Reunion - by Elizabeth Barnert (Paperback)

About the Book

"This captivating ethnography reveals the immediate and persisting impact of forced family separations and the eventual reunifications in communities affected by El Salvador's civil war. In 2005, medical student Elizabeth Barnert traveled to El Salvador to build a DNA bank for reuniting families forcibly separated during the Salvadoran civil war. Based on fifteen years of interviews and field notes, Reunion chronicles families' experiences with military attacks, child disappearances, and family separations, the joy of reunion and the arduous process of reintegration. Barnert works alongside Jesuit priest and Pro-Bâusqueda founder Father Jon Cortina, former rebel fighters, and reformed gang members. She meets an eight-year-old journeying north to reunite with her mother and a young woman returning to El Salvador twenty years after her adoption abroad. Reunion includes a foreword by renowned anthropologist Philippe Bourgois, along with his firsthand account of fleeing a Salvadoran military raid, and never-before-published photos and children's drawings from the war. Told through the voices of activists and survivors, this groundbreaking ethnography illuminates the cycles of poverty and violence driving immigration and ongoing separations around the world"--

Book Synopsis

This captivating ethnography reveals the immediate and persisting impact of forced family separations and the eventual reunifications in communities affected by El Salvador's civil war.

In 2005, medical student Elizabeth Barnert traveled to El Salvador to build a DNA bank for reuniting families forcibly separated during the Salvadoran Civil War. Based on fifteen years of interviews and field notes, Reunion chronicles families' experiences with military attacks, child disappearances, family separations, joyful reunions, and arduous processes of reintegration.

Barnert worked alongside Jesuit priest and Pro-Búsqueda founder Father Jon Cortina, former guerrilla fighters, and reformed gang members. Told through the voices of activists and survivors, the book accompanies young adult children seeking biological kin, including a young woman returning to El Salvador twenty years after her adoption abroad to meet her mother and brother. This groundbreaking ethnography illuminates the cycles of poverty and violence driving immigration and ongoing separations around the world. Reunion includes a foreword by renowned anthropologist Philippe Bourgois and his firsthand account of fleeing a Salvadoran military "scorched-earth" operation, with never-before-published photos and children's drawings from the war.

All book royalties of Reunion will be donated by the author to Pro-Búsqueda and related causes.

From the Back Cover

"This is a profound and moving exploration of the causes of the separation of thousands of children from their parents and relatives during the civil war in El Salvador, and of the efforts of a small nongovernmental group, Pro-Búsqueda, to find them and to support both the childrens' and families' choices to be reunified. The author's engagement with each child or family and her writing is informed by her immense compassion and care as well as by her human rights and medical training."--Thomas J. White, coeditor of Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Analysis in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters

"Reunion reveals the lesser-known separations that have shaped many Salvadoran families. The stories in the book are rich, powerful, and deeply moving. Reading these unfiltered stories in the voices of the people who have suffered infinite pain is impactful. Elizabeth Barnert's writing is eminently engaging, accessible, and poignant."--Cecilia Menjívar, Professor, Dorothy L. Meier Social Equities Chair, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

Review Quotes

"Barnert's book is moving, her dedication and connection to the work of Pro-Búsqueda palpable."-- "Jacobin"

"Barnert's compassionate approach to her interviews helps bring to the surface many complex feelings for her subjects and, hopefully, contributes to their healing. This book, beautifully written from the heart, is an essential tool for anyone interested in recent Latin America history."
-- "Science"

About the Author

Elizabeth Barnert is a pediatrician and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research, grounded in human rights and social action, examines children affected by violence, family separation, and incarceration.