Transgenerational Resilience in Post-War Guatemala (WGF - Dissertation Fieldwork Grant)
Part of the Wenner-Gren Foundation Grant Application Collection Metadata (DRAFT) project
Author(s): Luisa Rivera
Year: 2019
Summary
This resource is an application for the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
What can anthropology do to reconcile the ubiquity of generational resilience with the growing science of heritable alterations to the stress response to adversity? Engaging a critical biocultural approach, I investigate the intergenerational embodiment and transmission of trauma in the wake of the Guatemalan genocide. My work is rooted in three generations of indigenous genocide survivors and descendants living in a refugee repatriation community Huehuetenango. I explore embodiment through biological pathways (epigenetic and endocrine changes related to the stress response) as well as cultural modes of resilience caregivers enact to rupture cycles of adversity and support their children's healthy development. I hypothesize that the severity and timing of trauma exposure in grandmothers will result in epigenetic and endocrine changes in their descendants. I do not hypothesize, however, that these changes will deterministically lead to poor daughter and grandchild mental health or wellbeing. Rather, I hypothesize that maternal and grandmaternal subjectivity will reveal powerful mechanisms of resilience that shield children from the transmission of suffering, regardless of the traces trauma leaves in the body.
Cite this Record
Transgenerational Resilience in Post-War Guatemala (WGF - Dissertation Fieldwork Grant). Luisa Rivera. 2019 ( tDAR id: 468660) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8468660
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
Investigation Types
Ethnographic Research
General
Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
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epigenetic
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hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
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Physical-Biological
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psychobiology
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Stress
Geographic Keywords
Guatemala (Country)
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Huehuetenango
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Mexico and Central America
Spatial Coverage
min long: -92.016; min lat: 15.101 ; max long: -90.753; max lat: 16.148 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Wenner-Gren Foundation
Notes
Rights & Attribution: This resource is an application from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and has been approved by the grantee solely for pedagogical purposes. Please do not cite, circulate, or duplicate any part of these documents without the express written consent of the author.
File Information
Name | Size | Creation Date | Date Uploaded | Access | |
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Luisa_Rivera_DF-Approved-Application-Budget-Bibliography.pdf | 316.00kb | Apr 14, 2022 10:59:36 AM | Public |