tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/identity-279/articlesIdentity – The Conversation2024-03-01T18:33:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2248882024-03-01T18:33:43Z2024-03-01T18:33:43ZGhana’s new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone’s rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people - expert<p>Ghana’s new <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/28/africa/ghana-passes-anti-homosexuality-bill-intl/index.html">anti-homosexuality bill</a> infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals too. The bill has been in the works since 2021 when it was tabled in parliament as a <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/private-member-s-bill-key-to-parliamentary-effectiveness.html">private member’s bill</a>.</p>
<p>The objective of the <a href="https://cdn.modernghana.com/files/722202192224-0h830n4ayt-lgbt-bill.pdf">Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill</a> is</p>
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<p>to provide for human sexual rights and family values and for related matters.</p>
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<p>At the heart of the contention about the proposed law is the question of discrimination, its purpose and its effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms.</p>
<p>The title of the bill, obviously, is ironic because the law rather sets out to deny the right to sexuality and related rights to LGBTIQ+ people and to criminalise their actions. The key action which is criminalised is consensual sexual relations between two homosexual adults.</p>
<p>The bill defines such practices, linking them to similar provisions in the <a href="https://ir.parliament.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/2433/ACT%2030.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">Criminal and Other Offences Act of Ghana</a>. Interestingly, it also criminalises and denies other acts, such as oral sex, which heterosexual couples also do to homosexuals and lesbians. The LGBTIQ+ community is also prohibited from marriage and from adopting or fostering.</p>
<p>If the president signs the legislation, Ghana will join <a href="http://www.globalequality.org/component/content/article/166">36 African countries</a> where homosexuality is illegal. It’s punishable by death in <a href="https://www.fairplanet.org/story/death-penalty-homosexualty-illegal/">some countries </a>, including Nigeria and Mauritania. So, Africa remains a tough place for LGBTIQ+ people. But there has been some progress in countries like South Africa and <a href="https://healthpolicy-watch.news/mauritius-supreme-court-throws-out-colonial-anti-gay-law/">Mauritius </a> where colonial era laws have been repealed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mauritius-is-the-latest-nation-to-decriminalise-same-sex-relations-in-a-divided-continent-215270">Mauritius is the latest nation to decriminalise same-sex relations in a divided continent</a>
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<p>As a scholar of international human rights law, I believe this bill will infringe the right to privacy, right to health, freedom of association and expression, and press freedom. It will also impinge on the rights of teachers, lecturers, civil society activists and citizens who share content on social media platforms that the bill deems illegal. </p>
<h2>Compromising key freedoms</h2>
<p>The bill’s criminalisation of consensual sexual relations between two homosexual adults and imposition of sentence of three years on violators of that provision of the law is prohibitive and disproportionate. The practice should not be criminalised, but if at all, violation should at best attract a non-custodial sentence, for example a fine or community work. The LGBTIQ+ community has the right to be treated with dignity. The fact that someone is gay should not lead to a loss of his/her humanity.</p>
<p>Moreover, since the only way the criminalisation of consensual sex can be enforced is by “peeking through the window”, this will infringe on the right to privacy.</p>
<p>There has been many instances where members of the LGBTIQ+ community, and even those who the society consider as such but are not, have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jul/13/arrested-abused-and-accused-wave-of-repression-targets-lgbt-ghanaians">arrested </a>and subjected to acts of molestation, abuse, torture and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/20/ghana-lgbt-activists-face-hardships-after-detention">other forms of violence</a> and <a href="https://www.losangelesblade.com/2024/02/05/man-in-ghana-assaulted-for-being-gay/">extrajudicial measures</a> which constitute a violation of their right to dignity. Some are even killed. The vigilante groups that effect these arrests also have the habit of extorting money from the alleged perpetrators of LGBTIQ+ practices. Where the “suspects” end up at the police station, the police have also resorted to extortion of large sums of money from the suspects before letting them go. </p>
<p>The law seeks to avert such occurrences by imposing a term of imprisonment of between six months to three years for anyone who harasses someone accused of being LGBTIQ+. However, this is a feeble attempt by the sponsors of the bill to appease or assure the LGBTIQ+ community. </p>
<p>The forced disbandment of LGBTIQ+ associations in Ghana, will constitute a violation of the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression, among others. It has been abused in a number of instances and is likely to be further abused even more. The provision that seeks to make owners of digital platforms or physical premises in which LGBTIQ+ groups organise guilty of promoting LGBTIQ+ activities violates the right to freedom of association and expression, among others. </p>
<p>Also, the provision on imposing harsh sentences on teachers and other educators who talk about LGBTIQ+ in the classroom is likely to infringe on the right to academic freedom and the right to education. Further, the imposition of six to 10 years of imprisonment for anyone who produces, procures, or distributes material deemed to be promoting LGBTIQ+ activities is likely to lead to the abuse of the right to freedom of expression, information and education and even press freedom. The same goes with the provision on criminalising the “public show of romantic relations” between people of the same sex, even including cross-dressing.</p>
<p>What is important to also note is that the law is not made to restrict or violate the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community only. Teachers, lecturers, media personnel and civil society activists, people who share content over social media platforms, or broadcast content on LGBTIQ+ are also going to be held criminally responsible.</p>
<h2>Presidential or constitutional challenge</h2>
<p>I propose that President Nana Akufo-Addo should not assent to the law as it is, relying on <a href="https://lawsghana.com/constitution/Republic/constitution_content/113">article 108</a> of the 1992 Constitution since, being a private members bill, it has likely financial implications for the state. Thus, relying on <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/20/ghana-lgbt-activists-face-hardships-after-detention">article 106</a>, he can refer the bill to his highest advisory body (<a href="https://cos.gov.gh/">Council of State</a>) for its advice. Otherwise, he has the power to state in a memo to the Speaker of Parliament any specific provisions of the bill which in his opinion should be reconsidered by Parliament. </p>
<p>If he does not, the matter can be taken to a Human Rights Court by a citizen, relying on <a href="https://lawsghana.com/constitution/Republic/constitution_content/38#:%7E:text=(5)%20The%20rights%2C%20duties,freedom%20and%20dignity%20of%20man.">article 33(5)</a>of the Constitution, which provides that “the rights, duties, declarations and guarantees relating to the fundamental human rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in this Chapter shall not be regarded as excluding others not specifically mentioned which are considered to be inherent in a democracy and intended to secure the freedom and dignity of man.” </p>
<p>The other option is to go straight to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the bill.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s anti-gay bill will affect heterosexual’s tooKwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, Associate Professor of Law, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223422024-02-14T16:53:54Z2024-02-14T16:53:54ZCanada’s entrepreneur shortage is impacting the economy — here’s one way to fix it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573166/original/file-20240203-29-f3bec9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=482%2C30%2C4606%2C2820&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To build more small- and medium-sized businesses, and create more jobs in turn, Canada needs to create more entrepreneurs. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Business Development Canada made headlines in October 2023 when it revealed that almost <a href="https://www.bdc.ca/en/about/mediaroom/news-releases/nearly-half-as-many-people-are-launching-businesses-as-20-years-ago">half as many Canadians are starting businesses today</a> compared to 20 years ago. </p>
<p>This is alarming, as the vast majority of jobs in Canada — <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/1253-small-and-medium-businesses-driving-large-sized-economy">98 per cent</a> — are created by small business entrepreneurs. The health of our economy is built on the backbone of these enterprises. </p>
<p>To build more small- and medium-sized businesses, and create more jobs in turn, Canada needs to create more entrepreneurs. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106326">recent study with my colleagues Shasha Liu and Brock Smith</a> at the University of Victoria offers a way forward. Our study reveals that instilling an entrepreneur-possible self — the belief that you can become an entrepreneur — is a critical stepping stone for becoming an entrepreneur. And, it’s one we can encourage to form.</p>
<h2>Daydreaming reality into being</h2>
<p>Each of us carries a constellation of possible selves within us. These possible selves play a crucial role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954">shaping the actual identities we assume</a>. </p>
<p>If we don’t develop an entrepreneur-possible self, we are unlikely to develop the mindset that fosters entrepreneurship. Historically, most Canadians never consider becoming an entrepreneur and, of those who do, <a href="https://www.gemconsortium.org/reports/latest-global-report">most never actually take the leap</a>.</p>
<p>Our study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106326">highlights some easy ways to foster the development of this entrepreneur-possible self</a>. What’s needed is identity play — the provisional “trying-on” of a future entrepreneur-possible self. Specifically, two types of identity play: daydream-play and substantive-play.</p>
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<img alt="A woman, sitting in front of a computer screen, rests her chin against her hands while starting off into the distance" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574212/original/file-20240207-26-juwr5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Most Canadians never consider becoming an entrepreneur and, of those who do, most never actually take the leap.</span>
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<p>Daydream-play involves envisioning an entrepreneur self through unrestricted thought exercises and imaginings. It’s about letting your mind freely wander through creative musings, wondering, considering and thinking. </p>
<p>Substantive-play involves physically acting to learn more about the possibility of being an entrepreneur. This is an active form of play focused on actions such as trying things out, looking into things and observing or learning new things related to entrepreneurship. </p>
<p>Alternating between these two types of play can ultimately lead to an aspirational stage that is critical to forming an entrepreneur identity.</p>
<h2>Creating entrepreneur-possible selves</h2>
<p>For many of us, the pandemic fuelled personal reflections on the meaning, purpose and impact of our careers and vocations, resulting in what Harvard business professor Ranjay Gulati has called the “<a href="https://fortune.com/2022/03/08/great-resignation-careers-rethink-labor-shortage-pandemic-work-ranjay-gulati/">Great Re-think</a>.”</p>
<p>This period of reflection serves as a prime opportunity for individuals to work on developing an entrepreneur-possible self.</p>
<p>One way individuals can do this is by engaging in daydream-play to imagine the entrepreneur they could become. This can involve, for example, reading <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/22754.Business_Biographies_and_Memoirs">biographies of entrepreneurs</a>, listening to <a href="https://wondery.com/shows/how-i-built-this/">podcasts with or about successful entrepreneurs</a> or watching <a href="https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80202462">movies about entrepreneurial journeys</a>.</p>
<p>As a form of substantive-play, individuals can tap existing entrepreneur networks and <a href="https://eocanada.com">meet with or shadow entrepreneurs</a>, play tabletop or <a href="https://www.simcompanies.com/">virtual games</a> that simulate building companies, work or volunteer at a startup, or conduct industry or opportunity-specific research that leverages a personal curiosity, interest or passion.</p>
<p>Since entrepreneurial journeys are seldom solitary endeavours, aspiring entrepreneurs can also reach out to organizations that support entrepreneurship (like the <a href="https://chamber.ca/">Canadian Chamber of Commerce</a> or <a href="https://www.futurpreneur.ca/en">Futurepreneur</a> for guidance and mentorship. These organizations can provide valuable insights, networking opportunities and resources.</p>
<h2>Entrepreneurship support organizations</h2>
<p>Organizations that are part of the entrepreneur ecosystem, like <a href="https://www.innovatingcanada.ca/">Innovating Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.startupcan.ca">Startup Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.ccsbe.org">Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship</a>, also should ensure working-age individuals have opportunities to explore and build their entrepreneur-possible selves.</p>
<p>These organizations should start by educating Canadians about the identity play process. To encourage more focused daydream-play, these organizations can create resources for exploring entrepreneurship as a career, provide access to success stories and create an accessible database of entrepreneurs willing to have conversations with those interested in learning more. </p>
<p>They can support substantive-play by developing an active mentoring program that goes beyond passive advice-giving to provide individuals a chance to shadow successful entrepreneurs. Establishing positive and meaningful mentor-mentee connections will help to cultivate an aspirational entrepreneur possible self.</p>
<p>Lastly, these organizations can create opportunities for hands-on experience by hosting or promoting hackathons, short-sprint entrepreneurship competitions, pitch events, maker spaces and side-hustle experiences. They can also begin providing coaches to create individualized action plans.</p>
<h2>Today’s youth are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs</h2>
<p>To ensure a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, parents, guardians and teachers play a pivotal role in providing children with opportunities to practice being an entrepreneur that establish entrepreneur-possible selves. </p>
<p>Across the country, there are many entrepreneurship classes, <a href="https://www.camps.ca/entrepreneurship-camps.php">summer camps</a> and entrepreneurship youth experiences that foster daydream and substantive-play in children, including the UVIC Gustavson School of Business’ <a href="https://www.kidovate.ca/">Kidovate program</a>.</p>
<p>By nurturing micro-entrepreneurship experiences for youth from an early age, we are sowing the seeds for a generation that will grow up thinking “I could be an entrepreneur” which is key to becoming one.</p>
<p>The takeaway is clear: building more opportunities for Canadians to create entrepreneur-possible selves will result in more Canadians who think and act based on believing they are entrepreneurs. It is an investment in the nation’s future that will contribute to Canada’s economic prosperity and its competitiveness on the global stage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claudia Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study reveals that instilling an entrepreneur-possible self — the belief that you can become an entrepreneur — is a critical stepping stone for becoming an entrepreneur.Claudia Smith, Assistant Professor, Gustavson School of Business, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136972024-02-06T13:30:01Z2024-02-06T13:30:01ZBlack travelers want authentic engagement, not checkboxes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571338/original/file-20240125-19-jhtqbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black travelers want to see the travel industry embrace their full identities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-woman-with-smartphone-vacationing-in-tokyo-royalty-free-image/1155295723?phrase=black+tourists&adppopup=true">AzmanL/ Getty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/06/26/travel-brands-rushed-post-blacklivesmatter-are-slow-share-how-theyre-taking-action/">travel brands</a> – including Delta Air Lines, Hilton and Enterprise – pronounced their support for diversity and the Black Lives Matter movement, our research group was motivated to conduct a study that collected data of the travel experiences of more than 5,000 Black people and people of color. </p>
<p>Our work, published in <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/black-travel-is-not-a-monolith">Afar magazine</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2022.2149848">Tourism Geographies</a>, found that Black travelers expressed dissatisfaction with how the travel industry promotes itself as inclusive.</p>
<h2>Authenticity matters</h2>
<p>Black travelers want more genuine and authentic engagement and representation, we found, that showcases an investment in the Black community by partnering with Black-owned travel businesses, guides and experiences. </p>
<p>We conducted in-depth interviews with several of the people who provided data to us. Those we interviewed told us plainly that they are weary of being perceived as a single, uniform entity. They want more attention paid to their <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-intersectionality-mean-104937">intersecting identities</a>. First coined by Law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw back in 1989, intersectionality has come to mean that all oppression is linked to people’s complex identities related to their gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability and more.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/urbanistamom/?hl=en">Joshlyn Crystal Adams</a>, CEO of Urbanista Travel, told us, “It’s definitely more than being Black. It’s also as a woman, where do I feel safe going … if you go to this country as a gay person, just be mindful that if you’re caught doing this or that, you can be arrested. So it spins far beyond race. It’s definitely about gender and sexuality.” </p>
<p>We also found that Black travelers notice the small things that add up to an experience of feeling valued and seen – or not.</p>
<p>Some companies support Black-owned businesses by buying their products in limited amounts. For example, <a href="https://travelnoire.com/black-skincare-line-owner-partners-with-marriott-hotels">JW Marriott</a> sells <a href="https://travelnoire.com/black-skincare-line-owner-partners-with-marriott-hotels">Diamond’s Body Care</a> in their spas. But the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2022.2149848">people in our study emphasized</a> the need for brands and destinations to make a greater effort. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.theroot.com/is-hotel-shampoo-kind-of-racist-1790876376">What do you know about my hair</a>? Nothing,” travel media personality, pilot and avid adventurer <a href="https://www.kelleesetgo.com/">Kellee Edwards</a> said about hotel shampoo. “Until they go ahead and mix that pot up and sprinkle some salt and pepper in it … this is what we’re going to be dealing with.” </p>
<h2>Diversity is not a box to check</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/traveling-through-jim-crow-america">Jim Crow era</a>, Black travelers were regularly denied access to crucial services such as gas, food, restrooms and lodging. Stopping in unfamiliar locations posed the threat of humiliation, threats or worse. </p>
<p>While it’s true that race relations and access to travel by Black people have improved in the United States since <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964">the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043750">generational trauma</a> has left a mark on Black travelers, affecting how and why <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2019.1630671">they choose to travel</a>. </p>
<p>Edwards shared that identifying as a Black woman in a <a href="https://www.unwto.org/gender-and-tourism">traditionally male-dominated industry</a> is “exhausting.” </p>
<p>“Diversity is a lot of things, but … as women, we are very much underrepresented,” Edwards said. “While we need to focus on inclusion when it comes to race, we also must focus on gender.” </p>
<p>Travel often reinforces entrenched power dynamics, noted Christopher Carr, one of our study participants and an associate dean at George Mason University. </p>
<p>Carr said that destinations often engage in “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/lgbtq-pride-consumerism/">rainbow washing</a>” – superficial LGBTQ-friendly gestures meant to elicit positive feelings about a brand in order to sell something – with no real support going to the community, such as promoting pride flags while passing <a href="https://vogue.sg/rainbow-washing-pride-month/">anti-LGBTQIA corporate policies</a>. </p>
<p>That leaves him to wonder if “the attention that I’m receiving is genuine or is it because I’m somebody’s box to tick?” </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2022.2149848">interviewees</a> called for actions beyond symbolic gestures and real effort to engage the community.</p>
<p>“If companies want to understand how to be appeasing to our communities, they should go directly to us,” study participant and AfroBuenaventura Transformative Travel founder <a href="https://www.afrobuenaventura.com/">Ronnell Perry</a> said.</p>
<h2>Change the industry from within</h2>
<p>Black individuals hold fewer than 1% of top leadership roles – C-suite, director, CEO/president – in the U.S. hospitality industry, according to a <a href="https://www.ahla.com/sites/default/files/2022blackrepresentationinhospitalityindustryleadership_final_0.pdf">report by Castell Project</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past decade, consultancies such as <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters">McKinsey</a> have made it increasingly clear that companies with more diverse workforces perform better financially.</p>
<p>In our recent publication “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2022.2149848">Black Travel Is Not Monolithic</a>,” we proposed a road map to help guide the travel sector toward authentic inclusion. However, change requires taking power from the hands of dominant white, heterosexual, nondisabled and first-world nation groups. </p>
<p>One of our top suggestions is to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.864043">diversify human resource departments</a> so that individuals from diverse identities and backgrounds can actively participate in the hiring process. From there, they can address culturally sensitive issues on a daily basis. Of course, this is true not just in travel but across industries.</p>
<p>Fostering an inclusive workplace also requires nurturing diverse leaders, inclusive of intersecting marginalized identities. </p>
<p>“Until you get people in who can represent us to say, ‘Hey, this is my community and I know something about this and we can represent this,’” Edwards said, “it’s not going to change.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black travelers want the tourism industry to recognize their full identity. That will require more than procedural checkboxes and targeted advertising.Alana Dillette, Assistant Professor. L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Tourism RESET, San Diego State UniversityStefanie Benjamin, Associate Professor of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management; Co-Founder of CODE, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2167482023-11-17T01:23:24Z2023-11-17T01:23:24ZWhat does it mean to be asexual?<p>In recent years, we’ve seen a burgeoning social movement for the acceptance of asexuality. We’ve also seen more asexual characters popping up in shows such as <a href="https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/originals/heartstopper-season-2-isaac-asexual/">Heartstopper</a> and <a href="https://www.them.us/story/asexual-representation-sex-education-o-yasmin-benoit#:%7E:text=The%20Netflix%20series%20introduced%20a,the%20course%20of%20the%20series.">Sex Education</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this, asexuality remains widely misunderstood. So what does it mean?</p>
<p><a href="https://lgbtq.unc.edu/resources/exploring-identities/asexuality-attraction-and-romantic-orientation/">Asexuality</a> refers to low or no sexual attraction. However, this does not mean all people who identify as asexual, or the shorthand “<a href="https://www.allure.com/story/asexuality-spectrum-asexual-people-explain-what-it-means">ace</a>”, never experience sexual attraction or never have sex. </p>
<p>People who identify as asexual may feel intense <em>romantic</em> attraction to someone, but not sexual attraction. Others may find sex pleasurable but rarely feel attracted to another person. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-asexuals-navigate-romantic-relationships-192685">How asexuals navigate romantic relationships</a>
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<p>There are also variations of asexual identity that fit broadly within the <a href="https://acesandaros.org/learn/the-asexual-umbrella">ace umbrella</a>. People who identify as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211101-why-demisexuality-is-as-real-as-any-sexual-orientation">demisexual</a>, for example, experience sexual attraction only to people with whom they have a strong emotional bond. </p>
