Life History Interviews Research Articles

Fringe heroines: situated struggles of women scientists in Brazilian agriculture

ABSTRACT Feminist scholarship regards the Western scientific revolution and twentieth-century agricultural modernization as patriarchal endeavors and technoscientific regimes as entangled in societal interests and politics. In this article, I engage with these perspectives by focusing on women scientists working in Brazil’s leading agricultural sciences organization, Embrapa. My analysis draws on life history interviews with three women, juxtaposing their personal and career trajectories with the history of the organization, which is a symbol of the triumph of science over nature. Besides filling the gaps in a male-dominated history, these women’s accounts reveal what I argue to be feminist struggles for more equitable and pluralistic agricultural sciences and practices. I refer to them as “fringe heroines” as they adopt research agendas that are at odds with the prevailing technoscientific paradigm and often find themselves subject to condescending attitudes and discrimination. These fringe heroines experienced a short-lived moment in the limelight during a period of progressive politics in Brazil. However, confronted by a less favorable context during the Bolsonaro era, they have taken a step back but have maintained their resolve to swim against the tide in their unyielding quest for justice and diversity with respect to agricultural knowledge production. The time is ripe for reflecting on the place of their situated struggles and knowledges in the past, present, and future of Brazilian agricultural sciences.

LGBTQ Victim-Survivors' Experiences and Negotiations of Service Worker and Service System Discrimination

Abstract Purpose This study examined the experiences of LGBTQ victim-survivors who sought out support from domestic violence services in Australia. While the literature on intimate partner violence (IPV) is increasingly focused on improving LGBTQ inclusivity and cultural safety within both service and policy contexts, the experiences of LGBTQ victim-survivors themselves are often absent from these discussions. Consequently, little is understood about how LGBTQ victim-survivors navigate and negotiate service contexts that are frequently optimized for cisgender, heterosexual victim-survivors. Methods Structured life history interviews were conducted with (N = 29) LGBTQ victim-survivors aged 19–79 years of age who had recent (< 2 years) or ongoing experiences of IPV. Results LGBTQ victim-survivors' help-seeking behaviors are undertaken against the backdrop of a highly variegated service landscape. Individual service organizations and service workers' attitudes towards LGBTQ clients can run the gamut from inclusive and culturally sensitive to heterosexist and exclusionary, with little outward distinction between such. While participants within our study demonstrated the ability to deftly navigate or minimize the incidence of such treatment, there were clear limits to the extent that deploying such strategies would successfully enable victim-survivors to access service support. The additional psychological costs of cautiously navigating service systems were also not insubstantial and contributed significantly to both service disengagement and poorer service outcomes. Conclusions Efforts to expand service capabilities to improve service uptake and service outcomes for LGBTQ victim-survivors must be attentive to, and address the impact of anticipated and experienced discrimination on service provision.

Understanding acts of citizenship: stories of black activism in Greece

ABSTRACT The Greek citizenship regime in the first decade of the 21st century has been described as one of the most restrictive in Europe. The campaign ‘No to racism from the baby’s cot’ was created in mid-2000s and called for legislative changes that would allow second-generation immigrants born and/or raised in Greece the right to acquire Greek citizenship. Building on critical studies of citizenship and using life-history interviews, the article explores the political formation of two leading activists who were involved in the campaign, charting the evolution of their experiences and struggles. This way, it shows that citizenship is more than a formal legal entitlement and citizenship struggles are part of the process of making and being a citizen. The story of Loretta Macauley, president of the United African Women’s Organization, focuses on the African women’s contribution to the campaign and situates this within a broader practice of sisterhood and struggle in line with Black feminist intersectionality. The story of Michael Afolayan, a young second-generation activist involved in the campaign, provides a view of black youth involvement in specific forms of political participation, drawing attention to the ‘hybrid’ identity behind the term ‘second generation immigrant’ and the serious implications this identity has for collective action.

