Editor’s Choice Articles

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

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29 pages, 2752 KiB  
Article
Notes toward a Demographic History of the Jews
by Sergio DellaPergola
Genealogy 2024, 8(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8010002 - 27 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4143
Abstract
As an essential prerequisite to the genealogical study of Jews, some elements of Jewish demographic history are provided in a long-term transnational perspective. Data and estimates from a vast array of sources are combined to draw a profile of Jewish populations globally, noting [...] Read more.
As an essential prerequisite to the genealogical study of Jews, some elements of Jewish demographic history are provided in a long-term transnational perspective. Data and estimates from a vast array of sources are combined to draw a profile of Jewish populations globally, noting changes in geographical distribution, vital processes (marriages, births and deaths), international migrations, and changes in Jewish identification. Jews often anticipated the transition from higher to lower levels of mortality and fertility, or else joined large-scale migration flows that reflected shifting constraints and opportunities locally and globally. Cultural drivers typical of the Jewish minority interacted with socioeconomic and political drivers coming from the encompassing majority. The main centers of Jewish presence globally repeatedly shifted, entailing the intake within Jewish communities of demographic patterns from significantly different environments. During the 20th century, two main events reshaped the demography of the Jews globally: the Shoah (destruction) of two thirds of all Jews in Europe during World War II, and the independence of the State of Israel in 1948. Mass immigration and significant convergence followed among Jews of different geographical origins. Israel’s Jewish population grew to constitute a large share—and in the longer run—a potential majority of all Jews worldwide. Since the 19th century, and with increasing visibility during the 20th and the 21st, Jews also tended to assimilate in the respective Diaspora environments, leading to a blurring of identificational boundaries and sometimes to a numerical erosion of the Jewish population. This article concludes with some implications for Jewish genealogical studies, stressing the need for contextualization to enhance their value for personal memory and for analytic work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends and Topics in Jewish Genealogy)
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13 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Family Dynamics in Colonial La Rioja: A Case Analysis of Five Generations
by Jorge Hugo Villafañe
Genealogy 2023, 7(4), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7040094 - 28 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1689
Abstract
This study constitutes a preview of a broader research project on kinship, family, and society in colonial La Rioja. In this context, the results obtained from the study of five generations of the Villafañe and Guzmán family are presented. Various aspects such as [...] Read more.
This study constitutes a preview of a broader research project on kinship, family, and society in colonial La Rioja. In this context, the results obtained from the study of five generations of the Villafañe and Guzmán family are presented. Various aspects such as family organization, inheritance system, conflicts between families, the construction of a distinct identity, and the strategies that allowed this family to preserve its heritage and maintain a prominent status in the local elite are examined and analyzed in detail. Full article
16 pages, 282 KiB  
Review
Family History Research and Distressing Emotions
by Susan M. Moore
Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020026 - 17 Apr 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5836
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the popular pastime of exploring one’s family history can unleash strong emotions, both positive and negative. The aim of this study was to chart the extent and nature of negative emotions among family historians, and profile those most vulnerable [...] Read more.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the popular pastime of exploring one’s family history can unleash strong emotions, both positive and negative. The aim of this study was to chart the extent and nature of negative emotions among family historians, and profile those most vulnerable to distress. Data from an online survey of 775 adult Australian hobbyist family historians showed nearly two-thirds experienced strong distressing emotions such as anger, shock and sadness while researching their forebears. Triggers included discoveries which led to feelings of betrayal and distrust or posed moral dilemmas. Also distressing were findings about ancestors who behaved badly, were treated cruelly/unfairly, or who experienced tragedy. Family historians who reported strong negative emotions were more likely than those who did not to be younger, female, spend more time on their hobby, have half-siblings, driven by the motive for greater self-understanding, and score higher on the personality trait of openness to experience but lower on emotional stability. The study is important because it raises issues of (a) what support is available to family historians who find their discoveries strongly distressing and (b) whether purveyors of genealogical research products should provide more education and support to their clients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Family History)
11 pages, 719 KiB  
Article
Waimānalo Pono Research: Indigenizing Community-Engaged Research with a Native Hawaiian Community
by Jane J. Chung-Do, Samantha Keaulana Scott, Ilima Ho-Lastimosa, Kirk Deitschman, J. Kahau Vegas, LeShay Keli‘iholokai, Ikaika Rogerson, Theodore Radovich, Kenneth Ho, Jr., A. Hiʻipoi Ho and Mapuana C. K. Antonio
Genealogy 2022, 6(4), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy6040090 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2888
Abstract
Native Hawaiians, or Kānaka Maoli, the first people to arrive and settle on the Hawaiian Islands, developed an ecologically sustainable food system that sustained the health of up to a million people on the islands. Colonization disrupted this system as well as the [...] Read more.
Native Hawaiians, or Kānaka Maoli, the first people to arrive and settle on the Hawaiian Islands, developed an ecologically sustainable food system that sustained the health of up to a million people on the islands. Colonization disrupted this system as well as the healthy lifestyle and cultural practices of the Indigenous people of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Today, Native Hawaiians face pervasive health and social inequities. To build research processes that can meaningfully and sustainably address these inequities, the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui was borne from the vision and priorities of community leaders and members of Waimānalo. Using qualitative data from the annual survey conducted with Waimānalo Pono Research Hui members, the purpose of this study is to illustrate how community engagement and community-based participatory research has been operationalized within a Native Hawaiian community to yield meaningful research. Five themes emerged from the analysis related to the ʻāina (land), pilina (relationships), consent, equitable resources, and data sovereignty. These findings demonstrate the importance of imagining, creating, and implementing research processes that are shaped by community voices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Engaged Indigenous Research across the Globe)
13 pages, 250 KiB  
Article
What Motivates Family Historians? A Pilot Scale to Measure Psychosocial Drivers of Research into Personal Ancestry
by Susan M. Moore and Doreen A. Rosenthal
Genealogy 2021, 5(3), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5030083 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4695
Abstract
Participation in family history research may be a passing phase for some, but for others, it is a recreational pursuit exciting passionate intensity that goes beyond idle curiosity or short-term interest. In this paper, we explore some of the underlying motives that drive [...] Read more.
Participation in family history research may be a passing phase for some, but for others, it is a recreational pursuit exciting passionate intensity that goes beyond idle curiosity or short-term interest. In this paper, we explore some of the underlying motives that drive amateur genealogists, including the search for self-understanding, the desire to give something of value to others and the enjoyment of the many intellectual challenges that this hobby can provide. Using data accessed from an online survey of 775 Australian family historians, we developed a reliable and valid measure of the intensity of these psychosocial motives and used research participants’ qualitative data to suggest four further motives of interest for future research and measure development. Full article
7 pages, 223 KiB  
Article
A Māori and Pasifika Label—An Old History, New Context
by Dion Enari and Innez Haua
Genealogy 2021, 5(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5030070 - 29 Jul 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 12171
Abstract
The term ‘Māori and Pasifika’ is widely used in Aotearoa, New Zealand to both unite and distinguish these peoples and cultures. As a collective noun of separate peoples, Māori and Pasifika are used to acknowledge the common Pacific ancestry that both cultures share, [...] Read more.
The term ‘Māori and Pasifika’ is widely used in Aotearoa, New Zealand to both unite and distinguish these peoples and cultures. As a collective noun of separate peoples, Māori and Pasifika are used to acknowledge the common Pacific ancestry that both cultures share, whilst distinguishing Māori as Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Pasifika as migrants from other lands in the Pacific region. The term ‘Māori and Pasifika’ is a ‘label’ established in New Zealand to combine the minority cultural populations of both Māori, and Pacific migrant peoples, into a category defined by New Zealand policy and discourse. Migration for Māori and Pasifika to Australia (from Aotearoa) has generated new discussion amongst these diasporic communities (in Australia) on the appropriate collective term(s) to refer to Māori and Pasifika peoples and cultures. Some believe that in Australia, Māori should no longer be distinguished from Pasifika as they are not Indigenous (to Australia), while others believe the distinction should continue upon migration. Through the voices of Samoan and Māori researchers who reside in Australia, insider voices are honoured and cultural genealogy is privileged in this discussion of the label ‘Māori and Pasifika’ in the Australian context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indigenous Identity and Community)
17 pages, 491 KiB  
Article
‘I’m Not Swedish Swedish’: Self-Appraised National and Ethnic Identification among Migrant-Descendants in Sweden
by Caroline Adolfsson
Genealogy 2021, 5(2), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5020056 - 7 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3466
Abstract
As a country of high migration, Sweden presents an interesting case for the study of belongingness. For the children of migrants, ethnic and national identification, as well as ascriptive identity, can pose challenges to feelings of belongingness, which is an essential element for [...] Read more.
