Paper short abstract:

This study examines the disclosure of psychological distress by university students on a notorious anonymous mobile application called Yik Yak which allows users to communicate anonymously with other local individuals, creating virtual communities.

Paper long abstract:

Studying online spaces presents interesting challenges and advantages to the ethnographer; this is especially true in the age of smartphones and with the use of applications (apps) as fieldsites because apps are mobile, portable, and in constant flux. In my Masters research, I conducted a study on the use of Yik Yak—an anonymous, mobile, social networking app—by post-secondary students in Manitoba and their disclosure of psychological distress on this platform. Yik Yak is different from other apps because it is geographically bound to the area around a user's location, limited to universities and other "zones", but can be accessed almost anywhere, allowing mobile virtual communities to emerge. Asynchronous communication allows posts to expire within hours and actors within this field are also constantly changing. Because it permits posting anonymously, it is often portrayed negatively in the media for its potential use for cyberbullying. However, through ethnographic analysis, my study found that emotional disclosure on the app fostered the sharing of social and information support. The sociocultural dynamics of the space allowed users to create a unique group identity, belongingness, and community. Thus, despite the liminality of this virtual landscape and the constant movement of text and people, ethnographic immersion in this environment led to the discovery of an atmosphere of reciprocity, shared experience, and solidarity. This study contributes to the growing anthropological literature on online social spaces and the importance of virtual geographies of emotional disclosure as potent sites for ethnographic analysis.

Paper short abstract:

he Nenets woman is in charge of her nomadic dwelling. She has to possess unique indigenous knowledge in order to create, to build, to maintain the dwelling. She also has to transfer this knowledge to her children. This is an ethnographic description of the indigenous knowledge.

Paper long abstract:

The official policy of the Soviet state towards nomadic population was to change their way of life, by implementation of the collective property on reindeer, boarding school education and displacement of women to settlements. This policy, however, never succeeded on the territories of Jamal Nenets people; they have always been and remain to be a hundred percept nomads. After the Soviet regime collapsed, Nenets reindeer herders managed to re-build the private ownership to their reindeer. Today they face another challenges. The globalization in the form of modern technologies, massive industrial development, exploration of underground resources, construction and building of infrastructure and climate changes are affecting the life of tundra inhabitants. Now the space around and inside of the nomadic dwelling is going through many changes, whether the nomads want it or not. This paper is based on the ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2015-2016 on the area of Yamal Peninsula, Northern Russia. The territory of the Yamal Peninsula (Yamal is "the end of the world" from Nenets language) is a home and summer pasture for more than 700.000 reindeer and approx. 13.000 nomads. Their dwelling has been marginally changed and is in use in all the areas of the Nenets. In addition, only in the symbiotic connection of the work of Nenets women and men the "successful" dwelling can be made. So, the tendency of forced or voluntary removing/ displacing the Nenets women from the nomadic camps as it is indoctrinated in the policy and education of the Russian Federation can have devastating consequences for this culture.

Paper short abstract:

This poster summarizes research on food sovereignty based on learning exchanges with farmers from West Africa and India. It highlights how civil society organizations can be part of social movements to resist and transform attempts to undermine the food security of local populations.

Paper long abstract:

Inter Pares (IP) is a social justice organization (established, 1975) based in Ottawa, Canada. Sixteen staff collaborate with 108 counterparts across 38 countries, providing financial and organizational support, research and advocacy concerning women's equality, food sovereignty, migration, health, economic justice and peace and democracy. Organizational principles and practices are rooted in equality (co-management structure with equal base salaries), feminist methodologies (critical, reflexive discourse) and a collaborative, 'between equals' approach building coalitions, nurturing and sustaining long-term relationships with counterparts internationally and in Canada.

This poster summarizes research and analysis on food sovereignty, based on learning exchanges organized by IP among leaders of the West African coalition COPAGEN and the Deccan Development Society (DDS) in Andhra Pradesh, India, with whom IP has worked for two decades. Drawing on data gathered by researcher/farmers and interviews by IP staff, we identify: key benefits to participants of sharing diverse local knowledge(s), including biodiverse farming practices and seed conservation; the degradation to land and harms to people (e.g. farmer suicides) associated with monoculture, particularly with genetically engineered Bt cotton; and how women farmers, marginalized by gender and caste, have increased regional food security, becoming agents of change.

