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lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Summary papers Bassoli Social and Political Research Methods (Università degli Studi di Padova) Scansiona per aprire su Studocu Studocu non è sponsorizzato o supportato da nessuna università o ateneo....

lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Summary papers Bassoli Social and Political Research Methods (Università degli Studi di Padova) Scansiona per aprire su Studocu Studocu non è sponsorizzato o supportato da nessuna università o ateneo. Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta BAZURLI - Explaining Variation in City Sanctuary Policies (Insights from American and European Cities) Many US and European local governments experiment with accommodative or integrative policies to support undocumented immigrants, mirrored in the proliferation of labels such as “sanctuary” (or “solidarity,” “welcoming,” “refuge”) cities. City sanctuary policies are adopted as a reaction against, and a (partial) solution to, exclusionary immigration policies adopted by national governments. These policies often originate from grassroots activism, through both direct service provision and political claim-making. Moreover, they are often informed by normative ideas of urban citizenship: cities are seen as an alternative locus of membership no longer bound to an a priori political community but based on the reality of presence and residence in a place (ius domicili). City sanctuary policies include undocumented immigrants in:  Local public service provision (e.g. healthcare, housing, legal services)  Rights protection (e.g. protection from deportation, “firewalls,” don’t ask don’t tell)  Democratic participation modes (e.g. local voting rights, participatory bodies)  This means that not all city sanctuary policies are the same. TOPIC: City sanctuary policies adopted to protect and integrate undocumented immigrants into aspects of city life. RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  What are the key drivers behind city sanctuary policies?  What explains the notable variation among city sanctuary policies? ARGUMENT: Cities are uniquely situated at the crossroads of local and supra-local contexts, which jointly explain variation in their responses to undocumented immigrants. EMPIRICS: Evidence from four American and European cities: San Francisco (USA), Houston (USA), Barcelona (Spain), and Milan (Italy). 1 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta RESEARCH DESIGN: Inductive theory-building through comparison of city sanctuary policies adopted in San Francisco (USA), Houston (USA), Barcelona (Spain), and Milan (Italy) CITY CASE SELECTION RATIONALE: Cities with sizeable immigrant and undocumented populations yet variation in their local economic, political, and civic context as well as the supra-local context in which they are embedded INTERVIEWS: 107 interviews (2005-2019) with: (1) local elected and appointed city ofÏcials; (2) staff from local immigrant and other community organizations OTHER SOURCES: Local newspaper reports, government files, secondary literature The supra-local context sets important parameters for city sanctuary policymaking: federal (U.S.) or quasi-federal (Spain) systems provide greater opportunities than more centralized systems (Italy); regional governments’ orientation toward undocumented immigrants varies notably, sending important cues to city ofÏcials. Local contextual factors further influence how city ofÏcials engage in sanctuary policymaking: in conducive local environments, city ofÏcials often perceive substantive and confrontational sanctuary policies as practically viable and politically expedient. More research is needed to build on, expand, and challenge our theoretical framework through systematic comparisons of sanctuary policies in other cities. San Francisco & Barcelona: both with favorable supra-local and local contexts  SUBSTANTIVE AND CONFRONTATIONAL SANCTUARY POLICIES Houston: with favorable supra-local context and unfavorable local context  SYMBOLIC AND CONFORMIST SANCTUARY POLICIES Milan: with both unfavorable supra-local and local context  SYMBOLIC AND CONFORMIST SANCTUARY POLICIES The project also opens new avenues for research on city sanctuary policies, and on urban politics and multi-level governance more broadly: - Policy impacts: Are city sanctuary policies useful after all? - Digital bordering: A new era for hostile data-sharing? - The European Union: “Fortress” or opportunity for venue-shopping? - Sanctuary as stopgaps: Beyond localism - any prospects for national reform? 