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Walled-In

Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls

Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott - Foreword by Patsy Kowtak Kuksuk

Walls profoundly shape the spaces we live in and the places we move through, impinge on our everyday lives, and entangle power relations, identity, and hierarchies. Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls explores these effects in the context of Arviat, Nunavut. Van den Scott lays out the inherent social processes, arguing that walls, in addition to concealing colonial power relations, are boundary objects, cultural objects, and technological objects. Van den Scott's ethnography of Arviammiut's (people of Arviat's) contemporary lived experiences reveals the ways in which Arviammiut are living in a foreign space, how this impacts their experiences, and how they exercise agency in navigating and reinventing these spaces in resilient and heterogenous ways.

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  • Author
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Lexington Books
Pages: 226 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-66695-989-5 • Hardback • June 2024 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-66695-990-1 • eBook • June 2024 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
Subjects: Social Science / Indigenous Studies, Social Science / Culture, Social Science / World / North America, Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Canadian Studies

Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott is associate professor of sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Foreword, by Patsy Kowtak Kuksuk

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. A Sociology of Walls

Part I: Walls as Boundary Objects: Identity-Work Abounds

Chapter 2. Ujjirusuttiarniq amma Isumatunikkut Tukisiniarniq [Having an Awareness and Seeking to Understand]: Anomie and Geographies of Knowledge

Chapter 3. Pilimmaksarniq [Skills and Knowledge Acquisition]: Transmission of Knowledge and Sewing

Part II: Walls as Cultural Objects: Culture in Material Form

Chapter 4. Aktuaturaunniqarniq amma Inuuqatigiitsiarniq [Interconnectedness and Interpersonal Relationships]: Family, Connected Spaces, and Memory

Chapter 5. Piliriqatigiingniq [Working Together]: Performing Food Consumption to the Walls

Part III: Walls as Technological Objects

Chapter 6. Piniarnikkut Ilittiniq [Learning to Do]: Passive Engagement—Notions of Public and Private

Chapter 7. Qanuqtuurungnarniq [Being Resourceful to Solve Problems]: Active Engagement: Walls as Storage

Conclusion

References

About the Author

“This ground-breaking book considers walls from multiple analytical vantage points (e.g., as mundane technologies, as cultural objects, as boundary objects, and as metaphorical objects) in order to invite readers to more deeply consider the walls that help to demarcate the spaces we call home and the places we call ours. By doing all of this in a cross-cultural context, van den Scott presents a unique and insightful perspective in the study of everyday social processes. Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls is a fine addition to the symbolic interactionist tradition.”


— Scott Grills, Brandon University


“Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls is a fascinating study of a traditionally neglected phenomenon, namely walls, portraying them as cultural rather than just physical objects. Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott’s meticulous study of an indigenous community of formerly nomadic people who have been relocated by the Canadian state and are trying to preserve their ethnic identity despite the loss of their traditional sense of home offers us an exceptionally rich analysis of the role walls play in transforming mere ‘space’ into ‘place,’ thereby providing us with a deep understanding of the way Inuit view ‘inside’ and ‘outside,’ let alone ‘nature.’ A pleasure to read!”


— Eviatar Zerubavel, professor emeritus, Rutgers University; author of Don't Take It Personally: Personalness and Impersonality in Social Life


“What could possibly be interesting about walls? Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott poses this question in her ethnography of place in the Canadian North. The best sociologists realize that seemingly mundane elements of everyday life lead to profound and sparking questions. Embracing home as cultural space in an Inuit community demonstrates that we are shaped by our boundaries. As van den Scott insightfully explains, walls reveal society in all its richness.”


— Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University


"Who knew mundane walls could hold such sociological significance? Van den Scott draws on rich ethnographic detail to demonstrate what is to be gained from treating emplaced materialities as more than mere background. The reader meets up-close the Inuit people of Arviat, a village on the Western shore of Hudson’s Bay, as they go about the ordinary challenges of everyday life—but inside of walls that mark the displacement and disruption of their traditional lives and culture. The prose is a delight to read, as van den Scott moves the reader smoothly through the abstract literature on built-environments in preparation for nuanced discussions of a baleen hanging on a household wall or a bathroom door open when in use—discussions that are always as respectful as they are informative."