<p>Across the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719054?seq=17">spectrum of ace identities</a>, many people have romantic or sexual relationships. For others, sex is not part of their lives. </p>
<p>Asexual identity also cuts across other sexual or gender identities. Some asexual people identify as queer, transgender or gender diverse. </p>
<h2>How many people identify as asexual?</h2>
<p>Asexuality, as a sexual identity or orientation, has only recently been included in large-scale surveys. So data is limited. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224490409552235">Analysis of data</a> from a <a href="https://www.natsal.ac.uk/">2004 British population-based survery</a> found 1% of respondents indicated, “I have never felt sexually attracted to anyone at all”. This measure, however, may not be accurate given many asexual people wouldn’t agree they have “never” felt sexual attraction.</p>
<p>In 2019, a large Australian survey of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities, <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/private-lives-3">showed</a> 3.2% of the sample identified as asexual. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.asexuality.org/">Asexual Visibility and Education Network</a>, an international online network, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/21/i-dont-want-sex-with-anyone-the-growing-asexuality-movement">has more than 120,000</a> members. </p>
<h2>When did asexuality become a social movement?</h2>
<p>Asexuality has always been part of human sexual diversity. However, the <a href="https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/corvette/article/view/20810/9350#:%7E:text=asexuality%20%E2%80%94%20can%20be%20traced%20back,as%20far%20back%20as%201972.&text=324%20Kinsey%20%E2%80%9C%20Sexual%20Behavior%20in%20the%20Human%20Male%20%2C%E2%80%9D%205.">movement to establish asexuality</a> as a sexual identity, and build a community around this, has its roots in the early 2000s. </p>
<p>The rise of internet technologies created a platform for asexual people to connect and organise, following a similar path to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The rainbow LGBTQIA pride flag and the asexual pride flag together, lying in the grass intertwined." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559818/original/file-20231116-27-5yu1yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Asexual identity also cuts across other sexual or gender identities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rainbow-lgbtqia-pride-flag-asexual-together-2365113237">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Asexuality, as an identity, sits alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality as a description of self that is determined by the shape of one’s desire. </p>
<p>However, the significance of defining asexuality as an “identity” is often misunderstood or critiqued on the basis that many people experience low or no sex drive at some points in their life. </p>
<h2>What’s the difference between sexual identity and sex drive?</h2>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sexuality/Weeks/p/book/9781032105345">work</a> on the history of sexuality, sociologist Jeffrey Weeks points to the psychoanalytic interrogation of men attracted to men as a milestone in the contemporary Western understanding of sexuality. It was at this point, in the late 1800s, that “homosexuality” came to be seen as core to an individual’s psyche. </p>
<p>Before this, homosexual sex was often considered sinful or degenerate, but sex was seen as just a behaviour not an identity – something a person does, not who they “are”. There was no category of “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/1185/chapter/139930481">the homosexual</a>” and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170315-the-invention-of-heterosexuality">heterosexuality</a> was only determined in response to this categorisation of sexuality. </p>
<p>This history means that, today, sexual identity is considered an important part of what defines us as a person. For lesbian, gay or bisexual people, “coming out” is about building a sense of self and belonging in the face of institutional and cultural opposition to homosexuality. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-hidden-in-plain-sight-australian-queer-men-and-women-before-gay-liberation-155964">Friday essay: hidden in plain sight — Australian queer men and women before gay liberation</a>
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<p>Asexuality has not been subject to legal or moral sanction in the ways that homosexuality has. However, many asexual people similarly do not conform to conventional expectations regarding sex, relationships and marriage. Families and communities often don’t <a href="https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/new-research-shining-light-%E2%80%98dehumanising%E2%80%99-discrimination-faced-ace-people">accept or understand</a> asexuality.</p>
<p>Sexual relationships are central to the expectations we place on ourselves and others for a “good” life. Sex and desire (or desirability), not to mention marriage and childbearing, are highly valued. People who are asexual, or who do not desire sex, are often given the message that they are “broken” or inadequate. </p>
<p>This can be reinforced through medical or psychological definitions of low sex drive as a problem that should be fixed. <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9765-8_8">Hypo-active sexual desire disorder</a> is a category within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the handbook mental health professionals use to diagnose mental disorders.</p>
<p>While diagnostic categories are important to support people who experience distress due to low sex drive, they can also mean <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2023.2193575#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%20current%20DSM,not%20identify%20as%20lifelong%20asexuals.">asexuality is viewed in pathological terms</a>. </p>
<p>Building awareness of asexuality as a legitimate sexual identity is about resisting the view that asexuality is a deficit. </p>
<p>By challenging us to rethink everyday assumptions about human sexual experience, the asexuality movement is far from anti-sex. Rather, affirming and celebrating the legitimacy of asexual identity is very much a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719054?seq=2">sex-positive</a> stance – one that asks us to expand our appreciation of sexual diversity. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-asexuality-can-teach-us-about-sexual-relationships-and-boundaries-94846">What asexuality can teach us about sexual relationships and boundaries</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Power receives funding from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Asexuality remains widely misunderstood. Here’s what it means and how this sexuality became a social movement.Jennifer Power, Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2153722023-11-06T15:16:12Z2023-11-06T15:16:12ZMy parents are from two different African countries: study shows how this shapes identity<p>More than a <a href="https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/062/2016/009/article-A001-en.xml">third of migration</a> in sub-Saharan Africa happens within the continent. This mixing of people means that some children have parents of different national origins. Yet not enough is known about the lives of these children: how they form their identity and what impact migration has on them. </p>
<p>The majority of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kassahun-Kebede/publication/329950963_The_African_second_generation_in_the_United_States_-_identity_and_transnationalism_an_introduction/links/5c76fdca92851c69504669e9/The-African-second-generation-in-the-United-States-identity-and-transnationalism-an-introduction.pdf">research</a> on second generation African immigrants focuses on understanding their experiences in the global north. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2018.1484503">research</a> looked at the less studied African context, where the majority of African migration occurs.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/sociology/staff/geraldine-asiwome-ampah">sociologists</a> who study <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97322-3_7">migration</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imig.12644">identity</a> and we have seen that studies tend to take the <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d93fe8bf-5987-40ea-98d2-e9c6cbbe61f0/download_file?safe_filename=TDI%2Brevised%2Bsubmission%2Bto%2BERS%2BAugust%2B2015.pdf&file_format=application%2Fpdf&type_of_work=Journal+article">perspective</a> of the <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253000828/migrants-and-strangers-in-an-african-city/">parents</a> in the African context. The voices of the children are missing. </p>
<p>To fill this gap we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2023.2222670">asked</a> children who have two African-born parents – but from different countries on the continent – about their experiences. </p>
<p>Our aim was to understand how children with binational parentage formed their identity. We wanted to know if they aligned with either or both of their parents’ identities and which individual or structural factors shaped that. This could be useful to know in contexts where ethnic, religious, political and national identities are salient markers of difference and influence people’s lives and opportunities.</p>
<h2>Questions of identity</h2>
<p>We conducted 54 interviews but drew on the experiences of 32 of the research participants for our paper. Their ages ranged from the lower 20s to the lower 60s. Participants came from Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. Our sample was middle class and therefore our findings are limited to binational identity among middle class Africans. </p>
<p>A key criterion for participation was that participants should have lived in the African country of one of their parents’ birth or both during their formative years. This is because formative years (from birth up to the end of secondary education) shape who you are. And the experiences you have in a place leave an indelible impression and influence your sense of who you are.</p>
<p>We asked them questions such as: Who are you? What is your identity? Where are you from? How do others perceive you? What relationship do you have with your parents’ home country or home town? To what extent has your identity created opportunities for you and to what extent has it created challenges for you? </p>
<h2>Primary and secondary identities</h2>
<p>A person’s primary identity is how they see themselves principally. Their secondary identity comes after those core or foundational aspects.</p>
<p>We learnt that the participants’ primary identity was shaped predominantly by the closeness of family ties during their formative years. Family ties were evident in communication, visits and presence at rites of passage.</p>
<p>The case of three sisters whose mother was from Botswana and father from Ghana highlighted the importance of the closeness of family ties for identity formation even among siblings.</p>
<p>Maru, the eldest, was born when her parents were settling into adult life. She was raised by her maternal grandmother in rural Botswana because her parents were trying to find jobs in Gaborone, the capital. She felt a close bond with her maternal grandmother and thought of herself as Kalanga (an ethnic group) with a very weak link to Ghana. </p>
<p>Her two sisters were born almost a decade later in Gaborone and raised by their parents, who had settled into their lives in the capital. They described themselves differently. Seliwe described herself as Ghanaian. When she was growing up, the family spent holidays (sometimes several months) in Ghana and she thoroughly enjoyed those visits. She was close to the Ghanaian side of her family and spent much time during our interview talking about her paternal uncle, who lived in her father’s home town, and the jollof rice at a popular fast-food restaurant in Accra. She identified chiefly as Ghanaian and insisted that identity be recognised, for example by ensuring that her name, which is Ghanaian, be pronounced correctly.</p>
<p>The family plays a crucial role in identity formation. If parents want their children to identify with both sides of the family, they need to ensure that the children spend time with both sides of the family. </p>
<p>Another influence is the extent to which children are accepted by the extended family members. Meghan, who had a Ghanaian father and a Nigerian mother, noted that her mother’s family embraced her far more than the Ghanaian side of the family. Although she was living in Ghana, she barely had any contact with them. She explained, “I find that I relate more to my Nigerian side than the Ghanaian side.” </p>
<p>Fluency in a particular African language was not an important marker of identity for the study participants.</p>
<p>Our study also found that binational individuals drew upon their secondary identity either explicitly to achieve some purpose or implicitly for its intrinsic value.</p>
<p>About half of the sample had drawn on their secondary identity to access something practical, like tertiary education or employment. In simple terms, even if they didn’t feel strongly Nigerian (for example) they might use that identity to get a place at a university. </p>
<p>The other half of the sample drew on their secondary identity for non-essential – more cultural – purposes. Usually this was in making choices about things like food, clothing and music. Another purpose was more personal – such as the name the individual chose to use.</p>
<h2>Why the insights are useful</h2>
<p>Identities are fluid and people weave in and out of them. If you feel Nigerian at your core then you embrace all aspects of “Nigerianness”, including music, food and so on. If being Nigerian is your secondary identity, you see value in claiming it sometimes even if it is for instrumental reasons.</p>
<p>We found individuals with binational identity were able to shift between their primary and secondary identity quite frequently, sometimes daily. </p>
<p>A society’s culture informs identity – but so do individuals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Primary identities are foundational and serve as the core part of an individual’s identity.Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of GhanaGeraldine Asiwome Ampah, Senior Lecturer of Sociology, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149822023-10-25T13:29:56Z2023-10-25T13:29:56ZChristian leaders in Ghana are trying to reshape government – it may not end well<p>Ghana is constitutionally <a href="https://classic.iclrs.org/content/blurb/files/Ghana.pdf">a secular state</a>. This means religious liberty is guaranteed, and all citizens are free to believe and manifest any religious faith. No political parties are allowed to base their appeal on religion. </p>
<p>However, the situation is changing. Church leaders are becoming more vocal on issues of national interest in Ghana. The Church of Pentecost recently <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thecophq_nadec23-pentecostnews-possessingthenations-activity-7090623609685073920-1xGI?trk=public_profile_like_view">proposed</a> setting up a Christian morality council to oversee private and public behaviour. Some Christian leaders are also <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/9/1202">cultivating</a> “insider” status with political elites and developing a high media profile.</p>
<p>They aim to remake Ghana according to their values and beliefs. The question is what impact that will have on democracy.</p>
<p>Many Ghanaians regard the country as a “nation of Christians”. According to the <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/">2021 census</a>, about 71% of the population is Christian. Muslims make up 18%. Followers of indigenous or animistic religious beliefs make up 5%. Another 6% are members of other religious groups or don’t have religious beliefs.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=wyX5M8UAAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar of religion and politics</a>, I argue in a recent paper that <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/9/1202">the “Christianisation” of politics in Ghana</a> is an attempt to deal with Ghana’s serious problem of state-level corruption and to improve democracy. But I don’t believe it will have this effect. Rather, Christian nationalism seeks to push aside people who have other beliefs. That is not a basis for democracy. And trying to influence policy through religion will get in the way of fundamental institutional reforms that are necessary to make the government more accountable and its actions more transparent.</p>
<h2>Christianity and politics</h2>
<p>Influential expressions of Christianity in Ghana include the <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/The-Birth-and-Effects-of-Charismaticism-in-Ghana-I-116593">burgeoning Pentecostal or Charismatic</a> churches, which in recent years have become the <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/ghana/#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%202021%20government,or%20have%20no%20religious%20belief">most popular churches</a> in Ghana. Census data puts them at <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/ghana/#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%202021%20government,or%20have%20no%20religious%20belief">44%</a> of Christians in the country. These churches tend to have a <a href="https://thecophq.org/">conservative political orientation</a>, a strong belief in the veracity of the Bible, and a message that the nation is undergoing serious moral decay. </p>
<p>Some leading Christians would like to see Christians governing the country and all of society according to biblical law. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, leader of the Action Chapel, one of the most prominent charismatic churches in the country, stated in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2TaTLnWg7U">interview</a> in 2019 that: Christians “should rule in corporate, politics, the marketplace, everywhere”. The implication is that Christianity should be a dominant social, political and economic expression in Ghana which would project a certain worldview which all Ghanaians, whether or not they are Christians, should adhere to. </p>
<p>The issue is what the appropriate values are to which Ghanaians should adhere. On the one hand, there is a Christian approach, as suggested by Archbishop Duncan-Williams. On the other there is what might be called a “secular” approach where values are not linked to religious belief. </p>
<p>Afrobarometer <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Summary-of-results-Ghana-Afrobarometer-R9-21oct2022-1.pdf">data</a> indicates that most Ghanaians are socially conservative, for example in relation to the rights of LGBTQI+ people. Many also despair about the country’s perceived moral decay, characterised by serious corruption, and about democratic decline. There has been extra-parliamentary, yet peaceful and pro-democracy, opposition to the government, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/20563051221147328">demanding</a> a new constitution and a more equitable political system.</p>
<h2>Democratic decline</h2>
<p>Ghana transitioned from several years of military rule to democracy in 1993. It has since conducted several free and fair elections. It has a reputation as a democracy. America’s National Intelligence Council <a href="https://irp.fas.org/nic/african_democ_2008.pdf">stated</a> in 2008 that “Ghana has emerged as one of Africa’s most liberal and vibrant democracies, reclaiming a position of political leadership on the continent.”</p>
<p>In recent years things have changed under the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, both of which have had turns governing the country.</p>
<p>Sweden’s V-Dem (“Varieties of Democracy”) Institute <a href="https://www.v-dem.net/documents/18/dr_2017.pdf">categorised</a> Ghana as a liberal democracy in 2003-2014 and again in 2017-2020. This description changed to “<a href="https://www.v-dem.net/documents/12/dr_2021.pdf">electoral democracy</a>” in 2021 and “<a href="https://www.v-dem.net/documents/19/dr_2022_ipyOpLP.pdf">autocratizer</a>” in 2022 – indicating steep democratic decline. </p>
<p>The American organisation Freedom House <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/ghana/freedom-world/2023">says</a> the decline involves “discrimination against women and LGBT+ people”. It also notes “weaknesses in judicial independence and the rule of law”. It points out corruption, poor public service delivery, political violence and illegal mining. </p>
<h2>A Christian solution?</h2>
<p>There are several ways to deal with these issues. One is to amend the constitution to reform government and the state, making functionaries more accountable and policies more transparent. </p>
<p>The Church of Pentecost, Ghana’s largest church, with more than three million members, favours <a href="https://citinewsroom.com/2023/07/clergy-chiefs-others-call-for-establishment-of-national-moral-and-integrity-council/">another way</a>. It suggests creating a National Morality and Integrity Council with statutory powers to oversee private and public behaviour, even at state level. </p>
<p>The church believes that to improve democracy and reduce corruption it is necessary for practising Christians to play a leading role in society – including government. According to <a href="https://thecophq.org/infest-others-with-your-purity-rev-dr-joyce-aryee-tells-christians/">Joyce Aryee</a>, a former government appointee and Christian leader, this would “infest others with their purity” and transform behaviour for the good. </p>
<p>Critics <a href="https://democracyinafrica.org/does-ghanas-democracy-lack-moral-integrity/">argue</a>, on the other hand, that bringing more Christians into positions of leadership and having a morality council to oversee society would weaken democracy. Ghana must nurture a diversity of beliefs, motivations and behaviours. It could then pursue the common good by drawing on a variety of worldviews, reasoning, values, aspirations and habits – not only those deriving from Christianity. </p>
<h2>Mutual respect</h2>
<p>Democratic development can only be realised when citizens make a moral commitment to treat each other with the same respect as they would like to receive. It is necessary to care for each other’s wellbeing as one might care for one’s own growth and happiness. </p>
<p>Ghana’s democracy will fail unless the moral agency of citizens works to moderate economic and social iniquities, by reforming democratic institutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Haynes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Christian leaders in Ghana are pushing the envelope of influence in political affairs.Jeffrey Haynes, Professor Emeritus of Politics, London Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135992023-10-09T13:32:37Z2023-10-09T13:32:37ZSho Madjozi: the pop star using traditional culture to shape a fresh identity for young South Africans<p>South African rapper <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/directory/sho-madjozi">Sho Madjozi</a> is a bold and colourful presence in pop culture, as famous for her catchy lyrics as for using traditional clothing and dance in a fresh way. </p>
<p>The musician, actress and poet is also one of very few young South African artists working in a minority language, Xitsonga. With 12 official languages in South Africa, Xitsonga is the first language of only about <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf#page=29">4.5%</a> of the population, mostly in the rural northern province of the country called Limpopo. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tsonga">Tsonga people</a> also live in neighbouring Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Eswatini.</p>
<p>Yet, in 2019, “<a href="https://twitter.com/shomadjozi/status/1367138022676963329?s=61&t=tS_HwqEZjVfiFydTA2hItQ">village girl</a>” Sho Madjozi burst onto the world stage with her hit song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9bGITkIHmM">John Cena</a>, winning a <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2019-06-24-watch-halala-sho-madjozi-bags-a-bet/">BET award</a> in the US for Best International Newcomer. By 2021 she had established herself as <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2019-06-02-sho-madjozi-wins-big-at-sama25/">best female artist</a> at the South African Music Awards.</p>
<p>But Sho Madjozi is about more than music. She’s also about setting trends – through reinventing Tsonga costume, hairstyles and dance. She’s done this in a way that helps shape her region’s cultural identity. </p>
<p>Cultural identity is not something that’s fixed. Identities change, transcending time, place and history. Sho Madjozi shows how this happens when she mixes the authentic culture of the Tsonga people with popular global culture to produce a unique – or hybrid – identity and performance style.</p>
<p>We recently published a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681392.2023.2227293?scroll=top">research paper</a> that analyses this. We place her as an artist whose work demonstrates a fascinating interface between the “authentic” (Tsonga culture) and the “hybrid” (an innovative new voice, with innovation and novelty being central to the global culture industries).</p>
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<p>We conclude that by merging popular and traditional cultures, Sho Madjozi is the latest in a long line of young African artists who help shape youth culture identity. In the process she shines a light on a lesser-known ethnic group, keeping traditional knowledge alive so that others may learn from it and be inspired by it. </p>
<h2>Who is Sho Madjozi?</h2>
<p>Sho Madjozi was born Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif, from a biracial union between her Swedish father and Tsonga mother. This provides a further fascinating framework for the idea of authenticity and hybridity in her work. </p>
<p>In South Africa, <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-slavery-and-early-colonisation-south-africa">colonialism</a> and <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a> suppressed indigenous cultures. Apartheid, introduced by a white-minority government, was a policy based on separate development for different racially categorised people. The <a href="https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01828/05lv01829/06lv01884.htm">law</a> banned sexual relations between people categorised as black and white. Yet people fell in love across the colour lines. </p>