2 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta PETRACCHIN - How Does Exposure to Asylum-Seekers’ Reception Centres Affect Votes for Far- Right Parties? RESEARCH QUESTION: Is exposure to asylum-seekers’ reception centers in Berlin related to the vote shares gained by the far-right AfD at the 2019 European Elections? LITERATURE REVIEW: Since 2015, an increasing number of scholars have studied the electoral consequences of immigration, producing opposite conclusions: - Some existing works have found evidence that exposure to asylum-seekers’ reception centers during the ‘refugee crisis’ increased support for far-right parties - Other scholars, conversely, have found that exposure to asylum-seekers’ facilities decreased support for far-right parties GAPS IN LITERATURE THAT THIS STUDY INTENDS TO FILL: Existing studies analyze the relationship between asylum-seeking flows and voting outcomes at the level of municipalities  problematic for big cities. No existing works explore the influence of the size/capacity of reception centers within the same city on the relationship between exposure to asylum-seeking migration and votes for the far-right  is the effect of a huge reception center the same as that of several very small centers? To explain contrasting findings in different countries/regions scholars often point to the role of ‘socio-cultural history’  but no existing works have examined this. Existing studies apply regression methods, without taking the ‘spatial’ dimension of the data into account. THEORY AND HYPOTHESES: ‘Contact theory’: interaction and contact between different groups lead to more tolerance and positive perceptions between these groups  a higher exposure to migrants decreases the votes for far-right parties ‘Group conflict theory’: majority group members feel threatened by the presence of other ethnic groups  a higher exposure to migration increases votes for the anti-immigration far-right  H1: Exposure to asylum-seeking migration is expected to negatively affect the vote shares for the AfD in Berlin. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXPOSURE TO MIGRATION AND VOTING : - Socio-economic context  H2: The negative foreseen impact of exposure to asylum- seeking migration on votes for the AfD is expected to be bigger in rich/better-off districts compared to poor/worse-off districts. - Pre-existing migration levels  H3: The negative foreseen impact of exposure to asylum- seeking migration on votes for the AfD is expected to be bigger in districts with a high 3 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta share of established non-European residents compared to districts with a low share of established non-European residents. - The political context or climate in which individuals grow up  H4: The negative foreseen impact of exposure to asylum-seeking migration on votes for the AfD is expected to be bigger in West Berlin compared to East Berlin. - The amount or intensity of locals’ exposure to migration  H5: The negative foreseen impact of exposure to asylum-seeking migration on votes for the AfD is expected to be smaller in districts which contain big reception centers within them, compared to districts that contain small reception centers. DATA: data about electoral results (for each district), data about refugee reception centers (addresses and capacity), data about the share of non-EU migrants in 2011, data about the socio- economic status of electoral districts. VARIABLES: DEPENDENT VARIABLE: - votes for AfD at the 2019 European elections MAIN INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: - exposure to reception facilities (EF) / exposure to asylum-seekers (EA) OTHER VARIABLES: - socio-economic deprivation (SED) - percentage of non-European residents (ENER) - East/West Berlin - the size of reception facilities METHODS: spatial autoregressive models or spatial lag models (and OLS models with robust standard errors for robustness check). We checked endogeneity and self-selection issues (comparing covariate means between “treated” and “untreated” units) → we conclude that reception centers were distributed across the city on a quasi-random basis (as ofÏcial sources confirm). RESULTS: - H1 is supported → the exposure to reception facilities is negatively correlated with the share of votes for the AfD. Findings also hold with the alternative variable EA. - H3 is rejected  the interaction between the exposure to asylum-seekers (EA) and the share of established non-European residents (ENER) is not significant, meaning that overall, in Berlin, the effect of the EA on the vote share for the AfD does not vary depending on the share of established non-European residents. - H5 is supported  The effect of EF on vote shares for the AfD depends on the size of reception centers. The negative impact of EF on votes for the AfD is smaller in those districts which contain bigger reception centers within them, compared to those districts that contain smaller reception centers. 4 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: - We find that electoral support for the far-right AfD was lower in electoral districts that were more exposed to asylum-seeking migration during the ‘refugee crisis’ than in electoral districts that were less exposed to asylum- seeking migration  support for the ‘contact theory’ - BUT the effect of exposure on far-right voting is lowered by the presence of bigger rather than smaller reception centers within a district  the ‘type’ of contact matters - The association between exposure to reception facilities and votes for the far right is different in West and East Berlin  socio-cultural histories matter - The relationship between exposure to asylum-seeking migration and vote shares for the AfD seems not to be influenced by the share of established European residents BASSOLI - What about the Welfare State? Exploring Precarious Youth Political Participation in the Age of Grievances The authors analyze non-institutionalized political participation patterns of precarious urban youth in five cities. The aim is to test the validity of the ‘grievance