Thesis (PhD--Anthropology)--University of Auckland, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-222).

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2007. / Thesis research directed by Dept. of Philosophy. Originally produced as a documentary film in 2007. Includes trailer (4 min.). Booklet includes a preface, explanatory text, discussion questions, suggested reading, and a bibliography. Appendix 1 concerns the film; it includes a scene-by-scene synopsis, song lyrics (in Spanish & English), and a transcript of the film (in Spanish, with a side-by-side transcript of the English subtitles).

When approaching old age, women's bodies face functional, esthetical, and reproductive changes that can represent a source of discontinuity in their lives. Moreover, women are constantly exposed to the social pressure of compelling stereotypes regarding their body image and functionality: from media to medical pamphlets, the feminine body is subjected to deep social observation and regulation. Given that the relationship between ageing and the body is socially mediated, how does the encounter with a different culture have an impact on it? In this research, migration has been employed to analyse the cultural aspects of bodily practices. Migration can be described as an embodied experience, in which a body is first displaced and then emplaced in two social locations - the community of origin and the culture of destination - a circumstance known as transnationalism. Interviews were carried out with women aged between 59 and 74, divided in three groups: RESIDENTS: women who were born in an Italian village and had lived all their lives there; MIGRANTS: women who moved from the same village to London and are still living in England; RETURNED: migrants who moved back to the village permanently after living in London. Four dynamics were identified to regulate the interplay of ageing, bodily practices, and migration: (i) Assimilation: encountering and integrating with the new community; (ii) Acculturation: observing, learning, and sometimes adopting norms and values of the culture of destination; (iii) Acceptance: the binding agent between body and self during the recognition of ageing; (iv) Adjustment: the set of changes in their habits that women put in place in order to accommodate transformations in their bodies and maintain social inclusion. Moreover, a new conceptualization of transnationalism is proposed, which helps to frame how, after many years of negotiation between the culture of origin and the one of settlement, migrants disengage from social normativity, gaining an augmented sense of agency.

The last sixty years have seen the emergence of three particular developments that are currently exerting tremendous effects on the shape, articulation and practice of World Christianity. These are: the demographic shift in Christian adherence from the North to the South; the rapid expansion of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement in various places around the globe, particularly in the South; and the growth of migration from many two-thirds world nations to first world countries. In their interaction, these developments have produced a plethora of new religious expressions within World Christianity – specifically the presence of non-Western Christianity in the North. For as Non-Western immigrants migrate to the West, they bring with them a vibrant religious life which they use to navigate the terrains of the new society. This thesis delineates the experiences of West Indian Pentecostals living in New York City and London as they engage with their host societies. It explores the manner in which several generations of immigrants are constructing and re-negotiating their ethnic and religious identities. The thesis reveals that both the home country and the Diaspora context play a vital role in this process of identification. This is especially notable for the immigrant children who can be seen as constituting the frontline in terms of cultural and social change. This study also highlights the process by which ‘mission’ is being conceptualized and practiced within these Diaspora faith communities. The findings indicate that mission – its conceptualization and practice –is also a product of the West Indian and Diaspora contexts. However, this re-conceptualization is conducted within the framework of a re-definition of the local and global dimensions associated with the term. As a result, the translational process becomes one of dynamism and constant negotiation as the ideas emanating from home and the host societies are able to critique and influence each other. This thesis clearly reveals that Diaspora faith communities occupy a significant position within the lives of their members. They are sites of dynamism, where members access social and cultural capitals; maintain transnational ties; interact with the Diaspora context; and live out their faith. Therefore, this thesis argues that these faith communities function as a bridge connecting the home country and the Diaspora context, enabling their members to retain certain aspects of the ethno-religious identities and the cultures of their homelands, while equally, assisting them to adjust to, and create a place of belonging within the new society.

This dissertation investigates the intersection between political rhetoric and popular ideas about the Greek debt crisis and processes of identification and differentiation within a Greek diasporic community. It documents the significant role the economic crisis has assumed in local political rhetoric and explores the ways in which it has enriched previously existing discourses of identification, reshaping long-standing political debates, and engendering opportunities for transnational mobilization. The researcher's aim is to link culturally specific discursive strategies, interpretative trajectories, personal histories and wider moral economies, showcasing some of the complexities in processes of ethnic identification and intra-group differentiation. In short, this dissertation uses the advances of critical anthropological theory on place, objects, discursive and sensory practices to frame the plurality of ideas and rhetoric about the crisis within political, economic, and cultural contexts.

