Event overview
Presented by guest speaker Maria Fernanda Esteban Palma.
A seminar presented by Anthropologist Maria Fernanda Esteban Palma as part of the Anthropology Department Spring seminar series: The Politics of Embodiment.
This paper unveils one of the many shortcomings of indigenous recognition vis-à-vis the politics of multiculturalism as it implies the essentialization and commodification of cultural alterity according to the needs of the neoliberal state. I focus on how the need to demonstrate cultural alterity in order to be recognized as indigenous by the Colombian state has encouraged the incorporation of material emblems of spirituality to the daily lives of Muisca indigenous people; incorporations that are harmful to Muisca women. While these emblems –a rounded ceremonial house and a container to carry coca leaves and crushed sea shells- have effectively authenticated Muisca spirituality, their regular use has led to the incorporation of a gendered structure that was inexistent among the Muisca, but which is embodied by members as they interact with the emblems. As a means to contribute to the decolonization of anthropological research, I move beyond questions of cultural authenticity to better understand how affects that unfold while people interact with the ceremonial house and the container are actually embodied by female members despite of being detrimental to their positioning in their group.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jan 2017 | 3:00pm - 5:00pm |
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