As a country of high migration, Sweden presents an interesting case for the study of belongingness. For the children of migrants, ethnic and national identification, as well as ascriptive identity, can pose challenges to feelings of belongingness, which is an essential element for positive mental health. In this article, survey data were collected from 626 Swedes whose parents were born in the following countries: Somalia, Poland, Vietnam, and Turkey. The results show that Poles significantly felt they received more reflective appraisals of ascription than any other group. However, despite not feeling as if they were being ascribed as Swedish, most group members (regardless of ethnic origin) had high feelings of belongingness to Sweden. Overall, individuals who felt that being Swedish was important for their identity indicated the highest feelings of belongingness. Further, individuals across groups showed a positive correlation between their national identification and ethnic identification, indicating a feeling of membership to both. These results mirror previous research in Sweden where individuals’ ethnic and national identities were positively correlated. The ability to inhabit multiple identities as a member of different groups is the choice of an individual within a pluralistic society. Multiple memberships between groups need not be contradictory but rather an expression of different spheres of inhabitance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogies of Racial and Ethnic Representation)
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21 pages, 1737 KiB  
Article
“You’re the One That Was on Uncle’s Wall!”: Identity, Whanaungatanga and Connection for Takatāpui (LGBTQ+ Māori)
by Logan Hamley, Shiloh Groot, Jade Le Grice, Ashlea Gillon, Lara Greaves, Madhavi Manchi and Terryann Clark
Genealogy 2021, 5(2), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5020054 - 4 Jun 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7913
Abstract
Takatāpui (Māori LGBTIQ+) challenge static notions of relationality and belonging or whanaungatanga for Māori. Explorations of Māori and LGBTIQ+ identity can often polarise experiences of family as either nurturing spaces or sites comprised of actors of spiritual and physical violence. However, such framing [...] Read more.
Takatāpui (Māori LGBTIQ+) challenge static notions of relationality and belonging or whanaungatanga for Māori. Explorations of Māori and LGBTIQ+ identity can often polarise experiences of family as either nurturing spaces or sites comprised of actors of spiritual and physical violence. However, such framing ignores the ways in which cultural practices for establishing relationality for takatāpui extend beyond dichotomies of disconnection or connection within families and into spaces of new potential. In this paper we outline a bricoleur research praxis rooted in Māori ways of being which underpins the research. We engage in photo-poetry as an analytic tool, constructing poetry from our interviews with Waimirirangi, a twenty-year-old whakawahine (Māori term for trans woman or trans femme) and bring them into conversation with the images she provided as part of the broader research project. As the interface between her ancestors and future generations, Waimirirangi demonstrates the potentiality of whanaungatanga as a restorative practice for enhancing takatāpui wellbeing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indigenous Identity and Community)
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23 pages, 868 KiB  
Article
New Blacks: Language, DNA, and the Construction of the African American/Dominican Boundary of Difference
by Aris Moreno Clemons
Genealogy 2021, 5(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5010001 - 24 Dec 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4975
Abstract
Given the current political climate in the U.S.—the civil unrest regarding the recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, the calls to abolish prisons and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, and the workers’ rights movements—projects investigating moments of inter-ethnic solidarity and [...] Read more.
Given the current political climate in the U.S.—the civil unrest regarding the recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, the calls to abolish prisons and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, and the workers’ rights movements—projects investigating moments of inter-ethnic solidarity and conflict remain essential. Because inter-ethnic conflict and solidarity in communities of color have become more visible as waves of migration over the past 50 years have complicated and enriched the sociocultural landscape of the U.S., I examine the ways that raciolinguistic ideologies are reflected in assertions of ethno-racial belonging for Afro-Dominicans and their descendants. Framing my analysis at the language, race, and identity interface, I ask what mechanisms are used to perform Blackness and/or anti-Blackness for Dominican(-American)s and in what ways does this behavior contribute to our understanding of Blackness in the U.S.? I undertake a critical discourse analysis on 10 YouTube videos that discuss what I call the African American/Dominican boundary of difference. The results show that the primary inter-ethnic conflict between Dominican(-Americans) and African Americans was posited through a categorization fallacy, in which the racial term “Black” was conceived as an ethnic term for use only with African Americans. Full article
20 pages, 353 KiB  
Article
Healing through Ancestral Knowledge and Letters to Our Children: Mothering Infants during a Global Pandemic
by Miriam G. Valdovinos, Noralis Rodríguez-Coss and Rupal Parekh
Genealogy 2020, 4(4), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4040119 - 21 Dec 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5452
Abstract
The struggle for work–life balance amongst women in academia who are both mothers and scholars continues to be apparent during a global pandemic highlighting the systemic fissures and social inequalities ingrained in our society, including systems of higher learning. Women of color professors [...] Read more.
The struggle for work–life balance amongst women in academia who are both mothers and scholars continues to be apparent during a global pandemic highlighting the systemic fissures and social inequalities ingrained in our society, including systems of higher learning. Women of color professors on the tenure track are vulnerable to the intersecting ways capitalism, sexism, and racism exacerbate the challenges faced by motherscholars, making it imperative to explore these nuances. While motherscholars may share advice about navigating family leave policies or strategizing scholarship goals, no one could have prepared us for our motherscholar roles during a pandemic. We were, in some ways, unprepared for giving birth with a heightened level of social isolation and feelings of loneliness, while racial unrest and loud exigencies to protect the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) persist. Through three testimonios, we explore how ancestral/indigenous knowledge provides us with ways to persist, transform, and heal during these moments. We share letters written to each of our babies to encapsulate our praxis with ancestral knowledge on mothering. We reflect on matriarchal elders, constricted movement in our daily routines, and ongoing worries and hopes. We theorize this knowledge to offer solidarity with a motherscholar epistemology. Full article
21 pages, 504 KiB  
Article
Returning to Our Roots: Tribal Health and Wellness through Land-Based Healing
by Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Shanondora Billiot and Karina Walters
Genealogy 2020, 4(3), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030091 - 3 Sep 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 10066
Abstract
(1) Background: Settler colonialism has severely disrupted Indigenous ancestral ways of healing and being, contributing to an onslaught of health disparities. In particular, the United Houma Nation (UHN) has faced large land loss and trauma, dispossession, and marginalization. Given the paucity of research [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Settler colonialism has severely disrupted Indigenous ancestral ways of healing and being, contributing to an onslaught of health disparities. In particular, the United Houma Nation (UHN) has faced large land loss and trauma, dispossession, and marginalization. Given the paucity of research addressing health for Indigenous individuals living in Louisiana, this study sought to co-identify a United Houma Nation health framework, by co-developing a community land-based healing approach in order to inform future community-based health prevention programs. (2) Methods: This pilot tested, co-designed and implemented a land-based healing pilot study among Houma women utilizing a health promotion leadership approach and utilized semi-structured interviews among 20 UHN women to identify a UHN health framework to guide future results. (3) Results: The findings indicated that RTOR was a feasible pilot project. The initial themes were (1.) place, (2.) environmental/land trauma, (3.) ancestors, (4.) spirituality/mindfulness, (5.) cultural continuity, and (6.) environment and health. The reconnection to land was deemed feasible and seen as central to renewing relationships with ancestors (aihalia asanochi taha), others, and body. This mindful, re-engagement with the land contributed to subthemes of developing stronger tribal identities, recreating ceremonies, and increased cultural continuity, and transforming narratives of trauma into hope and resilience. Based on these findings a Houma Health (Uma Hochokma) Framework was developed and presented. (4) Conclusions: Overall, this study found that land can serve as a feasible therapeutic site for healing through reconnecting Houma tribal citizens to both ancestral knowledges and stories of resilience, as well as viewing self as part of a larger collective. These findings also imply that revisiting historically traumatic places encouraged renewed commitment to cultural continuity and health behaviors—particularly when these places are approached relationally, with ceremony, and traumatic events tied to these places, including climate change and environmental/land trauma, are acknowledged along with the love the ancestors held for future generations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Engaged Indigenous Research across the Globe)
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14 pages, 356 KiB  
Article
Ethnic/Racial Terminology as a Form of Representation: A Critical Review of the Lexicon of Collective and Specific Terms in Use in Britain
by Peter J. Aspinall
Genealogy 2020, 4(3), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030087 - 20 Aug 2020
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 9335
Abstract
All ethnic/racial terminology may be seen as a form of representation, whereby meanings are generated by a range of social categorizers in settings of popular culture, political discourse, and statistical governmentality. This paper investigates these representations through a critical review of the lexicon [...] Read more.
