Journal Description
Genealogy
Genealogy
is an international, scholarly, peer-reviewed, open access journal devoted to the analysis of genealogical narratives (with applications for family, race/ethnic, gender, migration and science studies) and scholarship that uses genealogical theory and methodologies to examine historical processes. The journal is published quarterly online by MDPI.
- Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
- High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, ESCI (Web of Science), and many other databases.
- Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 30.3 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 4.5 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2023).
- Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.
Impact Factor:
0.8 (2022)
Latest Articles
The Development of the State Emblems and Coats of Arms in Southeast Europe
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030054 - 07 Aug 2023
Abstract
Heraldic traditions in southeast European countries are similar, as are the histories of their state emblems and coat of arms. Their development could be classified into three periods: (1) from the founding of the states until the end of World War II; (2)
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Heraldic traditions in southeast European countries are similar, as are the histories of their state emblems and coat of arms. Their development could be classified into three periods: (1) from the founding of the states until the end of World War II; (2) the socialist period; and (3) the period of democratisation after the collapse of socialism. The focus of this work is the processes of the adoption of coats of arms. The descriptions are taken from the appropriate legal documents. This paper examines the emblems and coats of arms of modern southeastern European, or Balkan states, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, and Serbia.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Balkans in Heraldry—Emergence, Development, Future)
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Open AccessArticle
The Genealogical Message of Beatrix Frangepán
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030053 - 03 Aug 2023
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Beatrix Frangepán (* c. 1480, +(27 March) 1510) from the Counts of Veglia (Krk), Modrus and Zengg was a descendant from one of the leading families of the Hungarian–CroatianHungarian–Croatian late Medieval Kingdom. She became wife of Crown Prince János Corvinus-Hunyadi and later of
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Beatrix Frangepán (* c. 1480, +(27 March) 1510) from the Counts of Veglia (Krk), Modrus and Zengg was a descendant from one of the leading families of the Hungarian–CroatianHungarian–Croatian late Medieval Kingdom. She became wife of Crown Prince János Corvinus-Hunyadi and later of Margrave Georg Hohenzollern-Brandenburg. From her first marriage, she had three children. One of these, Kristóf, who died young, was buried together with his father in Lepoglava (Croatia). Recently, successful archaeogenetic analyses have been performed on the remains of János and Kristóf Corvinus-Hunyadi; and in the course of these studies, the family background of Kristóf’s mother, Beatrix Frangepán, became an important factor. The present study provides a nine-generation family tree of Beatrix Frangepan as a complementary data pool for an eventual expansion of the archaeogenetic studies. Preliminary results of archaeological study of the supposed grave of Beatrix Frangepán are also reported.
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The Origins of the Royal Spanish Surname Castilla: Genetics and Genealogy
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030052 - 31 Jul 2023
Abstract
In most Western European societies, surnames pass from generation to generation and in cases where surnames are shared by fathers to children, the Y chromosome passes down from fathers to male offspring in the same way as surnames do. The aim of this
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In most Western European societies, surnames pass from generation to generation and in cases where surnames are shared by fathers to children, the Y chromosome passes down from fathers to male offspring in the same way as surnames do. The aim of this study was to ascertain the patrilineal relationship between individuals with the surname “Castilla” and their respective Y-chromosome haplotypes. The toponymic surname “Castilla” is part of the Spanish royal family. Genealogical studies of this surname have allowed the formulation of different hypotheses about its origin, most of which were centered in Burgos. To shed some light on the origin of the surname Castilla and to investigate the possible co-ancestry behind the living carriers of this surname, markers located in the Y chromosome-specific region were analyzed in a sample of 102 men whose paternal surname was Castilla. The study aimed to establish the minimum number of founders and the expansion time of the lineages from our sample. Two major haplogroups were identified: R1b and E1b1b-M81. The high frequency of the E1b1b-M81 haplogroup in comparison to that of the general Spanish population, its low haplotype diversity, and its young TMRCA (323+/− 255 years CE) are compatible with the historical timing of the obligation to use surnames. However, the coincidence of the most common haplogroup in the Castilla sample and the most frequent haplogroup in the Spanish general population, R1b, makes it difficult to identify founder haplotypes/haplogroups in the history of the Castilla surname.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Identities: How Genetics Is Contributing to Genealogical (Re)search)
