CHIBOW Early Stage Researchers participate in a conference on 'mixed families'
ESRs Kanako Kuramitsu, Nastassia Serste and Michal Korhel presented their research as well as the CHIBOW ITN at the conference „Power, Intimacy and the State. Mixed Families in Europe and Beyond“ at the University of Amsterdam.
The aim of the conference was to stimulate academic and public debate on mixed families and mixedness in global perspective. Moreover it was a part of an emerging interdisciplinary network of academics of mixed intimacies and mixture in Europe and beyond.
Within the panel on “Children Born of War” (CBOW) first Kanako discussed the legal aspect of interethnic marriage between Japanese men and Chinese women during and after the Second Sino-Japanese war as it was a key factor for Sino-Japanese CBOW in acquiring Japanese nationality. Based on archival research and interviews Kanako examined the narratives of Sino-Japanese children in order to explore the motivations of Sino-Japanese CBOW to migrate to Japan in relation to the political climate in China that put them at risk of persecution and how they imagined their more economically prosperous ‘ancestral land’ as a destination that could bring about new opportunities. Afterwards Nastassia presented first an overview about the Amerasian children of the Vietnam War followed by introducing her research on the adoption of the Amerasian children in France including those that came to Europe by the Operation “Babylift” in 1975. In her presentation Nastassia among others raised the question of integration of Amerasian children in Europe.
In the panel “State Regulation” Michal presented different experiences of Czech-German parents and their children in Czech lands between 1938 and 1948 and how they tried to overcome the challenges of being ‘different’. He furthermore illustrated how mixed families were affected by the state policy aimed at dealing with them and most of all how their self-understanding was altered.
The conference was organized by Prof. Betty de Hart (Amsterdam, Centre for European Law and Governance, University of Amsterdam), Prof. Lies Wesseling (Maastricht Centre for Gender and Diversity, Maastricht University) and Stichting LovingDay.NL.