Using narrative, graphics and photos, the poster highlights diverse forms of movement towards food sovereignty: intellectual mobility across national/regional boundaries; how living landscapes reveal colonial and corporate interventions; and how civil society organizations such as COPAGEN, DDS and Inter Pares, are part of social movements resisting and transforming attempts to undermine the food security of local populations.

Paper short abstract:

This poster will look at experiences of tourists in Rishikesh (India) using movement through the practice of both yoga and travel as a way to fulfil a “project of the self”. The links between neoliberalism, tourism, authenticity, and the modern spiritual quest are explored.

Paper long abstract:

Every year, Rishikesh, situated on the banks of the Ganges in himalayan India, attracts thousands of tourists searching for an "authentic" yoga through which they may better be able to find their "true self". This search for the self is relevant to our understanding of the neoliberal world and its effects on the individual. The spiritual quest upon which western yogis embark stems from a feeling of meaninglessness deriving from the modern way of life. The motivations of these yogis also derive from a neoliberal conception of the individual as responsible for his own success or failure, therefore always in an infinite movement towards a better self, living a "project of the self". Yoga pairs well with this neoliberal project of the self as a technique to creatively find "success" in reaching a productive and harmonious self. Expecting to find a yoga that will be more authentic in Rishikesh compared to the one they typically practice at home, travelling yogis seek "authentic yoga" for it is a tool sure to be more powerful and effective in fulfilling the project of the self. Yet, once these western yogis set foot in Rishikesh, it is evident that the space claimed by so called "authentic yoga" performed by devoted indian pilgrims is shared with commodified touristic activities and products. This paradox will be explored through the experiences of 10 yogis interviewed and how these are shaped by neoliberal logics as well as transformed by the new-found logics of the Rishikesh environment.

Paper short abstract:

This poster presents a brief exploration of knowledge, learning, and evaluation among individuals engaged in the production and consumption of raw home fermented foods in the U.S.

Paper long abstract:

This poster represents a summary exploration of questions of knowledge, learning, and evaluation among U.S. individuals engaged in producing raw, or "live," home fermented foods for non-commercial personal consumption. This study's participating fermenters - for whom home fermentation is an expression of agency in the midst of flawed conventional food and health systems - employ multiple ways of knowing, learning, and evaluating all things fermentation-related, much of which is more informal in nature. This can include the use of cookbooks, Internet sources, social networking, experimentation, and sensory cues such as scent, while various factors such as questions of motive and scientificity can impact home fermenters' evaluation of food and health claims.

Paper short abstract:

Lugu Lake, advertised as ‘the Kingdom of Women’, is home to the Mosuo people. Their unique matrilineal social system, ‘walking marriage’, and self-sufficient households are distorted into staged myths for tourist consumption while cultural performances are appropriated by strangers.

Paper long abstract:

Lugu Lake, known as 'the Kingdom of Women', is home to the Mosuo, one of the few remaining matrilineal societies in Eastern Asia. The scenic setting of Lugu Lake provides an ideal holiday-type resort setting for crowds of tourists attracted by the prospect of meeting Mosuo women. Because the Mosuo's practice of what is termed 'walking marriage', or tisese, is unusual for Han Chinese and Westerners, the Mosuo have been distorted by media and advertisement as a promiscuous society. This feeds expectations of sex tourism and transforms the whole community into a staged performance.

First, I review the Mosuo's worldview and creation myth from their own perspective and I summarize traditional subsistence activities and household organization. Then I examine how the Mosuo today are engaged in the new presentation and representation of their matrilineal culture for tourists, and correspondingly, how the presence of tourists has changed the traditional matrilineal culture as well as the gendered division of labour. By contrasting and analysing the Mosuo's matrilineal culture at different stages, and from different viewpoints, I wish to explore the relationship between history and cultural performance. The case study on the Mosuo shows that the 'Kingdom of Women' is a myth made up by historical 'others', and becomes a reality produced by the tourism industry.