<p>Sho Madjozi’s mixed parentage creates a hybrid form of identity because of historical processes of cultural contact, transformation and change among different peoples of the world. </p>
<p>As if to underscore the in-betweenness of her cultural heritage, a considerable part of her youth and childhood was spent in Senegal in west Africa. This also demonstrates the notion of circulation that characterises the contemporary <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/17/world/africa/who-are-afropolitans/index.html">Afropolitan</a> (a generation that is both African and cosmopolitan). </p>
<p>Sho Madjozi chose proudly to adopt a Tsonga signature style in her stage career. She <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/entertainment/sho-madjozi-it-makes-sense-for-me-to-rap-in-xitsonga-10990362">says</a> that, for her, blackness means “not erasing everything that I am … and never accepting a form of beauty where it’s as far away from me as possible”.</p>
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<p>She makes it clear that a pure native identity is simply no longer available. In its place comes a moving map of cultural images and an ever-changing sense of self.</p>
<h2>Costume, hair and dance</h2>
<p>Characteristically, Sho Madjozi adapts and reinterprets the Tsonga tinguvu skirt, commonly called the <a href="https://makotis.com/xibelani/">xibelani skirt</a> as it’s used to perform the traditional <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsOJ6VP1e84">xibelani dance</a>. The xibelani skirt is gathered in the waist, accentuated at the top of the hips and consists of many layers of fabric that create a distinctive volume when the wearer dances in it. </p>
<p>Sho Madjozi <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/the-history-of-the-xibelani-a-look-behind-sjo-madjozis-signature-look-20200226#">reinterprets</a> this skirt. She pairs it with modern fashion items, sometimes shortening it or making it longer, reinventing its form. This contrasts and merges indigenous culture with fashion, tradition with modernity, and the local with the global. </p>
<p>She also incorporates vibrant Tsonga colours (pinks, yellows, purples, blues and greens) in her creative reinterpretations of costume. She does the same with her <a href="https://briefly.co.za/entertainment/celebrities/158996-sho-madjozis-iconic-hairstyles-4-stunning-earned-john-cena-hitmaker-queen-colourful-hair/">hair</a>, weaving bright Tsonga colours into it, adorning it with beads, experimenting with traditional accessories in her cornrows. </p>
<p>The xibelani <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsOJ6VP1e84">dance</a> is also central to Sho Madjozi’s act. It’s native to Tsonga women, where girls learn it to celebrate their heritage and perform it on special occasions. Xibelani means “hitting to the rhythm”. The dancer shakes their hips, exaggerated by the skirt, with the whole body following. This is often accompanied by hand clapping and whistling.</p>
<p>Sho Madjozi’s colourful and iconic redesigns of Tsonga costume are signs of what it means to be Tsonga in southern Africa today. She uses popular urban youth culture to spread Tsonga xibelani culture in a national space. </p>
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<p>She does so in a time when young South Africans often find themselves grappling to retain traditional cultural values in an ever-changing and fast-paced globalising world. </p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>Traditional costume often represents old ways that resist change. Sho Madjozi’s innovations around xibelani speak differently. Through her performances, social media image and public profile, she rises above conventional attitudes that often perceive minority ethnic groups as the conservative gatekeepers of unchanging cultures. </p>
<p>She presents Tsonga tradition and culture at the cutting edge of positive identity formation. She does so in ways that inspire, attract and convince other young South Africans to embrace local cultures in their own construction of urban identities.</p>
<p>She acts as a cultural agent for the transmission of positive change and values across ethnic, national and international boundaries. </p>
<p>Sho Madjozi embodies the words of <a href="https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/taiye-selasi">Taiye Selasi</a>, the young British-born, US-based writer, photographer and cultural activist of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin. Selasi <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/03/27/175466870/debut-novel-tackles-african-immigrant-stereotypes">says</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What distinguishes (Afropolitans) is a willingness to complicate Africa … we seek to comprehend the cultural complexity, to honour the intellectual and spiritual legacy, and to sustain our parents’ cultures.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Costume, hair and dance allow her to modernise Tsonga culture – and help shape youth identity.Owen Seda, Associate Professor in Performing Arts, Tshwane University of TechnologyMotshidisi Manyeneng, Lecturer in Costume Theory and theatre costumer, Tshwane University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2128152023-10-03T19:35:52Z2023-10-03T19:35:52ZBook review: African thinkers analyse some of the big issues of our time - race, belonging and identity<p>The subjects of race, identity and belonging are often fraught with contention and uneasiness. Who are you? Who belongs? Who is native, or indigenous to a place? These perennial questions arise around the world.</p>
<p>They are the subject of the book <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/9783031387968">The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race and Belonging</a>, edited by <a href="https://scholar.google.co.jp/citations?user=EEyB8sMAAAAJ&hl=en">Benjamin Maiangwa</a>, a political scientist at Lakehead University in Canada. </p>
<p>The contributors are academics, mostly early career scholars and doctoral candidates in African and North American universities. They study genocide, peace and conflict, gender, decolonial practices, identity, race and war. </p>
<p>Unavoidably, questions that defy convenient answers pervade the reflections and analyses in the book. </p>
<p>In my own work as <a href="https://www.mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/FacultiesSchoolsCentres/Arts/Departments/EnglishLanguagesCultures/FacultyStaff/Ademola-Adesola.htm">a scholar</a> of African literature with an interest in the subjects of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10402659.2017.1344526">conflict</a>, childhood and identity, I underscore the relevance of these questions. </p>
<p>The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race and Belonging assembles voices that urge us to think more critically about how the politics of race and identity hampers healthy interrelations among people.</p>
<p>In a world increasingly divided by supremacist ideologies, the insights in this collection of essays are highly relevant. </p>
<h2>What the book’s about</h2>
<p>The contributors to the book use a variety of forms of writing. Some of the essays are autobiograpical; some are literary criticism; others scholarly analyses. They re-examine familiar but controversial concepts. </p>
<p>Among them are ideas about naming, indigeneity, land, citizenship, identitarian disparity, diasporic (un)being, immigration and migration, and the political economy of (un)belonging. These are topical ideas that predominate in discourses on nationalism, ethnicity and nation states. Their engagement in this collection helps us to further appreciate how unfixed and complex they are; they are never amenable to any easy analysis. </p>
<p>The volume is structured into three parts: Identity, Coloniality, and Home; Diaspora, Race, and Immigration; and Belonging: Cross-Cutting Issues. Each section has an introduction, a conversation among four of the contributors, an epilogue and an afterword.</p>
<p>This layout attests to the careful editing of the whole. There is an organic flow of engagement with ideas from one chapter to the next. Yet no chapter’s unique argument is overshadowed by another’s. </p>
<h2>Critical probing and analysis</h2>
<p>The chapters inspired by personal experiences do as much critical probing as those framed by hardcore analyses. </p>
<p>The contributions don’t sound jointly rehearsed, but represent a form of dialogue. Readers will find a kaleidoscope of interrelated but distinct compelling arguments on matters of race, identity and belonging, and the violent and paradoxical patterns they take in the <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520204355/on-the-postcolony">postcolony</a>. This is a notion that is concerned with a particular historical course involving societies that have latterly experienced colonialism, as theorised by the Cameroonian historian and political theorist <a href="https://wiser.wits.ac.za/people/achille-mbembe">Achille Mbembe</a>. </p>
<p>As is customary in volumes of this kind, the opening chapter comes from the editor. He welcomes readers with questions that invite them to ruminate on place and identity construction and the way it determines relations. </p>
<p>Such questions, which reverberate throughout the volume, are “What is home? What creates the feeling of belonging or (dis)connection to a place/space or other people? Is home a place, a feeling, other people, or an idea? Is it a destination or a spiritual entity or experience? Who am I in this political space?” </p>
<p>For the reader who has taken their identity for granted thus far, such questions can be jarring and unnerving. They can also provoke deep thoughts. </p>
<h2>The construction of race</h2>
<p>The chapter underlines the fact that identity is constructed and is fluid. It stresses racial signifiers – indigenous, native, white, black – as markers which mask, confuse, distress and misrepresent. </p>
<p>In some people they produce false triumphalism and superiority and in others they activate demeaning nervousness. As the chapter maintains, cultural essentialism, the product of these markers, distorts cultural facts. It also abjures a cultivation of interest in history and critical mindedness. And it is this matter of invented racial/cultural identity that the conversation in chapter 12 of the book foregrounds. </p>
<p>In that conversation, such constructs as “Black”, “African”, “White” and “immigrant” ricochet from one discussant to another. The conversation makes it clear that there is a kind of under-appreciation of the violence that minoritised people within national boundaries and diasporic spaces experience when designated in certain senses. </p>
<h2>Interconnected humanity</h2>
<p>With its other chapters, the volume broadens the frontiers of research in the intersecting areas of race, ethnicity, peace, home(lessness), gender and other forms of identity and diasporic formations. It calls for a spiritual reawakening of our identities. </p>
<p>This volume is a force in the promotion and celebration of the dignity of human differences. One can hear again and again the refrain in Maya Angelou’s timeless poem, Human Family:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://allpoetry.com/Human-Family">We are more alike, my friends,/than we are unalike</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The humanistic ring in this book results from a conviction that the human or spiritual identity trumps all other ones, including institutionalised discriminatory ways of being and exclusionary policies and regulations, all of which enable the questioning of other people’s humanity. </p>
<p>The contributors’ insistence is on interconnected human relations and, to borrow from the Canadian novelist and essayist, Dionne Brand, on life – </p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Map-Door-No-Return-Belonging/dp/0385258925">It is life you must insist on</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scholars, students and general readers interested in migration studies, peace and conflict studies, political science, literary studies, African studies, international relations, gender studies, sociology and history will find this work an enlightening resource.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ademola Adesola does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The book makes invaluable contributions to subjects of race, identity and belonging and how they shape human interrelations.Ademola Adesola, Assistant Professor, Mount Royal UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2122422023-08-31T12:23:04Z2023-08-31T12:23:04ZMichael Oher, Mike Tyson and the question of whether you own your life story<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545972/original/file-20230901-21-zovk4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C2977%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Michael Oher and his family celebrate his selection by the Baltimore Ravens at the 2009 NFL Draft. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/baltimore-ravens-draft-pick-michael-oher-poses-for-a-news-photo/86217296?adppopup=true">Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What if you overcame a serious illness to go on to win an Olympic medal? Could a writer or filmmaker decide to tell your inspiring story without consulting you? Or do you “own” that story and control how it gets retold?</p>
<p>Michael Oher, the former NFL player portrayed in the 2009 blockbuster “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/">The Blind Side</a>,” has sued Michael and Anne Leigh Tuohy, the suburban couple who took him into their home as a disadvantaged youth.</p>
<p>In his official complaint, Oher claims that through forgery, trickery or sheer incompetence, the Tuohys enabled 20th Century Fox to acquire the exclusive rights to his life story. </p>
<p>The Tuohys, Oher continues, received millions of dollars for a “story that would not have existed without him,” while he claims that he received nothing.</p>
<p>Just a year earlier, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/media/mike-tyson-hulu-series/index.html">similarly incensed</a> when he learned that Hulu had created <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14181914/">a miniseries dramatizing his career</a> without seeking his permission. </p>
<p>“They stole my life story and didn’t pay me,” Tyson charged <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg7JRAeLY9B/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=8c5ce5bc-6faf-4c49-b355-4b25d72418b8">in an Instagram post</a>.</p>
<p>Oher and Tyson – not to mention countless influencers and wannabe celebs – share the conviction that they own, and can monetize, their life stories. And given regular <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/kurt-warner-movie-20th-century-fox-acquires-rights-former-qbs-life-story-plans-film-adaptation">news stories about studios buying</a> “life story rights,” it’s not surprising to see why. </p>
<p>As law professors, we’ve studied this issue; <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4480628">our research shows</a> that there is no recognized property right under U.S. law – or the laws of any other country of which we are aware – to the facts and events that occur during someone’s life.</p>
<p>So why are Oher, Tyson and others complaining? And why do publishers and studios routinely pay large sums to acquire rights that don’t exist?</p>
<h2>No monopoly on the truth</h2>
<p>In most states, the commercial use of an individual’s name, image and likeness is protected by the so-called “<a href="https://rightofpublicityroadmap.com/">right of publicity</a>.” But that right generally applies to merchandise, apparel and product endorsements, not facts and actual events. So you can’t sell a T-shirt with Mike Tyson’s face on it without his permission, but writing a book about his rise to fame is fair game.</p>
<p>In the U.S., the freedom to describe historical events is rooted in <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt1-7-1/ALDE_00013537/">the free speech clause</a> of the First Amendment, and it’s a fundamental principle that no one – whether it’s a news agency, political party or celebrity – holds a monopoly on the truth.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/business/media/gawker-hulk-hogan-verdict.html">The law doesn’t sanction the invasion of privacy</a>, so an investigative journalist who uncovers some unsavory detail of your past can’t publish it unless there is a legitimate public interest in doing so. Nor does it condone the dissemination of false information, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/18/business/fox-news-dominion-trial-settlement">which can lead to defamation lawsuits</a>. </p>
<p>The First Amendment, however, does allow authors and film producers to truthfully depict factual events that they have legitimately learned about. They are not required to receive authorization from or pay the people involved.</p>
<h2>The origin of life story ‘rights’</h2>
<p>Film producers, however, are accustomed to paying for the right to repackage or use existing content. </p>
<p>Copyright licenses are required to commission a script based on a book, to depict a comic book character in a film and to include a hit song on a movie soundtrack. Even showing an architecturally distinctive building often requires the consent of a copyright owner, which is why the video game “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/spider-man-miles-morales-doesnt-have-the-chrysler-building-due-to-copyright-issues">had to remove the Chrysler Building</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Manhattan skyline with art deco skyscraper in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545622/original/file-20230830-24-kgtp41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Studios hoping to include a shot of the Chrysler Building in their films might have to pony up.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-chrysler-building-stands-in-midtown-manhattan-january-9-news-photo/1079651514?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Along with these other rights and permissions, Hollywood studios have paid individuals for their life stories for at least a century. </p>
<p>Yet, unlike copyright clearances, life story deals do not involve the acquisition of known intellectual property rights. Life story “rights” are not rights at all. Instead, they bundle together a set of contractual commitments: the subject’s agreement to cooperate with the studio, not to work on a similar project, and to release the studio from claims of defamation and invasion of privacy. </p>
<p>By packaging these commitments under the umbrella of “life story rights,” studios can signal to the market that they have acquired a particularly juicy story. </p>
<p>For example, Netflix’s quick deal with convicted fraudster <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-scammers-like-anna-delvey-and-the-tinder-swindler-exploit-a-core-feature-of-human-nature-177289">Anna Sorokin</a>, the subject of the popular streaming series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8740976/">Inventing Anna</a>,” seems to have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56113478">deterred competing adaptations</a> of Sorokin’s story.</p>
<p>What’s more, the acquisition of life story rights has become so common that it is viewed, in many cases, as a de facto requirement for film financing and insurance coverage and thus part of the standard clearance procedure for many projects.</p>
<h2>Exceptions don’t make the rule</h2>
<p>As always with the law, though, there are exceptions. </p>
<p>Notably, the producers of the 2010 film “The Social Network” <a href="https://perma.cc/SN4H-UXAP">did not obtain the permission</a> of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg before dramatizing the origin story of his company. In moving forward with the project, they risked a defamation or publicity suit by Zuckerberg and others depicted in the film. But their gamble paid off: Zuckerberg, while <a href="https://perma.cc/SN4H-UXAP">critical of his depiction</a>, didn’t sue.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, other subjects who have been depicted in dramatic features without their authorization have sued to recover a share of the profits. </p>
<p>Silver screen legend Olivia de Havilland, for example, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/de-havilland-v-fx-networks-llc-1">sued FX Studios</a> for briefly depicting her in a miniseries about Hollywood rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. She won at trial, though an appeals court reversed her victory, citing the producers’ First Amendment rights. </p>
<p>Lawsuits can even be brought when the characters’ names and story details have been changed. U.S. Army Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver, the bomb-defusing expert who inspired the Oscar-winning film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520hurt%2520locker">The Hurt Locker</a>,” <a href="https://casetext.com/case/sarver-v-chartier">sued the film’s producers</a> for violating his right of publicity. He lost.</p>
<p>Lawsuits like these are not the norm. But many producers hope to get ahead of a flimsy lawsuit and bad publicity by acquiring nonexistent rights.</p>
<h2>History is in the public domain</h2>
<p>Ultimately, there is nothing wrong – and much that is right – with paying individuals to cooperate with the production of features about themselves. Doing so can convey respect toward the subject and make the production go more smoothly. </p>
<p>But the fact that life story acquisitions have entered the popular consciousness has spurred the widespread belief that any portrayal of a factual series of events entitles those depicted to a lucrative payday. This expectation increases production costs and the risk of litigation, thereby deterring otherwise worthwhile projects and depriving the public of meaningful content that is based on true stories.</p>
<p>What could be done about this situation?</p>
<p>One idea <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4480628">that we’ve written about</a> would prevent right of publicity laws – the basis for many life story lawsuits – from being used against works that convey ideas and tell a story, such as books, films and TV shows.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most important thing that can be done, though, is educating people that they don’t have a right to cash in on every description of the events of their lives. </p>
<p>Collective history, in our view, belongs in the public domain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Publishers and studios routinely pay large sums to acquire ‘life story rights.’ Two law scholars explain why the phrase is misleading.Jorge L. Contreras, James T. Jensen Endowed Professor for Transactional Law and Director, Program on Intellectual Property and Technology Law, University of UtahDave Fagundes, Baker Botts LLP Professor of Law and Research Dean, University of Houston Law CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076812023-06-15T12:33:23Z2023-06-15T12:33:23ZHow the Unabomber’s unique linguistic fingerprints led to his capture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532034/original/file-20230614-19-yvo44e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C6%2C2230%2C1518&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ted Kaczynski was arrested after the longest and most expensive investigation in the FBI's history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/convicted-unabomber-theodore-kaczynski-is-escorted-by-us-news-photo/106884098?adppopup=true">Rich Pedroncelli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can the language someone uses be as unique as their fingerprints?</p>
<p>As I describe in my forthcoming book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781633888982/Linguistic-Fingerprints-How-Language-Creates-and-Reveals-Identity">Linguistic Fingerprints: How Language Creates and Reveals Identity</a>,” that was true in the case of Theodore Kaczynski.</p>
<p>Kaczynski, who was known as the <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/origin-ted-kaczynskis-infamous-nickname-145500991.html">Unabomber</a>, died in a North Carolina prison on June 10, 2023, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ted-kaczynski-unabomber-1197f597364b36e56bdbcaca9837bdc4">reportedly by suicide</a>.</p>
<p>Kaczynski had been a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/05/us/suspect-s-trail-suspect-memories-his-brilliance-shyness-but-little-else.html">math prodigy and a professor</a> at the University of California, Berkeley, before he withdrew from society and declared war on the modern world. </p>
<p>From a <a href="https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/photos-a-look-inside-the-unabombers-montana-cabin/collection_41103cf1-dc68-5950-babc-17861f0b8858.html">remote cabin in Montana</a>, he sent a number of explosive devices through the mail. In other cases, he planted them. Between 1978 and 1995, 16 of his bombs <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/06/10/ted-kaczynski-dead-unabomber/">killed three people</a> and seriously injured nearly two dozen more.</p>
<p>Kaczynski’s crimes triggered the longest and <a href="https://en.as.com/latest_news/ted-kaczynski-the-unabomber-has-died-what-are-some-of-the-most-expensive-fbi-investigations-n/">most expensive</a> criminal investigation in U.S. history. Law enforcement had little to go on other than a few letters that the terrorist had sent to the media, as well as fragments of notes that had survived his device’s detonations.</p>
<h2>Spellings and word choices offer clues</h2>
<p>In 1995, there was a breakthrough. That’s when the Unabomber offered to pause his attacks if a newspaper published his manifesto about the evils of modern society. Controversially, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/20/us/publication-of-unabomber-s-tract-draws-mixed-response.html">The Washington Post did so</a>. The FBI supported the paper’s decision, hoping that someone would recognize the terrorist based on the writing style of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm">35,000-word essay</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Copies of two newspapers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532004/original/file-20230614-22-d0iwj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Washington Post published the Unabomber’s 35,000-word manifesto on Sept. 19, 1995.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-the-front-pages-of-the-new-york-times-and-the-news-photo/106884096?adppopup=true">Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>FBI forensic linguist <a href="https://www.jamesrfitzgerald.com">James Fitzgerald</a> and sociolinguist <a href="http://www.rogershuy.com">Roger Shuy</a> were able to uncover several clues about the terrorist’s identity based on the manifesto and his other writings.</p>
