Melissa Kerr Chiovenda
I am an assistant professor of anthropology at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. I am currently conducting a research project with Afghan refugees in Athens, Greece, and continuing research on Hazara civil society activists in Bamyan and Kabul, Afghanistan. I am motivated to contribute to a broader understanding of the current situation in Afghanistan, particular with regard to ethnic and sectarian issues. I hope to reach both an academic audience and a broader public audience with the results of my research. I began research in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in 2010-2011, where I completed a project on Pashtun women NGO workers employed by international development organizations. I then wrote my dissertation on Hazara ethnic identity in Bamyan, Afghanistan, with a focus on perceptions of their own marginality, involvement in civil society, collective trauma, and historical memory.I conducted my dissertation research in Bamyan from 2011-2013.The summer of 2016, I split my time, both conducting research with long-term (8-15 years) Hazara refugees who are serving as cultural mediators for new arrivals in Athens, and following up with my previous research on Hazara civil society in Bamyan and Kabul. I am currently continuing my research with Afghan refugees in Greece.
I earned my PhD in anthropology from University of Connecticut in 2016. I hold an MA in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Studies from Georgetown University, as well as a BS in Russian Language, also from Georgetown.
Before beginning to graduate school, I was an education Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a high school teacher in Arizona and Los Angeles. I love both the academic and research aspects of my work now as well as the educational, teaching aspects.
I earned my PhD in anthropology from University of Connecticut in 2016. I hold an MA in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Studies from Georgetown University, as well as a BS in Russian Language, also from Georgetown.
Before beginning to graduate school, I was an education Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a high school teacher in Arizona and Los Angeles. I love both the academic and research aspects of my work now as well as the educational, teaching aspects.
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Papers by Melissa Kerr Chiovenda
2010, focusing on each states’ actions in resolving their own interests regarding the large
number of labour migrants that leave Tajikistan to seek work in Russia. The article
begins by outlining the history of and reasons for the high rate of Tajik labour migration
to Russian, using social and economic migration theories to support these ideas. The
article goes on to document many of the difficulties faced by Tajik labour migrants in
Russia, and examines Russian policies that both exacerbate and ameliorate these
problems. The article also examines Tajik state policies concerning the difficulties faced
by labour migrants in Russia, concluding that as Tajikistan has little recourse to improve
the conditions of migrants once they are within Russian, it has focused rather on domestic
policies to maximize the benefits of financial remittances, to prepare migrants for their
time abroad, and to make travel to Russia more accessible. Finally, the article concludes
by considering some of the future scenarios that might take place concerning the large
number of Tajik labour migrants in Russia and Tajikistan’s financial dependence on their
remittances.
in Jalalabad Afghanistan balance the requirements of their employment with
a set values, known as doing pashto, that guide their behavior as
Pashtuns. These two influences on their lives are often contradictory.
Based on fieldwork in Jalalabad, this study suggests that Pashtun women
working for such organizations do not overtly resist Pashtun norms that
often enforce a strict segregation of women. Rather, they use strategic
ambiguity, maintaining that they are performing pashto well while at the
same time taking part in some work activities that on the surface appear
contrary to the norms of pashto.
2010, focusing on each states’ actions in resolving their own interests regarding the large
number of labour migrants that leave Tajikistan to seek work in Russia. The article
begins by outlining the history of and reasons for the high rate of Tajik labour migration
to Russian, using social and economic migration theories to support these ideas. The
article goes on to document many of the difficulties faced by Tajik labour migrants in
Russia, and examines Russian policies that both exacerbate and ameliorate these
problems. The article also examines Tajik state policies concerning the difficulties faced
by labour migrants in Russia, concluding that as Tajikistan has little recourse to improve
the conditions of migrants once they are within Russian, it has focused rather on domestic
policies to maximize the benefits of financial remittances, to prepare migrants for their
time abroad, and to make travel to Russia more accessible. Finally, the article concludes
by considering some of the future scenarios that might take place concerning the large
number of Tajik labour migrants in Russia and Tajikistan’s financial dependence on their
remittances.
in Jalalabad Afghanistan balance the requirements of their employment with
a set values, known as doing pashto, that guide their behavior as
Pashtuns. These two influences on their lives are often contradictory.
Based on fieldwork in Jalalabad, this study suggests that Pashtun women
working for such organizations do not overtly resist Pashtun norms that
often enforce a strict segregation of women. Rather, they use strategic
ambiguity, maintaining that they are performing pashto well while at the
same time taking part in some work activities that on the surface appear
contrary to the norms of pashto.