A Narrative Inquiry of Two English Teachers’ Identity Construction

Teacher identity is one of the essential aspects influencing the form and quality of educational processes. The present study examines the narratives of one of the writers, Devia, and an English teacher, Trisa, throughout their learning and teaching experiences and the process that were involved as they negotiated their identities as teachers. The data were collected from an autobiographical narrative of Devia as an English teacher, as well as intensive life-history interviews with Trisa. Analysis of the narratives and interview data led to four major themes: inspiring figures, teaching practicum experiences, becoming an English teacher, and pursuing a postgraduate study. The findings revealed that Devia’s and Trisa’s engagement in the practices and activities of learning and teaching shaped their teacher identity constructions. Keywords: narrative inquiry, teacher identity, teacher identity construction

From Refugees to Citizens? How Refugee Youth in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya Use Education to Challenge Their Status as Non-Citizens

Abstract The Dadaab camps of Kenya have ‘warehoused’ refugees from Somalia and elsewhere since 1991, providing their inhabitants with little hope to (re)gain the legal rights, participation, and membership that citizenship provides. Refugee youth in Dadaab hope that education can enable their access to citizenship rights—in particular, physical mobility and the right to work. Drawing on ethnographic research, semi-structured interviews, and life history interviews conducted in Dadaab and Mogadishu, this article discusses how refugee youth from Dadaab attempt to challenge their status as non-citizens through secondary education. Our study underscores that achieving citizenship rights, as well as civic participation and belonging, are key aspirations for these young people independent of whether they remain in Dadaab or (re)turn to Mogadishu. Yet, their ideas about what these key aspects of citizenship are and how to achieve them shift with their geographical location and in the presence or absence of citizenship rights.

“You Get Hit or You Get Put in Check, at the End of the Day, the Love is Still There”: Hmong Culture, Diaspora, Immigration, and Gang Continuity

There has been an increased focus on the factors that influence gang continuity given the short- and long-term consequences associated with gang membership. Despite this, Asian gangs—notably the Hmong—have rarely been at the center of these academic inquiries. This is especially troubling given that their cultural and historical profile provides a unique vantage point for assessing how culture, diaspora, and immigration affect social deviance and crime. Considering these empirical gaps, the current study examines the motivations associated with gang persistence by analyzing life history interviews and ethnographic observations among a sample of 34 current and former Hmong gang members in the United States. Emergent themes suggest that brother love, perceptions of power, and a sense of obligation ensnare individuals in gang life for extended periods of time, with notable geographic and cultural distinctions. These findings highlight important avenues for future research and practice.

‘On the Border, I Learned How to Advocate’: Borderlands as Political Spaces for Burmese Women’s Activism

Abstract This article explores the political space of the border through the experiences of women activists from Myanmar, for whom the borderlands in Thailand have provided refuge as well as a conducive environment for political mobilization. At the same time, the border renders refugee activists insecure and precarious. Drawing on life history interviews, our analysis expands conceptualizations of the border as a dynamic political space by illustrating its dual capacity to both facilitate and constrain the political agency of refugee women from Myanmar. In particular, the spatial and temporal fluidity and in-betweenness of the border is shown to foster both repression and resistance. Exploring the character and salience of the border as a space for activism over time, we demonstrate how the political space of the border is relational, constituted in interaction with other political spaces, such as politics and governance in Myanmar, transnational activist networks, and the politics of international aid.

Women's agency during the COVID-19 pandemic in the absence of male migrants: changing gender roles and social relations

This article is an account of the expression of women’s agency during the COVID-19 pandemic in the absence of male migrants and the subsequent changes in gender roles and social relations in a patriarchal Muslim society in rural Bangladesh. In doing so, the study explores the patterns of local and transborder networks of women during the pandemic and their strategies for household survival amid hardship. The study is based on 25 in-depth interviews, 10 life history interviews and 3 informal group discussions with women and men from migrant and returned migrant households. The findings of the study indicate that although there is no significant change in the roles of women in extended or joint households, some women in nuclear households are engaged in income-generating activities and are active for the survival of household members during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas in some exceptional cases, women consider the time as an opportunity to increase the household income by applying their intelligence and wisdom. The study follows intersectional and post-structural approaches and suggests that the pandemic period creates a situation, in which some women in migrant households get the advantages to widen their room for maneuver within patriarchal social codes. The study thus contributes to the field of migration and feminism

