Elaine Bauer

Elaine, an anthropologist, was born in Jamaica, migrated to Canada as a teenager, and now lives in England. She is a graduate of the University of Guelph, where she undertook research on Black-White Mixed Relationships in Canada (1997-2001).

She has also conducted joint research with Paul Thompson on Jamaican Transnational Families, which was supported from 2001 with a Fellowship from the Young Foundation (formerly The Institute of Community Studies). The aim of this research was to understand more deeply, both the strengths and stress points of Jamaican Families with members living in Britain, North America and Jamaica, and to compare the fate of family members in different social-geographical contexts. The book from this project, Jamaican Hands Across the Atlantic was published in 2006.

She has recently completed her PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she researched “Mixed Afro-Caribbean and White British Extended Families in London: 1950-2003”. This research traces the growth of mixed black-white social interactions and family relationships through in-depth studies of particular London families across three to four generations.

Elaine’s publications include:

2006. Bauer, Elaine & Paul Thompson. Jamaican Hands Across the Atlantic:
Transnational Families. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers.

2006. Bauer, Elaine and Paul Thompson. “Jamaican Mutual Aid”. In Alessandra Buonfino and Geoff Mulgan (eds.) Porcupines In Winter: The Pleasures and pains of living together in modern Britain. London: The Young Foundation.

2002. Bauer, Elaine and Paul Thompson. “Migration, Mixed Relationships and Multiracial Identities”. In P. Denis and J. Worthington (eds.), The Power of Oral History: Memory, Healing and Development. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal.

1998. “Interracial Relationships: the Women’s Experiences” in Oral History/ Forum d’ Histoire Orale Volume 18:39-64.