Paper short abstract:

Based on observations of daily life, interviews, and focus group discussions with community women and staff from a local hospital in rural Northern Haiti, we sought to understand what health issues are important and the perceived facilitators and barriers to address those health issues.

Paper long abstract:

The voices of rural Haitian women are not often heard in the design and implementation of programs. We assessed women's perspectives on the challenges they and their families face in the rural-mountainous region of Borgne, Haiti. Based on observations of daily life, interviews, and focus group discussions with women and the staff of Alyans Sante Borgne (a partnership between Haiti Outreach-Pwoje Espwa (H.O.P.E) and Haiti's Ministry of Health), we ascertained common themes and salient points through thematic analysis and iterative discussion with partners.

Women eloquently described the nexus of challenges they and their communities face. Women were concerned about their economic situation, including job opportunities, education, and access to affordable credit. Migration was one solution they discussed but often this came with negative outcomes. "[Their partners] come back sick from the Dominican Republic with death—HIV/AIDS and syphilis." Women were also concerned with their health but had limited understanding of how the diseases worked. They absorbed the health messages and interpret them in light of their culture and situation. Culture and tradition often challenge change. Some older women, who delivered at home, didn't see the value of a hospital birth, although they know many women who died in childbirth at home.

Findings illuminate the process of social change, behavior modification, and the way poverty acts as a barrier to health. H.O.P.E is listening and working with the women to provide culturally-tailored health education and to increase access to quality care and economic opportunities.

Paper short abstract:

East Khams Gter older women in Tibet are increasingly affected by the changing social life, a weakening of women’s status, and new intergenerational relations, with weakened parental authority and caring for elders, aggravated by the disappearance of the shelter provided by public religious life.

Paper long abstract:

The East Khams Gter in Tibet stands at the crossroad of many ethnic groups, including Han culture and Tibetan culture and they have integrated Tibetan Buddhism to their culture. The senior women are regarded as the primary embodiment of religious rituals. From a Buddhist perspective, female occupy a paradoxical position: due to the superiority of the male, it is only by becoming a male in future lives through collecting merits in this life that a female can be selected as "Tulku". Meanwhile, the changing social life of the contemporary communities, the ensuing weakening of women's position and new intergenerational relations, accompanied by weakened parental authority and the lessening of caring for elders, lead to an increasing number of older women living alone. In these circumstances, female elders became the majority of participants in the" Mute Gathering" rituals aiming at collecting merits. What is advocated here is not the "Three Generations Living Together" mode but instead, a sense of family care. In the absence of a public spiritual life that provided shelter for lonely elders, female elders can benefit from the promotion of family obligations to care for older female relatives.

Paper short abstract:

According to their ancient records, the patrilineal Nuosu or ‘Liangshan Yi’ people on the Sichuan/Yunnan border, China, an indigenous group of people numbering around three million, used to be a matrilineal society. We are looking here at traits signalling this ancestry.

Paper long abstract:

On the border between Sichuan and Yunnan, China, the Nuoso or Liangshan Yi ethnic minority, an indigenous group of people numbering around three million, used to be a matrilineal society. According to the ancient genealogical records of the Nuosu, they shifted to patrilineal clans about 4200 years ago. But they kept traces of their previous matrilineal culture and visible traits signal the importance of women in their society. For the Nuosu, where 'men are the root, and women are the flower of the patrilineal clan,' the male must provide for the plant in order for the female to produce offspring. The diviner who is consulted for the family rituals and important decisions starts from the horoscope of the mother's date of birth or date of her giving birth to a son. Also, when there was internal conflict in Nuosu society, once the women came to intervene, then the two sides had to stop or risk having the victorious side regarded as the loser. Many historical cases reflect this role for women in mediation. Lastly, if the 'Zimo' (official appointed by the royal court) had daughters but no son, he selected a married daughter and brought the young couple into his household (from the household of his daughter's father-in-law). This would allow their son to inherit the bloodline and the official title. However, the son should address his mother as 'father' and his grandmother as 'grandfather'.

