Papers by Eleni Kotsira, PhD AFHEA
Special Issue: Trauma-Informed Anthropology, 2024
What can the contribution of anthropologists be when working with communities facing post-disaste... more What can the contribution of anthropologists be when working with communities facing post-disaster trauma? What are the role, responsibilities and – equally important – needs of the anthropologist in a post-disaster site? What are the processes for conducting fieldwork when a disaster hits and the ethics of researching a community struggling with its wellbeing?
This paper addresses these questions based on ethnographic material gathered during and in the wake of an unforeseen deluge that hit Samothráki, a remote island in NE Greece, in September 2017. I am employing two quite different types of data, responses to an online survey and (auto)ethnographic observations, to discuss the experience of post-traumatic stress following a disaster, as this was expressed in private and public spaces. Instead of pathologising trauma and treating people as its passive recipients, the concept of ‘environmental trauma’ is introduced as a dynamic, formative process through which disaster survivors resituate themselves and consider their way forward in a future of climate crisis. The paper also raises important ethical issues related to conducting research in a site and/or with people affected by a disaster, and concludes with providing three key recommendations for a trauma- and disaster-informed anthropological research, particularly useful for teaching and training.
![Research paper thumbnail of The Mountain That Collapsed into the Village: Reconsidering Environmental Sustainability on the Island of Samothráki [open access]](https://a.academia-assets.com/images/blank-paper.jpg)
Anthropological Journal of European Cultures - Volume 33: Issue 1, 2024
While the 2003 Intangible Heritage Convention was adopted to safeguard domains where intangible c... more While the 2003 Intangible Heritage Convention was adopted to safeguard domains where intangible cultural heritage manifests, such domains can be neglected in the communities they originate from – at least until their importance re-emerges when communities are put (or put themselves) at risk. This article examines such an occasion by presenting ethnographic material gathered during and in the wake of an environmental disaster that took place on Samothráki, a small and remote island in north-eastern Greece, in 2017. It revisits three aspects of (seemingly forgotten) traditional knowledge that the islanders reflected upon following the disaster in their attempt to re-approach their relationship with their surrounding environment. In so doing, it discusses how these can potentially contribute to mitigating the impact of the climate crisis on the island.
Weather Matters - Fall series 2023 Cruel Summer: Coping with Climate Change in the Here and Now , 2023
Proceedings of the International Conference on Humanitarian Crisis Management (KRISIS 2023), M. Drakaki, D. Vega (Editors). Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises, University Research Center, International Hellenic University, ISBN 978-618-5630-17-1 (e-book)., 2023
This paper identifies and discusses a list of early drawn similarities between two otherwise diff... more This paper identifies and discusses a list of early drawn similarities between two otherwise different disasters, namely the flooding of the valley of Thessaly, in Greece, following Mediterranean storm Daniel in September 2023 and the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in August 2005. I argue that while the two hazards are not comparable, the reasons why the two locations flooded are. Likewise, similarities can be found in the ways the people affected experienced these two disasters, which were primarily driven by socioeconomic and not natural factors. Setting off from the position that, given the global attention and amount of scholarly work on disaster management that followed Katrina, the wrongdoings of 2005 should have been avoided 18 years later, and further motivated by the long-lasting impact the floods in Thessaly are expected to have both for their survivors as well as the Greek state more broadly as the climate crisis deepens, this comparative analysis is provided so that any future national disaster risk management plan does, at the very least, make use of lessons already learnt from previous disasters.
This presentation will refer to specific ethnographic poems and answer how poetry can be used as ... more This presentation will refer to specific ethnographic poems and answer how poetry can be used as a means to access emotions and experiences in the field that resort in the subconscious, that elude us. Focusing on the personal and collective trauma caused in the aftermath of a natural disaster in a small island mountainous community, I am asking how such emotionally loaded experiences can be a step forward for the ethnographer to understand the troubles of the community. As many others have previously suggested, poetry is the genre that depicts experience par excellence (see for example, Bachelard, 'The Poetics of Space' (1969); Lyotard, 'The Lyotard Reader' (1989)). Therefore, I am introducing poetry as an alternative method of data recording and revisit the challenges of perceiving the collective through the solitary, and yet environmentally immersed, practice of verse writing.