All ethnic/racial terminology may be seen as a form of representation, whereby meanings are generated by a range of social categorizers in settings of popular culture, political discourse, and statistical governmentality. This paper investigates these representations through a critical review of the lexicon of collective and specific ethnic/racial terms in use in Britain. Relevant studies and documents were identified through structured searches on databases of peer-reviewed literature and the websites of government census agencies. The full-text corpus of the UK Parliament was used to delineate the genealogies or etymologies of this terminology. The derivation of specific ethnic/racial terms through census processes tends to conform with the theoretical model of mutual entailment of social categories and group identities. This relationship breaks down in the case of the broad and somewhat abstract categories of race/ethnicity originating in the modern bureaucratic processes of government and advocacy by anti-racist organizations, opening up a space for representations that are characterized by their exteriority. Commonly used acronyms are little understood in the wider society, are confusing, and of limited acceptability to those they describe, while other collective terms are offensive and ethnocentric. Accurate description is recommended to delineate ethnic minority populations in terms of their constituent groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogies of Racial and Ethnic Representation)
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24 pages, 361 KiB  
Article
What Do We Mean by “Ethnicity” and “Race”? A Consensual Qualitative Research Investigation of Colloquial Understandings
by Karen L. Suyemoto, Micaela Curley and Shruti Mukkamala
Genealogy 2020, 4(3), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030081 - 1 Aug 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 13986
Abstract
Lack of clarity and questionable congruence between researcher and participant understandings of ethnicity and race challenge the validity and impact of research utilizing these concepts. We aimed to both elucidate the multiple meanings that research participants in the United States might bring to [...] Read more.
Lack of clarity and questionable congruence between researcher and participant understandings of ethnicity and race challenge the validity and impact of research utilizing these concepts. We aimed to both elucidate the multiple meanings that research participants in the United States might bring to questions about ethnicity and race and examine their relation to formal conceptualizations of these variables. We used consensual qualitative research-modified analyses to conduct thematic content analysis of 151 responses to open-ended survey questions about meanings of ethnicity and race. Participants included a racially diverse sample of 53 males, 87 females, and 11 unidentified gender with a mean age of 28.71 years. Results indicated that the most frequent colloquial meanings of ethnicity included origin, culture, ancestry, related or similar to race, social similarity, religion, and identity. The most frequent colloquial meanings of race included physical characteristics, ethnicity, origin, social grouping, ancestry, and imposed categorization. Results also illustrated how participants approached defining ethnicity and race. Results support the acknowledged and critiqued colloquial confounding of ethnicity and race and indicate a lack of agreed upon meaning between lay representations/meanings and formal meanings used by social scientists. This incongruence threatens valid operationalizations for research and challenges our ability to use these concepts in interventions to promote social justice and psychological health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogies of Racial and Ethnic Representation)
15 pages, 6012 KiB  
Article
The People of K’Gari/Fraser Island: Working through 250 Years of Racial Double Coding
by Fiona Foley
Genealogy 2020, 4(3), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030074 - 8 Jul 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 8796
Abstract
Genealogy is important to Aboriginal societies in Australia because it lets us know who has a right to speak for country. Our genealogy binds us to our traditional country as sovereign nations—clans with distinct languages, ceremony, laws, rights and responsibilities. Since the Native [...] Read more.
Genealogy is important to Aboriginal societies in Australia because it lets us know who has a right to speak for country. Our genealogy binds us to our traditional country as sovereign nations—clans with distinct languages, ceremony, laws, rights and responsibilities. Since the Native Title Act 1993 was passed by the Keating government, hundreds of Native Title claims have been lodged. The first Native Title claim to be lodged on Badtjala/Butchulla country was in 1996 by my great aunty, Olga Miller, followed by the Butchulla People #2 and the Butchulla People (Land & Sea Claim #2). Consent determination was awarded for K’gari (Fraser Island) in 2014 and for the mainland claim in 2019. As a sovereign nation, we have undergone many decades of deprivational longing—physically separated from our island, but in plain view. This article is written from a Badtjala lens, mapping generations of my Wondunna clan family through the eyes of an artist-academic who has created work since 1986 invested in cultural responsibility. With the accompanying film, Out of the Sea Like Cloud, I recenter the Badtjala history from a personal and local perspective, that incorporates national and international histories. Full article
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16 pages, 3508 KiB  
Article
Photovoice in a Vietnamese Immigrant Family: Untold Partial Stories behind the Pictures
by Ethan Tinh Trinh
Genealogy 2020, 4(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030067 - 1 Jul 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3997
Abstract
This paper, in the form of walking meditation, sitting, drinking, eating, and traveling among spaces and times, witnesses how the author as a Vietnamese immigrant child living in the United States (U.S.) traces untold stories of their family through family photos. Further, this [...] Read more.
This paper, in the form of walking meditation, sitting, drinking, eating, and traveling among spaces and times, witnesses how the author as a Vietnamese immigrant child living in the United States (U.S.) traces untold stories of their family through family photos. Further, this paper attempts to find, understand and connect the relation between personal and political, between individual and collective, for a Vietnamese re-education camp detainee and his family, situated in political, historical, and cultural context. The use of photo elicitation comes from the desire that the reader can engage with the voices of the family members as they describe events in their past history. In addition, this paper refuses the forms of “category” and “fixed results” in writing up academic research. Rather, it will appear in the form of daily conversation, collected from multiple settings. Simply speaking, this paper is a form of storytelling that invites the readers to oscillate, communicate and think with the author’s family members on this historical journey. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogy and Critical Family History)
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17 pages, 2096 KiB  
Article
A Little Bit of That from One of Your Grandparents: Interpreting Others’ Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Ancestry Results
by Piotr S. Bobkowski, John C. Watson and Olushola O. Aromona
Genealogy 2020, 4(2), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4020054 - 30 Apr 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3925
Abstract
With more than 25 million tests sold by early 2019, direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry tests expose the public to critical issues of genetics, ancestry, and identity. This study examines how individuals understand the results of a genetic ancestry test. Twenty undergraduate students viewed and [...] Read more.
With more than 25 million tests sold by early 2019, direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry tests expose the public to critical issues of genetics, ancestry, and identity. This study examines how individuals understand the results of a genetic ancestry test. Twenty undergraduate students viewed and interpreted an unfamiliar individual’s ancestry results. In in-depth interviews, students indicated that the results were easy to read and understand, but that they had difficulty articulating the meaning of the ancestry groups presented in the results. Participants could not accurately paraphrase the test’s scientific explanation. Those who engaged with the scientific explanation developed doubts about the test’s credibility. There was little consensus about the legitimacy of identity claims from low-proportion ancestry groups. Some students reserved judgment while others identified specific thresholds for what ancestry proportions legitimize identity claims. Results contribute to the literature on the public’s understanding of ancestry, genetics, and data interpretation. Full article
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17 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Reverberating Historical Privilege of a “Middling” Sort of Settler Family
by Avril Bell
Genealogy 2020, 4(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4020046 - 7 Apr 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5040
Abstract
Critical family history illuminates societal relations of inequality through focusing on the experiences and trajectories of particular families. Here, I focus on unequal relations between white settler colonizers and indigenous communities within Aotearoa, New Zealand. I use data gathered from family wills and [...] Read more.
