Panel C1

 

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CASA logo eng - na web

4th Biennial Conference of the Czech
Association for Social Anthropology (CASA)

AMBIGUITY

 
 

C1 Ambiguity and Dilemma of Uniformity in Migration

Nothing is more ambiguous then migration. One can even argue that ambiguity is a prerequisite for migration. Migrant is a human being whose identity is changing all the time according to the context of migrant’s life, migrant is on the move, migrant may evoke various associations, migrant decides and acts flexibly when some internalized patterns become useless, reality becomes ambiguous when people of different background and origin start to live together. However, ambiguity itself is not acceptable for categorizers, it is necessary to be unambiguous, classifiable or definable.

Dilemma of ambiguity versus uniformity is associated with migration flows and post-migration processes. Sometimes, agents (individuals, groups, organizations) have to give up their constitutive ambiguity. Indeed, ambiguity is constitutive in many respects but migrants face the necessity to become uniform. The disappearance of ambiguity could happen in two ways: by choice or negotiation with shared uniformity – which depends on values, ideas, rules of action etc., or by re-definition of ambiguity as uniformity.

The reality of transnational identities, hybridization or creolization of cultures depends on the negotiation of ambiguity as unambiguous standpoints of live. In this view, ambiguity may be seen as an advantage. It enables humans to belong to multiple groups and generates social, cultural or existential profit from membership. This profit could be also mediated. Nevertheless, the way to negotiate ambiguity is not fully straightforward; it impinges on existence of institutions focused on shared uniformity in the form of belonging, e.g. state or church, which assert reproduction of shared unambiguity. Migrants also impinge on the idea of unambiguity required by some groups.

On the one hand, we would like to talk about transnational migration, hybridization and creolization of cultures and, on the other hand, about the necessity to classify into institutionally or nationally shared uniformity. We are interested in migrant strategies to negotiate their own ambiguity. We are interested in benefits from this ambiguity as well as challenges raised by these benefits. Also, we would like to speak about the roles of institutions founded on uniformity. Since ambiguity is dangerous for these institutions, they are trying to negotiate unambiguity in the ambiguous world of migration. In addition, we are interested in specific national groups and their feeling (and acting) to have the right to demand unambiguity.

Prague
September 30 – October 1, 2016

 
 
 
 

Dana Bittnerová

Charles University in Prague

Luděk Jirka

Charles University in Prague