<p>For example, the Unabomber used strange misspellings for some words, such as “wilfully” for “willfully,” and “clew” for “clue.” Shuy recognized these as <a href="http://www.rogershuy.com/pdf/Linguistic_Profiling.pdf">spelling reforms</a> that had been championed by <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-per-flash-simplespelling-0229-20120129-story.html">The Chicago Tribune</a> during the 1940s and 1950s, although they were never widely adopted.</p>
<p>Their use by the bomber suggested he might have spent his formative years in or near Chicago.</p>
<p>Fitzgerald noted the use of terms like “broad,” “chick” and “negro” in the manifesto was consistent with the vocabulary a middle-aged person from that era.</p>
<p>The Unabomber also referred to “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=1ib-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203&dq=20.+Roger+W.+Shuy,+The+Language+of+Murder+Cases:+Intentionality,+Predisposition,+and+Voluntariness+(Oxford:+Oxford+University+Press,+2014).&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivhfXiqMH_AhVojYkEHbsSBVoQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=snippet&q=raising%20children&f=false">rearing children</a>” as opposed to “raising children.” The former term is characteristic of the northern U.S. dialect and would be consistent with someone who grew up in or near the Windy City.</p>
<p>The manifesto also contains such fairly esoteric terms as “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomic">anomic</a>” and “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chimerical">chimerical</a>,” suggesting that its author was highly educated.</p>
<h2>A brother’s suspicions</h2>
<p>But the move to publish the manifesto ended up being the decisive factor.</p>
<p>It was read in Schenectady, New York, by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/05/us/suspect-s-trail-family-brother-who-tipped-off-authorities-leads-quiet-simple.html">Linda Patrik</a>, who showed it to her husband, David Kaczynski. She asked if he thought it sounded like something his brother Ted could have written.</p>
<p>David was initially skeptical. Then he noticed that the essay contained unusual expressions, like “cool-headed logicians,” that he remembered his estranged sibling making use of. He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/09/IHT-a-nagging-feeling-by-family-member-pointed-to-unabomber-suspect.html">approached the FBI</a> with his suspicions, and it was noted that David’s brother had been born in Chicago in 1942.</p>
<p>A search of Kaczynski’s cabin turned up explosive devices, as well as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/13/us/bomber-manifesto-amid-items-found-law-officials-say.html">original copy</a> of the manifesto. Kaczynski <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/23/us/unabomber-case-overview-kaczynski-avoids-death-sentence-with-guilty-plea.html">pleaded guilty</a> in 1998 and was incarcerated until his death at age 81.</p>
<h2>Fingerprinting authors</h2>
<p>The Unabomber investigation has been justifiably hailed as a triumph of forensic linguistics. But sleuths of prose and punctuation have had other notable victories. </p>
<p>Even something as seemingly trivial as unusual punctuation can provide clues to a suspect’s identity – which is what happened in 2018, when a forensic linguist was able to pin a murder on a British man <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6028507/Forensic-linguist-reveals-murderer-snared-sending-texts-commas.htm">because of his unusual use of commas and spacing</a> when sending text messages.</p>
<p>Similar techniques have been used by language experts to identify authors. In 1996, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/4166/primary-colors-by-anonymous/">Primary Colors</a>,” a novel based on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, was published by “anonymous.” English professor Donald Foster was able to finger Newsweek columnist Joe Klein as the author of the work, <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-02-16-1996047127-story.html">noting similarities</a> between the text of “Primary Colors” and Klein’s other published work, which included the use of unusual adverbs (“goofily”), states described as modes (“crisis mode”) and drawn-out interjections (“naww”).</p>
<p>And in 2013, “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” a novel authored with the pen name <a href="https://robert-galbraith.com/stories/the-cuckoos-calling/">Robert Galbraith</a>, was exposed as having been written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-name-game-jk-rowling-and-a-history-of-pseudonyms-16150">J.K. Rowling</a>. <a href="https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=5315">Patrick Juola</a>, a computer scientist, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-23313074">Peter Millican</a>, a philosopher, independently identified the author of the Harry Potter series as the crime novel’s true author. Both men used computer programs to analyze such factors as the distribution of word lengths and common word usage in books written by several suspected authors. They then compared the results to “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and identified Rowling as the closest match.</p>
<h2>An infallible method?</h2>
<p>These techniques seem almost magical when they work. But <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/23/words-on-trial">they’re not foolproof</a>.</p>
<p>In 2018, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html">published an op-ed</a> written by an anonymous “resister” inside the Trump administration. However, the editorial was too short for linguistic analysis.</p>
<p>Even after the resister published a full-length book, titled “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/books/review/a-warning-anonymous-book-review-trump.html">A Warning</a>,” it wasn’t possible to identify the author. He eventually outed himself as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/politics/miles-taylor-anonymous-trump.html">Miles Taylor</a>. He had served as the chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security. But because he had never published anything else, there was no text to which “A Warning” could be compared.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in suit jacket poses with folded arms." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532021/original/file-20230614-31-4yi2ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The public learned of Miles Taylor’s identity only after he revealed himself as the author of ‘A Warning.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/miles-taylor-who-has-recently-revealed-himself-as-the-news-photo/1229883086?adppopup=true">Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And scholars are still debating the identity of <a href="https://elenaferrante.com">Elena Ferrante</a>, the pseudonym used by a bestselling Italian novelist. Ferrante has published a dozen books, including “My Brilliant Friend,” <a href="https://lithub.com/have-italian-scholars-figured-out-the-identity-of-elena-ferrante/">but the author’s true identity remains controversial</a>. </p>
<p>Either way, technological advances have made it increasingly difficult for people who leave a paper trail to hide their identities – and the old adage to “not put anything in writing” is as true as it’s ever been.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger J. Kreuz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Similar techniques used to identify criminals have been employed to unmask anonymous authors. But they aren’t foolproof.Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of MemphisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038282023-06-05T12:06:11Z2023-06-05T12:06:11ZBirth of a story: How new parents find meaning after childbirth hints at how they will adjust<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529856/original/file-20230602-19-u8qb1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C549%2C4418%2C2943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Having a new baby can upend everything about your old life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/newborn-baby-boy-being-cradled-by-new-parents-in-royalty-free-image/1307728623">Cavan Images/Cavan via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gather a group of new parents and the conversation will likely turn to their childbirth stories – ranging from the joyful to the gnarly to the positively traumatic. <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/01/birth-stories-feminist-history-internet-sharing.html">Birth story podcasts and websites</a> feature a curated range of birth experiences, and you can buy embossed leather “birth story” journals as a baby shower gift. People are fascinated by this pivotal, emotionally complex and literally life-and-death experience.</p>
<p>Birth narratives might also contain clues about how the adjustment to parenthood will go.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203434/the-uses-of-enchantment-by-bruno-bettelheim/">People have long used stories</a> to understand difficult experiences. Stories may be particularly valuable as a source of “meaning-making,” the process of finding order in chaos by making sense of unexpected events, identifying silver linings and discovering the patterns and connections that thread seemingly random events together into a coherent narrative.</p>
<p>In a new study led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YRIcV6YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Geoffrey Corner</a>, a former graduate student in <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/nestlab/">my lab</a>, we found that the levels of meaning-making in the stories new parents told about their baby’s birth <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001062">predicted their relationship quality and parenting stress</a> in the child’s first months.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="three moms with infants on mats facing an instructor with a doll in a baby yoga class" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529857/original/file-20230602-23-6cutjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When new moms come together, the talk often turns to their childbirth stories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/baby-massage-class-switzerland-new-mothers-learn-how-to-news-photo/629429057">BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Constructing meaning in your own life</h2>
<p>Finding meaningful themes and patterns in life’s seeming randomness is a fundamentally human activity. As writer Joan Didion put it, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/40775/we-tell-ourselves-stories-in-order-to-live-by-joan-didion-introduction-by-john-leonard/">we tell ourselves stories in order to live</a>.”</p>
<p>“Meaning-making” can buffer despair in the wake of tragedy. Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl’s memoir, “<a href="http://www.beacon.org/Mans-Search-for-Meaning-P602.aspx">Man’s Search for Meaning</a>,” argued that meaning and purpose can prevent the bitterness and disillusionment that can otherwise fester after great loss. Research on what psychologists call <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01">post-traumatic growth</a> has found that the level of “meaning-making” in people’s narratives about a difficult event predicts their mental health over time.</p>
<p>For example, studies have found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018301">links between meaning-making and resilience</a> in cancer patients, bereaved parents and caregivers. Cancer survivors might discover that their chemo ordeal brought them closer to friends and family, or helped them step back from the hustle of everyday life and embrace a slower pace.</p>
<p>Although childbirth is typically experienced as a joyful rather than a tragic event, it can still be unpredictable, frightening and even life-threatening. Indeed, psychologists have begun to recognize that particularly difficult labors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2015.1031646">can trigger post-traumatic stress symptoms</a>, not just in mothers but in their partners as well. Even normal, nontraumatic births require parents to cope with hours, sometimes days, of pain and discomfort. Therefore, we hypothesized that meaning-making might be an important part of couples’ birth narratives, potentially promoting resilience in new parents.</p>
<p>To test these hypotheses, we collected birth stories from 77 couples who were participating in our lab’s <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/nestlab/research/">longitudinal study of the transition to parenthood</a>. We visited couples at the hospital within a day or two of their infant’s birth, and audio-recorded them sharing their stories together. We told couples, “We’d like to hear you tell the story of your birth experience. Start from the beginning and tell us as much as you remember.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="three masked medical workers hold newborn above mother's body during C-section operation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529858/original/file-20230602-29-rszklh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents may need to process even a normal childbirth with healthy outcomes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/caesarian-babys-first-breath-royalty-free-image/125951777">Peter Dazeley/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listening for meaning-making in birth stories</h2>
<p>A team of coders listened to each story and recorded examples of meaning-making, using three categories established in the research literature:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Sense-making: Identifying reasons that an event might have unfolded the way it did or making connections that show why an event was meaningful. For example, one mother in our sample found meaning in her long labor, describing her baby as “very brave and tough” because she survived hours of pushing. </p></li>
<li><p>Benefit-finding: Pointing out silver linings or unexpected positive effects of a difficult experience. For example, after a difficult birth, one parent in our sample stated, “It was scary, but the nurses and the doctors were so nice to us.”</p></li>
<li><p>Change in identity: Describing how an event has transformed one’s sense of self. As a parent in our sample said, “I feel like my life has changed completely with the baby now here.”</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Although couples told their story together, we tracked meaning-making separately for each partner. We also rated how much each partner participated in telling their story so we could adjust for their levels of engagement in sharing their birth narrative.</p>
<p>The couples in our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001062">sample were avid “meaning makers”</a>: Almost all the participants made at least some meaning-making statements in their birth stories. Of the three categories of meaning-making, “change in identity” language surfaced least often, appearing in about 37% of the birth stories. Mothers tended to use more “sense-making” and “benefit-finding” language than fathers. And both members of a couple tended to use similar amounts of meaning-making language. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="infant on mother's chest in hospital bed with father smiling down at baby" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529859/original/file-20230602-27-200pws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new parent’s meaning-making can affect them and their partner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-family-admiring-their-newborn-baby-at-royalty-free-image/1248789907">SelectStock/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Becoming mom or dad</h2>
<p>After we had coded all of the narratives, we next looked to see whether “meaning-making” predicted relationship satisfaction and parenting stress in our couples. The transition to parenthood can be a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/347802">crisis event” for the couple relationship</a> and is often linked with <a href="https://theconversation.com/have-children-heres-how-kids-ruin-your-romantic-relationship-57944">declines in relationship quality</a>.</p>
<p>But when mothers used more “sense-making” and “benefit-finding” language, they showed a smaller drop in their relationship satisfaction than moms who used less. Fathers who used more “sense-making” and “benefit-finding” language reported lower parenting stress at six months postpartum than dads who used less.</p>
<p>And partners of fathers who used more “change in identity” language also reported lower parenting stress later on, suggesting that dads who experience the transition to parenthood as transformative may be able to help mothers cope better with new parenthood. On the flip side, though, when mothers showed more meaning-making, their partners actually reported more parenting stress at six months postpartum. It may be that when mothers find the birth experience to be more personally meaningful, partners feel left out or pressured to step up their own parenting.</p>
<p>Overall, these results supported our initial hunch that meaning-making might be detectable in birth narratives and forecast parents’ psychological adjustment after birth. Greater meaning-making language seemed to benefit the couple relationship and largely buffer parenting stress.</p>
<p>This study was limited by a fairly small sample of cohabiting heterosexual parents. Nevertheless, it highlights the value of stories in shaping family transitions. For therapists working with new parents in the wake of a difficult birth, encouraging couples to seek meaning in their birth story may help ease their transition to parenthood. Journaling and storytelling exercises may help couples process their feelings about their childbirth experiences. After all, the birth of a baby is also the birth of a story – and that story is well worth telling.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darby Saxbe receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>How you tell the story of a momentous event can help you make sense of what happened. Research finds new moms’ and dads’ narratives around childbirth held clues about their transition to parenthood.Darby Saxbe, Associate Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054982023-05-31T13:28:36Z2023-05-31T13:28:36ZWest African countries show how working together over decades builds peace and stops wars breaking out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528872/original/file-20230529-17-fnjtie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From left; Prime Minister of Cote d'Ivoire Patrick Achi, President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe, President of Benin Patrice Talon, and President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa is often portrayed as a continent ravaged by war, terrorism, poverty and political instability. But over the past five decades few violent conflicts have occurred between states. In Europe, for comparison, there have been more than 25 inter-state conflicts since 1945. </p>
<p>It’s true that Africa has seen <a href="https://projects.voanews.com/african-coups/">214</a> coups, the most of any region; 106 have been successful. Out of <a href="https://projects.voanews.com/african-coups/">54 countries</a> on the African continent, 45 have had at least one coup attempt since 1950. </p>
<p>West Africa, a region of 16 independent states, has <a href="https://projects.voanews.com/african-coups">experienced</a> 53 successful and 40 failed coups since 1950. There are also cross-border security challenges such as terrorism, banditry, piracy and the wide presence of <a href="https://theconversation.com/west-africa-has-a-small-weapons-crisis-why-some-countries-are-better-at-dealing-with-it-than-others-203085">arms</a>. </p>
<p>But, since independence in the late 1950s, the region’s countries have not gone to war with one another – <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/case/69">except</a> for a minor armed confrontation between Burkina Faso and Mali in 1985.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10246029.2023.2193165">recent paper</a> we explored the possible reasons for this. As scholars studying the political dynamics of west Africa, we arrived at our insights by analysing historical data, diplomatic interactions and scholarly research. </p>
<p>We found evidence that the principles of non-aggression and peaceful settlement of disputes defined the relationships between west African countries. The 15 states under the <a href="https://ecowas.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Revised-treaty-1.pdf">umbrella</a> of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) positively identify with the fate of others in the bloc. The regional body was formed in 1975 by west African countries seeking to promote economic development. </p>
<p>We found a strong correlation between decades of regional cooperation and the rarity of conflicts between states in west Africa.</p>
<p>We conclude that systemic cooperation between states in the region has led to a collective identity forming over time. A sense of community has developed. The community has developed conflict management mechanisms. This has prevented members from going into war. </p>
<p>This finding highlights the importance of collaboration and diplomacy in maintaining peace and resolving conflicts. </p>
<h2>Making sense of the ECOWAS peace</h2>
<p>Regional dynamics and historical factors shape conflict, as can be seen in the Horn of Africa. That region has witnessed conflicts between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and between Ethiopia and Somalia, for example.</p>
<p>In the west African region, we found that the security arrangements agreed under ECOWAS have helped to foster peace between states. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://ecowas.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Revised-treaty-1.pdf">ECOWAS agreement</a> was updated in 1993. It includes principles that were absent in the earlier pact. Among them are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>solidarity and collective self-reliance </p></li>
<li><p>non-aggression between member states </p></li>
<li><p>promotion and strengthening of good neighbourliness to maintain regional peace, stability and security </p></li>
<li><p>peaceful settlement of disputes among member states</p></li>
<li><p>active cooperation between neighbouring countries </p></li>
<li><p>promotion of a peaceful environment as a prerequisite for economic development.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This has led to west African countries choosing peaceful dispute resolution over sovereignty. For example, a <a href="https://foleyhoag.com/news-and-insights/news/2017/september/ghana-wins-maritime-boundary-dispute-against-cote-divoire/">border dispute</a> between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire was settled in 2017 through an international tribunal. This approach has prevented violent conflicts. </p>
<p>A key factor is that member states have mechanisms for settling disputes peacefully. In both <a href="http://www.peacebuildingdata.org/research/liberia/results/civil-war/root-causes-civil-war">Liberia’s</a> and <a href="http://peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/Sierraleone.pdf">Sierra Leone’s</a> wars, which threatened to engulf other countries in the region, ECOWAS used these settlement mechanisms. It deployed military troops to supervise <a href="https://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/peace-agreements-and-the-termination-of-civil-wars/">ceasefires brokered</a> by the then Ghanaian <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-ghanaians-hate-him-some-love-him-the-mixed-legacy-of-jerry-john-rawlings-163310">president, Jerry Rawlings</a>.</p>
<p>Another factor is what in our study we call pan-West Africanism. We describe this as a regional version of pan-Africanism that emphasises unity and collaboration among countries. In practice it has facilitated trade, cultural exchanges and diplomatic collaborations. It has also created a sense of shared identity and solidarity among member countries. </p>
<p>We argue that the idea of pan-West Africanism has promoted regional solidarity and reduced the possibility of violence in inter-state relations. It is not just a philosophy, but a practical approach to regional integration and cooperation. </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Our paper supports the argument that systemic cooperation among states can lead to a collective identity forming over time.</p>
<p>This has happened with the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Their collective identities are based on norms that reflect the history and political cultures of their member states.</p>
<p>The importance of shared identity and peaceful coexistence is often overlooked in explaining complex international relations. But it’s essential in understanding the relations of west African states.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abubakar Abubakar Usman is a research fellow with International Islamic University Malaysia Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF) and affiliated with the Asia Middle East Centre for Research and Dialogue (AMEC). </span></em></p>Africa has been relatively peaceful in terms of inter-state violent conflicts.Abubakar Abubakar Usman, Researcher, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1986952023-05-17T16:25:39Z2023-05-17T16:25:39ZFrom the Manchester bee to the Pompey dot: the psychology of regional tattoos<p>Few things divide us like tattoos. Tell someone you research tattoos, as one of us (Steph) does, and their eyes will often wander, searching for inked designs on your body before compulsively sharing their views. </p>
<p>Steph’s research looks at the assumptions that people in the UK make about those with tattoos – their jobs, class, history and competence. For example, the notion of a <a href="https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/62-year-old-vicar-reveals-tattoo-to-shocked-parishioners#:%7E:text=A%20vicar%20in%20Leeds%20has,tattooed%20on%20his%20left%20forearm.">vicar with a tattoo</a> is still shocking to many people. </p>
<p>Despite the big rise in the <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/society/articles-reports/2022/08/05/should-visible-tattoos-be-allowed-workplace">popularity of tattoos</a> – a YouGov poll in August 2022 found that more than 25% of Britons have them – some people (and researchers too) still associate them with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-01511-6#Sec3">deviant personalities</a>. Equally, many may see them as mere fashion accessories with no significance beyond the aesthetic. </p>