Paper short abstract:

The Zhaba people, about 15000 people living in Sichuan, China, are found to practice a form of 'walking marriage' called Rezuo Yici (i.e. not a marriage but a visit from a man to a woman in her home.) Their family system is therefore similar to that of the better known Mosuo matrilineal people.

Paper long abstract:

With a population of 15,000, the Zhaba people of Daofu county, Sichuan, China, are regarded as a branch of Tibetan although they have their own language. The main marriage form of the Zhaba people is 'Rezuo Yici' (walking marriage); that is, not a marriage but a visit from a man to a woman in her home - similar to that of the better-known Mosuo matrilineal people. On the basis of records in ancient Han Chinese literature, some Chinese scholars have proposed that, although they are not neighbours, the Zhaba people and the Mosuo people share former contact or descent with Dongnvguo (or East Kingdom of Women), an ancient kingdom with strong matrilineal characteristics.

Although today there are several forms of marriage among the Zhaba and the Mosuo peoples, the proportion of walking marriage is still very high. Among the scholars examining the reasons why the walking marriage form can last for such a long time, few have noticed strict unwritten rules concerning the walking marriage system. Knowledge of the family clan's membership and genealogical connections is essential and is transmitted from generation to generation. All the members of a clan, both male and female, are enjoined to obey rules restricting or forbidding sexual access, and even speaking about sex, sexuality, or love affairs within the family. Although there are differences between the Zhaba and Mosuo concerning the boundary of their walking marriage, the most important restriction for both of them is a strict taboo on consanguineous 'marriage' within one's clan.

Paper short abstract:

My poster will seek to demonstrate the ways in which sound and song-making can and should be recognized by the discipline of ontological anthropology as ways that displaced and nomadic people know and relate to their environments.

Paper long abstract:

In exploring the field of ontological anthropology, I have found many traces of song and sound in several scholars' works, which speak to musical ways of knowing and being in the world. The aim of my poster will be to provide new modes of imagining how ontological ways of being are affected by the displacement of peoples. My aim is to intervene at the intersection of these two academic fields and argue that sound and song-making can and should be taken into account within an ontological framework. Not only will this enrich anthropological studies of different ontologies, it will also provide new ways of imagining how ontological ways of being are affected by migration among displaced peoples for whom sound plays an important role. If the ontological turn in anthropology is being used for the purposes of understanding how people relate to non-humans in the face of ecological crisis, then it must account too for those who have been moved by climate change and its narratives. I contend that acknowledging the constituting of the world through sound means we can ask new questions about the omissions of sound and mobility in ontological anthropology.

Paper short abstract:

In Ethiopia pastoralist population accounts more than 10 million and inhabit 50% of the total landmass. Almost all of pastoral inhabitants are considered rangelands. Pastoralists are endowed with 42% of the total national TLU, indigenous knowledge system and 9% GDP contribution.

Paper long abstract:

In Ethiopia pastoralist population accounts more than 10million (total population nearly 90million) and inhabit more than half of the total landmass (FDRE HPR-PASC 2009). Almost all of pastoral inhabitants are considered rangelands. Pastoralists are endowed with huge livestock resources (42% of the total national TLU) and indigenous knowledge system that provides them with a rich resource for optimising production in often-challenging dryland environments. The contribution of pastoralism to national GDP is estimated 9% (Rodriguez, 2008 pp21.). The aims of this paper are to share experiences and lessons learned from advocating pastoralism and improving the voice of pastoralists in policy-making processes in Ethiopia through a specific activity and process - namely the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day. The paper has been developed through a self- and peer-reflective process by individuals and partners who have been involved in the development of EPD over the years. Questions considered include: What is the extent to which the EPD has helped mobilise pastoralists and created a common platform for pastoralists to enable them to share experiences, both among themselves and with other stakeholders? What is the extent to which EPD has raised the profile and promoted the concern of pastoralists including through creating an enabling policy environment for pastoral development at local, regional and national levels? What have been the key successes and challenges of EPD? What are the lessons learned, including those relevant to other pastoral communities outside Ethiopia and those organisations that wish to support them?

