Dans le sud du Gabon et le Congo limitrophe, les Pygmées Babongo constituent un groupe disséminé dont l’homogénéité demeure à démontrer. Ils ont jusqu’à récemment fait l’objet de peu d’investigations scientifiques, vraisemblablement en raison de leur apparente moindre adéquation avec les stéréotypes associés aux Pygmées en Afrique centrale. Fondée sur une ethnographie focalisée sur les monts du Chaillu, cette thèse contribue à leur meilleure connaissance. Le partage, par ces Babongo, des institutions sociales et culturelles de leurs voisins non-pygmées Mitsogo et Masangu invite d’emblée à penser l’analyse en termes de relations interethniques. La thèse s’attache ainsi à caractériser la relation Pygmées/non-Pygmées, qui se distingue de la relation entre non-Pygmées par sa qualité foncièrement bivalente et asymétrique. Deux cadres d’analyse sont mobilisés à cette fin : le « pays mobongo » (sing. de babongo) et la musique principalement rituelle. L’expression analytique « pays mobongo » souligne en termes géographiques le rôle central des Babongo dans la reproduction d’une société pluriethnique malgré leur statut de cadets sociaux. La musique, dont l’expertise est créditée aux Babongo, est envisagée comme un mode de communication articulant un contenu et une relation. Différentes échelles d’observation sont mobilisées : le matériau sonore et ses règles ; la performance ; la performance dans sa récurrence. Ce jeu d’échelles permet de considérer tant la production que la perception de la musique. Il interroge également en termes communicationnels les régimes de plasticité du changement musical. La logique de la relation Pygmées/non-Pygmées émerge quant à elle du plan méta-communicationnel de la pratique musicale rituelle. L’analyse de cette dernière met en évidence les perspectives babongo et voisines sur la relation interethnique, ainsi qu’une analogie entre les relations Babongo/voisins et femmes/hommes. En outre, la bivalence caractéristique de la relation interethnique est suggérée comme relevant notamment de la co-adhésion des Babongo à deux systèmes normatifs. Il apparaît enfin que ce qui distingue les Babongo de leurs voisins les rapproche en définitive d’autres populations pygmées d’Afrique centrale. / In southern Gabon and neighboring Congo, Babongo Pygmies form a dispersed group whose homogeneity remains to be demonstrated. If they have received little scientific attention until recently, this is probably because the stereotypes associated with Pygmy groups elsewhere in Central Africa do not seem to apply easily to them. Based on an ethnography focused on the Chaillu mountains area, this thesis contributes to a better knowledge of this population. The fact that the Babongo (sing. mobongo) have the same social and cultural institutions as their Mitsogo and Masangu non-Pygmy neighbors makes it tempting to analyze their interrelationship in ethnic terms. The thesis aims to characterize the Pygmy/non-Pygmy relationship, which is distinct from that between non-Pygmy groups, by its fundamentally bivalent and asymmetric qualities. The argument makes use of two analytical frameworks: “mobongo land” on the one hand, and mainly ritual music on the other. The conceptual entity “mobongo land” emphasizes in geographic terms the central role the Babongo play in the reproduction of the multi-ethnic society that inhabits this area, in spite of their lower social status. The Babongo are considered skilled musicians, and music is treated here as a means of communication linking together a content and a relationship. Various levels of observation are made use of: the musical material and its rules of composition, its performance itself, and the recurrence of performative events. Considering these various levels allows for both the production as well as the perception of music to be taken into account. It also frames the plasticity of musical change in communicational terms. The underlying logic of the relationship between Pygmy and non-Pygmy communities emerges from the meta-communicational dimension of musical practice in ritual contexts. Analysis of this practice highlights the perspectives held by the Babongo and their non-Pygmy neighbors on their interethnic relationship, as well as the analogy that exists between the Babongo/neighbor relationship and that held to exist between women and men. Additionally, I suggest that the characteristic ambivalence of the interethnic relationship in mobongo land derives above all from the Babongo’s compliance with two normative systems. In the end, it appears that that which most distinguishes the Babongo from their neighbors ultimately moves them closer to other Pygmy groups in Central Africa.