<p>But what people may overlook is that tattoos are often about connection to local culture, unity and collective identity. </p>
<p>And that’s not just the case for places often considered to have a strong cultural link with tattooing, such as Polynesia, whose famously intricately designed tattoos have recorded origins <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/369174">stretching back to 2000BC</a>.</p>
<p>The UK also has its own history of tattoos interlinked with places and communities. And that history is still evolving.</p>
<p>Growing up in Birmingham in the 1970s, Steph was not aware that there were any historical Birmingham-inspired tattoos beyond the local football teams. But recent civic pride has seen a growth of <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/i-spent-1k-huge-black-26540247">Black Country chain tattoos</a>, represent the manufacturing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blackcountrytshirts/photos/share-your-black-country-tattoosthis-bostin-design-was-shared-with-us-by-stephen/10158061764603446/">heritage of the area</a>, and <a href="https://www.tattoodo.com/tattoos/1605504">tattoos of a bull</a>, a symbol of Birmingham.</p>
<p><a href="https://greatbritishmag.co.uk/uk-culture/how-popular-is-tattooing-in-the-uk/">Some surveys</a> suggest Birmingham is the most tattooed city in England, with 48% of locals sporting at least one tattoo, and six tattoos the average for those who are inked. The same data also shows locals in Norwich and Glasgow are heavily inked too. </p>
<p>But the regional status of tattoos isn’t just about how common they are. It can relate to a certain aesthetic with a meaning linked to the local area. And often it’s about people categorising themselves to reinforce a sense of community or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/social-identity-theory">form a sense of identity</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most recognisable regional tattoo in recent years is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-commemoration-a-new-way-to-remember-victims-of-terrorism-95626">Manchester bee</a>. Representing hard work, defiance and commemoration, the bee has gained global recognition and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/bee-tattoo-raise-money-victims-manchester-bombing">brought people together</a> following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing in a way that badges and wristbands could not.</p>
<p>Tattoos can also be a form of secret communication known as <a href="https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-steganography">steganography</a>. They show hidden messages within other information, a code that is meaningless to outsiders who just “see” the image without knowing the meaning that is in plain view.</p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/whats-on/how-speak-proper-pompey-1057657">Pompey dot</a> tattoo (one to five dots on the back of the hand, between thumb and forefinger) marks the wearer as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/COPA90/videos/what-are-pompey-dots/2317395071904379/">being from Portsmouth</a>. It’s an exclusive brand for those “in the know”. </p>
<h2>If you’re not with us, you’re against us</h2>
<p>Tattoos can also be about telling people, “You’re not one of us.” <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738081X20300717">Football fandom</a>, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-47735913">hometown allegiances</a> all show proud kinship that veers into this territory. </p>
<p>Take, for example, Millwall FC, whose emblem is a lion. Millwall’s reputation is that “no one likes us” and, for some fans, <a href="https://lowerblock.com/articles/jerome-favre-no-one-likes-us/">wearing body art depicting the lion</a> is as much a part of fandom as attending matches. The sense of unity in being disliked becomes its own <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63836014">cohesive in-group</a>. </p>
<p>Millwall’s tattoos work in two ways: the lion is a fierce in-group symbol, while the proud chant, “No one likes us / We don’t care,” reinforces the barrier between members and the rest of the world (the out-group). </p>
<p>Notorious football fans <a href="https://chelseaheadhunters.co.uk/tattoos/">Chelsea Headhunters</a> show off their tattoos in online galleries. Like Millwall, they are widely disliked, due to their historic links to white supremacist groups such as the National Front, Combat 18 and paramilitary outfits. Tattoos are a way of belonging, yet at the same time, not belonging to wider society.</p>
<h2>Ancient roots</h2>
<p>If you follow the tendrils of tattoo history back far enough, their association with defiant out-groups is historical. Evidence of ancient tattooing has been found throughout Egypt, where it was mostly the preserve of concubines and dancers wearing the symbol of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RKZGDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT23&dq=ancient+egypt+tattooed+priestess&ots=qt69Rp0JRe&sig=7edlMuOSidW653OXDyqIQTKdKNA">protector goddess Bes</a>. </p>
<p>Around 1050BC, before the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rrU-EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=who+were+the+phoenicians&ots=jcGOlhCazc&sig=C_y3_YRacpVyFVUS6FmIStvHHG0">Phoenicians</a> invented the alphabet that would become the basis of many modern scripts, Phoenician craftsmen such as stone-cutters or rope-makers would tattoo images depicting their skills on their skin as a kind of CV to display their trades. </p>
<p>People no longer need to advertise their trades and skills on their skin, and instead choose to show allegiances and identities. Now, flag tattoos of nations, sexuality and genders <a href="https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Scot%20Guenter.pdf">have become a kind of social CV</a>.</p>
<p>Many gay communities sport tattoos that go beyond the traditional rainbow. The leather pride and bear brotherhood flags serve dual purposes. They are recognisable to those in the know, yet impenetrable to those who are not (who may wish the wearer harm). </p>
<p>However, modern tattoo tribalism is sometimes driven by fads. The popularity of the <a href="https://tattmag.com/celtic-tattoos/">Celtic knot or band</a> tattoo in the 1990s has waned. At its peak it was the fashionable tattoo-of-choice, with many wearers sporting it for the aesthetics and fashion, yet they <a href="https://www.letsgoireland.com/celtic-knot-meanings/">didn’t understand its meaning</a> and historical significance as a source of (tribal) pride for non-English wearers. </p>
<p>Despite this, the idea of outsider groups using tattoos as catalogues of deviancy still persists. As one tattooed participant in Stephanie’s research told her: “We’re not all prostitutes and prisoners are we?” </p>
<p>Similarly, another tattooed participant said: “I don’t think I’ve ever met a person with face tattoos who has their life together… that’s a remnant of prejudice … passed down to me by the generation above.”</p>
<p>They may have a divisive history but tattoos are a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342121840_Tattoo_A_Cultural_Heritage">visual language</a> that can unify people, depending on if the users wish to expose or hide their allegiances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Throughout their history, tattoos have helped bind together out-groups.Stephanie Talliss-Foster, PhD candidate, Birmingham City UniversityCraig Jackson, Professor of Occupational Health Psychology, Birmingham City UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2013062023-03-15T13:37:34Z2023-03-15T13:37:34ZWest African footballers battle to fit in while making it in Europe – two share their ups and downs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514638/original/file-20230310-462-utq2d8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Footballers in Africa dream of a career in Europe </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Growing up, many young Africans nurse the ambition of playing football professionally in Europe and becoming superstars. The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33808566">reports</a> that about 260 million people in Africa follow the English Premier League. Dreams, for some, do come true, and a few have succeeded in making the journey to Europe. According to <a href="https://www.footballbenchmark.com/library/the_african_power_in_europe">Football Benchmark</a> , African players – most of them from west Africa – make up about 6% of the total player base of the 11 most prominent leagues in Europe. </p>
<p>But it’s a difficult road, with ups and downs.</p>
<p>In my recent <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2022.2159814">study</a> of two west African footballers, Paul and John, in the German professional football league, the Bundesliga, I explored the experiences they had after arriving from Africa. I conducted face-to-face interviews with the players in October 2021 but have used pseudonyms to keep their identity anonymous, as required by research ethics. </p>
<p>Paul arrived in a central European country at 18 on trial from a youth academy in his home country and moved to Germany after five years. John arrived in Germany as an 18-year-old after graduating from a football academy in his home country. Environment, culture and identity shaped their careers and experiences, as well as the evolution of self. They experienced numerous challenges and struggles to fit in to their new environments, yet their determination to succeed enabled them to claim their own space. </p>
<p>As African footballers increasingly move to European leagues, more attention needs to be paid to the struggles they may experience in adjusting to a new country and how clubs and football institutions can assist them in this process.</p>
<h2>Challenges for foreign footballers</h2>
<p>Paul and John mentioned various cultural, mental and sport-related challenges.</p>
<p><strong>Language barriers</strong></p>
<p>The internet and cable TV create an illusion of a common global social space. The reality is that there is a lot of social diversity between (and within) societies. Paul and John expected to encounter a different culture, but adjusting to life in Germany was not so easy. </p>
<p>The first challenge was language, which limited their communication with teammates and staff. Though most of their colleagues and coaches could speak some English, the primary language of communication during training was German. Paul recalled that he could not understand instructions from his coach and had to rely on his teammates to translate.</p>
<p>The language posed a challenge to John’s ability to connect with other people outside the club and make friends. To succeed in such a competitive space where instant results are demanded, Paul and John had to quickly learn from teammates and through formal teaching.</p>
<p><strong>Weather</strong> </p>
<p>The weather presented an even greater challenge than the culture. Both Paul and John complained that away from the warm tropics, the cold made it difficult for them to perform at their best. Paul said it was also difficult for him mentally:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I cannot move. Sometimes, I go to the dressing room and maybe I will just start crying.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Higher standards</strong></p>
<p>Paul and John would find out that sporting and behavioural standards were set at a very high level. For Paul, the “German work ethic” required that he maintain a high sense of purpose. The task at hand mattered most and every other thing came second. Indiscipline, he said, had no place in German football.</p>
<p>Having been trained at an elite academy in his home country, John was quite accustomed to the ethic of elite football. Still, the sporting demands were a level above what he had been used to. He recalled how tough it was for him at the beginning. Everything was much more physically demanding and everyone seemed to be faster than him:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everything was just aggressive … I had to work hard in the gym and on the pitch, run faster, do everything faster.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Loneliness</strong></p>
<p>In most places in Africa, life is still relatively communal, with a lot of opportunities for socialising and connecting with others. In Germany, it is very different. Most people tend to maintain some degree of social distance and privacy. Paul found social life a bit cold and formal:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everybody is so serious … when the people don’t know you, it is hard to make that friendship.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>John lived alone and could not easily build new friendships:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At the academy, I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t the one cooking for myself … But here, I have to come alone in an empty house.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Immigrant experience</strong></p>
<p>Away from the pitch, African players also live through the debates about immigrants and their place in European society. The ideal immigrant is the high-flying achiever, while the “native” can be mediocre. </p>
<h2>Overcoming these challenges</h2>
<p>Paul and John coped with and adapted to the challenges of their new environment through various strategies and practices. Cultural learning played a key role. Initially through teammates and later through formal lessons, both were able to learn German. </p>
<p>They also rationalised the challenges as part of the journey of a professional footballer, which made them a lot more bearable. The opportunity to be a breadwinner for family and friends was an important motivation.</p>
<p>To cope with loneliness, the players maintained contact with family and friends in their home country. </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Paul and John’s accounts highlight the cultural and environmental contexts that shape the lives of African players in Europe, and what’s behind the glamour of stardom. </p>
<p>These challenges have a profound effect on the quality of life and career progress of migrant footballers. It is important to acknowledge what lies beyond the glitz and fan adulation of match day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Baden-Württemberg State Graduate Fellowship. However, I'm currently funded by the postdoctoral fellowship of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.</span></em></p>Beyond the glamour and fan adulation, African footballers in Europe struggle with adjusting to a new environment.Ikechukwu Ejekwumadu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Sports Science, University of TübingenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1925452022-11-15T13:22:08Z2022-11-15T13:22:08ZAmerican exceptionalism at the World Cup: Why many soccer fans in the US will be cheering on another team (probably Mexico)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495160/original/file-20221114-22-4i0lzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C41%2C3982%2C2616&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Split soccer loyalties?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fans-during-a-game-between-mexico-and-usmnt-at-tql-stadium-news-photo/1355440289?phrase=U.S.%20mexico%20soccer%20cincinnati&adppopup=true">Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Soccer fans will turn their eyes to Qatar starting Nov. 20, 2020, as <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">the World Cup</a> gets underway. But in the U.S., the question of which team will be cheered on from afar isn’t entirely straightforward.</p>
<p>You see, one of the anomalies of being a “typical” soccer fan in the United States – a group to which <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/john-m-sloop/">I belong</a> – is that, you are not, in fact, a “typical” soccer fan. </p>
<p>For many team’s supporters, the World Cup becomes an event to affirm one’s national identity. This is true, as cultural critic <a href="https://history.duke.edu/books/language-game-how-understand-soccer">Laurent Dubois</a> notes, even among fans that are not jingoistic or nationalistic in any other environment. </p>
<p>Indeed, the nationalist fervor that <a href="https://polisci.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/u245/andrew_bertoli_paper_05-01-17.pdf">emerges among crowds</a> can boil over into xenophobic inter-national violence. As renowned soccer historian <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Age-Football-Soccer-21st-Century/dp/0393541479/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MM5WQSWMHLPY&keywords=david+goldblatt&qid=1668107171&sprefix=david+goldblatt%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1">David Goldblatt</a> noted in reference to English soccer crowds in the late 20th century, their “essential xenophobia” revealed a “rabid insular nationalism that was just a few notches more extreme than the foreign policy of the most Europhobic government since the Second World War.”</p>
<p>For Americans, though, the experience can be very different. Factors ranging from the <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/15869/favrotie-sports-league/">relatively low popularity of soccer compared with other sports</a>, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">familiarity with overseas clubs</a> and perhaps more importantly – especially to Americans of Mexican heritage – an attachment to countries deemed to be more traditional “soccer nations” mean that we Americans can find ourselves oddly divided over the nation we support in the global game.</p>
<h2>Where is Uncle Sam in the global game?</h2>
<p>Soccer has <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/23/soccer-the-fastest-growing-major-sport-in-usa/">come a long way in the U.S.</a> over the last few decades in terms of its domestic league and growing a support base.</p>
<p>Yet, outside of our national teams – both the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) and its male counterparts, the USMNT – Americans are <a href="https://today.yougov.com/ratings/sports/popularity/soccer-teams/all">more likely to be familiar with teams in Europe</a> than in their own domestic league, Major League Soccer (MLS).</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">2020 research</a> into the most popular clubs for Americans found that FC Barcelona topped the list, followed by Real Madrid – both from the Spanish La Liga. The next four teams – Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal – all play in the English Premier League (EPL).</p>
<p>You have to go <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">down the list to 12th</a> to find an MLS team, LA Galaxy. They and Atlanta United are the only two American clubs in a list of the top 20 most popular teams – as seen by Americans. </p>
<p>What this means is that soccer fans in the U.S. are, in the case of the men’s game, likely following players whose national identities are somewhere on the globe outside the U.S., given the <a href="https://www.90min.com/posts/every-usa-player-europe-top-leagues">relative lack of U.S. men’s representation</a> on Europe’s biggest teams.</p>
<h2>The growth of Liga MX</h2>
<p>This whole “national identity thing” gets even messier when you dig deeper into what soccer games are actually the most watched in the U.S.</p>
<p>Both the MLS and European leagues have loyal followers in the U.S. Reviewing Thanksgiving sports-watching in 2020, reporter <a href="https://the18.com/en/soccer-news/liga-mx-usa-tv-ratings-vs-mls-epl-telemundo-tudn">Connor Fleming noted</a> that the 12 most popular EPL and MLS games during the period had television audiences of 203,000 to 744,000 viewers.</p>
<p>But those figures are dwarfed, Fleming noted, by the biggest overseas soccer match watched over the period: Chivas v. Club América. Mexico’s <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009947-guadalajara-vs-america-el-super-clasico-date-time-live-stream-and-tv-info">El Súper Clásico</a>, as the game is known, drew a total of 2.5 million viewers watching on Univision’s TUDN – the self-proclaimed “<a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/tudn-us-soccer-univision/">home of soccer in the U.S.</a>”</p>
<p>And this wasn’t a fluke. Data shows that Mexico’s top league, Liga MX, has a total U.S. viewership in the U.S. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">bigger than the MLS and the EPL combined</a>. From 2016 to 2018, it grew by 46%, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">according to analysis</a> in December 2021. </p>
<p>What does it mean for American soccer identity at the World Cup that a majority of U.S. soccer fans prefer the Mexican league over the domestic league? And how does this translate into support, in particular, for the U.S. men’s national team?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-womens-soccer-fifa-world-cup-best-american-team-2019-6">unparalleled success of the U.S. women’s team</a> – an American exceptionalism of a different sort – has led to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/nwsl-championship-tv-ratings-are-a-record-breaker-20221102-WST-406608.html">soaring television ratings</a> for the National Women’s Soccer League and a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/us-womens-soccer-games-now-generate-more-revenue-than-mens.html">greater focus on the women’s national team</a> and “American” players.</p>
<p>Yet it is fair to say that hard-core support for both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams among people living in America trails behind that of Mexico.</p>
<p>As sports writer <a href="https://michael-lore.com/2022/05/25/mexico-is-the-most-popular-soccer-team-in-the-u-s/">Michael LoRé’s observed</a> in an article earlier this year, with 60 million fans in the U.S., Mexico is “the most popular soccer team in the U.S.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jersey-2020/">Jerseys of the Mexican national team outsell</a> those of both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams in the United States. This was <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jerseys-in-2019/">true even in 2019</a>, the year that the U.S. women’s team won the World Cup and their jerseys <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-womens-world-cup/story/3892049/jersey-sales-soaring-for-uswntsetting-records">outsold that of the men’s team for the first time</a>.</p>
<p>Such is the popularity of the Mexican national team, especially in large West Coast cities, that it can play in front of a “home crowd” on foreign territory – perhaps the only national team that can claim to do so.</p>
<p>Games against the U.S. are now scheduled in the Midwest and South – in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee – to account for the imbalance in home support for the teams above and below the border.</p>
<h2>Can you have an ‘other’ team?</h2>
<p>Not all U.S.-based soccer fans are comfortable with the idea of Mexico being considered a “home nation.” In 2018, after the <a href="https://time.com/5258984/is-the-us-in-the-2018-world-cup/">U.S. men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup</a> held in Russia, former U.S. national team star Landon Donovan took part in the “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landon-donovan-world-cup-other-team-mexico-2018-6">My Other Team is Mexico” campaign</a> – aimed at marketing the sport in the U.S. despite the national team’s absence.</p>
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<img alt="A footballer in a white jersey gets tackled by a player in a green jersey." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495158/original/file-20221114-19-dvrgrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Landon Donovan taking on the Mexican defense.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/landon-donovan-of-the-usa-tries-to-run-through-the-defense-news-photo/54463453?phrase=U.S.%20mexico%20soccer%20Columbus&adppopup=true">Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>“USA fans,” Donovan <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/donovan-fellow-ex-usmnt-stars-war-words-mexico-support-232039315.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEDYiK0M3nMkv9bYlecsNs-o-g3-o-ZnBFaTN_loF4y9jj7Ph_UOz6NuHsvGxPMCkDytf2vaEQqb9KnOeL7HIJ-8fs5BhgAQzO2nPXKt-t5nQXBbXBJd4sKUaPjXSXngJWoddmNysX3Hd2auwYOYmye-ZaO-v4ygpU9f3Xy9Igxe">wrote on Twitter</a>, “our team may not be in Russia, but our neighbors to the south are. So join me and their proud #sponsor @WellsFargo to cheer on our other team, Mexico.”</p>
<p>The response was mixed. “Nah man!!! Mexico is not ‘my team.’ Mexico is a rival …,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkHLM5-g6RG/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1h3e8dn9i0ulz">replied Donovan’s former teammate</a> Cobi Jones. Others <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1008100642571907072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1008100642571907072%7Ctwgr%5E96e49a6390c5a05630087d99c6392991da7e2bb5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2781516-landon-donovan-criticized-by-past-present-usmnt-members-for-supporting-mexico">expressed similar sentiments</a> in what dissolved into a messy online debate.</p>
<p>Donovan’s support of the Mexican team in the 2018 World Cup was seen by some as a cynical marketing move to keep U.S. fans tuned into the World Cup. And it should be noted that the Mexican and U.S. soccer federations were at the time <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4393273/us-soccer-mls-owned-soccer-united-marketing-parting-ways-after-nearly-20-years">marketed by the same organization</a> – Soccer United Marketing – for all games played in the U.S.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the debate that the “other team” campaign provoked opens up interesting questions concerning nationalism and patriotism.</p>
<h2>A nation of two halves?</h2>
<p>Multiple soccer scholars such as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Against-Enemy-Revolutions-Dictators/dp/1568586337/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=simon+kuper&qid=1668106882&sr=8-9">Simon Kuper</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Language-Game-How-Understand-Soccer/dp/0465094481/ref=sr_1_9?crid=25KW9MFUYTAQ5&keywords=Laurent+dubois&qid=1668106978&sprefix=laurent+dubois%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-9">Lauren Dubois</a> have suggested that a country’s soccer team can represent the nation’s values. As such, it might be telling that a large segment of people living in the U.S. embrace another team. </p>