Paper short abstract:

My poster will look at how movement plays a pivotal role in the formation and maintenance of social relationships in the world of inter-island kula trade in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea.

Paper long abstract:

My poster will look at how movement plays a pivotal role in the formation and maintenance of social relationships in the world of inter-island kula trade in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea. It will consider three different forms of movement. First, is the physical movement of persons to interact with their kula partners on different islands. In this section I will discuss how the way this movement is facilitated has changed with increasing access to motorized boats. Second, is the movement of kula valuables: bagi (soulava) and mwali, as well as food stuffs between kula partners. It is through the movement of this goods in which social relationships in the kula are mediated. Thirdly, will be a discussion ethical considerations surrounding the movement of the body in kula interactions. In kula interaction persons must be aware of how they comport themselves in order to be in compliance with rules of etiquette, how one moves is an important element of this etiquette system. My poster will draw primarily from a Dobuan perspective on kula, which will serve as an example of how exchange is performed in the southern region of the kula ring.

Paper short abstract:

This poster examines the environmental and cultural effects that the oil and gas industry has on traditional land users in Northern Alberta. It navigates major themes such as tradition, industry, and community.

Paper long abstract:

Increasingly, First Nations across Canada are responding to- and interacting with- industry and the energy sector. This blend of industrial resource extraction with traditional land use creates interesting commentary on how Indigenous culture is being shaped, particularly in regards to the new ways they use their land. My poster summarizes my MA thesis research based on ethnographic fieldwork with Peerless Trout First Nation in Northern Alberta during the summer of 2016. Preliminary findings indicate a general interest in work related to the energy sector, despite the negative perceptions about the effects resource extraction has on the environment. I argue that Aboriginal Peoples' changing relationships with industry has significant cultural impacts. My thesis asks: how is the oil and gas industry affecting traditional Indigenous land users? Interviews with community members comprised of Aboriginal elders, local government officials, office workers, educators, and non-Aboriginal community members contributed to my findings- each person had an insightful- and often unexpected attitude towards resource development. By examining the cultural impacts that the energy sector has on both the environment and Aboriginal Peoples' culture, we can better assess current policies concerning consultation and determine whether practices are truly benefitting Aboriginal Peoples in meaningful ways.

Paper short abstract:

How do food production and distribution factor into the ways Martinicans differentiate themselves from Haitians? Drawing on field research in Martinique, I examine how material objects and practices make Haitianness visible in the market where it plays a role in construction of Martinican identity.

Paper long abstract:

Due to migration and agricultural labour shortages, Haitians are crucial to Martinique's foodways—they are commonly labourers on farms and produce vendors at local markets. Drawing on ethnographic field work at the Dillon wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Martinique, I examine the various ways difference emerges through objects and practices: production and distribution of certain vegetables, negotiating openly or not, the assembling of certain people in particular places, and using 'proper' farming techniques. I examine these things to make a theoretical argument about the production of race and a separate but related contribution to the understanding of Martinican identity. Theoretically, I work through the ways race can emerge through the material—in objects, practices, and configurations of bodies that serve to differentiate groups of people. While I do not deny the importance of the discursive in critical race studies, I demonstrate how attending to the material can provoke different insights into race and the production of phenotypically differentiated bodies. I argue that race takes shape through these material objects and practices and make Haitians visible, activating discourses and prejudices Martinicans have about Haitians. It is in my discussion of Martinican identity that I am concerned with the discourses that arise from these objects and practices. Using a framework of dialectic identity construction—the notion that we come to know ourselves through engagement with an Other—I show how the criticisms of Haitianness reveal the values and characteristics that constitute Martinican understandings of self.

Paper short abstract:

This poster documents the participatory film-making process with a group of Q'eqchi' Maya healers in Belize, undertaken in difficult circumstances and with limited budget, as it moves from conception to "world premiere," and the criteria by which the participants evaluated the finished product.