“I had a mother that i could always go to”: gender role development and the intergenerational socialization of Indigenous women

ABSTRACT Previous research exploring gender role conceptualization within the United States has predominantly centred white, middle-class individuals’ experiences. These analyses are therefore limited based on their lack of attention to ethnic, legal/political, and cultural differences within the United States, especially in regard to Indigenous populations. Building on previous exploring the family as a site of gender role development, and resilience, Tribal Critical Race Theory is used in this article to contextualize our findings with particular attention to how colonization has reinforced patriarchy and served to elevate European American thought and experiences. In semi-structured life-history interviews, participants described shifting gender norms in attempts to resist assimilation ideals and a perception of motherhood as holding capacity for challenging settler culture and reclaiming power. Prominent themes for participants included: (a) the role of strong women within the community; (b) the continuum of patriarchal to egalitarian gender norms and beliefs; (c) the roles of mothers and impact of motherhood; (d) norms surrounding early childbearing and marriage; and (e) gendered caretaking. This research finds that tribal women, as primary sources of socialization for children and community, are resisting patriarchal and colonial gender-related expectations and messages and forging a path of strength and resiliency.

Identity Formation and Post-Traumatic Growth Among Central American Immigrant Youth

To examine how Central American immigrant youth move from experiences of trauma to psychological growth as they transition into adulthood. The sample consisted of 20 (10 males and 10 females) adolescent and young adult immigrants (ages 18–26) from Honduras (20%), Guatemala (35%), and El Salvador (45%). Most participants migrated unaccompanied when they were 13 to 20, and their average time in the United States was 4.4 years. Data were collected with Identity, Inc., a community-based organization that supports Latino youth (ages 8–25) and their families living in poverty in Maryland. Semi-structured life history interviews were conducted in Spanish by a bilingual, bicultural staff member in person and on zoom. A diverse research team used a grounded theory approach to code transcripts in pairs, and then synthesize this coding within a post traumatic growth framework. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct open, axial, and selective coding of translated and de-identified transcripts. Findings from this study revealed the potential for post-traumatic growth, including a sense of one’s strength and enhanced meaning and purpose, and the importance of positive interpersonal connections in fostering growth. This study demonstrates a capacity for growth in Central American immigrant youth that goes beyond acculturation or coping with trauma and supports the value of trauma-informed services for this population.

Food as a social weapon: Peruvian immigrant entrepreneurs claiming home, belonging, and distinction in Southern California

ABSTRACT Peruvian immigrants in Southern California encounter a complex context of reception in which xenophobic portrayals of Latinxs exist alongside positive discourses on immigration. Simultaneously, the Peruvian gastronomic boom has reached the Golden State, where foodies’ celebration of Peruvian cuisine creates a favourable opportunity structure for Peruvian immigrant entrepreneurs. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and life history interviews with 35 Peruvian women culinary entrepreneurs in and around Los Angeles, the article argues that these entrepreneurs capitalize on the positive food discourses surrounding Peruvian gastronomy to contest stigmas of an ascribed Latinx identity. Food becomes a powerful weapon to negotiate a position within racial/ethnic hierarchies. By showing that culinary businesses constitute a unique space where these complex processes play out, the paper expands the economic focus in the ethnic entrepreneurship literature and provides knowledge on how immigrants’ economic agency is embedded in broader social processes, such as their search for home and belonging.

Enter into society: Digitalized livelihoods and prosumer labor for people with disabilities in China.

