Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting
Vancouver, BC
Spring 2006
Session Abstract
Making Family at the Margins: Localized Studies of Gender and Power
Elisabeth Golub and Dianna Shandy
Using the family as the primary unit of analysis, the papers in this panel, based on ethnographic research spanning four continents, explore strategies related to gender, power, and the localized effects of globalization. Common themes include the ways that gender intersects issues of development, local and global economies, and the provision of health and social services. In each of these settings, the papers probe issues of individual agency played out in a context in which conditions at the local level are brokered by the role of the state. Theory meets practice in daily lived experiences of feeding, clothing, educating, and otherwise providing for the family.
“Bringing the Family Forward:” Migration and Family Relations in Rural El Salvador
Elisabeth Golub (Macalester ‘06
International migration is a powerful vehicle for cultural change, reshaping social life in both sending and receiving communities. Migration’s impact is evident in El Salvador today, as 20% of Salvadorans now reside outside of the country. This paper investigates how migration affects family relations in rural El Salvador. Specifically, it examines the ways that US-bound migration restructures parenting roles and responsibilities in one campesina community. Drawing on interviews and participant observation with the families of migrants and with returning migrants, I explore how mothers and fathers negotiate and redefine their parental responsibilities through their decision to migrate to the U.S.
"An Absolutely Different Life": Experiences of mothers of disabled children in rural Siberia
Cassandra Hartblay (Macalester ’06)
Life in the Siberian village of Petrushka Junction is characterized by unemployment and alcoholism; insufficient state support for healthcare and education; and a lack of satisfactory father-figure providers. This paper examines the coping strategies of mothers of disabled children in this village, and their success in gathering state support to found a locally-run daycenter for their children. Examining issues of development, grassroots organizing, disability, and gender roles in a post-soviet space, this study examines the motivations and strategies of a once scattered and disadvantaged group of women, empowered through their united struggle against social stigma and poverty.
How Veiled Muslim Girls are Forcing France to Address its Fear of Immigration and Religion in the Public Sphere.
Chloe N. Poynton (Macalester ’06)
“If being a French citizen isn’t the defining aspect of your public character, then you are not French” sums up the reaction of Parisiens to a 2003 law banning religious symbols, and specifically the Muslim veil, from public schools. Using formal and informal ethnographic interviews and participant observation this paper explores the ways in which both the traditional French population and the French-Muslim population are grappling with maintaining, asserting, and redefining their version of “traditional” culture within this dynamic multicultural context.
The raw ingredients: gender roles, power-dynamics and access to food in the slums of Buenos Aires
Kirsten Bean (Macalester ’06)
The slums of Buenos Aires are home to thousands of Argentina’s most marginalized citizens who live in conditions of extreme material deprivation and have relatively few options for stable employment and upward mobility. The majority living in the slums have become dependent on the government administrated soup kitchens, which are staffed by local women, to provide their families with three meals a day. In this paper I investigate how access to the raw ingredients and production of food has come to be equated with power and autonomy and how the gender roles implicit in food production intersect and influence this equation.
Changing the Birth Experience, One Relationship at a Time: Ethnography of a Certified Professional Midwife
Sara Johnson (Macalester ’06)
This paper, based on in-depth ethnographic interviews, details the work of a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and her role in providing what she perceives to be a superior, more natural birth experience in her clients’ homes. The paper contrasts the care of a CPM with that provided in a hospital setting. Despite negative experiences interfacing with the medical world, CPMs persevere because they deeply believe in what they are doing. Through their unique model of care, CPMs believe that they can change the world “one family at a time” and thereby protect the moment of birth.
Strategies for Negotiating Socio-economic Challenges Among Dressmakers in Winneba, Ghana
Amanda Saylor (Macalester ’06)
This paper, based on ethnographic research in Ghana, explores the adaptive strategies used by female dressmakers to provide for themselves and their families in an economically challenging setting. It also looks into the many reasons women have for becoming dressmakers. In Ghana it is assumed that dressmakers make a lot of money; in reality they face many challenges related to the intersection of their productive and reproductive roles as mothers and providers in Ghanaian society. To negotiate these challenges, dressmakers diversify their economic activities by engaging in trade. By melding their many responsibilities, dressmakers simultaneously preserve and further the creative expression of culture.
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