Ana Dragojlovic is conducting ethnographic research for her project entitled ‘Culture as Cure? Immigrants, Systemic Family Therapy and Emotional Suffering’. This project offers new theoretical and empirical perspectives on the complexities of transgenerational experiences of historical violence and displacement. Using ethnographic research it charts forms of creative, non-biomedical healing practices for the treatment of suffering and distress caused by displacement. These findings a) challenge the universality of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its implied individualistic concept of the self; and b) provide new insights into the transnational dynamics formed within cross-ethnic networks and alliances created during common therapeutic experiences. The study will aid understanding of the long-term implications of displacement and historical violence.
This project investigates the importance of kinship and genealogy in understanding diaspora and citizenship through an analysis of Indisch(Indo-Dutch) individuals' search for their roots and identity. The interpretation, representation and practice of kinship ties are sources of bonds but also disputes that inform Indisch personal, political and social networks and organisations. How individuals and institutions choose to practice and interpret kinship and genealogy is the main focus of this research. What are the cultural, social and political implications that the practice of kinship and genealogy has for the anthropological reconfiguration of the understanding of mobility, ethnicity, cultural difference, and cultural identity?
I hypostatise that genealogical knowledge and practice of kinship is crucial for the creation and sustenance of diaspora as diverse as Indisch. Rather than taking for granted the relationship between diaspora, genealogy and citizenship, this research sees the practice of genealogy and kinship as a conceptual tool to rethink the theoretical shortcomings of the studies of mobility and cultural-legal citizenship.
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