Critical family history illuminates societal relations of inequality through focusing on the experiences and trajectories of particular families. Here, I focus on unequal relations between white settler colonizers and indigenous communities within Aotearoa, New Zealand. I use data gathered from family wills and archival research to sketch aspects of the economic privilege of branches of my own ancestral families in contrast to the economic dispossession and injustices faced by the Māori communities alongside whom they lived. The concept of historical privilege forms the analytic basis of this exploration, beginning with the founding historical windfalls experienced by the Bell and Graham families through their initial acquisition of Māori lands and the parallel historical trauma experienced by Māori at the loss of these lands. I then explore how these windfalls and traumas underpinned the divergent economic trajectories on both sides of this colonial relationship, touching on issues of family inheritance and structural and symbolic privilege. Neither the Bells nor the Grahams accumulated significant wealth, but the stories of such “middling” families are helpful in illuminating mechanisms of historical privilege that we inheritors of such privilege find it difficult to “see” or remember. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogy and Critical Family History)
13 pages, 229 KiB  
Article
‘From Your Ever Anxious and Loving Father’: Faith, Fatherhood, and Masculinity in One Man’s Letters to His Son during the First World War
by Martin Robb
Genealogy 2020, 4(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4010032 - 24 Mar 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3316
Abstract
In the early months of 1916, Charles Robb a retired shipping clerk in the East End of London, England, wrote a series of letters to his 19-year-old son Arthur, an army private awaiting embarkation to the Western Front. Charles Robb was my great [...] Read more.
In the early months of 1916, Charles Robb a retired shipping clerk in the East End of London, England, wrote a series of letters to his 19-year-old son Arthur, an army private awaiting embarkation to the Western Front. Charles Robb was my great grandfather and Arthur Robb was my grandfather. The letters offer an intriguing glimpse of one man ‘doing’ fatherhood under conditions of traumatic separation and extreme anxiety. This paper presents an analysis of the letters from a psychosocial perspective, exploring the ways in which the writer exhorts his son to live up to the ideals of Christian manhood, while managing the anxiety of separation by presenting a reconstruction in language of the familiar world of home and church. Full article
17 pages, 327 KiB  
Article
Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
by Andrea Doucet
Genealogy 2020, 4(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4010014 - 24 Jan 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5045
Abstract
This paper addresses an enduring puzzle in fathering research: Why are care and breadwinning largely configured as binary oppositions rather than as relational and intra-acting concepts and practices, as is often the case in research on mothering? Guided by Margaret Somers’ historical sociology [...] Read more.
This paper addresses an enduring puzzle in fathering research: Why are care and breadwinning largely configured as binary oppositions rather than as relational and intra-acting concepts and practices, as is often the case in research on mothering? Guided by Margaret Somers’ historical sociology of concept formation, I conduct a Foucauldian-inspired genealogy of the concept of “father involvement” as a cultural and historical object embedded in specific histories, conceptual networks, and social and conceptual narratives. With the aim of un-thinking and re-thinking conceptual possibilities that might expand knowledges about fathering, care, and breadwinning, I look to researchers in other sites who have drawn attention to the relationalities of care and earning. Specifically, I explore two conceptual pathways: First the concept of “material indirect care”, from fatherhood research pioneer Joseph Pleck, which envisages breadwinning as connected to care, and, in some contexts, as a form of care; and second, the concept of “provisioning” from the work of feminist economists, which highlights broad, interwoven patterns of care work and paid work. I argue that an approach to concepts that connect or entangle caring and breadwinning recognizes that people are care providers, care receivers, financial providers, and financial receivers in varied and multiple ways across time. This move is underpinned by, and can shift, our understandings of human subjectivity as relational and intra-dependent, with inevitable periods of dependency and vulnerability across the life course. Such a view also acknowledges the critical role of resources, services, and policies for supporting and sustaining the provisioning and caring activities of all parents, including fathers. Finally, I note the theoretical and political risks of this conceptual exercise, and the need for caution when making an argument about fathers’ breadwinning and caregiving entanglements. Full article
11 pages, 233 KiB  
Article
(Re)constructing Conceptualizations of Health and Resilience among Native Hawaiians
by Mapuana C. K. Antonio, Samantha Keaulana, Jane J. Chung-Do and Ilima Ho-Lastimosa
Genealogy 2020, 4(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4010008 - 5 Jan 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5050
Abstract
Biomedical definitions of health have conventionally taken problem-based approaches to health, which may disregard indigenous perspectives of health that take a holistic approach and emphasize the importance of maintaining balance between physical, mental, and spiritual health and relationships maintained with others, the land, [...] Read more.
Biomedical definitions of health have conventionally taken problem-based approaches to health, which may disregard indigenous perspectives of health that take a holistic approach and emphasize the importance of maintaining balance between physical, mental, and spiritual health and relationships maintained with others, the land, and the spiritual realm. Resilience-based approaches to health have been shown to foster strengths in indigenous communities, including the Native Hawaiian community, which leads to more positive health outcomes. The research questions of this paper asked, “how do Native Hawaiians conceptualize health and the concept of resilience specific to health?”. Qualitative methods were employed to explore the concept of resilience from the perspective of 12 Native Hawaiian adults. Community leaders and key stakeholders aided in the purposive recruitment process. The themes of this study include: (1) health maintained through balance, (2) being unhealthy vs. being ill, (3) the concept of colonialism and resulting adversities, and (4) protective and resilience factors that foster health. Cultural values and cultural practices may address concerns related to health disparities that stem from cultural and historical trauma, determinants of health, and environmental changes. Health interventions that are culturally-, family-, spiritually-, and land-based may particularly aid in responsiveness to health programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Engaged Indigenous Research across the Globe)
12 pages, 242 KiB  
Article
The Ghost of the ‘Y’: Paternal DNA, Haunting and Genealogy
by Helen Scholar
Genealogy 2020, 4(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4010003 - 27 Dec 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6016
Abstract
Based on a personal family history experience, in this paper, I consider the way in which genealogical DNA testing is revealing family secrets, in particular paternity secrets, which would previously have remained unknown via ‘traditional’ methods of genealogical research. Reasons for the displacement [...] Read more.
Based on a personal family history experience, in this paper, I consider the way in which genealogical DNA testing is revealing family secrets, in particular paternity secrets, which would previously have remained unknown via ‘traditional’ methods of genealogical research. Reasons for the displacement of these invisible fathers from the records are discussed, and the power of genealogical DNA testing to bring them into focus is examined. Such discoveries may disrupt and unsettle, causing people to think differently about the fathers and grandfathers with whom they have grown up or have believed to be part of their personal histories and, for some people, may challenge their sense of identity. Beyond personal identity issues, in this paper, I draw upon ideas about ‘ghost-work’ to suggest that these experiences have some of the features of hauntings and that the ghostly fathers who break through may speak to us about social realities and structures, beyond the confines of linear time. Full article
17 pages, 3780 KiB  
Article
Whakapapa Back: Mixed Indigenous Māori and Pākehā Genealogy and Heritage in Aotearoa/New Zealand
by Helene Diana Connor
Genealogy 2019, 3(4), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3040073 - 16 Dec 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 23283
Abstract
Māori tribal and social histories are founded on whakapapa (genealogy). Whakapapa and the knowledge of one’s ancestry is what connects all Māori to one another and is the central marker of traditional mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). Knowledge of one’s whakapapa and ancestral links [...] Read more.
