The Meanings of Mobility in Bolivia’s March to the East

Author(s):  
Ben Nobbs-Thiessen

The introduction introduces the diverse migrants that settled in lowland Bolivia after the country’s 1952 National Revolution. These include low-German speaking Mennonite farmers from Mexico and Paraguay, Okinawan and Japanese settlers, and Indigenous Andeans from the nation’s own highlands. In contrast to earlier scholarship the introduction places the “March to the East,” a program of internal colonization and infrastructure development as a major, long-lasting, and relatively unexplored legacy of Bolivia’s 1952 Revolution with parallels in other South American nations.

Author(s):  
Judith Klassen

This chapter discusses the politics of language use in collective singing among conserving Mennonites in northern Mexico. The group migrated to Mexico from Canada to distance itself from the worldly influences of modern technologies and secular society in general. In the new environment the German language stands as a symbolic marker, distinguishing Mennonites from the wider society. The chapter shows how further in-group linguistic distinctions are marked through uses of High and Low German (drawing on the wider class associations of the two languages), in which a distinct “a” (pronounced “au”) from Low German is often employed in contexts of High German use. The chapter explores what happens when this distinctive pronunciation is used politically in collective song as an expression of defiance by individual singers and the tensions that result when collective song becomes a space for “phonological expressions of difference.”


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith C. Kulig ◽  
Ruth Babcock ◽  
Margaret Wall ◽  
Shirley Hill
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-166
Author(s):  
Gertrud Reershemius

This paper analyzes the linguistic repertoires of Jews in the Low German-speaking areas in the first decades of the 20th century, as a contribution to historical sociolinguistics. Based on fieldwork questionnaires held in the archives of the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (LCAAJ), it addresses the question of whether the Jewish minorities spoke a supralectal form of standard German or Koiné forms of dialects, relating this to issues of language shift from Western Yiddish. The study shows that many Jews living in northern Germany during the 1920s and 1930s still had access to a multilingual repertoire containing remnants of Western Yiddish; that a majority of the LCAAJ interviewees from this area emphasized their excellent command of standard German; and that their competence in Low German varied widely, from first language to no competence at all, depending on the region where they lived.*


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-298
Author(s):  
Ivo Fustos ◽  
Pablo Moreno-Yaeger ◽  
Daniel Vasquez ◽  
Bastian Morales ◽  
Antonieta Silva ◽  
...  

In a large part of South America, slow landslides are triggered by extreme hydrometeorological conditions leading to, for instance, Rainfall-Induced Landslides – RILs. These RILs are common in urban areas and have a negative impact on the population and infrastructure development. Despite their importance, these events are little understood. We aimed at understanding the spatial distribution of RILs in the urban zone of Temuco, Chile (38.8°S, 72.6°W). The area has the typical hydrometeorological conditions of southern Chile. We conducted our assessment with a temporal analysis of shallow deformations, obtained by synthetic aperture radar interferometry (Sentinel 1 A/B). These shallow deformation rates were compared with satellite precipitation data (CHIRPS product) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). We identified active RIL-prone zones with deformation rates greater than 60 mm during the period 2014 to 2017, supporting theories of hydrometeorological control. Slow movements were observed in volcanic soils, suggesting the influence of their geotechnical characteristics. Our results can be extrapolated to the southern Andes (35°S-43°S), where a large number of volcanic-sedimentary units are susceptible to RILs. Finally, integration of our multidisciplinary approach will facilitate understanding of the local RIL dynamics, allowing a better risk management to decision-makers in South American and other developing countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Brubacher ◽  
Stacey Wilson-Forsberg

The tradition of leaving high school and finding full-time employment after grade 8 has put Low German-speaking (LGS) Mennonites in rural Southwestern Ontario in a vulnerable economic position. Consequently, alternative education programs have been developed by Ontario public school boards in areas containing high numbers of LGS Mennonites. The programs strive to keep LGS Mennonite youth in school by creating spaces where primarily male LGS Mennonite students feel more comfortable and can pursue a high school diploma while maintaining their religious beliefs, cultural identity, and work responsibilities. This article draws from qualitative interview data and open-ended survey responses to explore perceptions of LGS Mennonite men’s experiences in alternative education programs, and it highlights factors that caused the men to avoid or leave the programs. This article offers recommendations on how to strengthen the programs to increase the number of LGS Mennonite students attending them. It emphasizes the importance of LGS Mennonite students receiving strong messages from educators that their language, culture, and religious beliefs are valued even if that means separating the youth from Canadian society rather than integrating them on equal terms to minimize their marginalization.


2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith C. Kulig ◽  
Margaret Wall ◽  
Shirley Hill ◽  
Ruth Babcock
Keyword(s):  

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