theory’ on precarious youth. The article shows that across the cities, precarious workers exhibit higher levels of political participation owing to a sense of relative deprivation with respect to their regularly employed counterparts. The authors apply a logit analysis to duly consider the local context (i.e. unemployment regulations and labor market regulations). FROM THEORY TO HYPOTHESES: - Grievance theory  personal dissatisfaction and grievances stimulate political participation and particularly protest behavior. Grievances can be defined as ‘feelings of dissatisfaction with important aspects of life’ such as living standard, income, employment, etc. - Resources or civic voluntarism model  on the other hand, it has been documented repeatedly that actors require resources to be able to participate politically. In particular, the civic voluntarism model states that there will be a positive relationship between having access to material resources and the level of political activity. DEDUCTION: Hence, both approaches lead to different expectations. While grievance theory predicts that scarcity of resources will be associated with grievances and protest, the civic voluntarism model leads to the hypothesis that a lack of material resources will depress levels of participation. RESEARCH QUESTION: Does a disadvantaged occupational condition like that experienced by precarious workers influence individual (and collective) political participation, as described by the grievance model? 5 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta HYPOTHESES: - H1  There is a positive relation between economic crisis and the level of political participation. According to the grievance model, we expect precarious youth to be more active in non-institutionalized mode of political participation than regular workers in times of economic crisis. - H2  The positive relation between economic crisis and the level of political participation becomes stronger for individuals who also experience personal deprivation. We expect unemployment welfare regimes to influence precarious workers’ non-institutionalized political participation. More specifically, we assume that unemployment welfare regimes act as ‘single-issue’ political opportunity structures (POS), i.e. precarious workers’ political activism is higher as compared to regular workers, when unemployment regulations and labor market regulations are at their intermediate levels. RESEARCH DESIGN: - Five cities: Cologne (Germany), Geneva (Switzerland), Kielce (Poland), Lyon (France) and Turin (Italy) - The sample used is almost equally divided into two sub-groups: temporary workers (N = 1950) holding temporary, seasonal or project-based contracts; and a second group (N = 2003) including workers with open-ended contracts who have been working at the same workplace in the twelve months preceding the interview and for at least 12 months. - Interviews took place between June 2009 and October 2010 - The full questionnaire can be downloaded from http://www.younex.unige.ch/. - Data for all the cities were derived through a CATI survey (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) on landline telephone from the city of Kielce (Poland), in which a paper-and- pencil interview (PAPI) was used. STRUCTURE OF THE ARTICLE: 1) Abstract 2) Introduction (a) theoretical frame-work; 3) Theoretical part (b) empirical recording; 4) Method (c) results of analysis; 5) Results (d) return to the theory. 6) Discussion 7) References RESULTS: - Multiple regressions (multilevel logistic - logit) - Correlations between background variables and dependent variable - Correlation between moderator variables and dependent variable - Pulled together background var. disappear - Robustness checks 6 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta FINDINGS: - The results confirm our expectations regarding the political participation of precarious youth. The effect is present since precarious youth participation is 6% higher than regular workers, controlling for the presence of city-level and individual variables only. As expected, according to the grievance theory, precarious youth are more politically active due to their feelings of perceived disadvantage (hypothesis 1 CONFIRMED). - Hypothesis 2 is fully CONFIRMED: whenever labor market regulations are neither fully flexible nor fully rigid, precarious youth clearly show the highest likelihood of enacting non-institutionalized political behaviors compared to regular workers. Analogously, they show a higher likelihood of participating when unemployment regulations are not fully inclusive or fully exclusionary. CONCLUSIONS: Precarious workers participate more than regular workers when labor market regulations and unemployment regulations are both at their intermediate levels, whereas when these indexes are at their extreme levels the pattern of participation displayed by precarious workers is closer to the one of regularly employed workers. Moreover, concerning the ‘shape’ of the relationship between local unemployment welfare regimes and non-institutionalized political participation, the empirical results outline the presence, for both precarious and regularly employed workers, of a linear relationship with unemployment regulations and a curvilinear one with labor market regulations. RETURN TO THE THEORY: The novelty of our contribution