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How Mitochondrial DNA Can Write Pre-History: Kinship and Culture in Duero Basin (Spain) during Chalcolithic and Bronze Age
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, , , and
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030051 - 27 Jul 2023
Abstract
The chronological period from the beginning of the Chalcolithic Age to the end of the Bronze Age on the Iberian northern sub-plateau of the Iberic Peninsula involves interesting social and cultural phenomena, such as the appearance of the Bell Beaker and, later, the
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The chronological period from the beginning of the Chalcolithic Age to the end of the Bronze Age on the Iberian northern sub-plateau of the Iberic Peninsula involves interesting social and cultural phenomena, such as the appearance of the Bell Beaker and, later, the Cogotas I cultures. This work constructs a genetic characterisation of the maternal lineages of the human population that lived on the northern sub-plateau between 5000 and 3000 years ago through an analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), a kind of genetic marker that is inherited through maternal lineages, unaltered from generation to generation. Population and cultural questions are investigated through mtDNA analyses. This study intends to shed light on the following questions. Were individuals who were buried together in multiple or collective burials biologically related through their maternal lineages? Were there distinct maternal human lineages in the same or different geographical areas if different material cultures (Bell Beaker and Cogotas I) were associated with the arrival of new human populations who established close biological relationships with the endogenous populations? Or could this be the result of the transmission of knowledge without human populations mixing? Another important question is whether the material cultures were related to the female populations. We analysed 91 individuals from 28 different archaeological sites of the Iberian northern sub-plateau from four different chrono-cultural periods (Pre-Bell Beaker, Bell Beaker, Proto-Cogotas I, and Cogotas I), from the end of the Chalcolithic Age up to the Bronze Age. There were two historical moments of new populations arriving: the first during the Pre-Bell Beaker period, associated with the K mtDNA haplogroup, and the second during the Proto-Cogotas I culture, with new lineages of the H, HVO, and T haplogroups. Neither of these new population flows were directly associated with the maximum development of the two main material cultures Bell Beaker and Cogotas I, so they must have occurred immediately beforehand, during the Pre-Bell Beaker and Proto-Cogotas I periods, respectively. However, we cannot discard an association between the populations and material cultures. Curiously, it has also been observed that there was also a tendency towards multiple burials, in which the individuals who were buried together belonged to the same maternal lineage, during these two periods of population change. This study has shed some light on the populational changes that occurred through these different periods in this specific geographical area of the northern sub-plateau of the Iberian Peninsula.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Identities: How Genetics Is Contributing to Genealogical (Re)search)
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Tracing Disabled Children’s Lives in 19th-Century Scotland through Public and Institutional Records
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030050 - 26 Jul 2023
Abstract
Records of asylums, schools, and benevolent organisations that intervened in the lives of disabled children in Scotland during the long nineteenth century have survived to varying degrees in public and institutional archives. This might suggest the existence of detailed primary source material that
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Records of asylums, schools, and benevolent organisations that intervened in the lives of disabled children in Scotland during the long nineteenth century have survived to varying degrees in public and institutional archives. This might suggest the existence of detailed primary source material that stands in contrast to the sparse data about those disabled children who ‘escaped’ the attention of organisations that aimed to support and direct their lives. However, the records of these formal organisations are inconsistent in what they reveal about the lives of the children under their patronage. This article explores the challenges presented by the records of three organisations, namely, the Scottish Institution for the Education of Imbecile Children in Larbert, Edinburgh’s Gayfield Square blind school, and East Park Home for Aiding Infirm Children in the Maryhill district of Glasgow. Among the deficiencies of surviving institutional records are the frequent paucity of insights into the lives of their young residents. This article will consider how some of their life journeys can nonetheless be researched by marshalling data from the likes of mandatory registration records and decennial census enumerators’ books. In addition to benefits afforded to genealogists, such records provide historians with materials from which disabled lives can be reconstructed and analysed.