This thesis examines Home Rule in Ireland from 1858-1893 from a transnational perspective. In particular, it explores ties between the United States and Ireland by locating common discourses on generational rights and human rights. It draws attention to American and Irish organizations that sought to free Ireland from Britain’s oppressive grasp. The thesis pays special attention to the Irish-American experience in the United States in the wake of the Great Famine of 1845-1846. Through a look at transnational rights discourses during Home Rule, this thesis exposes the impact this experience had on transnational organizations such as the Fenian Brotherhood and the Irish National League of America during Home Rule in the late nineteenth century. Furthermore it reveals how Irish Home Rule from 1858-1893, was in various ways a transnational rights movement.

This study uses a transnational lens to examine the migration of Black Americans from Oklahoma to Canada in the early 20th century. Although scholars have documented this movement, they have not fully explored the vital and durable transnational connections among African American immigrants themselves. The use of family histories, newspaper articles, and immigration files show how black migrants searched for land and equality in Canada and attempted to build all black communities. Encouraged by the promises of Canadian immigration recruiters, black migrants left their homes and Jim Crowism in Oklahoma to settle in a “free country” and to realize the goals of American citizenship in a foreign land. But, Canada wanted white—not black—American settlers and immigration officials closed to African Americans the once porous boundary between the U.S. and Canada. Canadian authorities recognized the power of transnational connections among black migrants in promoting migration and settlement and, ironically, by effectively sabotaging that network, they ensured that African Americans had to abandon their quest for equality and opportunity in Western Canada.

No description available.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the issue of identity construction among Vietnamese intellectuals in North America. How is the way in which they construct their identity connected to their position(s) on the Vietnam War, anti-communist community discourse, and memory/commemoration, especially with respect to the contentious debate about which flag represents Vietnam today? Vietnamese Diaspora Intellectuals (VDI) are an understudied group, and I hope my research will help to fill this gap, at least in part, and also serve as a catalyst for further investigation. In my attempt to address this neglected area of study, I am bringing together two bodies of literature: diaspora studies and literature on identity formation among intellectuals. The intersection between these two areas of scholarship has received relatively little attention in the past, and it deserves further consideration, because intellectuals are so often in a position to serve as carriers and disseminators of new ideas, as well as facilitators in conflict resolution. Using a qualitative approach to my data collection, I conducted life history narrative interviews with 32 respondents in Canada and the U.S, as well as some participant observation research of community events. The majority of my interviewees were academics, but some were also journalists/writers, as well as community activists/representatives. A key element of diaspora research, as Cohen and Watts have argued, involves an examination of the “victim narrative”. My project considers the victim narrative in the context of the Vietnamese experience and evaluates the usefulness of such a narrative in terms of community politics and identity formation. My interviewees were often skeptical about the utility of such a narrative, and in some cases, viewed it as a thinly veiled mechanism of control, which serves the interests of community leaders, but may in fact, hinder the progress of the Vietnamese diaspora population. They contemplated some possibilities for transcending such a narrative, which could involve the creation of “free spaces”, permitting the expression of other points of view. As we will see, my interviewees reflected on the irony inherent in this situation. Many Vietnamese risked their lives in pursuit of the democratic ideal of freedom, but some of my participants discovered that the attempt to impose an overarching narrative – the rejection of communism – in fact led to the very antithesis of that ideal. In this connection, my research complicates Cohen’s work on diaspora, which assumes that all diasporic communities speak with one voice with regard to defining moments in their history. Cohen argues that members of such groups, by definition, shared a common past, an agreed-upon way of commemorating that past, and a common destiny. I argue that Cohen has oversimplified the situation. My research demonstrates that there is no such thing as unanimity. Vietnamese diaspora intellectuals do not simply navigate academic “interaction ritual chains” as Randall Collins has asserted, they must navigate several - often competing interaction rituals - which extend to their roles as members of their ethnic community as well. How do my interviewees deal with the inevitable conflicts and tensions engendered by such competing interaction rituals? Finally, what are the possibilities of moving forward, of generating a new narrative, which will transcend the rigid and restrictive anticommunist discourse dominant in community politics thus far? And what role can Vietnamese diaspora intellectuals play in this regard? My research indicates that they are uniquely qualified to facilitate the process of rapprochement, because the life of intellectuals demands a high degree of reflexivity and thus better enables them to evaluate the merits of conflicting viewpoints. My hope is to inspire future research – not only in the Vietnamese community, but on and for other diasporic groups as well. My work extends Neil Gross’ theory of the “intellectual self-concept” (ISC) (which focuses on American academics) by introducing the notion of the diaspora intellectual self-concept (DISC). Such concept allows us to include analysis of intellectuals with significant transnational connections who are dealing with racial and ethnic tensions in their new homeland while establishing themselves as professionals and citizens in a new cultural and political context. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)