Children constructing ‘self’ and ‘other’ in a divided Cyprus

Dr. Spyros Spyrou
European University, Cyprus

Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 3 PM
423 Tobin Hall, UMass Amherst

What is it like to grow up in a territorially, ethnically, and politically divided society like Cyprus? What role does education, both formal and informal, play in this? How do children think about and navigate their political lives and selves in such a context? Following Turkey’s invasion in 1974, Cyprus is a divided country, split mostly along ethnic lines. This political reality poses particular challenges for residents of the island in general and children in particular. In this presentation, I will draw on my ethnographically-informed work with children in Cyprus during the last three decades to highlight some of the processes by which children craft their identities in light of the island’s division. I will draw on early work exploring children’s constructions of national identity in and out of school and subsequent work after the partial lifting of restrictions on movement in 2003 which explores children’s border crossing experiences. Finally, I will turn to some empirical work on children’s attitudes and perspectives towards immigrants to consider some of the important side-effects which may come about as a result of an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ framework for understanding the world.  

Dr. Spyros Spyrou is Professor of Anthropology and Acting Deputy Dean of the School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences at European University Cyprus (PhD, sociocultural anthropology, Binghamton Univ.; BSc, Univ. of North Carolina Chapel Hill). He is Honorary Associate of The Centre for Children and Young People's Participation (Univ. of Central Lancashire, UK), member of International Expert Panel of Research Center on Child Studies (Univ. of Minho, Portugal), and member of International Advisory Board of the project Diverging Paths: Educational Choices and Social Divisions (Aarhus Univ., Denmark).