is that we not only merge two hitherto separate scholarly literature, but we also focus our attention on an increasingly sizeable category of workers, the ‘precariat’. As extensively illustrated in the theoretical section, the literature on the triggers of political participation can be epitomized by two opposing theories, the ‘resource model’ and the ‘grievance model’. In our study, we have tested the validity of the latter, taking into consideration precarious urban youth political participation atÝtudes vis-à-vis their regularly employed counterparts. BERGER – Now I see it, now I don’t: researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research OBJECTIVE: Definition of reflexivity in qualitative research Importance of understanding the researcher's position and experience in the research process Why? the relationship between reflexivity and the position of the researcher vis-à-vis the phenomenon under study has been only sparsely addressed REFLEXIVITY: “reflexivity is situating the researcher as non-exploitative and compassionate toward the research subjects” (Pillow 2003) 7 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta address concerns regarding the negative effects of power in researcher–researched relationships. by ‘decolonizing’ the discourse of the ‘other’ WHEN to apply reflexivity? Throughout all phases of the research process, including the formulation of a research question, collection and analysis of data, and drawing conclusions. Ex: During content analysis and reporting, it helps in alerting oneself to ‘unconscious editing’ because of own sensitivities and thus enable fuller engagement with the data and more in-depth comprehensive analysis of it. HOW? repeated interviews with the same participants prolonged engagement, members checking triangulation, peer review forming a peer support network and back talk groups keeping a diary or research journal for ‘self-supervision’ creating an ‘audit trail’ of the researcher’s reasoning, judgment, and emotional reactions The three contexts in which Berger analyzes reflexivity: 1. when the researcher shares the experience of study participants, 2. when the researcher moves from the position of an outsider to the position of an insider in the course of the study 3. when the researcher has no personal familiarity or experience with what is being studied 1. REFLEXIVITY IN IMMIGRATION RESEARCH: Unique issues and challenges in reflexivity related to immigration research Strategies for maintaining reflexivity when studying immigrant experiences BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF SHARED EXPERIENCE: Advantages and disadvantages of the researcher sharing the same experience as the study participants Potential biases and limitations in studying the familiar PROs: “Sharing the experience diminished distance and enhanced my willingness” “I knew what to ask and how to ask it as well as understand the responses in a nuanced and multileveled way I was able to hear the unsaid, probe more efÏciently, and ferret out hints that others might miss” CONs: “For example, when the researcher and participants share experiences, the assumption of the researcher’s familiarity with participants’ realities carries the dangers of participants withholding information they assume to be obvious to the researcher and researcher’s taking for granted similarities and overlooking certain aspects of participants’ experience (Daly, 1992).” 2. REFLEXIVITY IN STUDYING WHILE BECOMING: 8 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta “As I was moving from being a divorced single mother to becoming a remarried stepmother, my way of understanding marriage and parenting changed to expand my perspectives and include new dimensions of these roles and relationships, such as the stepparent being potentially the person to whom a stepchild turns for help at times of tension because their relationship is free of past burdens, whereas the literature emphasized negative aspects of this relationship. 3. REFLEXIVITY IN STUDYING THE UNFAMILIAR: empowering experience “a researcher cannot fully comprehend what it is like to be in certain situations” CONs: Importance of language sensitivity and cultural understanding in qualitative research Challenges of studying unfamiliar cultures and subcultures Questions that are relevant to participants’ experience Poor understanding of subtle issues MAINTAINING OBJECTIVITY AND RIGOR: Strategies for maintaining objectivity and rigor in qualitative research The role of reflexivity in ensuring the trustworthiness and credibility of the research Being aware of their own biases and limitations Keeping a diary to document their interpretations and reactions Revising data to identify potential biases Consulting with colleagues to gain different perspectives DEFINITION OF REFLEXIVITY: Reflexivity is about acknowledging your role in the research. As a qualitative researcher, you are part of the research process, and your prior experiences, assumptions and beliefs will influence the research process. Researcher reflexivity is a type of critical reflection about the position you are taking as a researcher and how you have taken this stance into account in your research. It is an important way to establish rigour in qualitative research, similar to the processes of defining measurement tools for validity in quantitative research. