Book note: Shaping the Motherhood of Indigenous Mexico

Shaping the Motherhood of Indigenous Mexico by Vania Smith-Oka. Vanderbilt University Press, 2013.

Shaping the Motherhood of Indigenous Mexico book cover — Vanderbilt University Press

Mainstream Mexican views of indigenous women define them as problematic mothers. Development programs have included the goal of helping these women become “good mothers.” Economic incentives and conditional cash transfers are the vehicles for achieving this goal.

This book examines the dynamics among the various players – indigenous mothers, clinicians, and representatives of development programs. The women’s voices lead the reader to understand the structures of dependency that paradoxically bind indigenous women within a program that calls for their empowerment. The cash transfer program is Oportunidades, which enrolls more than a fifth of Mexico’s population. It expects mothers to become involved in their children’s lives at three nodes–health, nutrition, and education. If women do not comply with the standards of modern motherhood, they are dropped from the program and lose the bi-monthly cash payments.

Smith-Oka explores the everyday implementation of the program and its unintended consequences. The mothers are often berated by clinicians for having too many children (Smith-Oka provides background on the history of eugenics and population control in Mexico) and for other examples of their “backward” ways. One chapter focuses on the humor indigenous women use to cope with disrespectful comments. Ironically, this form of resistance allows the women to accept the situation that controls their behavior.

Anthro in the news 5/27/13

US-Mexico_border_deaths_monument — A monument to those who have died attempting to cross the US-Mexico border./© Tomas Castelazo, http://www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

• Heavy toll at the border

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office in southern Arizona holds the largest collection of missing-person reports for immigrants who have disappeared while crossing the United States-Mexico border. Many hundreds of remains await identification. An article in The New York Times quotes Bruce Anderson, the chief forensic anthropologist at the medical examiner’s office and adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona: “Less people are coming across…but a greater fraction of them are dying.” There were 463 deaths in the past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30 — the equivalent of about five migrants dying every four days, according to an analysis by the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. As security at the border has tightened, migrants are pushed to seek more remote and dangerous routes.

• Conservation vs. people in Chagos

Sean Carey provided an update on the situation in the Chagos Islands in an article in The Independent (UK). He notes the pleasure of marine biologists and conservationists working in Chagos who take pleasure in the absence of any people living there. Meanwhile exiled Chagossians are still fighting for the right to return.

• Take that anthro degree and…

….become the Director of UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and the first East African to direct a UN body. Mukhisa Kituyi will take on the UNCTAD leadership role this September. He is a graduate of political science and international relations from Makerere University in Kampala and also holds a Ph.D. in social anthropology.

…study the fashion industry at the new Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design. A few months ago, Zuzanna Ciszewska was working at a public relations agency in Warsaw. The 24-year-old with a master’s degree in anthropology and a lifelong passion for fashion saw an ad in British Vogue. Now she is one of the first 45 students at enrolled in a 10-week course meant to introduce them to topics like the fashion calendar, the history of fashion, important designers, fashion journalism, retail, business, marketing and public relations. Continue reading “Anthro in the news 5/27/13” →

Reflections on the Sexuality Policy Watch conference

Guest post by Jamison Liang

SPWBanner — Photo courtesy of Jamison Liang

As a graduate student in cultural anthropology whose research focuses on how international, national, and Islamic law have been applied to issues of gender and sexuality in the Indonesian province of Aceh, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to partake in the recent conference, Sexuality and Political Change: A New Training Program hosted by Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW).

The meeting took place in Rio de Janeiro from March 18-22 and brought together 17 individuals from around the world who do research on sexuality in the global south and look to link their work to movements of political and social change. Sexuality Policy Watch, a Rio and New York-based organization, serves as a global forum for researchers and activists who engage with policy debates and initiatives on sexuality, gender, sexual and reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS, and LGBT activism. This pilot program aimed to provide a forum for participants to share our research and experiences while reflecting on the intersection of theory, research, and change in the realm of genders and sexualities.

One factor that made this conference so important for me—but also challenging—was the diversity of the participants both in interests and backgrounds. Attendees came from Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Brazil, India, Egypt, the Philippines, Cameroon, China, and Mexico, among others. I was one of two Americans. We ranged from current graduate students to established professors to queer activists to UN lawyers and had expertise in areas including sexual health, LGBT rights, migration, and sex work.

In forums such as this, it is always helpful as a space for knowledge sharing, but it is undoubtedly difficult to negotiate how we translate all of our local identities and nationally-bound political structures into terms and strategies that have currency at the transnational and international level. Continue reading “Reflections on the Sexuality Policy Watch conference” →

Upcoming event: “Linguistic Piety in Islamic Java”

Photo courtesy of the Elliott School of International Affairs

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

12:30 pm – 1:45pm

The Elliott School of International Affairs
Linder Commons, 1957 E Street, NW; Room 602

Sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

The worldwide resurgence of Islamic piety has raised important methodological and theoretical questions about subjectivity: what do these expressions of devotion mean to the people who engage in them? Mahmood (2006) argues that understanding Muslim women’s piety requires appreciation of an alternative subjectivity, one that challenges standard models of Western liberal feminism. Deeb (2010) has argued that pious discourse is not as coherent as all that, and that Muslim subjects entertain alternative models depending on the context. Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs and Human Sciences, Joel Kuipers calls for an ethnographic approach to piety, urging scholars to avoid prematurely attributing inner states and interior conditions to the people they describe. His research investigates piety in Islamic Java by examining ethnographically the role of Arabic as medium of expression in its context of use.