<p>Given the complexity of the U.S. soccer fan base – one with a large contingent loyal to either the Mexican team or elite players at European teams – and with the competition for attention from other professional sports, it’s perhaps not surprising that supporter loyalty in U.S. is more divided than in other countries.</p>
<p>In a country that holds dear the notion that “<a href="http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/#:%7E:text=%22E%20Pluribus%20Unum%22%20was%20the,from%20a%20collection%20of%20states.">Out of Many, We are One</a>,” what does it say that, in soccer at least, “Out of Many, We are Two.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192545/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M Sloop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, a scholar probes questions of identity in the American game. Is Mexico really the US’s ‘other team’?John M Sloop, Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930722022-11-07T13:34:38Z2022-11-07T13:34:38ZWhat makes someone Indigenous?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492590/original/file-20221031-12-kfy9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C11%2C3976%2C2646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Participants in the Indigenous Peoples Of the Americas Parade in New York City, Oct. 15, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-participate-in-the-first-annual-indigenous-peoples-news-photo/1434017560">Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<blockquote>
<p><strong>What makes someone Indigenous? – Artie, age 9, Astoria, New York</strong></p>
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<hr>
<p>“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” </p>
<p>You may have heard that in school. The rhyme makes it easier to remember that 1492 was the year when an Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus/The-first-voyage">set sail from Spain</a> and landed in a chain of islands near modern-day Florida called the “West Indies.”</p>
<p>Europeans called the enormous land mass that we now know as North and South America the “New World” because, before the very late 15th century, nobody on the east side of the Atlantic Ocean even knew it existed. A few Viking explorers had reached the Americas hundreds of years earlier, but <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/early-exploration-of-the-Americas/543490">little is known</a> about their visits.</p>
<p>From Europeans’ standpoint, Columbus had discovered something new. But for millions of Native, or Indigenous, people who already lived there, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/1492/america.html">the “New World” wasn’t new at all</a>. </p>
<h2>Connected to place</h2>
<p>In the most basic terms, whether a person or a group of people is Indigenous comes down to <a href="https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf">where their ancestors lived and how long they lived there</a>. </p>
<p>People are considered Indigenous to a certain place when their ancestors existed and thrived in that place since time immemorial – basically, for longer than anyone can remember, or before people started keeping written historical records. </p>
<p>Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of a certain area. Their villages and territories were the first ones to be established in a particular place and were around long before modern cities, states or countries existed. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">In 2007, the United Nations adopted the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to help ensure the survival, dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples around the world.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Cultural identity</h2>
<p>There are an estimated <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/indigenous-peoples/#">476 million Indigenous people</a> in about 5,000 Indigenous groups spread out all over the world. They live in almost every corner of the globe, including the frozen Arctic in <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-arctic">northern Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.nativefederation.org/alaska-native-peoples/">Alaska</a>, the <a href="https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/native-people-of-the-american-great-plains">plains of the U.S.</a>, the mountains and rain forests of <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/lac/brief/indigenous-latin-america-in-the-twenty-first-century-brief-report-page">Latin America</a>, the <a href="https://lcipp.unfccc.int/about-lcipp/un-indigenous-sociocultural-regions/pacific">islands of the Pacific Ocean</a>, and throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, <a href="https://www.newzealand.com/int/maori-culture/">New Zealand</a> and just about anywhere else that people live – including major cities. </p>
<p>Each of those unique groups has deep, historical connections to a particular part of the world. And their experiences have produced just as many unique cultures.</p>
<p>Where you live – especially if your family has lived there for centuries – can have a huge impact on your way of life. It shapes things like the type of home you live in, the food you eat, how you cook and even things like how and who you worship in your religion.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447565076349718528"}"></div></p>
<p>For instance, my father’s Indigenous ancestry comes from the <a href="https://comanchenation.com/">Comanche</a>, <a href="https://kiowatribe.org/">Kiowa</a> and <a href="https://www.cherokee.org/">Cherokee</a> tribes. The Comanches traveled around a lot, across a wide expanse of land from Canada in the north all the way down to the jungles of South America. </p>
<p>They learned to follow the migration of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bison-are-back-and-that-benefits-many-other-species-on-the-great-plains-107588">buffalo</a>, which was their main source of food. And they developed techniques that made traveling easier, such as creating mobile shelters called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/tepee">tepees</a> that could be easily set up, broken down and carried from place to place.</p>
<p>My mother grew up in an Indigenous community known as <a href="https://taospueblo.com/">Taos Pueblo</a>. The people of Taos Pueblo stayed year-round in the same area of northern New Mexico, which was home to vast mountain ranges and flowing rivers. Since the people of Taos Pueblo did not have to move around as much, they built large buildings out of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/adobe">adobe</a>, or baked mud bricks, that were several stories tall and could not be moved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Adobe homes with mountains in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492601/original/file-20221031-15-zornp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico, is a living Native American community that has been designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trees-with-fall-colors-at-the-taos-pueblo-which-is-the-only-news-photo/909633522">Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>While being Indigenous is a matter of ancestry and place, different Indigenous groups have their own cultures, traditions, languages and religions, much as these things may differ from country to country, state to state or even city to city today.</p>
<h2>Political identity</h2>
<p>Today, being Indigenous does not necessarily mean that your ancestors lived in the same place where you live right now. In fact, throughout history many Indigenous groups were <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/indigenous-peoples-losing-land-can-mean-losing-lives">removed from their traditional homelands</a> and forced to live somewhere else. </p>
<p>Most Indigenous groups who were forced off their lands did not want to leave. But settlers from elsewhere saw the lands and resources where Indigenous peoples lived and wanted them for their own countries. Often they used <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html">military force</a> to make Indigenous peoples leave their homes. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at a news briefing, April 23, 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492605/original/file-20221031-16-2z90cg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, is the first Native American to serve as a U.S. cabinet secretary. She oversees millions of acres of public lands, as well as the nation’s trust responsibility to American Indians and Alaska Natives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/InteriorNativeVoices/b0e913e52cfc4bb1a903a2170c3b3b9c/photo">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of those groups exist today as a type of government known as a tribe or Native nation. There are at least <a href="https://www.usa.gov/tribes#">574 tribes in the U.S. alone</a>. Like any other government, tribal governments make laws about how to live together peacefully, decide what it means to be a good citizen and plan for the future. </p>
<p>Together, those laws form a political community – an understanding about how all members of a Native nation agree to live and treat each other as part of the same Indigenous community.</p>
<p>So while being Indigenous has always been tied very closely to place, today it is also a matter of cultural and political identity. It helps to shape a person’s connection to their community and enables them to understand their place in history.</p>
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<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Torivio Fodder is an enrolled member of the Taos Pueblo, and of Comanche, Kiowa and Cherokee descent. </span></em></p>Geographic, cultural and political identity are all part of being Indigenous.Torivio Fodder, Indigenous Governance Program Manager and Professor of Practice, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878272022-08-29T12:39:04Z2022-08-29T12:39:04ZStudents perceive themselves as a ‘math person’ or a ‘reading person’ early on – and this can impact the choices they make throughout their lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478943/original/file-20220812-22-6ckiqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5499%2C3647&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Psychologists aren't sure which factors drive students to form specific academic identities, but these identities can affect career choices. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/student-using-calculator-to-work-out-math-problem-royalty-free-image/1200911157">Tom Werner/DigitalVision via GettyImages</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>As kids progress through school, they tend to increasingly perceive themselves as either a “math person” or a “language person,” even if they’re good at both, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000340">a 2022 study</a> I led.</p>
<p>My colleagues and <a href="https://siruiwan.github.io/">I</a> were interested in why people pursue specific educational and career trajectories – like choosing a science, technology, engineering and mathematics major vs. a non-STEM major in college. We know that having a specific academic identity, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000367">considering oneself a “math person,” is one of the reasons</a> people choose a corresponding career path. My team wanted to find out when some kids start to lean toward identifying this way.</p>
<p>We focused on math and language arts because they are the <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/">most common subjects</a> in the U.S. K-12 system; for example, the SAT has two main sections: English and math. There is also a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x">gender stereotype</a> that reading is for girls and math is for boys.</p>
<p>My team analyzed data involving 142 independent samples across the world, featuring almost 211,000 students from 16 countries and regions. This data includes self-reported confidence and interest in math and language arts from students in different grades.</p>
<p>Our research indicates an age-related change in kids’ academic identity formation.</p>
<p>We found that during primary school, students who reported high confidence and interest in language arts were also likely to report high confidence and interest in math. But as students progress though the school years, this pattern gradually changes. In high school, students who reported high confidence and interest in language arts reported lower confidence and interest, on average, in math, and vice versa.</p>
<p>In other words, students become more likely to think that they’re either a math person or a reading person as they progress through their school years.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Students choose to pursue a specific career path for various reasons. One of the most common is that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029167">they believe they are good at doing a task</a>. Our research suggests that some students develop a misconception that they can only be either a math or a reading person as they move from primary to secondary school. </p>
<p>This misconception can have a dark side: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09524-2">Students might disengage from subjects that they perceive as their relative weaknesses</a> even when they are actually good at these subjects relative to other students. </p>
<p>An example is that many students, especially girls, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612458937">perform very well in math but do even better in verbal domains</a>. These students might view math as a relative weakness and avoid pursuing math-related educational and career paths.</p>
<p>In other words, the misconception found in our study can lead some students to miss out on educational opportunities.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Although viewing oneself as better in one domain than another likely carries costs, it may have benefits as well. It would be useful to understand these before our team can make strong recommendations to parents, teachers or policymakers for interventions. </p>
<p>Additionally, to support each student’s unique journey, parents, teachers and schools would benefit from a stronger understanding of how students come to think that one can only be good at either math or reading. Unfortunately, we still know little about the impact of contributing factors, such as the school environment.</p>
<p>A potential contributing factor that we considered in our study is tracking, or schools dividing students into groups by their perceived achievement. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000340">Our study</a> found that German students tend to believe they are good at only one of the two domains slightly earlier than U.S. students do, perhaps because <a href="https://www.howtogermany.com/pages/germanschools.html">academic tracking starts earlier in Germany than in the U.S.</a>.</p>
<p>Studying the implications of different educational practices on students’ academic beliefs is a line of research that my colleagues and I are currently pursuing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sirui Wan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students are less likely to think they can be good at both math and reading as they get closer to high school.Sirui Wan, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868892022-08-07T13:03:45Z2022-08-07T13:03:45ZWe need a better understanding of race, ‘status’ and indigeneity in Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477959/original/file-20220807-71528-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C1%2C989%2C630&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many people were excluded from Indian status.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Indigenous Services Canada)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/we-need-a-better-understanding-of-race---status--and-indigeneity-in-canada" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Queen’s University recently <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/indigenous/sites/oiiwww/files/uploaded_files/FPG%20Queens%20Report%20Final%20July%207.pdf">released its highly anticipated report</a> after a year-long exploration into the institution’s approaches to indigeneity. </p>
<p>The report came about after a call was made by hundreds of Indigenous academics and community members following the news that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/queens-university-indigenous-identify-1.6082840">several white settler faculty claiming indigeneity were, in fact, “pretendians.”</a> </p>
<p>The report offers several recommendations that touch on everything from verification processes to developing a more robust Indigenous Studies program. While some Indigenous academics and community members welcomed the report, others suggested it relies too heavily on “colonial, imposed cards” and the concept of “Indian status.”</p>
<p>This critique based on cards and status is confusing, as the report is clear that individuals who have been disconnected from their communities due to colonialism have other avenues to demonstrate their genuine, integral connections. The report highlights the fact that we need a better understanding of race, Indian status and indigeneity in Canada.</p>
<h2>What does ‘pretendian’ mean?</h2>
<p>The term “pretendian” is new and stems from what renowned Indigenous scholar, Vine Deloria Jr., termed, “<a href="http://www.riversimulator.org/Resources/Books/CusterDiedForYourSinsAnIndianManifesto1969Deloria.pdf">the Indian Grandmother Complex</a>.”</p>
<p>Recently, president of the Indigenous Bar Association, Drew Lafond, penned <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-problem-with-labelling-people-pretendians/">an opinion editorial</a> suggesting the term “pretendian” is problematic. He said this is because the first people labelled as “pretendians” were “individuals who were unable to produce a status card under the Indian Act to ‘prove’ that they were Indigenous.” </p>
<p>But the word is actually a modern portmanteau that has gained traction with an established body of <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300264845/playing-indian/">critical academic literature</a>. </p>
<p>Lafond also suggested that the act of calling someone a “pretendian” has led to divisive and toxic interpretations of what it means to be Indigenous.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stolen-identities-what-does-it-mean-to-be-indigenous-podcast-ep-8-166248">Stolen identities: What does it mean to be Indigenous? Podcast EP 8</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Indian status and blood quantum</h2>
<p>While the concept of Indian status was, and continues to be, a tool that is imposed based on how much “native blood” one has, it is dangerous to centre Indian status, and not white entitlement and settler colonialism, as the issues plaguing tenuous or false claims to Indigenous identity. It is also dangerous to suggest that these conversations are undermining Indigenous self-determination. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-facing-a-settler-colonial-crisis-not-an-indigenous-identity-crisis-175136">We are facing a settler colonial crisis, not an Indigenous identity crisis</a>
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</em>
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<p>Characterizing all individuals who have been called “pretendians” as simply people who don’t qualify for Indian status is misleading and has contributed to a rise in “anti-status” rhetoric that is, quite frankly, racist. </p>
<p>While Indian status is an imposed mechanism, “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/02/09/583987261/so-what-exactly-is-blood-quantum">blood quantum</a>” cannot be disentangled from race. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aFMJ86s2xlk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Indian Country Today looks into ‘the pretendian problem.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people across this country who are visibly racialized and not only hold Indian status, but also carry the trauma of generations of Indigenous family members who have endured the Indian Act and many other forms of colonial violence. </p>
<p>While it is true that <a href="https://opentextbc.ca/indigenizationfoundations/chapter/the-indian-act/">many people were excluded from Indian status</a> under the Indian Act because of gender or kinship ties to multiple Black and racialized communities, some of these issues have been corrected due to tireless work, often led by Indigenous women — like <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mary-two-axe-earley">Mary Two-Axe Earley</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sandra-lovelace-nicholas">Sandra Lovelace Nicholas</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mcivor-case">Sharon McIvor</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jeannette-vivian-lavell">Jeannette Corbiere Lavell</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/woman-wins-32-year-fight-for-indian-status-1.4078317">Lynn Gehl</a>. </p>
<p>The important work of addressing the erasure of Black and other racialized Indigenous kin through state mechanisms is ongoing. This is why challenging Indigenous identity fraud in academia must name and focus explicitly on structures of whiteness, white entitlement and settler colonialism so we don’t recreate the harms of past policies. </p>
<h2>Misclaiming ‘non-status’</h2>
<p>Ongoing efforts <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rMYGACf5Rs">to challenge Indian status exclusion</a> show us that there’s a massive difference between 1) someone who is a non-status First Nations person and 2) a white settler who has perhaps one or two Indigenous ancestors from before the concept of Indian status was introduced. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100014433/1535469348029">term non-status</a> is meant to reflect the experiences of people who carry a real and intimate connection to historical and contemporary colonial and non-colonial expressions of recognition. This is often expressed through both their exclusion to specific agreements (like the Indian Act) and their inclusion and acceptance within traditional forms of Indigenous kinship.</p>
<p>It is not a generic category for anyone who locates one or two distant ancestors. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OhBrq7Ez-rQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The ‘Indian Act’ explained.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All institutions must be wary of and challenge the ideas that support the notion that Indian status = colonial, therefore any person inhabiting their Indian status = bad. </p>
<p>Because status is an imposed race-based mechanism based on “Indian blood,” many (not all) Indigenous people who hold Indian status in this country are racialized people and know what it means to walk into a settler colonial space and speak volumes as an Indigenous person without uttering a word.</p>
<p>Institutions that aim to advance equity, anti-racism and decolonization must centre the principles of integrity, truth and structural transformation. They must ask pressing questions like: Do your Indigenous employees include racialized, gender-diverse and socioeconomically diverse Indigenous people?</p>
<p>These questions don’t get answered when the loudest voices within the room say, “being Indigenous is not about race or status.” </p>
<p>The focus on status disrespects the millions of Indigenous people who struggle to survive in universities and other settler institutions while having to endure everyday forms of anti-Indigenous racialized violence. </p>
<p>The way forward must centre the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples, while also refusing the efforts of settlers to re-centre themselves in the necessary transformations of colonial institutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Celeste Pedri-Spade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Challenging Indigenous identity fraud in academia must name and focus explicitly on structures of whiteness, white entitlement and settler colonialism so we don’t recreate the harms of past policies.Celeste Pedri-Spade, Associate Professor & Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Studies, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1854572022-07-13T13:57:05Z2022-07-13T13:57:05ZNew book challenges whiteness: a review through the cover image<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472840/original/file-20220706-15-x1igkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Detail of the cover of the new book featuring art by Norman Catherine.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Routledge Handbook of Critical Studies in Whiteness/Routledge</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cover of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Critical-Studies-in-Whiteness/Hunter-Westhuizen/p/book/9780367403799">The Routledge Handbook of Critical Studies in Whiteness</a> carries a striking image courtesy of South African artist <a href="https://www.normancatherine.com/">Norman Catherine</a>. The image was created in 2015 as <a href="https://www.normancatherine.com/gicle-prints">one of a set of digital prints</a> and, typical of Catherine’s work, contrasts dark and light to present a cynical view of the world <a href="https://www.normancatherine.com/about">informed by society and politics</a>. </p>
<p>This image can be interpreted as expressing some of the ideas in the Handbook. It gives me a way to approach this book review because my teaching, research and writing deal with understanding how graphic images can convey ideas and carry meaning. I am not proposing that Catherine deliberately set out to visualise whiteness in his image, and acknowledge that my interpretation is my subjective opinion.</p>
<p>Titled “Show & Tell”, it shows a stylised male figure in profile, with slicked back black hair and a skin colour ranging from pale pink, green and grey to a hot magenta and shining yellow.</p>
<p>Catherine’s choice of skin colours illustrates the most obvious thing about people called white, and that is that they are not actually white. As noted by English academic Richard Dyer in his analysis of racial imagery of white people in his 1997 book <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/white/oclc/34547959">White</a>, white people are not literally nor symbolically white.</p>