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Open AccessArticle
Surnames of Jewish People in the Land of Israel from the Sixteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030049 - 25 Jul 2023
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This paper outlines a study of surnames used by various Jewish groups in the Land of Israel for Ashkenazic Jews, prior to the First Aliyah (1881), and for Sephardic and Oriental Jews up to the end of the 1930s. For the 16th–18th centuries,
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This paper outlines a study of surnames used by various Jewish groups in the Land of Israel for Ashkenazic Jews, prior to the First Aliyah (1881), and for Sephardic and Oriental Jews up to the end of the 1930s. For the 16th–18th centuries, the surnames of Jews who lived in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron can be mainly extracted from the rabbinic literature. For the 19th century, by far the richest collection is provided by the materials of the censuses organized by Moses Montefiore (1839–1875). For the turn of the 20th century, data for several additional censuses are available, while for the 1930s, we have access to the voter registration lists of Sephardic and Oriental Jews of Jerusalem, Safed, and Haifa. All these major sources were used in this paper to address the following questions: the use or non-use of hereditary family names in various Jewish groups, the geographic roots of Jews that composed the Yishuv, as well as the existence of families continuously present in the Land of Israel for many generations.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends and Topics in Jewish Genealogy)
Open AccessArticle
Analysis of Couples’ Discordance on Fertility Desire in Ghana
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030048 - 20 Jul 2023
Abstract
Generally, men in sub-Saharan Africa make reproductive decisions that affect their partners. We examined the predictors of fertility desires among married men across three age cohorts: 20–35 years, 36–50 year, and 51–59 years. Using the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey dataset, we
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Generally, men in sub-Saharan Africa make reproductive decisions that affect their partners. We examined the predictors of fertility desires among married men across three age cohorts: 20–35 years, 36–50 year, and 51–59 years. Using the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey dataset, we conducted ANOVA and multivariate binary logistic regressions on 1431 monogamous married men aged 20–59 years. Two indicators of fertility desire are constructed: (i) the comparison of men’s ideal versus women’s ideal family size, and (ii) the desire for more children. The results indicate that the fertility desire of men is stronger than that of women. The predictors of fertility desire are age, parity, religion, contraceptive use, wealth quintile, couples’ age difference and couples’ difference in education. At ages 20–35 years, men using modern contraceptives were more likely to desire more children compared with those not using any modern contraceptives. However, at ages 36–50 years, men using modern contraceptives were less likely to desire more children. This finding suggests that men change their fertility desires in response to changes in their ages.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Diversity, Fertility Preferences, and Other Family-Building Strategies)
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Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua: The Role of Marae in Reimagining Housing Māori in the Urban Environment
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Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030047 - 20 Jul 2023
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The supply of, and demand for, housing in Aotearoa, New Zealand, is in a state of crisis. With all other areas of social deprivation, Māori are impacted disproportionately in the housing space, and have been locked out of the housing market. In order
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The supply of, and demand for, housing in Aotearoa, New Zealand, is in a state of crisis. With all other areas of social deprivation, Māori are impacted disproportionately in the housing space, and have been locked out of the housing market. In order to address this crisis, a range of government, community and iwi initiatives have been established in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) to provide various housing interventions, from emergency housing, accommodation supplements and subsidies to transitional housing, home ownership programmes and papakāinga (Māori settlement, village) development opportunities. Marae Ora, Kāinga Ora (MOKO) is a Kaupapa Māori (Māori approach) research project created to explore the role of marae (cultural centre) and kāinga (village, settlement) in supporting the wellbeing of whānau (family group), hapū (extended kinship grouping), iwi (extended kinship–tribal grouping) and communities, which includes the potential provision of housing. Five marae in the South Auckland landscape are partners in this research and bring to life the prospect of their contribution to housing solutions for their local Māori communities. This article presents some valuable insights into the aspirations of each whānau involved with the five marae with regard to their perspectives and developments with marae-led housing provision.