— Thomas F. Gieryn, professor emeritus, Indiana University Bloomington


Walled-In

Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Walls profoundly shape the spaces we live in and the places we move through, impinge on our everyday lives, and entangle power relations, identity, and hierarchies. Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls explores these effects in the context of Arviat, Nunavut. Van den Scott lays out the inherent social processes, arguing that walls, in addition to concealing colonial power relations, are boundary objects, cultural objects, and technological objects. Van den Scott's ethnography of Arviammiut's (people of Arviat's) contemporary lived experiences reveals the ways in which Arviammiut are living in a foreign space, how this impacts their experiences, and how they exercise agency in navigating and reinventing these spaces in resilient and heterogenous ways.

Details
Details
  • Lexington Books
    Pages: 226 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
    978-1-66695-989-5 • Hardback • June 2024 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
    978-1-66695-990-1 • eBook • June 2024 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
    Subjects: Social Science / Indigenous Studies, Social Science / Culture, Social Science / World / North America, Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Canadian Studies
Author
Author
  • Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott is associate professor of sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Contents

    List of Figures and Tables

    Foreword, by Patsy Kowtak Kuksuk

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction

    Chapter 1. A Sociology of Walls

    Part I: Walls as Boundary Objects: Identity-Work Abounds

    Chapter 2. Ujjirusuttiarniq amma Isumatunikkut Tukisiniarniq [Having an Awareness and Seeking to Understand]: Anomie and Geographies of Knowledge

    Chapter 3. Pilimmaksarniq [Skills and Knowledge Acquisition]: Transmission of Knowledge and Sewing

    Part II: Walls as Cultural Objects: Culture in Material Form

    Chapter 4. Aktuaturaunniqarniq amma Inuuqatigiitsiarniq [Interconnectedness and Interpersonal Relationships]: Family, Connected Spaces, and Memory

    Chapter 5. Piliriqatigiingniq [Working Together]: Performing Food Consumption to the Walls

    Part III: Walls as Technological Objects

    Chapter 6. Piniarnikkut Ilittiniq [Learning to Do]: Passive Engagement—Notions of Public and Private

    Chapter 7. Qanuqtuurungnarniq [Being Resourceful to Solve Problems]: Active Engagement: Walls as Storage

    Conclusion

    References

    About the Author

Reviews
Reviews
  • “This ground-breaking book considers walls from multiple analytical vantage points (e.g., as mundane technologies, as cultural objects, as boundary objects, and as metaphorical objects) in order to invite readers to more deeply consider the walls that help to demarcate the spaces we call home and the places we call ours. By doing all of this in a cross-cultural context, van den Scott presents a unique and insightful perspective in the study of everyday social processes. Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls is a fine addition to the symbolic interactionist tradition.”


    — Scott Grills, Brandon University


    “Walled-In: Arctic Housing and a Sociology of Walls is a fascinating study of a traditionally neglected phenomenon, namely walls, portraying them as cultural rather than just physical objects. Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott’s meticulous study of an indigenous community of formerly nomadic people who have been relocated by the Canadian state and are trying to preserve their ethnic identity despite the loss of their traditional sense of home offers us an exceptionally rich analysis of the role walls play in transforming mere ‘space’ into ‘place,’ thereby providing us with a deep understanding of the way Inuit view ‘inside’ and ‘outside,’ let alone ‘nature.’ A pleasure to read!”


    — Eviatar Zerubavel, professor emeritus, Rutgers University; author of Don't Take It Personally: Personalness and Impersonality in Social Life


    “What could possibly be interesting about walls? Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott poses this question in her ethnography of place in the Canadian North. The best sociologists realize that seemingly mundane elements of everyday life lead to profound and sparking questions. Embracing home as cultural space in an Inuit community demonstrates that we are shaped by our boundaries. As van den Scott insightfully explains, walls reveal society in all its richness.”


    — Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University


    "Who knew mundane walls could hold such sociological significance? Van den Scott draws on rich ethnographic detail to demonstrate what is to be gained from treating emplaced materialities as more than mere background. The reader meets up-close the Inuit people of Arviat, a village on the Western shore of Hudson’s Bay, as they go about the ordinary challenges of everyday life—but inside of walls that mark the displacement and disruption of their traditional lives and culture. The prose is a delight to read, as van den Scott moves the reader smoothly through the abstract literature on built-environments in preparation for nuanced discussions of a baleen hanging on a household wall or a bathroom door open when in use—discussions that are always as respectful as they are informative."


    — Thomas F. Gieryn, professor emeritus, Indiana University Bloomington


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