TY - JOUR
T1 - Trans-temporal hinges
T2 - Reflections on a comparative ethnographic study of Chinese infrastructural projects in Mozambique and Mongolia
AU - Pedersen, Morten Axel
AU - Nielsen, Morten
PY - 2013/6/21
Y1 - 2013/6/21
N2 - Based on two case studies of Chinese infrastructural interventions in Mozambique and in Mongolia, this article introduces the notion of 'trans-temporal hinge' as a heuristic methodological concept that brings together phenomena and events otherwise distributed across time. The authors explore envelopes used when paying Mozambican workers at a construction site in Maputo and roads dividing Chinese oil workers and local nomads in southern and eastern Mongolia as concrete manifestations of trans-temporal hinges. In exploring the temporal properties of these phenomena, we define the trans-temporal hinge as a gathering point in which different temporalities are momentarily assembled. As an analytical scale derived from a specific ethnographic context, we argue that the trans-temporal hinge provides a novel and, quite literally, timely conceptual invention compared with other recent methods of anthropological knowledge production, such as multi-sited fieldwork.
AB - Based on two case studies of Chinese infrastructural interventions in Mozambique and in Mongolia, this article introduces the notion of 'trans-temporal hinge' as a heuristic methodological concept that brings together phenomena and events otherwise distributed across time. The authors explore envelopes used when paying Mozambican workers at a construction site in Maputo and roads dividing Chinese oil workers and local nomads in southern and eastern Mongolia as concrete manifestations of trans-temporal hinges. In exploring the temporal properties of these phenomena, we define the trans-temporal hinge as a gathering point in which different temporalities are momentarily assembled. As an analytical scale derived from a specific ethnographic context, we argue that the trans-temporal hinge provides a novel and, quite literally, timely conceptual invention compared with other recent methods of anthropological knowledge production, such as multi-sited fieldwork.
KW - China
KW - Economy of distance
KW - Infrastructure
KW - Mongolia
KW - Mozambique
KW - Time
KW - Trans-temporal hinge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879055584&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3167/sa.2013.570109
DO - 10.3167/sa.2013.570109
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84879055584
SN - 0155-977X
VL - 57
SP - 122
EP - 142
JO - Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology
JF - Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology
IS - 1
ER -