Call for papers
Convenor
Aleksandra Wierucka
University of Gdansk
Abstract
During last decades the family life in the Amazon has changed rapidly mostly due to the influence of growing industry. Changing sources of obtaining family income are leaving an imprint on family bonds as well as care and everyday intimacy. The main aim of the panel is to present cross-disciplinary portrayal of contemporary every-day negotiations that are undertaken in indigenous families across the Amazon basin in order to shed some light on the structure of the changes in local understanding of relatedness.
People rely on their family ties in various ways – in gendered work, in leisure, in undertaking everyday chores as well as in facing the challenges of the modern world. Almost all aspects of life adjust to the challenge and are shaped to meet the need of the people. Relationships between mothers and children, husbands and wives and people of power and others have to be re-negotiated as people engage in new activities and new social obligations.
This panel seeks to explore the alteration in relations between people in the family and other groups they belong to. Changes are induced by different factors nevertheless people’s reaction to them can (but do not have to-) differ. Formal and “traditional” building of relatedness creates dynamic social interactions on individual as well as group level. What should be stressed, this panel argues for the significance of understanding how individual navigate their relationships with close and more distant family members.
The panel will try to address some of the following questions: What is the influence of different globalization processes on the ways in which kinship and care are maintained? What is the role of gendered kinship and care responsibilities in small-scale societies? How the contemporary challenges influenced the every-day care and intimate relations?