Myriam Hivon

G.R.I.S. (Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé)
Pavillon Marguerite d'Youville, room 7042
Université de Montréal
Montréal, PQ
Tel: 514- 343-6111, ext. 1997
Email: myriam.hivon@umontreal.ca

ACADEMIC DEGREES

Ph.D Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, King's College, (1996).
MSc. Anthropology, Université de Montréal (1990).
BSc. Anthropology, Université de Montréal (1988)

EXPERIENCE

Ø Researcher, G.R.I.S. (Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé), Université de Montréal (2001 up to now)
Ø Researcher, Centre de recherche et de formation, CLSC Côte-des-Neiges, Affiliated to the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University (2000 up to now)
Ø Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University (1999-2001)
Ø Limited Term Appointee, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University (1997-1999)

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH AREAS:

Current projects:
1- Institutionalisation of Knowledge-Based Change: A Case Study on Six Canadian HTA/HSR Agencies: Principal investigator: Pascale Lehoux, G.R.I.S., University of Montreal. Funded by CIHR. (2000-2002)
In Canada, there are six provincial agencies assessing health technologies and one at the national level. The rationale behind health technology assessment and health services research development is that better information and knowledge on the efficacy, safety, and costs of health technologies and interventions should improve decisions and policy-making. However, we do not know the extent to which the dissemination strategies employed by those agencies meet with the expectations and constraints of different types of "knowledge-users." Thus, the study analyses communication patterns and knowledge transfer between six Canadian HTA/HSR agencies and four groups of knowledge-users: 1) health care providers; 2) governments and administrations; 3) patients and consumers; 4) the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry. Fieldwork including quantitative and qualitative data is currently conducted in 6 provinces of Canada.

2- Perception d'une naissance et naissance d'une perception: Principal Investigator: Vania Jimenez, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University. Funded by SSHRC. (2001-2004)
The research examines the impact of perinatal discourses on women's experience of childbirth and consequently on the perception they have of themselves as women and mothers in two different contexts, that of Quebec and British Columbia. It also identifies and compare the social and cultural values of Quebec and British Columbia women in terms of child bearing. It suggests that women's cultural and social values may influence their perception of child bearing and their role as mothers and that a better understanding of these values should contribute to a better evaluation of their needs in terms of perinatal care. It also suggests that knowledge acquired through prenatal classes, literature and appointments with doctors or midwives is likely to challenge these values. It is expected that a better grasp on the impact of scientific knowledge on the perception women have of their childbirth experience contribute to a larger debate on the nature of clear informed consent. Of a qualitative nature, this project involves participant observation in 6 prenatal classes in Quebec and British Columbia and in-depth interviews with several pregnant women of both provinces.

3- Culture and Consumption: Principal Investigator: David Howes, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University. Funded by SSHRC. (1998-2001).
The project examines the diverse ways in which the meanings and uses of globally marketed products and services are transformed upon being consumed in cross-cultural setting. It consists in conducting several ethnographic studies of the reception or domestication of certain goods and services of North American origin in select markets around the world. Fieldwork was conducted in Russia, in August 2000.

Former projects:
Ploughing Through The Reforms: the domestic economy of rural households from pre-collectivization to post-Soviet era. M.Sc and Ph.D researches (1988-1990; 1991-1996). Funded by FCAR, SSHRC, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, and Overseas Research Students Award.
Both researches examined theoretical issues in the politics and economics of changes and development in Russia, with a focus on property rights on land. It investigated how different land tenure reforms affected the domestic economy and social organisation of Russian rural households. While the M.Sc. dissertation focused on the period following the abolition of serfdom (1861) up to collectivization (1929-33), the Ph.D dissertation focused on the recent agrarian reforms, that is, the privatization of land and the establishment of family farms in the context of a free market economy. Based on 15 months of fieldwork in Russia (July 1992 to October 1993), it analyses the use of local resources (subsidiary plots, crop land, grazing land, cattle, etc.) and outlines the existence of local property rights and property relations which run counter to those being implemented by the government. This, it argues, explains why the reforms were so unwelcome by the community.

PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

Publications in peer-reviewed journals
Ø Jimenez, V., Marleau, J., Hivon, M. (2001) Cesarean section rates and immigration : what's at play? Canadian Family Physician. (submitted)

Ø "The Bullied Farmer: social pressure as a survival strategy?" In Surviving Post-Socialism: Local Strategies and Regional Responses in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Unions, ed. Frances Pine and Sue Bridger, London, Routledge, 1998.

Ø "Payer en liquide: L'utilisation de la vodka dans les échanges en Russie rurale." In Les cadeaux: à quel prix?, ed. Sophie Chevalier and Anne Monjaret. Ethnologie Française, XXVIII, 4: 515-524, 1998.

Ø "Rural Women and Agrarian Reforms". In Women in Post-Communist Russia, ed. Sue Bridger. Interface: Bradford Studies in Language, Culture and Society, Spring, 1: 78-93, 1995.

Publications in non peer-reviewed journals
Ø "Projet jeunesse montréalais: état de la situation locale pour le territoire du CLSC de Côte-des-Neiges. Série de publications du CLSC Côte-des-Neiges. Avril 2000.

Ø "Local Resistance to Privatization in Rural Russia". In Surviving the Transition: development concerns in the post-socialist world, ed. David G. Anderson and Frances Pine. Cambridge Anthropology, 18, 2: 13-22, 1995.

Ø "Vodka: The Spirit of Exchange", in Cambridge Anthropology, 17, 3: 2-19, 1994.

Ø "État de la situation locale pour le territoire du CLSC de Côte-des-Neiges." Rapport de recherche présenté à dans le cadre du Projet jeunesse montréalais. CLSC Côte-des-Neiges. Février 2000.

Thesis and dissertation
Ø Ploughing Through The Reforms: the domestic economy of rural households in Post-Soviet Russia, Thèse de doctorat non-publiée, Université de Cambridge, 1995.

Ø Les redéfinitions étatiques de la propriété foncière et leur impact sur la famille paysanne russe de 1861 à 1953. Mémoire de maîtrise non-publié, Université de Montréal, 1990.

Communications
Ø Institutionalization of knowledge-based change : a case study of six cCanadian HTA/HSR agencies. Presented with Pascale Lehoux, Jean-Louis Denis and Stéphanie Tailliez, at the annual meeting of the Canadian Coordinating Committee for HTA/HSR Evaluation, September 2001.

Ø Shifting attitudes towards foreign and Russian commodities over a decade of economic transformations. Paper presented at the CASCA, Montreal, 3 May 2001.

Ø NGOs and civil society. Participation à une table ronde au colloque annuel de SOYUZ, New York, 11 février 2000. SOYUZ est une association d'anthropologues faisant de la recherche dans les pays d'Europe de l'Est et de l'ex-URSS.

Ø Local resistance to privatization in rural Russia. Communication présentée à un séminaire de maîtrise sur les "Théories du développement", enseigné par le professeur Homa Hoodfar au département de sociologie et d'anthropologie de l'Université Concordia. Hiver 1999.

Ø Us and Them: the problem of rural-urban exchanges in post-socialist Russia. Communication présentée au colloque annuel de l'American Anthropological Association (AAA), Washington, USA, 15 Novembre 1995.

Ø Privileged Farmers and Rural Inequalities". Communication présentée lors d'un atelier multi-disciplinaire intitulé Survival Strategies in Post-Communist Societies: Gender, Ethnicity and `Underclass', West Yorkshire, Angleterre, 7-9 Avril 1995.