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Open AccessArticle
Finding the Hidden Legacies of African American (and Other) Families
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030046 - 19 Jul 2023
Abstract
Documenting and finding lost family history proves as daunting as locating vital statistics, but the effort to perform such a genealogical feat should be undertaken, for good reason, as the resulting information can prove rewarding. This commentary discusses research methods, effective methods, and
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Documenting and finding lost family history proves as daunting as locating vital statistics, but the effort to perform such a genealogical feat should be undertaken, for good reason, as the resulting information can prove rewarding. This commentary discusses research methods, effective methods, and materials for finding documentation of family history with a special emphasis on African American genealogy. Commonly used strategies are listed with successful examples and recommended sources. The article concludes with an affirmation of the value of research on ancestors beyond just vital records.
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Open AccessArticle
Anchored in History: Understanding the Persistence of Eco-Violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt through Collective Memory
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030045 - 13 Jul 2023
Abstract
The Nigerian Middle Belt is the epicentre of violent conflicts between Fulani herders and sedentary farmers over land and agricultural resources called eco-violence; existing research has not adequately addressed the persistence of these conflicts. Using Social Representations Theory (SRT), this paper examines empirical
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The Nigerian Middle Belt is the epicentre of violent conflicts between Fulani herders and sedentary farmers over land and agricultural resources called eco-violence; existing research has not adequately addressed the persistence of these conflicts. Using Social Representations Theory (SRT), this paper examines empirical case studies conducted in April 2018 and May 2022 in Benue State, Nigeria, to determine why these conflicts persist. The paper argues that contending parties anchor, objectify, and socially represent past contestations in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Nigeria in present-day realities and events in the Middle Belt, leading to the re-experience of collective memories and their consequences on people’s violent collective behaviour. Consequently, people resort to violence to redress present grievances viewed through the prism of past events. To promote sustainable peace when tackling deeply-rooted conflicts, it is essential to comprehend the historical context and the significance of collective memory while employing a comprehensive strategy for conflict resolution. Implementing the Cognitive Reappraisal Technique to address issues related to collective memories is critical to this approach.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Genealogical Communities: Community History, Myths, Cultures)
Open AccessReview
Relevance of Genetic Identification and Kinship Analysis in Human and Natural Catastrophes—A Review
Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030044 - 27 Jun 2023
Abstract
Different types of disasters, whether natural or human in character, lead to the significant loss of human lives. In the latter case, the quick action of identification of corpses and human remains is mandatory. There are a variety of protocols to identify victims;
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Different types of disasters, whether natural or human in character, lead to the significant loss of human lives. In the latter case, the quick action of identification of corpses and human remains is mandatory. There are a variety of protocols to identify victims; however, genetics is one of the tools that allows an exact identification of the victim. However, several factors may interfere with this identification, from the biological samples’ degradation not allowing the analysis of nuclear information, to failure to dispose of biological samples from family members. Access to certain family members could be a determinant of the proper choice of genetic markers that allow the identification of the victim, or his/her inclusion in a given genetic maternal or paternal lineage. New advances in the field of genetics are soon expected to allow for the identification of victims from disasters with only their biological postmortem samples; it may also be possible to draw a robot portrait of a victim’s most likely physical characteristics. In all cases, genetics is the only modern tool with universal character and can be used in essentially all biological samples, giving and identification of more or less accurate statistical character, depending on whether nuclear or lineage markers are used.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Identities: How Genetics Is Contributing to Genealogical (Re)search)