Engagement - Environmental Anthropology Blog, 2020
Refugee Research Online, 2020
In the early days of March I was watching from a distance the situation developing in Greece. A d... more In the early days of March I was watching from a distance the situation developing in Greece. A distance that was geographic, myself being away from the country, but also a distance that was emotional, resulting in a sort of incapacity to engage with and respond to the situation. How did all this come to be in the first place?
Ethnographic research in border areas: Contributions to the study of international frontiers in Southeast Europe.
In our paper (pp.47-55), we are discussing the ways the residents of a village close to the Alban... more In our paper (pp.47-55), we are discussing the ways the residents of a village close to the Albanian – Greek border of Kakavia are negotiating and constructing their identities dialectically with the co-existing Albanian and neighbouring Greek ones. Our main focus is on the role of language and religion as the two most important cultural traits they make use of, in order to claim differences in three parallel levels; the local one as a community, the ethnic one as a Greek minority among Albanians in an Albanian nation state and the nationalistic one as “survivors” of a hazardous communist past in a contemporary capitalist society. Apparently, political trends are affecting and simultaneously being affected in such a process. Therefore, they intervene in several parts of our analysis. Based on our personal observations during fieldwork at Dervitsani, we discuss and correlate already fruitful theories, most of them coming from the fields of Anthropology, Sociolinguistics and History. Our hope is to propose an interdisciplinary approach to modern border minorities, considering that this way we can open up our gaze and observe them through multiple spectrums, challenging as this may seem.
This paper approaches and questions the notions of a continually proved-to-be relationship with t... more This paper approaches and questions the notions of a continually proved-to-be relationship with the Greek state, as this was narrated by some of our informants during a short fieldtrip in a Greek minority village of Southern Albania; specifically, of the ones largely perceived as intellectuals by the community. It questions not so their validity, nationalistic as most of these notions appear to be, but the degree to which they could be differentiated and how they are being constructed by the identity of a Greek minority villager and, furthermore, of a dominant " Northern Epirus " legacy. To achieve that, the writers also adopt a comparative reading of published works by such intellectuals and discuss their arguments with other members of the Greek minority found far from the border zone, in Athens. Life-narratives are quoted for a more accurate depiction of the informants' perspective, focusing mostly on the experience of Albania's communist past. Finally, the Albanian-Greek borders are proved to be anything but solid for these people, who develop a discourse around history, culture and politics to promote and justify their stance on their minority status; this stance being sometimes rigid and some others negotiable. The theoretical background of the paper is mainly Anthropological, but theories from History, Psychology and Political Sciences are also revisited.
Established in September 2013, Sussex University Student Think Tank (SUSTT) is an organisation de... more Established in September 2013, Sussex University Student Think Tank (SUSTT) is an organisation designed to give students a reputable and coherent medium through which to advocate policy change.
In this short essay, I am trying to show how Clifford Geertz's fieldwork research on the Balinese... more In this short essay, I am trying to show how Clifford Geertz's fieldwork research on the Balinese cockfights, which can be seen as social comments the Balinese people make themselves for themselves, can be explained with the notion of habitus, which comes into practice bodily, as introduced by Pierre Bourdieu. The former appears to be immensely inspired and affected by Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological approach of the body. In specific, here I address the issue of how perception results from the senses of the body and then how, embodied as it is, it creates habitus. The navigating question upon which this argument is built, is whether the cockfights can also be seen as an actual resolution of conflicts in Bali, or merely as a performance of them.
Είναι ένα παραμύθι που μου το έλεγε η γιαγιά μου όταν ήμουν μικρή. Θυμάμαι πως έκανε εβδομάδες να... more Είναι ένα παραμύθι που μου το έλεγε η γιαγιά μου όταν ήμουν μικρή. Θυμάμαι πως έκανε εβδομάδες να το τελειώσει, προσέθετε ή αφαιρούσε στοιχεία, άλλαζε την ιστορία κι έτσι πάντα της ζητούσα να μου το ξαναπεί. Μία πιθανή του προέλευση βάση μίας μικρής έρευνας που έκανα είναι η Θράκη. Κάποια στιγμή θα ήθελα να ασχοληθώ εκτενέστερα με αυτό το ζήτημα, προς το παρόν όμως σας το παραθέτω όπως το είχε συγκρατήσει το παιδικό μυαλό μου και όπως ένιωσα ότι ήθελα να το αποδώσω εγώ σε γραπτό λόγο. Πρόκειται δηλαδή για μία προσπάθεια διασκευής. Ελπίζω να το ευχαριστηθείτε, όπως το ευχαριστιόμουν κι εγώ κάθε φορά που μου το διηγιόταν η γιαγιά μου, την οποία και ευχαριστώ γι' αυτό και εύχομαι τώρα που θα το διαβάσει να το βρει αντάξιο όλων εκείνων των ωρών που αφιέρωσε για να μου το μάθει.
