Biographical note

My interest for the processes of cultural change and the impact of globalisation on Indigenous people began with my first research trip to the Huave (Ikojts) region, Mexico in 2010, during my MA in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology (University of Bologna). My second fieldwork (2011) focused on patterns of alcohol consumption in the same village, and on the effects of the penetration of global alcohol market in the community on health, society and culture. I am now continuing my study of the community during my PhD, under a cotutelle agreement between JCU and Aarhus University (Denmark). I have also been a visiting student at CIESAS-Oaxaca (Mexico) during my fieldwork year.

Prior to this, I had obtained a BA in Cultural Heritage at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (graduating with a thesis in Ethnopsychiatry on Catholic Exorcism), and a one-year interdisciplinary Master (MIM - Inter Mediterranean Migration) at the same university, for which I spent 3 months at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier (France) and 6 months as an intern in an NGO dealing with media and minorities in Utrecht (The Netherlands).

I have had a professional career in tourism and in communication, having worked for years as a copywriter, social media manager and translator, both as an employee and as a freelancer.

Research topic

Huave (Ikojts). Temporalities. Anthropology of history. Tradition. Change.

Research outline

My research focuses on the emic interpretations of a community conflict and on competing temporalities originating from it, linking them with the concept of costumbre (tradition), local history, indigenous cultural heritage and the Mexican national narratives and political landscape. The PhD project includes a short documentary on the same topics.

Supervisory team

Professor Ton Otto

Dr Michael Wood

Research outputs

A PhD thesis, articles, videos and short ethnographic documentary.

Conference papers

Bresciani, C. (2012, May). Alcoholismo, marginalización y cambio cultural: una etnografía crítica del consumo de alcohol en una comunidad huave (México). Paper presented at the XXXIV International Americanistic Studies Congress, Perugia, Italy. 

Bresciani, C. (2014, September). Alcohol y antropología en un pueblo huave. Problemas y desafíos pasados, presentes y futuros. Paper presented at the II Conference on Huave Studies, Mexico City. 

Bresciani, C. (2015, July ). Energía solar y agency en Latinoamérica: un proyecto del Barefoot College de India para la electrificación con tecnología fotovoltaica de la comunidad Huave-Zapoteca de Cachimbo (México). Paper presented at the 55th ICA International Congress of Americanists, San Salvador.

Publications

Bresciani, C., & Iannetti, M. (2013). Lagunas de saberes. Dios mangüy San Dionisio del Mar [DVD].

Memberships

TRN Tropical Research Network

ADTSG Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco Study Group, Society for Medical Anthropology (AAA)

AIRI International Association of Italian Researchers – founding member & editor