<p>The figure’s profile lacks a forehead and is dominated by an enormous yellow nose and forward jutting chin, between which a grimacing mouth encircled by a row of blocky white teeth gapes. His black-clad torso is transformed into a similar profile, with glaring white teeth and a flapping pink tongue. I interpret the figure as showing what Dyer identified as “a divided nature and internal struggle between mind (God) and body (man)”, “a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manichaeism">Manichean</a> (dualism of black:white”, “the presence of the dark within the white man”).</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472842/original/file-20220706-14-ztzj6a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Routledge</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Such a divided way of seeing and knowing the world contributed to centuries of racism and white supremacy that continues into the present with devastating impact. Challenging and dismantling racism and white supremacy is part of the purpose of the book, edited by academics <a href="https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staff/dr-shona-hunter/">Shona Hunter</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/christi-van-der-westhuizen-240334">Christi van der Westhuizen</a>.</p>
<p>Critical Studies in Whiteness matter as it forms, in the words of the editors, part of a “broader project towards racial and social justice, and the end of heteropatriarchy and coloniality”. The editors describe whiteness as (page 3)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a dynamic, shifting, but durable system of domination through, under, against and within which people live, work, and relate. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whiteness can be overt and highly visible, as was the case in apartheid South Africa, or operate invisibly. This book succeeds well in describing and criticising, through many examples, how whiteness works.</p>
<h2>Whiteness across time and space</h2>
<p>To make whiteness visible is a frequently stated goal of whiteness studies and this is shown on the cover in the clearly defined figure. However, Hunter and Van der Westhuizen argue in Chapter 1 that whiteness shifts between invisibility and visibility, to the point of becoming “hyper-visible”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/afrikaner-identity-in-post-apartheid-south-africa-remains-stuck-in-whiteness-87471">Afrikaner identity in post-apartheid South Africa remains stuck in whiteness</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The arguments the editors make in their introductory chapter are complex, layered and not easily summarised. This is not surprising as the book is aimed at researchers, scholars and advanced students in a variety of academic fields. </p>
<p>The Handbook, consisting of 28 chapters, a preface and an epilogue, analyses the operation of whiteness across time and space. It does so through the contributions of a variety of scholars from various disciplinary, geographic and national contexts. A wide range of topics are covered from different perspectives. From histories of whiteness in India, Japan and South Africa, to a critique of trans-racial adoption in Sweden, and the harm done to grassroots organisations in the United States by foundations created by “white, corporate elitists”.</p>
<p>Contributions point to whiteness as being positioned at the heart of a “global colonial world system” and as being implicated with capitalist relations, <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/understanding-heteronormativity">heteronormativity</a> – the belief that heterosexuality is the only natural expression of sexuality – and patriarchy. This is signified in Catherine’s figure with its pinstriped trousers and shiny black lace-ups.</p>
<p>Across the figure’s torso wounds strain against stitches through which various colours show, presumably of the skin beneath the black clothing. This brings to mind an objective of Critical Whiteness Studies which is identified by the editors as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>dissect(ing) whiteness as a distinct power formation within the structures of race, racism, and white supremacy, that rose with and sustained colonialism, and today forms an essential part of coloniality (page xx).</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The backlash</h2>
<p>The inflicting of wounds on and sustained critique of whiteness has, however, not been without counterattacks. The wounded figure responds angrily, mouthing off, dynamic lines swirling around him, indicating that he has been forcefully lashing out.</p>
<p>The defence of whiteness is visible in the rise of the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alt-right">Alt-Right</a>, neo-fascism and various forms of nationalism in recent years. The volume contains incisive critiques of such phenomena. This includes the backlash against feminism — in the form of the active promotion of traditional femininity through <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429355769-7/tradculture-reproducing-whiteness-neo-fascism-gendered-discourse-online-ashley-mattheis">#TradCulture</a> — and the embracing of whiteness as a form of resistance by the Alt-Right.</p>
<p>The rise of such phenomena underscores the fact that the social justice and anti-racist intent of the volume is now needed more than ever. While aimed at an academic audience, many of the chapters are very readable and I hope it finds a broader audience as the arguments it contains must be more widely debated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185457/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deirdre Pretorius is related to Christi van der Westhuizen and knows Shona Hunter through her affiliation with the University of Johannesburg.</span></em></p>This book succeeds well in describing and criticising, through many examples, how whiteness works.Deirdre Pretorius, Associate Professor in the Graphic Design Department, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1849022022-06-22T18:12:15Z2022-06-22T18:12:15ZWas there anything real about Elvis Presley?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469881/original/file-20220620-24-8ektb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C40%2C2213%2C1450&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pinpointing Elvis Presley's true persona can depend on when and whom you ask.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/singer-elvis-presley-looking-tired-and-somewhat-dejected-news-photo/50420521?adppopup=true">Don Cravens/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Baz Luhrmann’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkfplKD46Hs">Elvis</a>,” there’s a scene based on actual conversations that took place between Elvis Presley and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004596/">Steve Binder</a>, the director of <a href="https://www.blogtalkradio.com/feisty-side-of-fifty/2022/04/28/steve-binder-elvis-68-comeback-the-story-behind-the-special">a 1968 NBC television special</a> that signaled the singer’s return to live performing. </p>
<p>Binder, an iconoclast unimpressed by Presley’s recent work, had pushed Elvis to reach back into his past to revitalize a career stalled by years of mediocre movies and soundtrack albums. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_I4h_Wm_aY">According to the director</a>, their exchanges left the performer engrossed in <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/elvis-presley-comeback-special-1968-50th-anniversary">deep soul-searching</a>.</p>
<p>In the trailer to Luhrmann’s biopic, a version of this back-and-forth plays out: Elvis, portrayed by Austin Butler, says to the camera, “I’ve got to get back to who I really am.” Two frames later, Dacre Montgomery, playing Binder, asks, “And who are you, Elvis?”</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p072703">scholar of southern history</a> who has written a book about Elvis, I still find myself wondering the same thing.</p>
<p>Presley never wrote a memoir. Nor did he keep a diary. Once, when informed of a potential biography in the works, <a href="https://www.proquest.com/magazines/making-presley-biography/docview/2509565622/se-2?accountid=196683">he expressed doubt</a> that there was even a story to tell. Over the years, he had submitted to numerous interviews and press conferences, but the quality of these exchanges was erratic, frequently characterized by superficial answers to even shallower questions. </p>
<p>His music could have been a window into his inner life, but since he wasn’t a songwriter, his material depended on the words of others. Even the rare revelatory gems – songs like “If I Can Dream,” “Separate Ways” or “My Way” – didn’t fully penetrate the veil shrouding the man. </p>
<p>Binder’s philosophical inquiry, then, was not merely philosophical. Countless fans and scholars have long wanted to know: Who was Elvis, really?</p>
<h2>A barometer for the nation</h2>
<p>Pinpointing Presley can depend on when and whom you ask. At the dawn of his career, admirers and critics alike branded him the “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Elvis_Presley/NqCQo9nqVHYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22elvis%22+%22bobbie+ann+mason%22&printsec=frontcover">Hillbilly Cat</a>.” Then he became the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a <a href="https://www.historynet.com/rock-n-roll-n-race-a-fresh-look-at-the-keystone-of-the-elvis-presley-legend/">musical monarch</a> that promoters placed on a mythical throne.</p>
<p>But for many, he was always the “<a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780203700648-22/king-white-trash-culture-elvis-presley-aesthetics-excess-annalee-newitz-matt-wray">King of White Trash Culture</a>” – a working-class white southern rags-to-riches story that <a href="https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51286&sid=9bb9e7df80f341cfbdcc376d828e8d21">never quite convinced the national establishment</a> of his legitimacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man with blue eyes and sideburns speaks into microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469880/original/file-20220620-18-h1loru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elvis Presley during a press conference at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/elvis-presley-close-up-taken-on-his-first-trip-to-nyc-at-news-photo/529306471?adppopup=true">Art Zelin/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These overlapping identities capture the provocative fusion of class, race, gender, region and commerce that Elvis embodied.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most contentious aspect of his identity was the singer’s relationship to race. As a white artist who profited greatly from the popularization of a style associated with African Americans, Presley, throughout his career, worked under <a href="https://www.southerncultures.org/article/elvis-presley-politics-popular-memory/%20%22%22">the shadow and suspicion of racial appropriation</a>.</p>
<p>The connection was complicated and fluid, to be sure. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/05/25/elvis-presley-rock-and-roll-graceland/%20%22%22">Quincy Jones</a> met and worked with Presley in early 1956 as the musical director of CBS-TV’s “Stage Show.” In his 2002 <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Q/zs1ixtkcJU8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22quincy+jones%22+%22memoir%22+%22elvis%22&printsec=frontcover">autobiography</a>, Jones noted that Elvis should be listed with Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson as pop music’s greatest innovators. However, by 2021, in the midst of a changing racial climate, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/quincy-jones-michael-jackson-elvis-presley-1234955138/">Jones was dismissing Presley as an unabashed racist</a>.</p>
<p>Elvis seems to serve as a barometer measuring America’s various tensions, with the gauge less about Presley and more about the nation’s pulse at any given moment.</p>
<h2>You are what you consume</h2>
<p>But I think there’s another way to think about Elvis – one that might put into context many of the questions surrounding him.</p>
<p><a href="https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/fellows-book/a-troubled-feast-american-society-since-1945/">Historian William Leuchtenburg</a> once characterized Presley as a “consumer culture hero,” a manufactured commodity more image than substance.</p>
<p>The assessment was negative; it also was incomplete. It didn’t consider how a consumerist disposition may have shaped Elvis prior to his becoming an entertainer. </p>
<p>Presley reached adolescence as a post-World War II consumer economy was hitting its stride. A product of unprecedented affluence and pent-up demand caused by depression and wartime sacrifice, it provided almost <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/highlights-guide-consumer">unlimited opportunities for those seeking to entertain and define themselves</a>.</p>
<p>The teenager from Memphis, Tennessee, took advantage of these opportunities. Riffing off the idiom “you are what you eat,” Elvis became what <a href="https://kennedy.byu.edu/you-are-what-you-eat/">he consumed</a>.</p>
<p>During his formative years, he shopped at <a href="https://lanskybros.com/">Lansky Brothers</a>, a clothier on Beale Street that outfitted African American performers and provided him with secondhand pink-and-black ensembles. </p>
<p>He tuned into the radio station <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/wdia-radio-station-1947/">WDIA</a>, where he soaked up gospel and rhythm and blues tunes, along with the vernacular of black disk jockeys. He turned the dial to WHBQ’s “Red, Hot, and Blue,” a program that had <a href="https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/deweyphillips/">Dewey Phillips</a> spinning an eclectic mix of R&B, pop and country. He visited <a href="https://www.poplartunes.com/">Poplar Tunes</a> and <a href="http://thedeltareview.com/album-reviews/the-young-willie-mitchell-and-ruben-cherrys-home-of-the-blues-records/">Home of the Blues</a> record stores, where he purchased the music dancing in his head. And at the <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4183">Loew’s State</a> and <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/14070">Suzore #2</a> movie theaters, he took in the latest Marlon Brando or Tony Curtis movies, imagining in the dark how to emulate their demeanor, sideburns, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducktail">ducktails</a>.</p>
<p>In short, he gleaned from the nation’s burgeoning consumer culture the persona that the world would come to know. Elvis alluded to this in 1971 when he provided a rare glimpse into his psyche upon receiving a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HWlYoR40A%20%22%22">Jaycees Award</a> as one of the nation’s Ten Outstanding Young Men:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times … I’d like to say that I learned very early in life that ‘without a song, the day would never end. Without a song, a man ain’t got a friend. Without a song, the road would never bend. Without a song.’ So, I’ll keep singing a song.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In that acceptance speech, he quoted “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200215452/">Without a Song</a>,” a standard tune performed by artists including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Roy Hamilton – seamlessly presenting the lyrics as if they were words directly applicable to his own life experiences.</p>
<h2>A loaded question</h2>
<p>Does this make the Jaycees recipient some sort of “odd, lonely child reaching for eternity,” as Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks, tells an adult Presley in the new “Elvis” film?</p>
<p>I don’t think so. Instead, I see him as someone who simply devoted his life to consumption, a not uncommon late 20th-century behavior. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/dec/19/highereducation.uk2">Scholars have noted that</a> whereas Americans once defined themselves through their genealogy, jobs, or faith, they increasingly started to identify themselves through their tastes – and, by proxy, what they consumed. As <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/me-the-self-and-i/201904/how-do-we-form-identities-in-consumer-society">Elvis crafted his identity</a> and pursued his craft, he did the same.</p>
<p>It also was evident in how he spent most of his downtime. A tireless worker on stage and in the recording studio, those settings nevertheless demanded relatively little of his time. For most of the 1960s, he made three movies annually, each taking no more than a month to complete. That was the extent of <a href="https://theconversation.com/elvis-presley-was-paid-a-kings-ransom-for-sub-par-movies-because-they-were-marketing-gold-81586">his professional obligations</a>.</p>
<p>From 1969 to his death in 1977, only 797 out of 2,936 days were devoted to performing <a href="https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/elvis-presley">concerts</a> or recording in the <a href="https://blackgold.org/GroupedWork/d29f6423-5784-ccf6-6ca1-cff37b9081e9-eng/Home">studio</a>. Most of his time was dedicated to vacationing, playing sports, riding motorcycles, zipping around on go-karts, horseback riding, watching TV and eating.</p>
<p>By the time he died, Elvis was a shell of his former self. Overweight, bored, and chemically dependent, he appeared <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/04/07/elvis-in-his-prime-was-america-now-america-is-elvis-in-decline/">spent</a>. A few weeks before his demise, a Soviet publication <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/29/archives/notes-on-people.html">described him</a> as “wrecked” – a “pitilessly” dumped product victimized by the American consumerist system. </p>
<p>Elvis Presley proved that consumerism, when channeled productively, could be creative and liberating. He likewise demonstrated that left unrestrained, it could be empty and destructive.</p>
<p>Luhrmann’s movie promises to reveal a great deal about one of the most captivating and enigmatic figures of our time. But I have a hunch it will also tell Americans a lot about themselves.</p>
<p>“Who are you, Elvis?” the trailer hauntingly probes.</p>
<p>Maybe the answer is easier than we think. He’s all of us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael T. Bertrand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Presley never wrote a memoir. Nor did he keep a diary. His music could have been a window into his inner life, but he didn’t even write his songs.Michael T. Bertrand, Professor of History, Tennessee State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1823102022-06-14T15:07:40Z2022-06-14T15:07:40ZOlder lesbians are the keepers of a rich history of the lives of women who love other women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467576/original/file-20220607-16-ryt3uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C4558%2C3052&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">2SLGBTQQIA+ history cannot be complete without the stories of lesbian women.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many older lesbians sought out invisibility, they called each other “friends” or “career girls” or “not the marrying kind.” These terms worked as camouflage and helped many women feel safe <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173834">during a time where their sexuality wasn’t accepted</a>.</p>
<p>And while invisibility was at times a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2020.1800548">necessary fiction</a>,” there were many other factors that contributed, including lesbophobia. Lesbophobia is <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/human_rights-droits_homme/rights_lgbti-droits_lgbti.aspx?lang=eng">a type of discrimination affecting women who are attracted to women</a> because of their sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Over the past several decades, identity terms — like lesbian — have gone through cycles. Words coined by 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities are often misused until they become insults, <a href="https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/8/02/21-words-queer-community-has-reclaimed-and-some-we-havent">but these insults can be reclaimed</a>. </p>
<p>“Lesbian” was reclaimed by activists in the 1960s, just before the community adopted “LGBT,” which grew to become the more inclusive “2SLGBTQQIA+.” And while still a contested term, the next generation began to reclaim the term “queer.” </p>
<p>We’re involved in community projects called the <a href="https://www.dal.ca/sites/lgbt-archives/about.html">Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and Lesbian Oral History Project</a> that focus on gathering stories from the generation that began using lesbian, and those who still can’t. </p>
<p>2SLGBTQQIA+ history cannot be complete without these women’s stories, but breaching their fiercely protected invisibility raises ethical questions: Can we describe them in their own language?</p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>The generations of lesbians who were <a href="https://www.dal.ca/faculty/health/news-events/news/2020/06/25/dal_health_researcher_championing_lgbtq__health_equity.html">instrumental in the early fight for equal rights and protections for 2SLGBTQQIA+ Canadians</a> are now in their senior years. Despite their efforts to advocate for change, the stories of older lesbians often go unnoticed or underappreciated. </p>
<p>Older lesbians are not an invisible artifact of the times, but rather the keepers of a rich history of the lives of women who love other women. We have found that there is a struggle for our stories to be heard. As many of us age, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fgeriatrics6020060">we risk losing this rich history</a>. But lesbian oral history archival projects — like ours — are helping counteract this. </p>
<p>Oral histories can create intergenerational teaching and learning opportunities for people to <a href="https://blogs.dal.ca/libraries/2021/10/finding-our-history-a-conversation-about-lgbt-collections-and-exhibitions-webinar">understand the struggles and hard-fought wins</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of older women sit on a bench donned in Pride attire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women attend a pride event in Vancouver, in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>By lesbians for lesbians</h2>
<p>The long <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-rights-in-canada">history of 2SLGBTQQIA+ discrimination and hatred</a> has led to an under-appreciation of the various contributions made by lesbians in advancing human rights legislation. </p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.dal.ca/sites/lgbt-archives.html">the recently founded Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive</a>, the Lesbian Oral History Project is collecting the stories of older lesbians from across Nova Scotia to preserve and share our history. </p>
<p>Through community consultations, the Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive became aware of the lack of archival records in the province pertaining specifically to older lesbian histories, including their contributions to Nova Scotia history in general and 2SLGBTQQIA+ history more specifically. </p>
<p>To mitigate this lack of representation, the archive sought funding from the provincial government to develop the Lesbian Oral History Project, which will allow older lesbians (specifically those born between 1946-64) across Nova Scotia to share their stories. </p>
<p>The oral histories were collected over a two-year period, recently transcribed and will be included in the larger Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive collection at Dalhousie University. </p>
<p>It was necessary for the Lesbian Oral History initiative to be run by lesbians because of the importance in being mindful of who controls the process of visibility and with what motives. </p>
<p>For example, in the 1950s and early 1960s, when many of today’s lesbian seniors were in their youth, <a href="https://msvulpf.omeka.net/">lesbian pulp fiction with sensationalized</a> covers <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lesbian-pulp-fiction-ann-bannon">sold millions of copies</a> providing one of the few sources of lesbian representation in <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2701827">an era known for its repression of sexual minorities</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Covers of three lesbian pulp fiction books" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Covers of lesbian pulp fiction books.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lesbian+pulp+fiction&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">(Wikimedia Commons)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://crimereads.com/no-adam-for-eve-the-quiet-history-of-lesbian-pulp-fiction">majority of these books were written by and aimed at cisgender straight men</a>. The books often contained tragic endings and moralistic messages against gay men’s and lesbians’ so-called lifestyles — their legacy remains today with <a href="https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1579&context=mcnair">“Bury your Gays” and “Dead Lesbian Syndrome” tropes</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the publishers’ constraints and who they were written by, many of these books formed what became known as “<a href="https://msvulpf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/lpf/lesbian-survival-literature">lesbian survival literature</a>.” The stories depicted queer women living and loving in difficult times, where desire and self-determination were more important than happy endings. It helped many lesbians of that era feel seen despite not being the target audience. </p>
<p>Our projects — the Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and the Lesbian Oral History Project — hope to do what lesbian pulp fiction did for many lesbians in the ‘50s and '60s — help them feel seen. But we’re doing it differently as the Lesbian Oral History project is created by and for lesbians. </p>
<p>We need to see additional systemic changes in, for example education, to ensure these important contributions of older lesbians are not lost.</p>
<p><em>This piece was co-authored by Anne Bishop an activist, author, educator, food security advocate, labour organizer and community development worker. Since the 1980s she has advocated for LGBTQ rights, union organization, equity and anti-racist policies in the province of Nova Scotia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline (Jacquie) Gahagan receives funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors, Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, Research Nova Scotia, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Social Sciences, and Humanities Research Council.
