Doctoral Dissertation Research: Variant Identity, Stigma, and Economy

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Doctoral student Melissa Minor Peters (Northwestern University), with Dr. Karen Tranberg Hansen's guidance, will undertake research on how stigmatized physically and otherwise variant populations balance self-expression and self-preservation, particularly in public contexts. The research will be conducted in Kampala, Uganda. Kampala is one of the few African cities in which stigmatized people have formed visible communities despite significant risks, including verbal and physical attacks and loss of employment. Peters will use mapping, interviews, discourse analysis, and participant observation to study 1) the relation between her study participants' economic strategies and their presentations of self and identities; 2) how political, religious, and popular discourses in Kampala affect variant people; and 3) how variant people communicate identities. The research is important because it will contribute to the integration of social science theory from political economy, identity studies, and research on health disparities. Findings from the research will aid work of human rights organizations that advocate for better treatment and more equal access to economic and other resources, such as those that might limit the spread of epidemic disease. Funding this research also supports the education of a social scientist.