“Mandehandeha Mahita Raha: New Immigrant Destinations and Madagascar’s Pivot to China”
Laura Tilghman
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Plymouth State University
Time and Location
12:00pm, 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI
Description
As immigration to Western countries becomes increasingly difficult, many people in Madagascar are switching their gaze to China for educational and economic opportunities. Preliminary findings and future directions for research with the Malagasy diaspora in Guangzhou, China will be presented. In particular, the presentation will explore the historical and cultural context of the transnational linkages between these two countries, and the strategies migrants use to adapt without a large community of compatriots upon whom they can rely.
Bio
Laura M. Tilghman is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She has conducted research in Madagascar since 2002 on a variety of topics including entomophagy and ethnobotany, equity issues related to bioprospecting, social and environmental impacts of small-scale sapphire mining, and rural to urban migration. She has recently begun research with Malagasy migrant communities in China, Canada, and the United States.