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH DESIGN: How the researcher's position and reflexivity impact research design and methodology Considerations for developing research questions and data collection methods DURST – It’s better to be a Gipsy in Canada than a Hungarian in Hungary What factors have triggered Roma's migration to Canada in recent years (since 2008), once the visa requirement was lifted? Could it be a new wave of migration? Why is the destination Canada and not other European countries? What facilitated the mass migration trend among these poor people? What are the motivations for not moving? Short-term pilot fieldwork in Toronto + survey amongst both those in Toronto and those who have already returned home to Hungary. She reports word-per-word interviews with Roma migrants who share their stories. 9 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta She compares previous waves with the ‘new’ wave of Roma migration to Canada - Economic theories of migration - Seek better-paying jobs (labor migration)  characteristic of the new wave - Chain migrant - Forced migrant (necessity for livelihood) Roma migrants already established in Canada are highly judgmental of their fellow Roma: newcomers threaten their established positions as Roma migrants. Due to their bad behavior they’re leveling down and discrediting and ruining the reputation of the whole Roma migrant community. The new wave of migration  not only economic factors (making a better living) but also the political climate (rise in hate crimes and anti-Gipsy campaigns waged by the vigilant far-right movement and the Hungarian Guard), social factors (discrimination especially on the labor market) and psychological motivation. The new wave is depicted as a mass outmigration of lower-class, poor, low-educated Roma (and non-Roma) families. But there is no exclusive homogeneous stream of migrants coming to Toronto. The survey shows that Canada is the target country (almost everyone has family members already there), followed by the UK and Germany. Also, all the interviewed migrants afÏrmed to have migrated there as refugees (because Canada gave them refugee status). The poorer ones received assistance for the move from their wealthier acquaintances already in Canada. They do not follow the compulsory English lessons provided by Canadian immigration ofÏces because they do not have time for that, they go there to work not to go to school. Without the language and the low- level education, they are confined to vagabond works. At the same time, there is a highly educated group of Hungarian Roma people in Toronto that defends the rights of Roma refugees in Canada. When it comes to the Canadian political discourse, all Roma are lumped together as ‘fake/bogus refugees’ (Roma migrants in Canada cannot be regarded as conventional refugees because they do not need protection). This migration seems to be a temporary social process, the preliminary results of the study show that the average duration of the stay is 14 months and then they return either because their refugee claims were rejected or because they decide to return to Hungary if their friends were refused residency or also because of homesickness or because they had enough. Reinforcement of the theory that migration is as much about state policies as it is about the mobility of people. Hungary is not a country where people like Gypsies. Reinforcement of the culture of migration: migration is considered to be the only way to improve one’s standard of living. Another main factor for migrants is the afÒuence and openness of the Canadian society. She used informants to understand the factors that enable somebody to become a successful migrant in Canada  make some quick money (scrap iron collecting and garbage rummaging or 10 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta reselling something bought with their credit card, for example) on top of the welfare allowance through cleverness or craftiness. All the crafty businesses are victimless. They are very proud of their cunningness and cleverness, they celebrate it openly. Canadian institutions have wised up to these practices and nowadays, due to the saturation effect, there are not many banks that would give a credit card to a new Hungarian refugee  making of the Hungarian refugee as a problem in Canada  nationalization of all refugees from Hungary. Established-outsiders relationship  established migrants stigmatize the newcomers labeling them as untalented, know-nothings and different way-of-thinking people (they represent a threat to them, and they will downgrade the whole Hungarian migrant community’s image in the mainstream society’s eyes)  they make distinctions between the two groups, marking them as inferior and with less human worth  they are causing the deterioration of their situation. Two migrants arise: the successful migrant and the unsuccessful migrant (according to her survey: no more than 10% of all migrants). Class-related or ethnicity-related migration? This new migration pattern to Canada seems to be more class-related than ethno-culturally defined. What awaits Gypsies when they return home from Canada? Ruthless remarks due to the general political climate in Miskolc together with its far-right local government. The local municipal leadership discussed behind closed doors whether