Joel Kuipers received his B.A. in English and sociology with Honors from Calvin College in 1976, and his M.Phil. (1978) and Ph.D. from Yale in 1982. Before he came to the Anthropology Department at The George Washington University in the fall of 1989, he served on the faculties of Brown, Wesleyan, and Seton Hall Universities. He has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1994-95), and a visiting scholar at Harvard, Stanford, and Brown Universities. His main publications relate to the language and culture of Indonesia, and include: Power and Performance: the Creation of Textual Authority in Weyewa Ritual Speech (University of Pennsylvania, 1990); and Language, Identity and Marginality in Indonesia: the changing nature of ritual speech on the island of Sumba (Cambridge, 1998).

RSVP here

Our bodies, our boundaries: A new exhibit in London

800px-Hans_Rosling_swallows_sword — Hans Rosling of Gapminder swallowing a bayonet during his TED presentation in 2007 (Wiki commons).

Foreign Bodies is an exhibition curated by University College London’s Researchers in Museums that re-interprets the collections through the theme of “foreign bodies.” Seven very different research projects invite viewers to explore the idea of what is alien – biologically, psychologically, socially, and politically – and how this concept has shifted across history, culture, and even species. The exhibition brings together objects from across UCL collections, including the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, the Grant Museum of Zoology and UCL Art Museum, as well as the Geology, Pathology, Archaeology, and teaching collections. The exhibition also includes special contributions and object loans from Dr. Ruth Siddall (UCL Department of Earth Sciences), the Gashaka Primate Project, and research-related objects from members of the curatorial team. The exhibit will be open through July 14, 2013.

Upcoming event: State of the World 2013 book launch and symposium

On Tuesday, April 16, the Worldwatch Institute will release the latest edition of its annual flagship publication, State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?, in Washington, D.C.

The event will feature some of the book’s key contributors, who will share their expertise and ideas on the three main themes of the book, discussing how the term “sustainability” should be measured, how we can attain it, and how we can prepare if we fall short.

Speakers will include:

Worldwatch President Robert Engelman and Project Co-directors Erik Assadourian and Tom Prugh

Contributing authors Jennie Moore of the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Pat Murphy of the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions, and science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson

The symposium will take place from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. on April 16 at 1400 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. A reception with food and refreshments will follow the event. Space is limited, RSVP here . You can also pre-order a copy of the book here.

Email Grant Potter at gpotter@worldwatch.org if you have any questions.

Research methods in cultural anthropology class offered at UF

: Photo Courtesy of University of Florida Distance Learning

Through Distance Learning at the University of Florida Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology courses are being offerred this summer. Registration for courses in the program will be opening March 25th. Four courses (listed below) are offered in Summer 2013. To explore the courses being offered this summer, and for information on registration and tuition, please visit the Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology website. These courses are offered fully-online and no on-campus visits are required. The courses carry 3 graduate credits at the University of Florida and may be taken for credit or without credit. Courses are limited to 18 participants.

Courses Available for Summer 2013:

Social Network Analysis in Cultural Anthropology
Video Data Analysis
Geospatial Analysis in Cultural Anthropology
Text Analysis in Cultural Anthropology

Important Dates:

March 25th- Registration Opens
May 13th- Classes Start
May 14th- Registration Closes

Update on Iran: women’s movement and civil society

Below please find links to an audio interview with Parisa Kakaee, Iranian women and children’s rights activist, about the impact of sanctions on the women’s movement and civil society in Iran.

http://www.icanpeacework.org/
http://www.theglobalobservatory.org/interviews/456-interview-with-parisa-kakaee-iranian-women-and-childrens-rights-activist-.html

Thanks to Sanam Naraghi Anderlini for providing this information. Anderlini is Co-Founder, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and Senior Fellow, MIT Center for International Studies.

Ainu food on offer in Tokyo restaurant

Thanks to RocketNews (“yesterday’s news from Japan and Asia today”), readers can learn about Ainu indigenous food, at least as it is provided at Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant. Great photos are included showing dishes such as rataskep, ohaw, and mefun. The author’s favorite is kampoca rataskep (pictured here), made with sweet Japanese squash: “It’s like having all the sweetness of nature melt on your tongue! But the flavor is balanced with roasted pine nuts and some medicinal plants in the rue family.” Enjoy!

Researching women’s political participation

The Global Gender Program’s Bibliography on Women, Security and Development has nearly 300 sources on women’s political participation including sources on political quotas. This easily searchable source is available here.

Also, the Global Gender Program is hosting a panel on women’s political participation and what works to increase women’s formal roles in politics. Details of the event can be found here.