Conference Presentations by Eleni Kotsira, PhD AFHEA
This presentation will refer to specific ethnographic poems and answer how poetry can be used as ... more This presentation will refer to specific ethnographic poems and answer how poetry can be used as a means to access emotions and experiences in the field that resort in the subconscious, that elude us. Focusing on the personal and collective trauma caused in the aftermath of a natural disaster in a small island mountainous community, I am asking how such emotionally loaded experiences can be a step forward for the ethnographer to understand the troubles of the community. As many others have previously suggested, poetry is the genre that depicts experience par excellence (see for example, Bachelard, 'The Poetics of Space' (1969); Lyotard, 'The Lyotard Reader' (1989)). Therefore, I am introducing poetry as an alternative method of data recording and revisit the challenges of perceiving the collective through the solitary, and yet environmentally immersed, practice of verse writing.
At the early hours of Tuesday 26 September 2017, a heavy deluge flooded extensive parts on the is... more At the early hours of Tuesday 26 September 2017, a heavy deluge flooded extensive parts on the island of Samothraki and forced the local authorities to declare a state of emergency. Damages were caused in the traditional settlement of Chóra and in numerous areas of the natural landscape, many protected under the European Natura 2000 scheme and preserved for the UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserves scheme. Most of the municipal services had no longer a base to operate from.
Κότσιρα Ελένη Ημερίδα: «Εθελοντική εργασία: Πίστη σε έναν καλύτερο κόσμο ή εκμετάλλευση της καλής... more Κότσιρα Ελένη Ημερίδα: «Εθελοντική εργασία: Πίστη σε έναν καλύτερο κόσμο ή εκμετάλλευση της καλής πίστης;» Εταιρεία Αποφοίτων Κοινωνικής Ανθρωπολογίας Παντείου Πανεπιστημίου, 13 Μαΐου, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστημών.
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Papers by Eleni Kotsira, PhD AFHEA
This paper addresses these questions based on ethnographic material gathered during and in the wake of an unforeseen deluge that hit Samothráki, a remote island in NE Greece, in September 2017. I am employing two quite different types of data, responses to an online survey and (auto)ethnographic observations, to discuss the experience of post-traumatic stress following a disaster, as this was expressed in private and public spaces. Instead of pathologising trauma and treating people as its passive recipients, the concept of ‘environmental trauma’ is introduced as a dynamic, formative process through which disaster survivors resituate themselves and consider their way forward in a future of climate crisis. The paper also raises important ethical issues related to conducting research in a site and/or with people affected by a disaster, and concludes with providing three key recommendations for a trauma- and disaster-informed anthropological research, particularly useful for teaching and training.
In Summer 2023, Greece was faced with wildfires and floods that caused damage across the country. While the impacts of these disasters are still being looked into, this short piece discusses how such destructive events are experienced and why the senses are critical for comprehending that the climate is indeed in crisis.
Conference Presentations by Eleni Kotsira, PhD AFHEA
This paper addresses these questions based on ethnographic material gathered during and in the wake of an unforeseen deluge that hit Samothráki, a remote island in NE Greece, in September 2017. I am employing two quite different types of data, responses to an online survey and (auto)ethnographic observations, to discuss the experience of post-traumatic stress following a disaster, as this was expressed in private and public spaces. Instead of pathologising trauma and treating people as its passive recipients, the concept of ‘environmental trauma’ is introduced as a dynamic, formative process through which disaster survivors resituate themselves and consider their way forward in a future of climate crisis. The paper also raises important ethical issues related to conducting research in a site and/or with people affected by a disaster, and concludes with providing three key recommendations for a trauma- and disaster-informed anthropological research, particularly useful for teaching and training.
In Summer 2023, Greece was faced with wildfires and floods that caused damage across the country. While the impacts of these disasters are still being looked into, this short piece discusses how such destructive events are experienced and why the senses are critical for comprehending that the climate is indeed in crisis.