The current debates on "digital labor" focus on a gorgeous and comprehensive experiential description and theoretical exposition but do not provide a thorough examination of the unique context and social structure. In China, the development of internet is closely tied to politics, the Chinese Government uses internet as a tool of social governance. More importantly, aside from desire-based communications produced by corporate ideology, the Chinese people's passion for the Internet also comes from individual survival, especially the middle and lower class of information represented by the disabled people. This means that analysis of the digital labor among people with disabilities in China must be done from a variety of angles, including politics, society and culture. This study combines life-history interviews and field research methods to explore the value and significance of digitalized livelihoods and free prosumer labor for people with disabilities in China through self-narration. Since 2020, researchers have been volunteering at two social organizations serving people with physical disabilities in Wuhan city, Hubei Province. We participated in 26 assistance activities for disabled groups which included three 14-day training camps, and interviewed 40 people with physical disabilities. This study found that although the digitalized livelihoods practice of people with disabilities is still "precarious labor" in nature, whose self-expression in the cyberspace is easy to fall into the shackles of capital flow logic. However, digital labor practice provides them with the opportunity to "sit at home, enter the community and society," also enables them to "live independently." More importantly, this opportunity and possibility enable people with disabilities to experience a sense of value and self-esteem as "competent people." Therefore, in the realistic environment of structural obstacles in the social life of the people with disabilities in China, the possibility of "inclusiveness" brought by digital labor is the core value brought by digital society.

“I Cannot Fall Pregnant!”

Abstract Girls from single-parent households in South Africa (90 percent of whom are Black African or coloured) have significantly lower educational outcomes than other demographics. Through a methodology of life-history interviews, we explore the experiences of 30 women in single-headed households who have been successful in their educational endeavours as university students or graduates. Results show that pressures on girls from single-headed households to look after the family and domestic sphere and to protect their bodies from sexual abuse leave many girls depleted of the time, energy, and mental capacity required to study. Despite these challenges, these participants have escaped the perceived weight of their female burden in a post-apartheid, patriarchal society and reclaim their bodies and sense of agency through educational success.

Family and queer temporality among Chinese young gay men: Yes, but not yet

Based on life-history interviews conducted with Chinese young gay men, this research critically engages with the anti-family tendency in queer temporality studies. It identifies three forms of queer temporality among our informants – strategic delay, optimistic pursuit and queer passing-time – in relation to the emerging neo-Confucian familism in China, which, overall, suggests a ‘yes-but-not-yet’ queer youth temporality characterised by a combination of a selective acceptance of hetero-/homonormative familial responsibilities and a ‘not yet ready to shoulder them’ status. Caught between the assimilationist gesture and a queer standpoint, this ‘yes-but-not-yet’ queer temporality seems difficult to categorise. With a focus on our informants’ efforts to draw on different resources to pragmatically seek possibilities for a liveable life, we argue that it is more important to understand ‘queer’ in and on their terms rather than discussing how to define queer or normative to analyse our informants’ stories. In doing so, this research opens up possibilities to theorise queer temporality from an Asian perspective in relation to the emerging neo-Confucian familism. It also challenges the dichotomous thinking in queer studies that belittles the queer efforts made by the marginalised/non-Western and calls for a more context-specific queer sociology.

Conducting Life History Interviews With Older Adults With Lived Experiences of Poverty: Reflections From Millennial and Gen Z Researchers

The life history approach, a common interviewing method within the social sciences, involves collecting longitudinal data retrospectively by seeking an individual’s account of their life over different periods of time. The exploratory, in-depth and narrative nature of life history interviews make it a compelling narrative method that can illicit rich and in-depth data and understanding (of the “other” and self). At the same time, this attribute raises various ethical complexities that must be considered. This paper documents the personal and professional reflections of a research team conducting life history interviews for a specific research project. It highlights the value of life history interview as a narrative method, and discusses the ethical complexities that can arise.

From saving to survivance: Rethinking Indigenous Papuan women's vulnerabilities in Jayapura, Indonesia

Racism, sexism and gendered violence disadvantage Indigenous Papuan women, yet government responses often focus on individual interventions like ‘raising awareness’ or training. In this article, we build on efforts to challenge these narratives about women's vulnerabilities. We draw on life history interviews with older Papuan women in Jayapura to rethink vulnerabilities and everyday struggles in the context of structural inequalities. We interpret their stories as forms of ‘survivance’ and argue that contrary to dominant perspectives, Papuan women are not economic novices or passive victims. Rather, opportunities have narrowed over time, and women's long history of activity, strategy, persistence and resistance has largely been forgotten. Women's life histories shed light on urban colonialism and Indigenous survivance in Jayapura since the 1940s, when Jayapura was still a Dutch colonial capital and not yet an Indonesian frontier. In a time dominated by concerns about Papuan demise, their experiences are provocative for rethinking vulnerabilities.

