Tamazgha as Indigeneity-Informed Approach: Transforming Scholarship on Borders and Migration
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Keywords
diasporic indigeneity, migration, belonging, Amazigh, Tamazgha.
Abstract
How can an Indigeneity-informed approach reorient scholarship on migration? Drawing from ethnographic data with Imazighen living in the U.S., this article assesses the implications of Tamazgha, arguing for its potential to push the boundaries of current paradigms by 1) decentering and reorienting geocultural spaces; 2) offering a long-overdue Indigenous perspective on mobility and migration; and 3) providing insights about the relational nature of diasporic Indigeneity. The perspectives of Imazighen living abroad offer an understanding of how Tamazgha is produced, sustained, and practiced. Results illuminate a relationship toward the concept of Tamazgha living abroad, produced through everyday interactions with U.S. Americans as well as juxtapositions with other im/migrants, especially those from their own country of birth. In building on the voices of Imazighen and their understanding of Tamazgha through interactions, encounters, and experiences in daily life, this article illustrates how they construct alternative geographies of belonging that can only emerge through the relational context of migration. These findings contribute to a critical interdisciplinary reorientation of geocultural and intellectual space that emphasizes multilingual and Indigeneity-informed perspectives, opening up new theoretical insights on borders, migration, and practices of citizenship.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Tamazgha Studies Journal, v. 1, issue 1, p. 45-54
Scholar Commons Citation
Castaneda, Heide, "Tamazgha as Indigeneity-Informed Approach: Transforming Scholarship on Borders and Migration" (2023). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 151.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub/151