Māori tribal and social histories are founded on whakapapa (genealogy). Whakapapa and the knowledge of one’s ancestry is what connects all Māori to one another and is the central marker of traditional mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). Knowledge of one’s whakapapa and ancestral links is at the root of Māori identity and heritage, which can be re-connected with even if a person has been dislocated from it by colonization, urbanization and/or marriage. The collective experiences of Māori are contextualized within whakapapa and narratives of iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whanau (family). Within the context of colonization, whakapapa as a meaningful epistemological framework has not been erased and continues to connect Māori to one another and our tribal lands, histories and stories. Whakapapa and Māori identity are underpinned by an epistemology based on Māori tikanga (customary practices) that take into account the importance of a collective vision. However, research on counseling with people of indigenous descent from Aotearoa/New Zealand has found that for people of mixed Māori and Pākehā (European) heritage, it is important to recognize both sides of a person’s family in working on mental health issues. To address the complications of mixed identity, this article is written from an autoethnographic point of view to share how whakapapa and genealogical links have shaped my identity as someone of mixed Māori and Pākehā heritage. Full article
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25 pages, 419 KiB  
Article
Vox España and Alternative für Deutschland: Propagating the Crisis of National Identity
by Robert Gould
Genealogy 2019, 3(4), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3040064 - 29 Nov 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 9486
Abstract
This paper contains a comparative analysis of the presentation of the national identity of Spain and Germany by the far-right populist parties Vox España and Alternative für Deutschland. It shows how each party views national identity as being in a serious crisis arising [...] Read more.
This paper contains a comparative analysis of the presentation of the national identity of Spain and Germany by the far-right populist parties Vox España and Alternative für Deutschland. It shows how each party views national identity as being in a serious crisis arising from the betrayal by old-line parties which has led to the increased influence of the EU, the consequent reduction of national sovereignty, a deleterious impact on their own and on European culture, and a harmful influence on the family. The parties repudiate many of the provisions of the EU treaties. They are equally opposed to the presence of Islam in Christian Europe, viewing it as a menace to values shared by all European nations. These analyses lead to an examination of the performance of crisis by means of deliberate provocation and the use of electronic media. It shows how these parties from very different parts of Europe share remarkably close positions and use the technological achievements of the twenty-first century to attack the late-twentieth-century political and social achievements of the European Union in order to replace them with the nineteenth-century idea of the distinct ethno-cultural nation fully sovereign in its own nation-state. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Nationalism in Spain)
20 pages, 510 KiB  
Article
‘Feel the Knife Pierce You Intensely’: Slayer’s ‘Angel of Death’—Holocaust Representation or Metal Affects?
by Dominic Williams
Genealogy 2019, 3(4), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3040061 - 14 Nov 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5584
Abstract
This article tackles a well-known but little-studied phenomenon: the importance of Holocaust themes to heavy metal. The fascination of metal bands with evil and death has until recently been met outside the scene with such reactions as moral panic, disgust or indifference. In [...] Read more.
This article tackles a well-known but little-studied phenomenon: the importance of Holocaust themes to heavy metal. The fascination of metal bands with evil and death has until recently been met outside the scene with such reactions as moral panic, disgust or indifference. In the last ten years, however, scholars in an emerging discourse of Metal Studies have attempted to engage more critically with the social and musical dimensions of metal, in order to contextualise and understand its lyrics and imagery. Although a number of writers have touched upon the recurrence of Holocaust imagery, no one has dealt at any length with extreme metal as a form of Holocaust memory. My article focuses on what might be called the founding text of extreme metal, Slayer’s ‘Angel of Death’, which lived up to the sub-genre’s name by pushing both its musical form and its lyrical content beyond previously maintained limits and taboos. It considers the song’s mobilisation of affective intensities as involving problematic politics, but also a challenge to conceptions of Holocaust representation. I consider how affects are evoked by ‘Angel of Death’ through offering readings of the song itself as well as of ways that its reception have been recorded on social media, in concert videos, and reaction videos uploaded to YouTube. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogy The Holocaust in Contemporary Popular Culture)
27 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
Conflict in Catalonia: A Sociological Approximation
by Thomas Jeffrey Miley and Roberto Garvía
Genealogy 2019, 3(4), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3040056 - 30 Oct 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7281
Abstract
This article follows the approach originally pioneered by Juan Linz to the empirical study of nationalism. We make use of original survey data to situate the emergent social division around the question of independence within a broader constellation of power relations. We bring [...] Read more.
This article follows the approach originally pioneered by Juan Linz to the empirical study of nationalism. We make use of original survey data to situate the emergent social division around the question of independence within a broader constellation of power relations. We bring into focus a variety of demographic, cultural, behavioral and attitudinal indicators with which this division is associated. We emphasize the special salience of language practices and ideologies in conditioning, if not determining, attitudes towards independence. We stress the continuing legacy of what Linz famously referred to as a “three-cornered conflict” among “regional nationalists, the central government and immigrant workers,” which has long conditioned democratic politics in the region. More concretely, we show how the reinforcing cleavages of language and class are reflected in, and indeed have been exacerbated by, the ongoing political conflict between pro-independence and pro-unionist camps in Catalonia. At the same time, we highlight that near half of the Catalan citizenry has come to register a rather intense preference in favor of independence, and we conclude that this sociological reality renders it quite difficult for Spanish authorities to enforce the will of the Spanish majority without appearing to tyrannize the Catalan minority. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Nationalism in Spain)
14 pages, 1669 KiB  
Article
He Tātai Whenua: Environmental Genealogies
by Margaret Forster
Genealogy 2019, 3(3), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3030042 - 19 Jul 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 8406
Abstract
Whakapapa, an indigenous form of genealogy of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand, is a powerful tool for understanding social phenomena. In this paper, the environmental histories of Aotearoa New Zealand are converted to whakapapa/genealogical sequences and kōrero tuku iho/narratives derived from [...] Read more.
Whakapapa, an indigenous form of genealogy of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand, is a powerful tool for understanding social phenomena. In this paper, the environmental histories of Aotearoa New Zealand are converted to whakapapa/genealogical sequences and kōrero tuku iho/narratives derived from whakapapa, to demonstrate this explanatory power. It is argued that whakapapa is much more than a method for mapping kinship relationships. Whakapapa enables vast amounts of information to be collated and analysed, to reveal a multitude of narratives. It also facilitates a critique of indigenous rights issues, revealing Māori agendas for environmental management. Therefore, the whakapapa sequences and narratives created as part of this paper provide an understanding that is not restricted to the grand narrative or the past as whakapapa is never-ending, dynamic, fluid and future-focused. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indigenous Perspectives on Genealogical Research)
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13 pages, 589 KiB  
Article
A Brief History of Whakapapa: Māori Approaches to Genealogy
by Nēpia Mahuika
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020032 - 14 Jun 2019
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 47123
Abstract
Whakapapa is the Māori term for genealogy. It has been described by some as the skeletal structure of Māori epistemology because all things have their own genealogies. In research, whakapapa has been presented in tribal histories, Māori Land Court records, and consistently as [...] Read more.
Whakapapa is the Māori term for genealogy. It has been described by some as the skeletal structure of Māori epistemology because all things have their own genealogies. In research, whakapapa has been presented in tribal histories, Māori Land Court records, and consistently as a framework for mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and Māori research methodologies. This essay offers a brief overview of the ways in which whakapapa has been understood and negotiated in research particularly after the arrival of Europeans. Some early ethnographers, for instance, applied their own genealogical methods of dating to whakapapa, which influenced various Māori approaches from the twentieth century. With the advent of literacy and print, Māori experimented with new ways to record genealogy, and yet the underlying oral, ethical, and cultural practices that are crucial to whakapapa have remained integral to how it still lives and operates in Māori communities today. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indigenous Perspectives on Genealogical Research)
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13 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Becoming Nonhuman: The Case Study of the Gulag
by Yochai Ataria
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020027 - 28 May 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 10556
Abstract
Based on the experience of innocent individuals who were arrested and sent to the Gulag, this paper examines the transformation from being human to being nonhuman. It suggests that during this process, one shifts from belonging to nonbelonging. As a result, similarly to [...] Read more.
Based on the experience of innocent individuals who were arrested and sent to the Gulag, this paper examines the transformation from being human to being nonhuman. It suggests that during this process, one shifts from belonging to nonbelonging. As a result, similarly to Winston Smith–Orwell’s hero in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the prisoner is rebooted and reborn as an object belonging to the Gulag. In this situation, the prisoner internalizes the Gulag’s rules in the deepest possible manner. Full article
14 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Indigenous Reflections on Identity, Trauma, and Healing: Navigating Belonging and Power
by Luis Urrieta
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020026 - 25 May 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 8245
Abstract
Indigenous people are survivors of what some scholars have called the nexus of bio–psycho–social–cultural–spiritual intergenerational trauma. The effects of these multi-plex traumas brought on by European colonialism(s) reverberate into the present and affect Indigenous peoples at various scales, from local interpersonal relations to [...] Read more.
