Organized Session, Workshop or Roundtable Title
Crossing Bridges: Identity Formation and Change
Participation Type
Organized Session
Participant Type
Multi-presenter
Organized Session, Workshop or Roundtable Abstract
This session has been convened by the Southern Anthropological Society.
Organizer
Barbara Hendry, SAS Convener
Type of Session
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Irish-American Identity Formation in Savannah, Georgia: Intersections of the Global and the Local
Presentation #1 Abstract
A distinctive Irish-American community has survived in Savannah, Georgia since the early 1800s. In this paper, I discuss and analyze results of ethnographic, oral history, and archival research which revealed ongoing processes of Irish-American identity formation among members of Savannah’s historic Irish-American community. Living in Irish dominated neighborhoods, the Catholic Church, attending parochial schools, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade had fostered a sense of shared Irish identity anchored in daily life and interactions for many who grew up in Savannah. Beginning in the 1980s, a number of new Irish rituals and organizations were created, and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade grew to be one of the largest in the country, attracting close to half a million visitors. I propose that a complex interplay of global and local models of Irishness have shaped these processes of identity formation and change.
At-A-Glance Bios- Participant #1
Associate Professor of Anthropology at Georgia Southern University. Research interests in ethnicity and identity, gender, cultural heritage, Western Europe, and the American South.
Presentation #2 Title
She Finds Her Voice: Challenging Church Gender Roles and Purity Culture
Presentation #2 Abstract
In recent years, there have been large waves of people challenging and/or leaving the North American Evangelical Church. Many of these people have congregated online to discuss, through mediums such as twitter and blogs, the factors that most strongly influence their decisions to critique the Evangelical Church. Many of these conversations center on gender roles and purity culture, specifically, the Church’s position on modesty and women in leadership. This paper uses various research methods (content analysis, semi-structured interviews, participant observation) to explore the reasons why so many people confront these Evangelical norms. The results indicate that, while this confrontation often begins with issues of gender and gendered hierarchies, it exists as part of a much larger effort. This effort focuses on redefining ideas of the self and it’s relationship to others and particularly the self’s relationship to the sacred. There is a an emphasis on inclusivity and equality and a rethinking of ideas surrounding community and sacredness.
At-A-Glance Bios- Participant #2
Bethany Zaiman has a B.A. in Anthropology/Sociology from Mary Baldwin College. She plans to pursue a career in Medical Anthropology.
Presentation #3 Title
Otherness in the Contemporary World
Presentation #3 Abstract
Otherness in the Contemporary World RICHARD, Matthew J., Valdosta State University ABSTRACT: As a teenager, I lost my faith in God. In seeking to replace it, I endured a decade of uncertainty, but gradually I substituted the understanding gained from literature, history, art, and travel for faith. Then, I discovered anthropology. Its epistemology—especially its credo of cultural relativism—appealed to the person I was becoming, and it restored much of the moral clarity that had formerly set the guidelines of my agency. In short, anthropology became a substitute for religion. When I first read Robert Edgerton’s critique of cultural relativism, I shrugged it off. Edgerton opens his book with the line “All societies are sick, but some are sicker than others.” He goes on to write that there is misery all around us, and he places much of the blame on cultural beliefs and practices that are maladaptive. I was too much of a neophyte in the discipline then to pay him any heed, but these days I question the validity of cultural relativism more and more. I see a globalized/technologized world divided by neo-tribalism, and I wonder whether cultural relativism prevents the world from coming together at this critical juncture in human history.
At-A-Glance Bios- Participant #3
Matthew Richard is an associate professor of anthropology at Valdosta State University whose interests include psychological and cognitive anthropology. He applies findings from these subfields to the study of racial and ethnic discrimination.
Presentation #4 Title
Talking About Race: Crossing Boundaries through Dialogue Groups in South Africa
Presentation #4 Abstract
As young South Africans come of age in a democratic country two decades after the end of Apartheid, they confront persistent inequalities and racial divides. Institutions such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were designed in part to foster forgiveness and build bridges of understanding over the ravages of racial tyranny. Whatever the value and limits of such efforts, social norms and economic realities provide relatively few avenues for young people to forge personal bonds across racial categories. The potential of a new generation to overcome entrenched problems is limited when members of different groups are unable to participate in the same conversation. This paper discusses a series of dialogue groups conducted among South African and American university students. The goal in part was to see if violating norms of social interaction – bringing together black and white students who might not otherwise associate, disrupting expectations of race by including students identifying as black or white from both countries – would open up new spaces of dialogue. The data were collected during a U.S. travel course to South Africa that brought twenty American students into close contact with a group of South African peer educators. The two groups of students had ample social time to build rapport. The semi-structured dialogues explored issues of racism, violence, inequality, and social justice. Both groups reported benefits, and the South Africans in particular valued a new sense of being able to speak across racial differences.
At-A-Glance Bios- Participant #4
Scott London, PhD teaches anthropology at Randolph-Macon College.
Kristen Klaaren, PhD teaches psychology at Randolph-Macon College.
Presentation #5 Title
Negotiating Gyeol: The Tug of War between Authenticity and Intersectionality in the Context of Lesbian Identity in Korea
Presentation #5 Abstract
Since the 1990s, the women’s movement has gained considerable political clout in South Korea. At the same time, some queer feminists have also accused the mainstream feminist movement of ignoring the struggles of queer women. Drawing upon ethnographic data collected from interviews with the lesbian activists from women’s organizations and queer support organizations in June 2015, my research explores the complexities of lesbian activist identity. The research shows that interviewees’ perceptions of an ideal partnership between the queer movement and the feminist movement are influenced by the goals of their affiliated organizations. The lesbian activists in women’s organizations argue for solidarity based on intersectional feminism. Conversely, the lesbian activists in queer support organizations emphasizes on activism that focuses on the unique perspectives of queer women, demonstrated through the metaphor of gyeol (texture).
At-A-Glance Bios- Participant #5
Francissca Kang is a senior international student from South Korea studying in the Anthropology Department at Davidson College
Keywords
Agency, Asia, Cultural Politics, Ethnicity, Gender, Globalization, Identity
Start Date
4-9-2016 8:30 AM
End Date
4-9-2016 10:00 AM
Irish-American Identity Formation in Savannah, Georgia: Intersections of the Global and the Local
Big Sandy Conference Center - Tech Room 02
A distinctive Irish-American community has survived in Savannah, Georgia since the early 1800s. In this paper, I discuss and analyze results of ethnographic, oral history, and archival research which revealed ongoing processes of Irish-American identity formation among members of Savannah’s historic Irish-American community. Living in Irish dominated neighborhoods, the Catholic Church, attending parochial schools, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade had fostered a sense of shared Irish identity anchored in daily life and interactions for many who grew up in Savannah. Beginning in the 1980s, a number of new Irish rituals and organizations were created, and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade grew to be one of the largest in the country, attracting close to half a million visitors. I propose that a complex interplay of global and local models of Irishness have shaped these processes of identity formation and change.