Open AccessArticle
Adolescent Parent–Child Relationships and Non-Marital Fertility in Adulthood: Variation by Race and Ethnicity
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Genealogy 2023, 7(3), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030043 - 27 Jun 2023
Abstract
Factors leading to racial and ethnic differences in non-marital fertility, which account for nearly 41% of all births in the U.S., are not well understood. This study examines how mother–child relationships and parental control shape the likelihood of having a non-marital birth in
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Factors leading to racial and ethnic differences in non-marital fertility, which account for nearly 41% of all births in the U.S., are not well understood. This study examines how mother–child relationships and parental control shape the likelihood of having a non-marital birth in adulthood among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian women from 1994–2009. This paper uses data from Waves I, III, and IV of Add Health (n = 7171) and event-history analysis to find that mother–child relationships are associated with the likelihood of having a non-marital birth, with variation by race and ethnicity. Maternal warmth and communication in adolescence are associated with a decreased likelihood of having a non-marital birth in adulthood, but only among non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic Asian women. Parent–child relationships are dynamic and can have lasting impacts on children’s fertility behaviors across the life course.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Diversity, Fertility Preferences, and Other Family-Building Strategies)
Open AccessArticle
DNA Ancestry Testing and Racial Discourse in Higher Education: How the (Re)Biologization of Race (Un)Settles Monoracialism for Graduate Students
Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020042 - 14 Jun 2023
Abstract
The recent proliferation of DNA testing in both popular culture and higher education calls to question whether such testing reifies race as a biological construct and, in particular, whether or not it disrupts or reinforces monoracial categorizations. Graduate students, who are often at
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The recent proliferation of DNA testing in both popular culture and higher education calls to question whether such testing reifies race as a biological construct and, in particular, whether or not it disrupts or reinforces monoracial categorizations. Graduate students, who are often at a point in their educational journeys to further question and critique commonly held ideas, provide a unique lens through which to investigate discourses surrounding DNA testing. In this qualitative study, we analyze data from four focus groups with 22 racially diverse U.S. graduate students who had recently completed an ancestry test. We identify two specific discourses that graduate student participants engaged in, including (a) a biological race discourse and (b) an agentic choice discourse. Together, these discourses produced distinct unsettled subjectivities for Black and White participants. Our findings suggest the need to more critically consider the usage of DNA ancestry testing in and out of higher education and to provide further nuance around the validity of these tests as they relate to the social construction of race.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Who Are We Really? Genealogical Deconstructions of Monoracialism through Mixed and Contested Racial Identities)
Open AccessArticle
“Who’d Have Thought?”: Unravelling Ancestors’ Hidden Histories and Their Impact on Dharug Ngurra Presences, Places and People
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Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020041 - 13 Jun 2023
Abstract
As a means of opening the lid on transgenerational silencing—which was a survival strategy for thousands of Indigenous families against intended cultural genocide—while balancing the place of auto/biography in that journey, this paper focuses on the impact of Ancestors’ hidden histories and how