Indigenous people are survivors of what some scholars have called the nexus of bio–psycho–social–cultural–spiritual intergenerational trauma. The effects of these multi-plex traumas brought on by European colonialism(s) reverberate into the present and affect Indigenous peoples at various scales, from local interpersonal relations to larger macro scales of geo-regional displacement. Indigenous peoples, however, have also survived the traumas of displacement, genocide, racism, surveillance, and incarceration by sustaining systems of ancestral and contemporary healing practices that contribute to individual and collective survivance. In this essay, I explore intergenerational rememberings of Indigenous identity, trauma, and healing based on personal, family, and community memory. Through rememberings, I seek to deconstruct the Western constructs of identity and trauma, arguing that these conceptions create trappings based on the exclusions of membership that support power hierarchies that perpetuate the dehumanization of Native peoples. By exposing these trappings, I will engage in my own decolonizing healing process by reclaiming, reconnecting, rewriting and rerighting histories. Finally, through an I/We Indigenous philosophy of belonging, I will argue that emotion can be an important saber (knowing) to help understand Indigenous identities as connected, collective, and ancestral ways of knowing and being that re/humanize Indigenous collective relational understandings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intergenerational Trauma and Healing)
11 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Indigenous Relationality: Women, Kinship and the Law
by Patricia Dudgeon and Abigail Bray
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020023 - 26 Apr 2019
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 35457
Abstract
Strong female governance has always been central to one of the world’s oldest existing culturally diverse, harmonious, sustainable, and democratic societies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s governance of a country twice the size of Europe is based on complex laws which regulate [...] Read more.
Strong female governance has always been central to one of the world’s oldest existing culturally diverse, harmonious, sustainable, and democratic societies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s governance of a country twice the size of Europe is based on complex laws which regulate relationships to country, family, community, culture and spirituality. These laws are passed down through generations and describe kinship systems which encompass sophisticated relations to the more-than-human. This article explores Indigenous kinship as an expression of relationality, culturally specific and complex Indigenous knowledge systems which are founded on a connection to the land. Although Indigenous Australian women’s kinships have been disrupted through dispossession from the lands they belong to, the forced removal of their children across generations, and the destruction of their culture, community and kinship networks, the survival of Indigenous women’s knowledge systems have supported the restoration of Indigenous relationality. The strengthening of Indigenous women’s kinship is explored as a source of social and emotional wellbeing and an emerging politics of environmental reproductive justice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminist Genealogies: Specific Political Intersections)
24 pages, 4906 KiB  
Article
Interraciality in Early Twentieth Century Britain: Challenging Traditional Conceptualisations through Accounts of ‘Ordinariness’
by Chamion Caballero
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020021 - 17 Apr 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 46996
Abstract
The popular conception of interraciality in Britain is one that frequently casts mixed racial relationships, people and families as being a modern phenomenon. Yet, as scholars are increasingly discussing, interraciality in Britain has much deeper and diverse roots, with racial mixing and mixedness [...] Read more.
The popular conception of interraciality in Britain is one that frequently casts mixed racial relationships, people and families as being a modern phenomenon. Yet, as scholars are increasingly discussing, interraciality in Britain has much deeper and diverse roots, with racial mixing and mixedness now a substantively documented presence at least as far back as the Tudor era. While much of this history has been told through the perspectives of outsiders and frequently in the negative terms of the assumed ‘orthodoxy of the interracial experience’—marginality, conflict, rejection and confusion—first-hand accounts challenging these perceptions allow a contrasting picture to emerge. This article contributes to the foregrounding of this more complex history through focusing on accounts of interracial ‘ordinariness’—both presence and experiences—throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, a time when official concern about racial mixing featured prominently in public debate. In doing so, a more multidimensional picture of interracial family life than has frequently been assumed is depicted, one which challenges mainstream attitudes about conceptualisations of racial mixing both then and now. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genealogy and Multiracial Family Histories)
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20 pages, 314 KiB  
Article
Facebook and WhatsApp as Elements in Transnational Care Chains for the Trinidadian Diaspora
by Dwaine Plaza and Lauren Plaza
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020015 - 2 Apr 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5196
Abstract
Despite being separated by great geographical distances, the Trinidadian Diaspora community has managed to stay in regular communication with those back “home” using the latest available technologies. Trinidadian migrants living abroad have established multi-directional care chains with family, kin, and friends that have [...] Read more.
Despite being separated by great geographical distances, the Trinidadian Diaspora community has managed to stay in regular communication with those back “home” using the latest available technologies. Trinidadian migrants living abroad have established multi-directional care chains with family, kin, and friends that have endured for decades. This social connection has evolved from letter writing, telegrams, telephones, emails, and most recently, internet-based social media which includes: Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Facetime, Snapchat, Twitter, and Google Hangout. This paper examines how social media, focusing on Facebook and WhatsApp, are tools being used by the Trinidadian Diaspora to provide transnational care-giving to family and friends kin left behind in the “home” country and beyond. The analysis is based on the results of two online Qualtrics surveys, one implemented in 2012 (n = 150) and another in 2015 (n = 100) of Trinidadian Diaspora participants and in-depth interviews with (n = 10) Canadian-Trinidadians. This paper explores how social media have become a virtual transnational bridge that connects the Trinidadian Diaspora across long distances and provides family members with a feeling of psychological well-being. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transnationalism and Genealogy)
12 pages, 706 KiB  
Article
Against All Odds? Birth Fathers and Enduring Thoughts of the Child Lost to Adoption
by Gary Clapton
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020013 - 29 Mar 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6490
Abstract
This paper revisits a topic only briefly raised in earlier research, the idea that the grounds for fatherhood can be laid with little or no ‘hands-on’ experience of fathering and upon these grounds, an enduring sense of being a father of, and bond [...] Read more.
This paper revisits a topic only briefly raised in earlier research, the idea that the grounds for fatherhood can be laid with little or no ‘hands-on’ experience of fathering and upon these grounds, an enduring sense of being a father of, and bond with, a child seen once or never, can develop. The paper explores the specific experiences of men whose children were adopted as babies drawing on the little research that exists on this population, work relating to expectant fathers, personal accounts, and other sources such as surveys of birth parents in the USA and Australia. The paper’s exploration and discussion of a manifestation of fatherhood that can hold in mind a ‘lost’ child, disrupts narratives of fathering that regard fathering as ‘doing’ and notions that once out of sight, a child is out of mind for a father. The paper suggests that, for the men in question, a diversity of feelings, but also behaviours, point to a form of continuing, lived fathering practices—that however, take place without the child in question. The conclusion debates the utility of the phrase “birth father” as applied historically and in contemporary adoption processes. Full article
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13 pages, 625 KiB  
Article
Restoring the Feminine of Indigenous Environmental Thought
by Margaret Forster
Genealogy 2019, 3(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3010011 - 16 Mar 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 8411
Abstract
A feminist genealogy approach to governmentality is used to explore how indigenous knowledge and aspirations related to the environment become embedded into Aotearoa New Zealand environmental policy and practice. Particular consideration is given to the indigenous feminine as an impetus for change as [...] Read more.
A feminist genealogy approach to governmentality is used to explore how indigenous knowledge and aspirations related to the environment become embedded into Aotearoa New Zealand environmental policy and practice. Particular consideration is given to the indigenous feminine as an impetus for change as expressed through atua wāhine/Māori female spiritual authority and powers. Political projects and activism by Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, provide the basis to explore contests between environmental truths that originate from Māori traditions and those that have come to dominate national environmental politics that originate from British “Western” traditions. It is argued that truth contests have been extremely effective at disrupting the power and authority of environmental policy and practice dominated by Western thought. Furthermore, efforts to maintain the momentum of these transformation and consolidate the authority and power of Māori communities is linked to rendering the indigenous feminine visible, retelling our herstories and developing new relationships and practices that give expression to atua. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminist Genealogies: Specific Political Intersections)
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10 pages, 232 KiB  
Article
The Wisdom of and Science behind Indigenous Cultural Practices
by Rose Borunda and Amy Murray
Genealogy 2019, 3(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3010006 - 23 Jan 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7857
Abstract
Conquest and colonization have systematically disrupted the processes by which Indigenous communities of the Americas transmit cultural knowledge and practices from one generation to the next. Even today, the extended arm of conquest and colonization that sustain oppression and culturicide continue to inflict [...] Read more.