Paper long abstract:

Documentary film is fast becoming a powerful means to communicate local issues to broader audiences of policy makers and planners. Participatory ethnographic film - where the participants and film-maker work collaboratively to tell their story - often requires significant compromises in film-making due to budgetary and logistical issues. Further, when local aesthetics are taken into consideration, the evaluation of the final product is often based on criteria quite different from that of the for-profit and cinematic-distribution types of films currently dominating ethnographic film festivals. This poster documents the film-making process with a group of Q'eqchi' Maya healers as it moves from conception to "world premiere" in a rustic, thatch-roofed bar in southern Belize. Ultimately, the main criteria of evaluation used by the healers who participated, who authorized its public distribution, was simply, did we get it right?

Paper short abstract:

This poster involves the movement of the African Indigenous Knowledge system of Ubuntu into a post-secondary Canadian context. It explores the possibility for university students to inspire and empower community members, with the potential to fuel movements, resistance, and committed citizenship.

Paper long abstract:

This research considers the ways in which elements of African Indigenous Knowledge systems can be moved and translated into a Canadian context to create programs, networks, and curricula that is collaborative, supportive, and productive.

The first part of the poster/research explores the potential for undergraduate students to engage in reciprocal capacity building opportunities in and with community engaged scholarship and research. It proposes the coupling of service learning with community based research to produce citizenship education as need or community initiated projects.

It discusses the privileged role of universities in both producing engaged citizens as well as permitting educational opportunities for students to participate in community engagement research affording citizenship education.

Service learning models are examined in nature, variety, and impact on students, schools, communities, individuals, and government. This is connected to and by research, particularly participatory action research and related methods.

The second part examines the concept of Ubuntu. Definitions and applications, theory, and practice, of the African indigenous knowledge system of Ubuntu is explored. This is considered in terms of practical application of frameworks and models in different disciplines, industries, and contexts.

Finally, in Part Three, all components are brought to together to propose and discuss a novel methodology.

Paper short abstract:

Cette affiche présente les résultats préliminaires de mon projet de doctorat en anthropologie qui porte sur l’expérience sensorielle de personnes souffrants d'agoraphobie lors de leurs déplacements dans les espaces publics.

Paper long abstract:

Cette affiche présente les résultats préliminaires de mon projet de doctorat qui porte sur l'expérience sensorielle de personnes souffrants d'agoraphobie lors de leurs déplacements dans des espaces publics. Je développe dans ce projet un dispositif méthodologique qui fait interagir des artistes avec mes informateurs afin de pousser plus loin le dialogue autour de leurs expériences sensorielles de la maladie. Cette analyse interactionnelle me permet de réfléchir sur des notions clés de l'anthropologie médicale actuelle dans l'étude de l'expérience de la maladie, soit le rituel et l'agentivité, de même qu'à l'utilisation d'œuvres d'arts dans un terrain ethnographique. J'examinerai également la notion de normativité dans l'expérience émotionnelle et sensorielle de mes informateurs afin de lier les théories sur les émotions, les sociétés et les discours de même que sur la dimension spatiale de ce trouble de santé en puisant dans les courants théoriques en architecture et en géographie qui portent sur la santé mentale et l'espace.

Paper short abstract:

This poster presents findings from ethnographic fieldwork about the life and work histories of Georgian migrant women who work in Istanbul, Turkey. Drawing from feminist political economy and through a critical trasnational lens, it looks at patriarchal gender relations that the migrant women are part of.

Paper long abstract:

Women from former Soviet Union countries have been migrating to Europe and Turkey in large numbers. Migration, especially the circular migration of women, has been factored into household livelihoods in the face of increased poverty and amplified inequalities following the fall of Soviet regime. My multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in 2016 tracked the life and work histories of Georgian migrant women from their home communities to carework sector in Istanbul, Turkey. Drawing from feminist political economy and using a critical transnational lens, this poster will report the experiences of Georgian migrant women moving, working and caring in and across two patriarchal societies. Patriarchy is conceptualized as operating in various structural areas ranging from household production to state, while articulating with capitalism and racism (Walby, 1990). This poster will specifically focus on the changing and traveling meanings of femininity and masculinity, and of the sexuality and bodies of Georgian women in the context of transnationally reconfigured livelihoods and gender relations.