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As a means of opening the lid on transgenerational silencing—which was a survival strategy for thousands of Indigenous families against intended cultural genocide—while balancing the place of auto/biography in that journey, this paper focuses on the impact of Ancestors’ hidden histories and how the discovery of those histories drives complex identifications when woven with Presences, places, and people on Dharug Ngurra/Country. Using my own family’s recently uncovered early colonial Ancestral storying, histories that involve Dharug traditional custodian, African slave, and Anglo characters, some as First Fleet arrivals, the paper considers the place of auto/biography as a form of agency that brings past into presence, and which, in turn, opens opportunities to heal, decolonise, and transform Dharug and, more broadly, Indigenous communities, their knowledges, practices, and ontologies. When this activation involves most of the metropolis known as Sydney, Australia, we recognise its transformative potential to change non-Indigenous people’s perspectives. When we recognise auto/biography as a form of ‘truth-telling’, it allows a space to re-story relationality, both human and other-than-human, and restores Indigenous presence into Ngurra for biodiverse justice in a climate-changing world. Addressing these matters through poetic multimedia allows a place of safety between the pain and the healing.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indigenous Auto/Biographies: Musings in Histories, Contemporalities and Futurisms)
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Open AccessArticle
Korean Adoption to Australia as Quiet and Orderly Child Migration
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Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020040 - 06 Jun 2023
Abstract
Approximately 3600 Korean children have been adopted to Australia, as of 2023. Existing studies have tended to approach transnational or intercountry adoption from child development, social welfare, or identity perspectives. Research on Korean adoption to Australia is relatively scarce. The current article approaches
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Approximately 3600 Korean children have been adopted to Australia, as of 2023. Existing studies have tended to approach transnational or intercountry adoption from child development, social welfare, or identity perspectives. Research on Korean adoption to Australia is relatively scarce. The current article approaches the population from a migration perspective, building on Richard Weil’s conceptualization of transnational adoption as “quiet migration.” Drawing on both Korean-language data from South Korean governments and Australian data, the authors analyse Korean adoption to Australia as a state-sanctioned transnational migratory mechanism that facilitated the orderly movement of children from so-called “deficient” families of predominantly single mothers in South Korea to adoptive families in Australia. Situating adoption practices within the socio-political contexts and larger migration trends of both countries, the authors identify multiple enabling factors for channelling the ‘quiet’ flow of Korean children for adoption and argue the very ‘quietness’ of the adoption system is a source of concern despite Australia’s relatively stringent regulations. A migration perspective and analysis of these enabling factors contributes to the conceptualization of adoption as a socio-political state-sanctioned phenomenon, rather than a solely private family affair.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transnational and/or Transracial Adoption and Life Narratives)
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Open AccessArticle
Critical Family History: A Tool to Dismantle Racism
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Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020039 - 29 May 2023
Abstract
As schools and universities are under attack for educating students about race, racism, and other topics with deep roots that directly link to our current societal challenges, we must find and utilize meaningful tools of resistance. This article is a collaborative auto-ethnographic narrative
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As schools and universities are under attack for educating students about race, racism, and other topics with deep roots that directly link to our current societal challenges, we must find and utilize meaningful tools of resistance. This article is a collaborative auto-ethnographic narrative inquiry that presents the stories of two professors and two students who engaged in the reflective work of critical family history (CFH). Currently, merely mentioning the word racism is so troubling to many politicians whose ideas are rooted in White supremacist ideology that laws are being passed in the U.S. to ban books on certain topics about race and LGBTQIA+ issues so that students cannot even read about these topics. A Tennessee law recently passed in both the state House and Senate seriously diminishes and limits how professors teach putative “divisive topics” related to race and its societal impact at the college level. A valuable teaching tool, critical family history, offers an impactful approach for us, especially for educators, to face the truth about the complexity of our lives and our ancestors, specifically in relation to issues of race—in a subtle, yet powerful way that is grounded in courage, wisdom, and compassion. The findings in this article are both surprising and troubling, which points to why educators need to seek ways to incorporate CFH in their work to dismantle racism.
