The Department of Anthropology Colloquium Series presents

"How to be a Minority: The Politics of Conduct and Difference in the New Europe"
with Dace Dzenovska, University of Latvia

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
3:30-5:00 p.m.
Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 3323

Drawing on ethnographic work with minority organizations and government
officials in Latvia, Dzenovska argues that the popular and political distinction between
"national minorities" and "migrants" cannot be easily captured by criteria such
as language and citizenship. Rather, the distinction is most salient in relation to
political orientations and ethical dispositions - that is, to ways of relating to the
self, the polity, and the state. Moreover, the “minority problem” does not
necessarily demonstrate the failure of Latvia's citizenship and integration policies,
but rather provides a nodal point for critical reconsiderations of the limits of the
prevalent modes of governing difference in the European Union.

For further information, please contact Norma Miranda, nmiranda@uci.edu.