Conquest and colonization have systematically disrupted the processes by which Indigenous communities of the Americas transmit cultural knowledge and practices from one generation to the next. Even today, the extended arm of conquest and colonization that sustain oppression and culturicide continue to inflict trauma upon Indigenous people. Yet, current scientific research now attests to how Indigenous cultural practices promote healing and well-being within physical as well as mental health domains. This examination addresses Indigenous cultural practices related to storytelling, music, and dance. In drawing from evidence-based research, the case is made for not only restoring these practices where they have been disrupted for Indigenous people but that they have value for all people. The authors recommend reintroducing their use as a means to promote physical, spiritual, and mental well-being while recognizing that these practices originated from and exist for Indigenous people. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intergenerational Trauma and Healing)
16 pages, 255 KiB  
Article
History, Kinship, Identity, and Technology: Toward Answering the Question “What Is (Family) Genealogy?”
by Stephen B. Hatton
Genealogy 2019, 3(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3010002 - 4 Jan 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 10743
Abstract
The article attempts to move beyond cursory definitions to explore the fundamental core and practice of genealogy. Some genealogical writers think that it is history or a subset of history. Others view it as a study of kinship, or relations, and identity. Though [...] Read more.
The article attempts to move beyond cursory definitions to explore the fundamental core and practice of genealogy. Some genealogical writers think that it is history or a subset of history. Others view it as a study of kinship, or relations, and identity. Though technology is increasingly used as a tool to do genealogy, it is not viewed as its essence. The article moves toward an answer to the question “what is genealogy?” through four interventions directed at these four concepts. It examines history, kinship, identity, and technology in relation to genealogy. It demonstrates key differences between history and genealogy. It discusses the use of the genealogical model in anthropology, and then relates how sociology views kinship as social. Four kinds of identity are relevant to genealogy, but none answers what genealogy is. The article argues that genealogy is a technology in the ancient Greek sense. Technē is primarily a kind of practical knowledge with characteristics congruent with genealogy’s project. Genealogy is a technē in its essence rather than history, a study of kinship, or a study of identity. Full article
26 pages, 461 KiB  
Article
The Rise and Fall of BritainsDNA: A Tale of Misleading Claims, Media Manipulation and Threats to Academic Freedom
by Debbie A Kennett, Adrian Timpson, David J. Balding and Mark G. Thomas
Genealogy 2018, 2(4), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2040047 - 2 Nov 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 21241
Abstract
Direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry testing is a new and growing industry that has gained widespread media coverage and public interest. Its scientific base is in the fields of population and evolutionary genetics and it has benefitted considerably from recent advances in rapid and cost-effective [...] Read more.
Direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry testing is a new and growing industry that has gained widespread media coverage and public interest. Its scientific base is in the fields of population and evolutionary genetics and it has benefitted considerably from recent advances in rapid and cost-effective DNA typing technologies. There is a considerable body of scientific literature on the use of genetic data to make inferences about human population history, although publications on inferring the ancestry of specific individuals are rarer. Population geneticists have questioned the scientific validity of some population history inference approaches, particularly those of a more interpretative nature. These controversies have spilled over into commercial genetic ancestry testing, with some companies making sensational claims about their products. One such company—BritainsDNA—made a number of dubious claims both directly to its customers and in the media. Here we outline our scientific concerns, document the exchanges between us, BritainsDNA and the BBC, and discuss the issues raised about media promotion of commercial enterprises, academic freedom of expression, science and pseudoscience and the genetic ancestry testing industry. We provide a detailed account of this case as a resource for historians and sociologists of science, and to shape public understanding, media reporting and scientific scrutiny of the commercial use of population and evolutionary genetics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Genealogy)
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14 pages, 240 KiB  
Article
Close Relations? The Long-Term Outcomes of Adoption Reunions
by Gary Clapton
Genealogy 2018, 2(4), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2040041 - 2 Oct 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6258
Abstract
There has been a number of studies on the outcomes of adoption reunions, most of which have focussed on relatively ‘fresh’ reunions. Very few studies have looked at long-term outcomes. Fewer still have discussed reunions and kinship with controversy over firstly, the longevity [...] Read more.
There has been a number of studies on the outcomes of adoption reunions, most of which have focussed on relatively ‘fresh’ reunions. Very few studies have looked at long-term outcomes. Fewer still have discussed reunions and kinship with controversy over firstly, the longevity of reunions, and secondly, what such reunions might engender regarding the relative kinship statuses of adoptive and birth families. This paper critically discusses the existing literature on reunions and kinship, and then reports on the long-term outcomes of 200 ‘matches’ on the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland between 1996–2006, presenting qualitative detail from the 75 respondents who completed questionnaires and sent in stories. The paper invites us to think about how adoption can form an adoptive family and deform a birth family, and how adoption reunions re-form both and everyone included. However, it will especially focus on what a coming together of two people separated by adoption means for the way that they frame their relationship with each other and those around them. Full article
14 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
Inscribing Ethnicity: A Preliminary Analysis of Gaelic Headstone Inscriptions in Eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton
by Laurie Stanley-Blackwell and Michael Linkletter
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030029 - 15 Aug 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 7918
Abstract
Focusing on the verbal rather than the visual elements of early and more modern headstones in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, this essay will comment on a selection of Gaelic headstone inscriptions, highlighting such elements as word choice (whether secular or religious), [...] Read more.
Focusing on the verbal rather than the visual elements of early and more modern headstones in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, this essay will comment on a selection of Gaelic headstone inscriptions, highlighting such elements as word choice (whether secular or religious), cemetery location, time period, and the deceased’s background. Despite the striking paucity of Gaelic examples, it is our objective to discuss why Gaelic had a limited presence in Nova Scotia’s pioneer Scottish immigrant cemeteries and to demonstrate how these cemeteries were contested sites, which mirrored ongoing tensions between assimilation and cultural retention. In sum, this article will assess the importance of cemeteries as material articulations of language use and language maintenance among Nova Scotia’s diasporic Scots, set against the wider background of their struggles, aspirations, and shared values. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemeteries and Churchyards)
15 pages, 218 KiB  
Article
Pan-Africanism: A Quest for Liberation and the Pursuit of a United Africa
by Mark Malisa and Phillippa Nhengeze
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030028 - 14 Aug 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 19629
Abstract
Our paper examines the place of Pan-Africanism as an educational, political, and cultural movement which had a lasting impact on the on the relationship between liberation and people of African descent, in the continent of Africa and the Diaspora. We also show its [...] Read more.
Our paper examines the place of Pan-Africanism as an educational, political, and cultural movement which had a lasting impact on the on the relationship between liberation and people of African descent, in the continent of Africa and the Diaspora. We also show its evolution, beginning with formerly enslaved Africans in the Americas, to the colonial borders of the 1884 Berlin Conference, and conclude with the independence movements in Africa. For formerly enslaved Africans, Pan-Africanism was an idea that helped them see their commonalities as victims of racism. That is, they realized that they were enslaved because they came from the same continent and shared the same racial heritage. They associated the continent of Africa with freedom. The partitioning of Africa at the Berlin Conference (colonialism) created pseudo-nation states out of what was initially seen as an undivided continent. Pan-Africanism provided an ideology for rallying Africans at home and abroad against colonialism, and the creation of colonial nation-states did not erase the idea of a united Africa. As different African nations gained political independence, they took it upon themselves to support those countries fighting for their independence. The belief, then, was that as long as one African nation was not free, the continent could not be viewed as free. The existence of nation-states did not imply the negation of Pan-Africanism. The political ideas we examine include those of Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Kwame Nkrumah, Maya Angelou, and Thabo Mbeki. Pan-Africanism, as it were, has shaped how many people understand the history of Africa and of African people. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nations in Time: Genealogy, History and the Narration of Time)
14 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
A Political Genealogy of Dance: The Choreographing of Life and Images
by Julian Reid
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030020 - 28 Jun 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4656
Abstract
This article provides a genealogical critique of the history and modernity of dance. In doing so it establishes the political importance of dance as an art not principally of the body and its biopolitical capacities for movement, but of images and imagination. It [...] Read more.
