy by the Chinese state for rural and economic development, particularly in minority areas, it is important to consider the bottom-up experiences of heritage-making and the use of heritage…
The “Heritage-isation” of Photographs
In this paper I present a case of visual repatriation amongst the Orochen ethnic minority in Northeast China. I describe what happens when a photo collection - the Ethel John Lindgren Collection at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge - is returned to a host community who are an officially-recognised ethnic minority in China and, as a result, are subject to particular policies, discourses, and funding strategi…
A museum in the taiga
In this paper, I describe the building and use of a new cultural-ecological museum in the Orochen Autonomous Banner in northeast China. I describe the various uses of the museum and how it is perceived by different actors, including: (1) for the presentation of ‘authentic’ Orochen culture by the museum designer; (2) for generating new economic opportunities by the local government; (3) for storing traditional handicrafts by Orochen heritage trans…
In-Between the Rural and the Urban
In this paper, I describe the experience of rural-urban migration amongst herders to Ulaanbaatar's ger-districts. I show how this problematises conventional notions of rural-urban migration and suggests a particular form of urbanisation in Mongolia. Following one particular household as they move from the countryside to the city, I show how for many new migrants adaptation to urban life is tied to the transposition of existing skills - and the le…
That-which-must-not-be-named
In this paper, I describe the practice of sharing and eating wild\nmeat amongst the Orochen in northeast China, a community of\nhunters who are no longer allowed to hunt due to state conservation policies. I show how for Orochen meat is the material\nintermediary between the human and nonhuman worlds, offered\nto the fire before meals and to animal spirit-masters during hunting. I suggest this demands reflection of what we might call the\nontolog…
Tears in the taiga
This article explores the complex entanglements of alcohol, human agency, and more‐than‐human relations among Ewenki reindeer herders of northeast China. Drawing on twenty years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Da Xing'anling Mountains, I examine how alcohol is both a potent cultural substance and a site of existential tension. I show how alcohol mediates social relations, reinforcing friendship, status, and gendered identities, while simultaneou…
Material imaginaries of the new iron curtain
The “social imaginary” has been critiqued for its overly deterministic qualities and resemblance to concepts of culture. Our article interrogates the materiality of the indeterminate at a time of heightened global uncertainty. Furthering a rapid response, material methodology in anthropology, we examine objects, animals, and infrastructures that disrupt and reinscribe border imaginaries in differential and unexpected ways in Sør-Varanger, on the …
Archaeology (7 works) · China (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Geographies of human-animal interactions (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Anthropology (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Politics (4 works)