Dissertation Research: Fostering Family in Rural and Urban Ayacucho

Mannheim/Leinaweaver世界上许多社会都有灵活的育儿习俗，包括收养和领养，以便在特定情况下将儿童与成年人配对。本论文由一名文化人类学专业的学生进行研究，将调查收养和寄养在秘鲁农村和城市高原地区的作用。从农村到城市寻求教育、就业或安全的国内流动人口多年来一直使用灵活的育儿方法。秘鲁政府最近开始了国内和国际收养的管理和官僚化制度，这改变了城市安第斯人通过寄养发展其亲属网络的能力。在对阿亚库乔地区讲盖丘亚语的人进行为期12个月的研究后，这名学生将研究安第斯人如何回应关于亲属关系意识形态的国家话语和政策的内容。通过参与者观察、口述历史和半结构式访谈以及对400名被研究的农村社区居民的调查，她将考察关于适当形式的家庭建设的官方、国家话语的内容与农村社区居民和前往阿亚库乔的国内移民对寄养的理解和实践之间的关系。需要研究的总体问题是，当农村亲属关系模式面对国家话语时，它们是否愿意改变，或者亲属关系模式是否深深植根于安第斯人的生活中，以至于它们抵制国家话语鼓励的改变。该项目将为那些对国内和国际收养问题感兴趣的人提供宝贵的新知识，将增进我们对世界这一重要地区的熟悉，并将有助于培养一名年轻的社会科学家。

0109060Mannheim / Leinaweaver Many societies in the world have flexible customs of child-rearing involving adoption and fosterage to match children to adults in specific situations. This dissertation research by a cultural anthropology student will investigate the role of adoption and fosterage in rural and urban highland Peru. Internal migrants from rural to urban areas who seek education, employment, or safety have used flexible child rearing methods for years. The Peruvian government has recently begun a system of regulating and bureaucratizing domestic and international adoptions which transformed the ability of urban Andeans to develop their kinship networks through fosterage. Over a period of 12 months of research with Quechua speakers in the Ayacucho region, the student will study how Andeans respond to the content of state discourse and policy about kinship ideologies. Through participant observation, oral history and semi-structured interviews as well as a survey of 400 residents of the rural community studied, she will examine the relationship between the content of official, state discourse about proper forms of family-construction and the understandings and practices of fosterage among rural community dwellers and internal migrants to the city of Ayacucho. The general issue to be studied is whether rural models of kinship are amenable to change when they are confronted with state discourse, or whether models of kinship are so deeply embedded in Andean life that they resist changes encouraged by state discourse. This project will produce valuable new knowledge for those interested in issues surrounding both domestic and international adoption, will advance our familiarity with this important region of the world, and will contribute to the training of a young social scientist.