Recent News Stories: East Africa and Corporate Ethnography

Two recent news stories fit well with conversations we have been having in Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.

1) ‘The Science of Desire‘ describes the role of ethnographers in corporate research. Gist:

[Ethnographers are] a species of anthropology who can, among other things, identify what’s missing in people’s lives — the perfect cell phone, home appliance, or piece of furniture — and work with designers and engineers to help dream up products and services to fill those needs. (Business Week Online)

Sure, as an ethnographer, I can tell people what they need. I am pained, however, to do that in my own life!

2) ‘Their Animals Are Dead: These People are Next‘ tells more about the drought in East Africa and what it is doing to pastoralists. Gist:

[The Turkana nomads] are haunted by water. Food is almost a secondary issue. (The Observer)

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