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(This article belongs to the Section Family History)
Open AccessReview
The Study of Adoption in Archaeological Human Remains
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Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020038 - 28 May 2023
Abstract
This review aims to establish criteria for identifying an adoption process in an archaeological context. We define adoption as raising an individual who does not belong genetically to the family. Adoption appears in different moments of past societies, and when establishing a “family”
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This review aims to establish criteria for identifying an adoption process in an archaeological context. We define adoption as raising an individual who does not belong genetically to the family. Adoption appears in different moments of past societies, and when establishing a “family” nucleus burial place we must consider certain social behaviors, such as burials under the houses, collective burials, or laying bodies in specific positions. After observing these signs, we are carrying out a genetic analysis, in order to confirm a biologically related family nucleus. These traces have been traditionally linked to family nuclei because they have been found previously in burials where biological kinship was confirmed. However, there can be cases where, after carrying out the genetic analyses, it is confirmed that certain individuals are not genetically related. In such cases, an adoption case cannot be ruled out. These cases are not easy to identify due to the differences between societies and cultures, so more in-depth studies should be carried out on the type of funeral practice in which these human remains are found to be able to discriminate an adopted individual from one who was not adopted. Therefore, the study of adoption should be carried out based on an in-depth knowledge of the cultural background, before using a powerful tool such as ancient DNA technology.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Identities: How Genetics Is Contributing to Genealogical (Re)search)
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Open AccessConcept Paper
Latinx and Asian Engagement/Complicity in Anti-Blackness
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Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020037 - 25 May 2023
Abstract
We live in a world that desperately wishes to ignore centuries of racial divisions and hierarchies by positioning multiracial people as a declaration of a post-racial society. The latest U.S. 2020 Census results show that the U.S. population has grown in racial and
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We live in a world that desperately wishes to ignore centuries of racial divisions and hierarchies by positioning multiracial people as a declaration of a post-racial society. The latest U.S. 2020 Census results show that the U.S. population has grown in racial and ethnic diversity in the last ten years, with the white population decreasing. Our U.S. systems of policies, economy, and well-being are based upon “scientific” constructions of racial difference, hierarchy, Blackness, and fearmongering around miscegenation (racial mixing) that condemn proximity to Blackness. Driven by our respective multiracial Latinx and Asian experiences and entry points to anti-Blackness, this project explores the history of Latinx and Asian racialization and engagement with anti-Blackness. Racial hierarchy positions our communities as honorary whites and employs tactics to complicate solidarity and coalition. This project invites engagement in consciousness-raising in borderlands as sites of transformation as possible methods of addressing structural anti-Blackness.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Who Are We Really? Genealogical Deconstructions of Monoracialism through Mixed and Contested Racial Identities)
Open AccessArticle
Hibernation of Secession Tensions in Catalonia: Attenuation Trends on Antagonistic Alignments
Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020036 - 10 May 2023
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The secession campaign in Catalonia created a political fracture into two sizeable and opposing citizenry segments, those who favored secession from Spain and those who were against it. In a series of longitudinal studies covering the entire period of regular surveys made by
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The secession campaign in Catalonia created a political fracture into two sizeable and opposing citizenry segments, those who favored secession from Spain and those who were against it. In a series of longitudinal studies covering the entire period of regular surveys made by the official polling agency of the Regional Government (2006–2019), we showed that this fissure operated mainly through an ethnolinguistic cleavage based on family language and ascendancy origins. Media outlets linked to successive pro-secession Regional Governments accentuated the division. Here we extend these analyses till 2022, to capture potential variations in such a division across the five years following the failed secession attempt of October 2017. Present findings confirm the persistence of the fissure along similar lines: family language interacts with the influence of regional partisan media to keep the fracture alive, though with trends denoting an attenuation of antagonistic identity alignments. We detected, as well, a turning point for the attenuation of both political confrontation and social division, within a conflict that has not been solved, albeit it appears mitigated. We discuss how elapsed time after secession failure and the effects of several political and non-political events might have helped to dampen down divisive tensions and repair a serious fracture produced by the secession push.
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Open AccessArticle
The Racial and Ethnic Identity Development Process for Adult Colombian Adoptees
Genealogy 2023, 7(2), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7020035 - 10 May 2023
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This research aimed to understand the process adult Colombian adoptees raised in the United States of America go through to define themselves in the context of race and ethnicity. The research followed a qualitative narrative methodology, in which six participants were interviewed twice
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This research aimed to understand the process adult Colombian adoptees raised in the United States of America go through to define themselves in the context of race and ethnicity. The research followed a qualitative narrative methodology, in which six participants were interviewed twice regarding their experiences with transracial and transnational adoption and their ethnic and racial identity process. The results suggest that identity is a dynamic process. Our research also confirms Colombian’s history of unethical adoptions and its influence on the complexity of identity and loss of adult Colombian adoptees. Throughout the article, the researchers use the term biological family referring to Colombian birth families. However, we acknowledge that other terms (i.e., first, natural, original, etc.) are also used in the adoptee community.
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