Partnership is a universal part of human existence. Human partner selection has been long studied within evolutionary and sociocultural frameworks. One study by Townsend and Levy (1990) found that physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status influence male and female partner selection in distinct ways. The present study replicated and extended the work of Townsend and Levy, investigating how physical attractiveness, socioeconomic status, and race and ethnicity influence relationship willingness at various levels of involvement. A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted, and planned post hoc pairwise comparisons and parameter estimates were analyzed. We analyzed responses from 503 single American adults of four racial/ethnic groups under 16 test conditions. We found no significant difference in relationship willingness between male and female participants, so the findings of Townsend and Levy were not replicated. Further, there was no significant difference in relationship willingness for one's own racial or ethnic group versus another racial or ethnic group. Implications for research and human partner selection are discussed.

The aim of the analysis is to question the meaning of the idea of "mixed neighborhood" today in France. The research focuses on Arnaud-Bernard, city center district of Toulouse, during the beginning of the 1990's. Three aspects are significant: different waves of immigration, different names, and a singular event, the "district's dish" (repas-de-quartier") as social link's creator. The mechanism of the Carrefour-Culturel, main association in the neighborhood in order to build a "mixed neighborhood", has been studied in this thesis. Interviews and sources from the association have been analyzed. Moreover the literature has been examined in order to underline the complexity of the idea of "mixed neighborhood". Résumé L'objet de l'analyse est de questionner ce que signifie la « mixité » et ce qu'elle désigne à l'échelle d'un quartier aujourd'hui en France. La recherche se focalise sur le quartier Arnaud-Bernard du centre ville de Toulouse à partir des années 1990. La particularité de ce quartier repose sur trois choses essentielles : les vagues migratoires successives qu'il a vu arriver en son sein, les différents noms qui lui ont été attribués et la création d'un évènement, le repas-de-quartier comme créateur de lien social à l'échelle du quartier. Dès lors, nous avons observé les dynamiques mises en...

Radek Vorlíček ABSTRACT The dissertation explores the dynamics of social marginality and dominance in educational settings. It explores social distance dynamics among pupils in elementary school, and its impact on their position in social hierarchy. I focus on social interaction in a group of children, and record the context in which the inclusion or exclusion of non-dominant identities take place. Special attention is paid to the role of schools in the process of boundary constructions. Larger framework of the research is integration, segregation and assimilation tendencies of school systems. The dissertation is based upon long-term qualitative inductive and ethnographic fieldwork. The central method of my fieldwork is observation. To some extent, the research was conducted in the framework of goffmanian interactionism. The data for this study have been collected over a period of ten months in twelve elementary schools located in various regions of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The dissertation is structured in four parts: (1) Introduction, referring to the aim and structure of the dissertation; (2) Methodology, presenting the research process, strategies and methods as well as data analysis, theoretical and methodological discussions, reflexivity and ethical aspects; (3) Elementary schools in...

Radek Vorlíček ABSTRACT The dissertation explores the dynamics of social marginality and dominance in educational settings. It explores social distance dynamics among pupils in elementary school, and its impact on their position in social hierarchy. I focus on social interaction in a group of children, and record the context in which the inclusion or exclusion of non-dominant identities take place. Special attention is paid to the role of schools in the process of boundary constructions. Larger framework of the research is integration, segregation and assimilation tendencies of school systems. The dissertation is based upon long-term qualitative inductive and ethnographic fieldwork. The central method of my fieldwork is observation. To some extent, the research was conducted in the framework of goffmanian interactionism. The data for this study have been collected over a period of ten months in twelve elementary schools located in various regions of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The dissertation is structured in four parts: (1) Introduction, referring to the aim and structure of the dissertation; (2) Methodology, presenting the research process, strategies and methods as well as data analysis, theoretical and methodological discussions, reflexivity and ethical aspects; (3) Elementary schools in...