Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She is also a member of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA

Lasa

Lasa may refer to:* Lasas were gods and goddesses In Etruscan mythology who accompanied Turan, the goddess of love.* Laboratory Animal Science Association, an association to advance scientific understanding and knowledge of the use, care and welfare of laboratory animals and promote refinement,...

), American Anthropological Association (AAA

AAA

AAA, or Triple-A, may be a three-letter acronym or may just mean something that is high-quality, premier, or excellent.As a proper noun, Aaa is found only in the species name Cavaticovelia aaa , an insect from Hawaii....

), and Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS). Her research is published in journals and books such as Beyond El Barrio: Everyday Life in Latina/o America. Other publications include reviews of scholarly work. Her academic accomplishments and research pertain to the field of Latina/o transnational migration, indigenous communities in the United States and Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexican borderlands. She is currently working on her first book, Tripping Over Stones: Zapotec Struggles to Define Community, based on previous dissertation and ethnographic research.

Education

Gutiérrez Nájera received her bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles after transferring with an associate degree from Pasadena City College. In 2007 she published an award-winning dissertation and received a joint Ph.D. in Social Work and Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Concurrently, she holds a professional degree in Social Work with a concentration in Health Policy and Evaluation from the University of Michigan.

Awards and Honors

Gutiérrez Nájera was awarded first place for her dissertation "Yalálag is No Longer Just Yalálag: Circulating Conflict and Contesting Community in a Zapotec Transnational Circuit" at the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) 2009 conference.

Contributions to the Field of Cultural Anthropology

Much of Gutiérrez Nájera’s ethnographic research and work is within the frameworks of transnational migration and indigeneity. Gutiérrez Nájera’s focus is on concepts of identity, conflict, and belonging.

Hayandose

In her work, "Hayandose: Zapotec Migrant Expressions of Membership and Belonging," Gutiérrez Nájera conducts ethnographic research in the Los Angeles enclave of migrants from the Zapotec town of Yalálag, Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

. Hayandose

Hayandose

- Definition :Hayandose,as defined by Lourdes Gutiérrez-Nájera, a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth, entails a process of creating ethnically-marked spaces among migrants in an effort to combat feelings of marginalization and displacement in a host country...

 refers to the phrase “no se hayaban.” The Yalaltecos use this phrase to explain a feeling of displacement, or of not "belonging neither here nor there." Nájera developed the concept of hayandose to explain cultural practices which did create a sense of belonging, collective identity

Collective identity

The term collective identity may refer to a variety of concepts. In general however, these concepts generally pertain to phenomena where an individuals' perceived membership in a social group impacts upon their own identity in some way. The idea of a collective identity has received attention in a...

, and community:

"As Yalaltecos, part of the Oaxacalifornia experience, inhabiting a space that is neither fully Yalálag or Angelinos, reflects the ambiguities they feel about belonging neither here nor there. But through participation in cultural events and practices such as those described in this chapter, Yalaltecos living in Los Angeles create a sense of belonging."

Gutiérrez Nájera contends that the Yalaltec community is a testament to the feeling of belonging, creation of space and community for transnational migrants in which migrants symbolically exist and participate in multiple sites. Other Latin American and Latino Studies scholars that have contributed in the area of indigenous transnational migration include Lynn Stephens

Lynn Stephens

Mary Lynn Stephens is a former Canadian politician, who served as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1991 to 2005, representing the riding of Langley.-External links:*...

, Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He has authored, coauthored, or edited five books and over 50 journal articles and book chapters on topics such as domestic and international ethnic and religious conflict and...

, Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, and Robert C. Smith

Robert C. Smith

Robert C. "Bob" Smith is an American politician who has served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life:Smith was born in Trenton, New Jersey...

.

Conflict and Migration

Instead of viewing conflict as a finite event, Gutiérrez Nájera describes it as a process in her dissertation "Yalálag is No Longer Just Yalálag: Circulating Conflict and Contesting Community in a Zapotec Transnational Circuit." Using a historical framework, she argues migration and the state play a role in the production of conflict among Yalaltecans. She expands on this understanding of conflict and migration in her essay titled "Transnational Migration, Conflict, and Divergent Ideologies of Progress.” In this piece, she argues conflict and migration are “interrelated parts of broad historical, economic, and political processes" that unfold through the "circulation of people, ideas, and goods." This understanding of transnational migration as part of the process of local conflict offers a new perspective for social workers working with indigenous migrants.

Child Welfare

Her work Latinos and Child Welfare has also influenced the literature and practices of social workers working with children in the Latino community. For example, Gutiérrez Nájera helped identify the unique social service needs and characteristics of this population and has been cited by other scholars to help address these issues.

Publications

2010
"Hayandose: Zapotec Migrant Expressions of Membership and Belonging.” Book chapter in Beyond El Barrio: Everyday Life in Latina/o América, Adrian Burgos Jr., Frank Guridy, and Gina Perez (Eds.). New York: New York University Press. Pp. 63-80. (Peer Reviewed Volume).

2010
Review of Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists: The Lives of Mexican Immigrants in Silicon Valley. By Christian Zlolniski, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Migration Letters 7(1): 121-122.

2009
“Transnational Migration, Conflict and Divergent Ideologies of Progress.” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 38(2-4):1-34.

2008
Latinos in California. In Latino America: A State by State Encyclopedia. Mark Overmeyer-Velazquez (ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Pp. 77-104.

2008
Latinos in West Virginia. In Latino America: A State by State Encyclopedia. Mark Overmeyer-Velazquez (ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Pp. 855-865.

2008
Review of Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon. By Lynn Stephen, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology, 13(1): 247-249.

2007
Oaxaca's Social Problem from a Yalalteco Perspective.” Anthropology News. 48(5):64.

2004
“Talking About Race.” In Strategies for Teaching Anthropology, Patricia Rice (ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Pp. 28-34.

1997
"Changes in Empowerment: Effects of Participation in a Lay Health Promotion Program.” With Victoria K. Booker, June Grube Robinson, and Bonnie J. Kay. Health Education Quarterly 24(4): 452-464.

1996
Latinos and Child Welfare/Los Latinos y el Bienestar del Niño: Voces de la Comunidad, with R. Ortega and C. Guillean, 1996.

Related Works

Fox, Jonathan, and Gaspar Rivera-Salgado. “Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States.” La Jolla, CA: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego, 2004.

Smith, Robert C. “Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants.” Berkeley: University of California, 2006.

Stephen, Lynn. “Transborder Lives: Oaxacan Indigenous Migrants in the U.S. and Mexico.” Durham: Duke University Press, 2007.