Paper short abstract:

Situated in decolonial institution studies and the anthropology of policy, I explore how different academic disciplinary areas at Dalhousie University perceive the facilitators and barriers of integrating Indigenous perspectives into curricula at individual, departmental and university levels.

Paper long abstract:

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its Calls to Action in 2015, Canadian universities have emphasized the importance of inclusivity and diversity and set strategic goals to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into their curricula. In this thesis, I explore how different academic disciplinary areas perceive the facilitators and barriers of integrating diverse perspectives into undergraduate and professional curricula. Specifically, I focus on Dalhousie University as a case study. Situated on unceded Mi’kmaq territory, the university is working to create a more inclusive and diverse learning environment by developing an Indigenous Studies minor, creating a certificate program, and increasing Indigenous student and faculty recruitment. Basing my approach on the literatures of institutional ethnography, sociology of higher education, organizational anthropology, and decolonial education studies, I conducted a textual analysis of university policy documents to explore the framing of diversity and inclusivity issues. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with professors to understand disciplinary differences in approaches to the incorporation of Indigenous perspectives. My research offers insight into the gaps between strategic priorities and academic policy, and between different practices within universities

Paper short abstract:

This study addresses the postcolonial identity politics entangled in the indigenous land rights movement in modern Taiwan. Through discovering majority Han's pathways to allyship, it will discuss more integrated paths forward for future decolonizing collaboration that privileges indigenous voices.

Paper long abstract:

This study addresses the postcolonial identity politics entangled in the indigenous land rights movement in modern democratic Taiwan. While the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law was passed in 2005, Taiwan indigenous peoples still strive for land rights and autonomy in Taiwan's Han-dominated political society; yet, increasingly many young Han are voicing support as allies and collaborators in these movements. Most studies on land rights focus almost exclusively on minority movements and minority involvement in these politics. Few studies have looked at the role of majorities as allies and collaborators in these justice movements. Consequently, this article will discuss why and how majority Han increasingly collaborate as allies in the indigenous land rights movement and explore Han perceptions of indigeneity. Drawing on two months of ethnographic fieldwork in Taitung, Taiwan and interviews with both indigenous and Han activists as well as local residents, this study demonstrates that Han consume and internalize anthropological representations of indigeneity through the higher education system, an outgrowth of Taiwan's colonial past and Han privileged status as majorities. Enabled young Han formulate their identities as allies and collaborators around these representations; however, indigenous people critique Han allyship as a remnant of colonial misrepresentation and domination. In conclusion, this paper will discuss more integrated paths forward for future collaboration that privileges indigenous voices.

Paper short abstract:

Georgian female migrants have endured enormous politico-economic changes in their lives from Soviet Georgia to a post-socialist, and then transition from Georgia to Turkey. This study addresses how women navigate shifting gender roles as in socialist, post-socialist, and migration contexts.

Paper long abstract:

This study addresses how gender norms under different political-economic contexts have shaped Georgian immigrant women's lives and experiences as immigrants in Turkey. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many post-socialist countries including Georgia faced serious threats to economic development and political stability, including high unemployment and privatization. Georgian women lived through these changes, and many ultimately chose to migrate internationally, often leaving their families behind. The most popular destination is Turkey, given its geographic proximity and the flexible visa regime between both countries.

This presentation examines the personal experiences of these migrant women who have endured at least two enormous politico-economic changes in their lives: first, the transition from Soviet Georgia to a post-socialist, free market economy; second, the transition from Georgia to Turkey. In my presentation, I examine the women's lives and women's roles in Soviet Georgia, how these were affected with the transition to the Republic of Georgia, and finally, how their lives changed again with differing gender norms as immigrants in Turkey.