Sascha Krannich on Oaxaquenos & Chiapanecos in the US at Princeton (5-3-12)

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• published: 15 May 2012
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Sascha Krannich is a graduate student in Political Science at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Germany, is visiting OPR for the academic year 2011-2012 under the sponsorship of Doug Massey. He will be working in the general subject of his dissertation, "Diaspora and Conflict: the Role of the Chiapanecan Diaspora in the Chiapas Conflict". http://www.uni-muenster.de/GraSP/doktoranden/krannich.html http://opr.princeton.edu/newfaces/ As he says about his year's research on his webpage at Muenster: „Collective Identity Formations Among Indigenous Migrants: Oaxaqueños and Chiapanecos in the United States" I investigate the formations of collective identity under conditions of accelerated economic integration at the global level. The question of identity formation is attracting growing interest as migrants increasingly move from less developed regions to destinations in advanced industrial countries. This question is all the more important when migration involves members of indigenous groups who are typically marginalized in countries of origin and in their adopted countries. Indigenous groups from Mexico's most Southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas may be seen as prime examples of identity reconstitution resulting from migration. Increasingly, they establish migrant organizations in places of destination, and change collective identities as a result of their transnational activities. What are the factors that explain changes in the collective identity of Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrants as a result of their participation in transnational organizations? I assume that different experiences of transnational cooperation and activities cause four formations in collective identity among Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrant organizations: Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrant organizations have formed a pan-indigenous identity as an answer to the climate of hostility and discrimination in the host society. Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrant organizations have formed a pan-Latino identity as a result of their interactions with public institutions in the United States. Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrant organizations have formed an identity as Oaxaqueños and Chiapanecos as a result of cooperation with government officials in Oaxaca and Chiapas. Oaxacan and Chiapanecan indigenous migrant organizations have formed an identity as a specific indigenous group, such as Zapotecos, Mixtecos, Tzeltales Mayans, and Tzotziles Mayans, as a result of their connections and transnational activities in their hometowns in Oaxaca and Chiapas. In other words, fluid but analytically different identities emerge in response to hostility in some cases but also cooperation and support in other instances. This differentiation assumes spatial and temporal dimensions. Pan-ethnic self-definitions may be seen as a response to hostility and discrimination, but more constrained ethnic definitions are connected with support, trust, and inter-personal exchanges with other members of the same group. " _______________________________________________ This presentation was an addendum to a series of lectures which The Center for Migration & Development at Princeton University is hosting this spring on a variety of topics around the issues of migration & development. http://www.facebook.com/events/276605729080889/ All of the events are free & open to the public, & will culminate in a two-day conference on immigration & immigration reform on May 18th & 19th: http://www.facebook.com/events/255259067898174/ Established in 1998, the Center for Migration and Development (CMD) sponsors a wide array of research, travel, and conference programs aimed at linking scholars with interests in the broad area of migration and community with national development. Of particular interest to CMD research is the relationship between immigrant communities in the developed world and the growth and development prospects of the sending nations. The Center's data archive and working papers series provide readily available resources based on recent research conducted at Princeton. You can find out more about them here: http://www.princeton.edu/cmd/index.xml ______________________________________ This event was co-sponsored by the Office of Population Research & the Latin American Migration Project at Princeton. You can find more about them here: http://lamp.opr.princeton.edu/ http://opr.princeton.edu/archive/lamp/ _________________________________________ And you can encourage us to make more of these videos by following us on our social media sites: http://www.facebook.com/casaesperanzanj http://www.facebook.com/groups/casaesperanzanj/ https://twitter.com/casaesperanzanj http://www.myspace.com/552664030 http://casaesperanza.newsvine.com/ http://digg.com/casaesperanzanj _____________________________