UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RESEARCHER FOLLOWS NEW HORIZON IN ANTHROPOLOGY

CHICAGO — Not since the days of flower power and Volkswagen vans has the idea of "going out to find oneself" been of such interest.

A University of Arkansas anthropologist’s examination of the links between identity and place has found that increased globalization has changed not only the way people think about themselves and their origins but also the way anthropologists conduct their research.

Dr. JoAnn D’Alisera, assistant professor of anthropology and executive board member of the Society for Humanistic Anthropology, will present this aspect of her work on Friday, Nov. 19, at the American Anthropological Association meeting as part of an invited panel called New Diasporas: Implications for Theory and Method in Africanist Anthropology.

"When we talk about anthropological informants [subjects], we’re not talking about a single people isolated in a single place," said D’Alisera. "We’re talking about people who are moving more freely and more quickly than ever before — both physically and in terms of self-identification. The methodology of research needs to change to accommodate this growing globalization."

D’Alisera has experienced first-hand the need for new methodologies. While conducting research in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, a civil war interrupted her work. To escape the violence, many Sierra Leonean citizens sought refuge in the United States, bringing their families and their heritage with them. D’Alisera followed.

She continued her research, working with Sierra Leoneans who had settled in the Washington D.C. area. Those who arrived in the early '90s, escaping civil war, joined those who had moved to the U.S. after immigration laws changed in the 1960s and others who had fled Sierra Leone’s crumbling economic conditions in the '80s.

The result was a community of more than 5,000 West African transmigrants who mirrored the diversity of their homeland — representing 18 different ethnic groups and a multiplicity of religions. In spite of these differences, D’Alisera found that Sierra Leoneans in Washington D.C. formed a tightly knit community that thrived not only on common heritage but also on shared adversity.

"The D.C. community has various fractures along the lines of religion and ethnicity, but the fact that they’re here in a foreign environment among people who don’t really understand them is enough to forge them into a cohesive group," said D’Alisera.

By following her informants from Sierra Leone to the United States, D’Alisera found herself in a prime position to study the way that transmigration affects one’s sense of identity. She observed that, once displaced from their native country, Sierra Leoneans experienced an amplified link to their homeland.

This link expressed itself through close contact with other Sierra Leoneans and through the preservation of their unique culture. They continued to wear native clothing, to celebrate weddings and funerals through traditional ritual, to observe religious holidays of their homeland and to decorate their homes in traditional fashion.

"Their displacement actually intensified the idea of what it meant to be Sierra Leonean," said D’Alisera. "They felt a stronger connection to their homeland than they had experienced while living there."

D’Alisera believes the amplified link to Sierra Leone may be a reaction to the adjustment of living among people who do not understand or fully accept them. By exhibiting their culture and values, they shrug the stereotypes that Americans place upon them and regain a sense of their own identity. In addition, it enables them to maintain a psychological connection with the people and places they left behind.

Technology also offers a tool to maintain connections with their homeland. Telephones, email and the Internet enable instantaneous contact with people living halfway across the world. In a sense, this capability forms virtual social groups that pay no attention to boundaries or oceans.

D’Alisera believes anthropologists must take into account new methods of cultural transmission if they are to understand how people form communities and identify themselves. But this is only one example of how globalization is changing anthropology. Many more changes must be made, she said.

By moving her fieldwork from Sierra Leone to Washington D.C., D’Alisera gained insight into the identity of her informants, but she also experienced the challenges of studying a culture that has been widely dispersed.

One of D’Alisera’s first adjustments when arriving in the United States was to redefine what constituted the field. In Sierra Leone, she had worked in a single village, witnessing the daily interactions of its citizens within a confined area. In Washington D.C., she found that her informants were scattered over a large area. They gathered for social occasions but otherwise lived apart.

In addition, as D’Alisera and her informants moved from rural Sierra Leone to the urban U.S., both experienced a certain disorientation. The Sierra Leoneans had to adjust to life in a large city, and D’Alisera had to account for the impact of an unfamiliar urban environment on their identities.

Despite the challenges of the adjustments, D’Alisera predicts that more and more anthropologists will be exploring new methodologies as people continue to move through new continents and cultures.

"Our informants are now identifying with multiple places, and we have to be willing to change our discipline in the interest of following them," she said. "To study them in only one of those locations is to ignore the greater picture of who they are."

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