This article provides a genealogical critique of the history and modernity of dance. In doing so it establishes the political importance of dance as an art not principally of the body and its biopolitical capacities for movement, but of images and imagination. It traces the development of dance as an art of imagination, lost and buried in the works of Domenico da Piacenza, Jean-Georges Noverre, and Loïe Fuller, as well as its counter-movement expressed in the work of Rudolf Laban. It also locates contemporary dance within this political conflict by exploring new works, especially those of Ivana Müller, which call upon beholders to use their imaginations through the evocation of histories and memories. Such works can be understood to be deeply political, it will argue, because they work to transform society by creating time for a belief in the impossible. At its best, dance does not simply incite bodies to move but suspends movement, transforming the very image of what a body is capable of. These aims and practices of dance speak to contemporary concerns within political practice, theory, and philosophy for a reawakening of political imagination in times of crisis and neoliberal hegemony. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond Foucault: Excursions in Political Genealogy)
18 pages, 284 KiB  
Article
Time, Kinship, and the Nation
by Steven E. Grosby
Genealogy 2018, 2(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2020017 - 29 Apr 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 11063
Abstract
There remains both a great deal of confusion over the nature of kinship and an inappropriate resistance to understanding the nation as one form of kinship, specifically, territorial kinship. Although one finds the relatively early and occasional analysis of the nation in terms [...] Read more.
There remains both a great deal of confusion over the nature of kinship and an inappropriate resistance to understanding the nation as one form of kinship, specifically, territorial kinship. Although one finds the relatively early and occasional analysis of the nation in terms of kinship, for example, by Lloyd Fallers, anthropologists, including paradoxically Ernest Gellner, have avoided understanding nationality in this way. Despite Anthony Smith’s attention to ethnie, those associated with nationalism studies have also generally avoided analyzing the nation in terms of kinship, as can be seen by the ill-informed hostility to the category “primoridal”. This article rectifies this mistake by re-examining the category of kinship, along both its vertical, temporal axis and horizontal, geographical axis, with attention to nationality in general and, in particular, in antiquity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nations in Time: Genealogy, History and the Narration of Time)
12 pages, 288 KiB  
Article
Using Foucault: Genealogy, Governmentality and the Problem of Chronic Illness
by Ann Reich and Margo Turnbull
Genealogy 2018, 2(2), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2020013 - 10 Apr 2018
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6027
Abstract
This article explores the unique contribution that Foucault’s work on genealogy and governmentality can make to the analysis of contemporary programs of government. The article uses an Australian study of the ‘problem’ of chronic illness to argue that this perspective offers valuable insights [...] Read more.
This article explores the unique contribution that Foucault’s work on genealogy and governmentality can make to the analysis of contemporary programs of government. The article uses an Australian study of the ‘problem’ of chronic illness to argue that this perspective offers valuable insights into how ‘problems’ such as chronic illness have become linked to advanced liberal discourses and practices of self-governing and self-responsibility. These insights are particularly valuable in fields such as primary health care that have a noted shortage of critical and reflective studies that explore the links between people and changing ideas of health and disease. This article details how taking up an analytics of governmentality and political genealogy informed by Foucault, facilitated the tracing of the dominant discourses and practices, and the connections to the day-to -day lives of the clients with chronic diseases. Importantly, this approach opened up a more critical consideration of the ways in which dispersed approaches to governing through programs, such as integrated care, shape and influence the lives of individuals. These dispersed ways of governing are not linear but rather unfold through ongoing relays, connections and the (re)production of discourses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond Foucault: Excursions in Political Genealogy)
24 pages, 305 KiB  
Article
Of African Descent? Blackness and the Concept of Origins in Cultural Perspective
by Sarah Abel
Genealogy 2018, 2(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2010011 - 5 Mar 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 10796
Abstract
Over the past decade, the DNA ancestry-testing industry—based largely in the United States—has experienced a huge upsurge in popularity, thanks partly to rapidly developing technologies and the falling prices of products. Meanwhile, the notion of “genetic genealogy” has been strongly endorsed by popular [...] Read more.
Over the past decade, the DNA ancestry-testing industry—based largely in the United States—has experienced a huge upsurge in popularity, thanks partly to rapidly developing technologies and the falling prices of products. Meanwhile, the notion of “genetic genealogy” has been strongly endorsed by popular television documentary shows in the US, particularly vis-à-vis African-American roots-seekers—for whom these products are offered as a means to discover one’s ancestral “ethnic” origins, thereby “reversing the Middle Passage.” Yet personalized DNA ancestry tests have not had the same reception among people of African descent in other societies that were historically affected by slavery. This paper outlines and contextualizes these divergent responses by examining and comparing the cultural and political meanings that are attached to notions of origin, as well as the way that Blackness has been defined and articulated, in three different settings: the United States, France and Brazil. Full article
10 pages, 203 KiB  
Article
Bridging Discussions of Human History: Ancestry DNA and New Roles for Africana Studies
by Bessie L. Lawton, Anita Foeman and Nicholas Surdel
Genealogy 2018, 2(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2010005 - 22 Jan 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7858
Abstract
This paper explores how Africana Studies offer the opportunity for a new worldview that may supplant the assumption that Western history is history. It considers how new knowledge of the human migration bodes for the future of Africana Studies. It has the following [...] Read more.
This paper explores how Africana Studies offer the opportunity for a new worldview that may supplant the assumption that Western history is history. It considers how new knowledge of the human migration bodes for the future of Africana Studies. It has the following research questions: (1) Does new ancestry data reveal or clarify African narratives that may have been missing or suppressed?; (2) What heritage do participants over- or under-predict?; (3) Do participants over-predict indigenous American heritage?; and (4) How is unexpected heritage received? Data from the DNA Discussion Project is used to answer these questions, and implications for bridging discussions of human history using Ancestry DNA are discussed. Full article
18 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
On the Political Genealogy of Trump after Foucault
by Bruce M. Knauft
Genealogy 2018, 2(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2010004 - 15 Jan 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7762
Abstract
How would Foucault have viewed Trump as President, and Trumpism in the US more generally? More realistically, how can we discern and insightfully apply genealogical insights after Foucault to better comprehend and act in relation to our current political situation in the US? [...] Read more.
How would Foucault have viewed Trump as President, and Trumpism in the US more generally? More realistically, how can we discern and insightfully apply genealogical insights after Foucault to better comprehend and act in relation to our current political situation in the US? Questions of factuality across a base register of asserted falsehoods are now prominent in American politics in ways that put assertions of scholarly objectivity and interpretation in yet deeper question than previously. The extent, range, and vitriol of alt-Right assertions and their viral growth in American media provoke progressivist resistance and anxiety, but how can this opposition be most productively channeled? This paper examines a range of critical perspectives, timeframes, and topical optics with respect to Trump and Trumpism, including nationalist, racist, sexist, class-based, and oligarchical dimensions. These are considered in relation to media and the incitement of polarized subjectivity and dividing practices, and also in relation to Marxist political economy, neoliberalism/neoimperialism, and postcolonialism. I then address the limit points of Foucault, including with respect to engaged political activism and social protest movements, and I consider the relevance of these for the diverse optics that political genealogy as a form of analysis might pursue. Notwithstanding and indeed because of the present impetus to take organized political action, a Foucauldian perspective is useful in foregrounding the broader late modern formations of knowledge, power, and subjectivity within which both Rightist and Leftist political sensibilities in the US are presently cast. At larger issue are the values inscribed through contemporary late modernity that inform both sides of present divisive polarities—and which make the prognosis of tipping points or future political outcomes particularly difficult. As such, productive strategies of activist opposition are likely to vary under alternative conditions and opportunities—including in relation to the particular skills, history, and predilection of activists themselves. If the age of reason threatens to be over, the question of how and in what ways critical intellectualism can connect with productive action emerges afresh for each of us in a higher and more personal key. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond Foucault: Excursions in Political Genealogy)
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