Exploring the Educational Life Histories of Australian Transgender Faith-Based Secondary School Graduates

In this paper we draw on stories of schooling as told by three transgender secondary school graduates. The study does not aim to be generalizable or ‘speak’ for the educational experiences of all Australian transgender-identifying students. The study is framed by first person articulations of what a trans-positive educational experience might involve. The paper leverages a life-history approach in which the participants rearticulate the influence that cisnormative school environments and media practices had on their transition timeframes. Throughout the life-history interviews conducted in a focus group, the participants considered the concept of how a trans-positive educational approach could be deployed in schools to develop services and resources that align with the findings of the National LGBTIQ Health Alliance, 2020.

Filial piety, love or money? Foundation of old-age support in urban China

This article explores the intertwining issues of filial obligation, material interest and emotional intimacy in driving adult children's provision of old-age support in family settings. Drawing upon multi-generational life history interviews with urban Chinese families, this article reveals how the configuration of these multiple forces is governed by the socio-economic and demographic context of a particular time. The findings dispute a lineal modernization model of transition and generational change (from past family relations structured by filial obligation to the present emotion-laden nuclear family). Instead the multi-generational analysis reveals a tightening association of multiple forces around the younger generation, intensified by the one-child demographic structure, post-Mao commercialization of urban housing and establishment of the market economy. Finally, this article highlights the role of performance in carrying out old-age support. “Surface work” is enacted in situations where tensions between conformity to public morality and private intents (emotional or material) cannot be reconciled.

From Potential “Nini” to “Drop Out”: Undocumented Young People’s Perceptions on the Transnational Continuity of Stigmatizing Scripts

Based on two years of ethnographic data gathered, including 81 h of life-history interviews and 70 h of participant observation with 10 youth who migrated to the United States from Central America, this paper argues that negative labels that often stereotypically depict immigrant youth experiences are often socially imposed on immigrant youth prior to migration. More specifically, this article examines youths’ understanding and perceptions of the ways in which family members employ socially available “stigmatizing scripts.” Stigmatizing scripts, as described by study participants, are often used by family members in an attempt to protect youth. Analysis of the data suggests that the youth experienced stigmatizing scripts as a way to describe their lives “at-risk” and in need of protection, while simultaneously criminalizing many of their experiences. Furthermore, the article details youth description of the transnational continuity of stigmatizing scripts by describing family members ‘usage of scripts but in the US context. The article expands on immigrant families’ scholarship, highlighting family dynamics and their impacts on youths’ wellbeing and families’ unintentional contribution in youths’ stigmatization and criminalization.

Teaching in the age of environmental emergencies: a “utopian” exploration of the experiences of teachers committed to environmental education in England

ABSTRACT This paper explores, grounded on life history interviews, the work of a set of fifteen teachers in England who self-identify as actively engaging with environmental issues and action at different school levels and across a wide range of subjects. One of the core aims of this paper was to construct, based on these teachers’ voices and experiences, a different vision for the future of environmental education in this age of environmental emergencies. Drawing on Levitas’ Utopia as a method framework – which proposes a concrete and systematic approach to creating alternative visions to systems that are deemed inadequate to flourishing –, this study then outlines participant teachers’ practices around teaching in an age of environmental emergencies, including supporting young people’s activisation and projects, cross-disciplinary and complexity-thinking, and pushing for long-term school-wide approaches. It also explores the significant professional and emotional labour that goes into supporting their students’ meaningful engagement with this area within the mainstream education sector, also providing us insight into what teaching in an age of environmental emergencies could look like.