to welcome back the Roma or try and displace them outside the border of the settlement. It was seen as the best opportunity to get rid of them, they were also seen as having created an unbearable social burden upon their return, which the government was not prepared to deal with. CONCLUSIONS: - This wave appears to feature a new pattern of Roma outmigration from Hungary (not only the ones who possess some social or cultural capital or economic resources move out)  lower strata Gypsies migrate - Not only for economic reasons but to flee from a social environment engulfed in hatred against them - She demonstrated how the prevalence of professionalized informal emigration brokers (moneylenders) facilitated migration for uneducated, lower-class Roma with no resources (in Canada they are the most defenseless group of migrants), they stayed behind in the first place because they did not have the resources to travel and because of the strength of their family ties - Relevant relationship between poverty and development (migrants in Canada saved money and sent back remittances to their families at home) - As long as the state and the local government do not promote economic developments, creating more job opportunities for unskilled laborers, the culture of migration will be the only viable livelihood strategy for many able bodies, working-age people She makes a sarcastic remark at the end saying that if the Roma mass migration to the West continues, Hungarian anti-Gypsy nationalists would be content because in their eyes this social group represents the most troublesome, malfunctioning, unmanageable, social problem the 11 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta country has and will ever have to face. It could be the easiest way to get Hungary rid of the Gypsies and solve the Hungarian ‘Gypsy question’ once and for all. She used the method of consulting with colleagues to maintain objectivity and rigor in qualitative research. CRUZ & Y BLASCO – Friendship, Anthropology This study is on the role of informants. Up to this point, they always remained objects rather than creators of anthropological knowledge, they firmly belong in the field, not in the academy. Ethnographies deal with the lives of informants but informants are kept outside of the conversation of ethnography. In this study they collaborate, they write together as informant (Liria – Gitana) and anthropologist (Paloma – Paya). The text is ethnographic and biographical, they talk about being women, mothers, etc in a world shaped by inequalities. They both talk about each other. Liria wrote in Spanish and Paloma transcribed and corrected what her friend wrote. Fieldnotes, letters, taped conversations. Very little anthropological literature because Liria is unfamiliar with it. They try to challenge divisions characteristic of anthropology: between field and academia, the ones who write and the ones who are written about, who does the knowing and who are knowns, men and women, Gitanos and Payos. Paloma started her fieldwork and Liria’s family offered their home. Two different realities. It was an experience for both of them. The other Gitanos talked badly about this friendship. They were fascinated by each other. Liria was discontented with her life and curious about Paloma’s life, Paloma had lived all her life in a suffocating conservative atmosphere. They embodied for the other to belong somewhere else. They both have many experiences to tell but their loves are intertwined: a Paya anthropologist with a great heart and a sincere Gitana. In the first fieldwork of Paloma, they were friends but Liria was just an informant, she did not fully know what her friend did with what she learnt. Their horizons opened up through the 2000s for Paloma to the world beyond anthropology and academia, for Liria beyond her family and the Gitano Evangelic Church. Liria started her affair with a Moroccan man whom she fell in love with, she decided to leave her husband but she had to leave her children behind. She received threats from her family and decided to return only to flee another time and it was final. She started looking for a solicitor to gain the right to see her children and get custody but she needed money. The economic crisis deepened and Spain’s unemployment increased, her situation was critical. Paloma applied to her Department and then for a small grant to pay Liria for writing down her life  what began as a way to find money became a project that came to fascinate them. 12 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|49940070 Siria Zonta Anthropology: not just writing about other people, but getÝng to know their lives, customs, religions, ways of being. It’s about complicity and union. Paloma’s understanding of anthropology also changed thanks to Liria, she thought that her task was to extract information, make knowledge and weave patterns. Liria has always been the informant, but now they were breaking the mould. Fieldwork is the bedrock of anthropology: anthropologists thanks to it, open up to others but then the informants are left behind, imagine if this relationship changed. They share their lives and this is why they write together.  Anthropology is what has enabled them to come together, yet anthropology by its definition also erects barriers between them. 13 Scaricato da Chiara Cortiana ([email protected])