Category Archives: News

Hill Country Tamils and Continued Colonization

It’s interesting to read a work about the importance of “continued” colonization because such a concept is often thought of to be a thing of the past. But the exploitation of other people groups is still incredibly pertinent today, and … Continue reading

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Blog IX

So far, I really like how the author is informing the audience of one of the exploitative labor structures that exists in our society. I never thought to look at how all the different forms of forced labor exist and … Continue reading

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Apr 3 Response

This week’s readings from Tea and Solidarity: Tamil Women and Work in Postwar Sri Lanka illuminate the systemic, structural, and social inequalities these women face and how labor and gender expectations transform their daily experiences. From the start of her … Continue reading

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April 3: The Hill Country Tamils & Continued Colonization

Reading Jegathesan’s work with Hill Country Tamils in Sri Lanka reminds me a lot of the history between the Spanish colonizers and indigenous peoples in Latin America, especially in relation to coffee plantations. I was specifically reminded of the book, Mayalogue: … Continue reading

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Week 11

To start I thought the book was very interesting as starting from the title. The land of the open graves brings a sense of thought into one’s mind as you would think about how a grave can be open. one … Continue reading

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Week 11

I appreciated the choice of reading for this week as it covers the main topic of last class, cultural artifacts. The author well blends the items shown, with the interviews presented in the work. It did bring up a few … Continue reading

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The Land of Open Graves

I enjoyed this week’s reading by Jason de Leon particularly because of his multi-disciplinary approach to the study of migrant experiences. By visually enhancing his storytelling through imagery, photos, and artifacts, he does a very good job of anchoring his … Continue reading

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Blog VIII

Had a chem test last week so I couldn’t do my usual long rambling blog post. Anyways, the author’s opening remarks about how after spending lots of time in their field the stand out details of the field site lost … Continue reading

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Week 11

In last week’s reading the strengthening of the Dominican-Haitian border being used to fuel nationalism, which is something we have definitely seen in the United States with the demonization of Mexican immigrants as a threat and as a scapegoat for … Continue reading

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Week 11

I really enjoyed the approach to ethnography that De León took in The Land of Open Graves. Not only was it really easy for me to understand and follow along with the reasons why De León thought that archaeology and studying the … Continue reading

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Week 11 Reading

I really enjoyed this week’s reading and felt as though it was a bit more lighthearted despite some of the darker descriptions (in comparison to some of the other ethnographies we have read). I thought that De Leon did a … Continue reading

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“Documenting the Undocumented”

I was really excited to read this book, the Land of the Open Graves, because I had the opportunity to meet Jason de Leon last semester when he came to campus during his exhibit, Hostile Terrain. I got to chat … Continue reading

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Jason de Leon & The Land of Open Graves

As an Anthropology major, I’d actually taken a course last semester– Cultural Anthropology– in which we read The Land of  Open Graves in it’s entirety, which I would highly recommend if you liked the introduction and Chapter 7. I also had … Continue reading

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The Land of Open Graves

Through interviews, participant-observation, photography, and archaeology, De León sheds light on the lived experience of migrants traversing the Sonoran desert. Their first hand accounts reveal the disturbing reality of Prevention Through Deterrence and the hybrid collectif. In chapter 7, De … Continue reading

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Giving Subjects Agency

I genuinely enjoyed this reading by De Leon and thought that the ethnography he presented took on a unique stance. Allowing his subjects to document their own experiences was something I had never considered, but as the author discussed, a … Continue reading

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Distinct Methods within The Land of Open Graves

The Land of Open Graves struck me from the very beginning because of De León’s writing style. At first, the less monotonous, more conversational language and style of De León’s ethnography was offsetting as I am used to a more … Continue reading

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