Denyse Rodrigues
Anne Bishop</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denyse Rodrigues does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and Lesbian Oral History Project focus on gathering stories from the generation that began using the term lesbian, and those who still can’t.Jacquie Gahagan, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityDenyse Rodrigues, Library Research & E-Learning Services Librarian, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1753142022-03-30T12:38:54Z2022-03-30T12:38:54ZWhat the new science of authenticity says about discovering your true self<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453181/original/file-20220321-92108-1ktfp6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C92%2C5085%2C3326&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Studies show that feelings of ease and comfort in a given situation – what psychologists call 'fluency' – are tied to feelings of authenticity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mature-woman-laughing-royalty-free-image/1303348926?adppopup=true">Tara Moore/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After following a white rabbit down a hole in the ground and changing sizes several times, Alice finds herself wondering “Who in the world am I?”</p>
<p>This scene, from Lewis Carroll’s “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm">Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</a>,” might resonate with you:
In a world that’s constantly changing, it can be challenging to find your authentic self.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.selfmindsociety.com">I am a social psychologist</a>, and over the past few years my colleagues and I have been <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/8mh7x/">conducting research</a> to better understand what it means to be authentic. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1089268019829474">Our findings</a> provide some valuable insights that not only shed light on what is meant by authenticity – a somewhat vague term whose definition has been debated – but can also offer some tips for how to tap into your true self.</p>
<h2>What is authenticity?</h2>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674808614">Sincerity and Authenticity</a>,” literary critic and professor Lionel Trilling described how society in past centuries was held together by the commitment of people to fulfilling their stations in life, whether they were blacksmiths or barons.</p>
<p>Trilling argued that people in modern societies are much less willing to give up their individuality, and instead value authenticity.</p>
<p>But what, exactly, did he mean by authenticity?</p>
<p>Like Trilling, many modern philosophers also understood authenticity as a kind of individuality. For example, Søren Kierkegaard believed that being authentic <a href="https://lithub.com/on-kierkegaard-authenticity-and-how-a-person-should-be/">meant breaking from cultural and social constraints</a> and living a self-determined life. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/being-and-time-martin-heidegger">equated authenticity to accepting who you are today</a> and living up to all the potential you have in the future. Writing many decades after Heidegger, the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre had a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/">similar idea</a>: People have the freedom to interpret themselves, and their experiences, however they like. So being true to oneself means living as the person you think yourself to be.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man stands on balcony holding a cigarette." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453176/original/file-20220320-19-1uu15kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre have long viewed authenticity through the lens of understanding yourself and what makes you unique.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jean-paul-sartre-in-paris-france-in-1966-writer-and-news-photo/120446182?adppopup=true">Dominique Berretty/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Common among these different perspectives is the notion that there is something about a person that represents who they really are. If we could only find the true self hidden behind the false self, we could live a perfectly authentic life.</p>
<p>This is how contemporary psychologists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.55.3.385">understood authenticity</a> as well – at least at first.</p>
<h2>The authentic personality</h2>
<p>In an attempt to define authenticity, psychologists in the early 21st century <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38006-9">started to characterize</a> what an authentic person looks like. </p>
<p>They settled on some criteria: An authentic person is supposed to be self-aware and willing to learn what makes them who they really are. Once an authentic person gains insight into their true self, they will aim to be unbiased about it – choosing not to delude themselves and distort the reality of who they are. After deciding what defines the true self, the authentic person will then behave in a way that is true to those characteristics, and avoid being “false” or “fake” merely to please others.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.55.3.385">Some researchers</a> have used this framework to create measurement scales that can test how authentic a person is. In this view, authenticity is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0075406">psychological trait</a> – a part of someone’s personality. </p>
<p>But my colleagues and I felt there was more to the experience of authenticity – something that goes beyond a list of characteristics or certain ways of living. In our <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/8mh7x/">most recent work</a>, we explain why this traditional definition of authenticity might be falling short.</p>
<h2>Thinking is hard</h2>
<p>Have you ever found yourself trying to analyze your own thoughts or feelings about something, only to make yourself more confused? The poet <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Collected-Poems-Roethke/aeee3fde60d98a3c637bdeff6676f60d2284fdfb">Theodore Roethke once wrote</a> that “self-contemplation is a curse, that makes an old confusion worse.” </p>
<p>And there’s a growing body of psychological research supporting this idea. Thinking, on its own, is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250830">surprisingly effortful and even a little bit boring</a>, and people will do almost anything to avoid it. One study found they’ll even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250830">shock themselves</a> to avoid having to sit with their own thoughts.</p>
<p>This is a problem for a definition of authenticity that requires people to think about who they are and then act on that knowledge in an unbiased way. We don’t find thinking very enjoyable, and even when we do, our <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-295X.84.3.231">reflection and introspection abilities</a> are rather poor.</p>
<p>Fortunately, our research gets around this problem by defining authenticity not as something about a person, but as a feeling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Statue of man hunched over resting chin on hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455005/original/file-20220329-27-4mmg1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Humans aren’t great at introspection – and would often rather avoid thinking to begin with.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-thinker-by-french-sculptor-auguste-rodin-on-display-at-news-photo/832292966?adppopup=true">Fiona Hanson/PA Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When something feels ‘right’</h2>
<p>We propose that authenticity is a feeling that people interpret as a sign that what they are doing in the moment aligns with their true self. </p>
<p>Importantly, this view does not require people to know what their true self is, nor do they need to have a true self at all. According to this view, an authentic person can look many different ways; and as long as something feels authentic, it is. Although <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0963721417713296">we are not the first to take this view</a>, our research aims to describe exactly what this feeling is like.</p>
<p>This is where we depart a bit from tradition. We propose that the feeling of authenticity is actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.02.014">an experience of fluency</a>.</p>
<p>Have you ever been playing a sport, reading a book, or having a conversation, and had the feeling that it was just right? </p>
<p>This is what some psychologists call fluency, or the subjective experience of ease associated with an experience. Fluency usually happens outside of our immediate awareness – in what psychologist William James called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(03)00049-7">fringe consciousness</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/8mh7x/">our research</a>, this feeling of fluency might contribute to feelings of authenticity. </p>
<p>In one study, we asked U.S. adults to recall the last activity they did and to rate how fluent it felt. We found that, regardless of the activity – whether it was work, leisure or something else – people felt more authentic the more fluent the activity was.</p>
<h2>Getting in the way of fluency</h2>
<p>We were also able to show that when an activity becomes less fluent, people feel less authentic. </p>
<p>To do this, we asked participants to list some attributes that describe who they really are. However, sometimes we asked them to try to remember complicated strings of numbers at the same time, which increased their <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4419-8126-4#about">cognitive load</a>. At the end, participants answered some questions about how authentic they felt while completing the task.</p>
<p>As we predicted, the participants felt less authentic when they had to think about their attributes under cognitive load, because being forced to do the memory task at the same time created a distraction that impeded fluency.</p>
<p>At the same time, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not being authentic if you take on challenging tasks.</p>
<p>While some people may interpret feelings of unease as a hint that they aren’t being true to themselves, in some cases difficulty might be <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2017-25134-003.html">interpreted as importance</a>. </p>
<p>Research by a team of psychologists led by Daphna Oyserman has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211065595">people have different personal theories</a> about ease and difficulty when carrying out tasks. Sometimes when something is too easy it feels “not worth our time.” Conversely, when something gets difficult – or when life gives us lemons – we might see it as especially important and worth doing. </p>
<p>We choose to make lemonade instead of giving up. </p>
<p>This might mean that there are times when we feel particularly true to ourselves when the going gets tough – as long as we interpret that difficulty as important to who we are.</p>
<h2>Trust your gut</h2>
<p>As romantic as it sounds to have a true self that’s merely hiding behind a false one, it probably isn’t that simple. But that doesn’t mean authenticity shouldn’t be an something to strive for. </p>
<p>Seeking fluency – and avoiding internal conflict – is probably a pretty good way to stay on the path to being true to yourself, pursuing what is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616689495">morally good</a> and knowing when you’re “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317734080">in the right place</a>.” </p>
<p>When you go searching for the self in a sea of change, you might find yourself feeling like Alice in Wonderland. </p>
<p>But the new science of authenticity suggests that if you let feelings of fluency be your guide, you might find what you’ve been looking for all along. </p>
<p>[<em>Get fascinating science, health and technology news.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&source=inline-science-fascinating">Sign up for The Conversation’s weekly science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Baldwin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What if cultivating your authentic self doesn’t involve self-reflection, but instead means focusing on what feels good and natural?Matthew Baldwin, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1751362022-01-26T14:56:04Z2022-01-26T14:56:04ZWe are facing a settler colonial crisis, not an Indigenous identity crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441346/original/file-20220118-16047-18mdd0c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=130%2C0%2C2372%2C1061&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Johnny Depp played Tonto in The Lone Ranger (2013). Depp has claimed some Native American heritage in the past. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Disney)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/we-are-facing-a-settler-colonial-crisis--not-an-indigenous-identity-crisis" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>It wasn’t until very recently that I heard the term <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/2016/08/23/students-to-explore-indigeneity">“re-indigenization” used in academic spaces</a>. </p>
<p>I’m familiar with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423917001032">Indigenous resurgence</a> and how it’s connected to the restoration and reparation happening within Indigenous communities — work that often focuses on healing intergenerational divides <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/i-ben-miljure-am-an-indigenous-man-kamloops-tragedy-a-moment-of-truth-for-ctv-news-journalist-1.5465241">caused by Indian Residential Schools</a> <a href="https://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/04/the-stolen-generations/">and the 60s Scoop</a> — but this idea of “re-indigenization” was different. </p>
<p>It appeared to justify the idea that any person who discovers they have a “root Indigenous ancestor” from anywhere between 150 to 400 years ago must claim an Indigenous identity and proudly take up spaces deemed to require Indigenous perspectives and voices. </p>
<p>Part of this process appeared to involve attaching and embedding oneself, not within the particular Indigenous community or Nation where their long-ago “Indigenous” ancestor hailed from, but within internal institutional Indigenous communities or organizations that fronted as “Indigenous communities” for the purpose of institutional or “urban” legitimacy.</p>
<p>This is a problem.</p>
<p>As a citizen of the Anishinaabeg Nation and community member of Nezaadiikaang (Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation), I am the Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Studies and an associate professor at Queen’s University, Ontario. I have been in academia for a decade now, and previously worked in various capacities serving Indigenous communities. My first full-time job after undergrad was in the political office of former Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Stan Beardy. </p>
<p>Given that my own family members have continuously held political appointments, I have been listening to Anishinaabeg articulate concepts of self-determination, nationhood and sovereignty for many years. </p>
<h2>Indigeneity through self-indigenization</h2>
<p>I want to address the inherent problems with indigeneity through self-indigenization or re-indigenization. </p>
<p>There is a connection between self-indigenization based on ancestry, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2021.1885571">settler colonial violence</a> that is conveniently <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/queens-university-anonymous-report-indigenous-allegations-1.6063274">being ignored in our public institutions</a>. </p>
<p>“Mining” the archive for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/least-important-election-the-case-to-stop-changing-the-clocks-and-the-problem-of-dna-as-proof-of-culture-1.3834912/sorry-that-dna-test-doesn-t-make-you-indigenous-1.3835210">biological trace(s) of “nativeness”</a> follows the same settler colonial, possessive and extractivist logic of mining Indigenous lands. </p>
<p>Both Indigenous lands and identities are positioned as resources that people are entitled to claim and own. Dakota scholar Kim Tall Bear has shown us how this practice is <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429440229-40/identity-poor-substitute-relating-kim-tallbear">linked to Eurocentric concepts of “identity”</a> that privilege individualism and inherited property. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A picture of a 23andMe DNA test kit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441189/original/file-20220117-20992-cwn8bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">That DNA test doesn’t make you Indigenous.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/colonial-lives-of-property">settler colonial concepts of property rights</a>, identity becomes something that can be claimed, owned and put to use. It is interesting to see many of my colleagues publicly reject <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/environment/the-indigenous-grandmothers-who-stopped-a-pipeline/">extractivist pursuits like pipelines</a> while remaining silent or uncertain about similar tactics <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/carrie-bourassa-indefinite-leave-indigenous-1.6233247">employed against Indigenous personhood</a>.</p>
<h2>The rush to “indigenize”</h2>
<p>While it is widely acknowledged that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2001.0030">Indigenous identity can be complicated</a> given the decades of <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">ongoing colonialism</a>, the move to conflate ancestry with indigeneity is an entirely different issue that is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/queens-university-open-letter-faculty-indigenous-ancestry-1.6065656">on the rise in universities and other public institutions</a>.</p>
<p>The issue is that in their rush to “indigenize,” universities have created the conditions whereby someone who has mined the genealogical archives can access a position reserved for an Indigenous person, displacing those of us who are connected to and claimed by a living community/Nation of people. </p>
<p>This phenomenon undermines the inherent sovereignty of Indigenous Nations who <a href="https://theconversation.com/fraudulent-claims-of-indigeneity-indigenous-nations-are-the-identity-experts-171470">have the right to determine who does and does not belong</a> to their communities.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stolen-identities-what-does-it-mean-to-be-indigenous-podcast-ep-8-166248">Stolen identities: What does it mean to be Indigenous? Podcast EP 8</a>
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<p>When Indigenous folks push back against self-indigenization or re-indigenization, they receive considerable backlash that in many ways distracts from the key issues at hand. </p>
<p>We are often accused of being caught up <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/02/09/583987261/so-what-exactly-is-blood-quantum">in divisive blood quantum requirements</a>. The irony, of course, is that I have yet to hear any Indigenous critic of the extractivist logic even mention “Indian status” or “blood quantum” in their arguments. </p>
<p>The only ones who seem obsessed with “native blood” are those whose entire claim to indigeneity is based on them locating someone in their genetic or ancestral history. </p>
<p>I recently heard arguments that self-indigenization is a moral, ethical and traditional process that brings us out of the colonial shackles of the Indian Act. But erasing or ignoring the reality of the Indian Act, and of Indigenous survival in the face of it, does not magically bring about decolonization. </p>
<p>Indigenous Peoples settled that argument when they rejected <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-white-paper-1969">Pierre Trudeau’s infamous White Paper</a> more than 50 years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Archive photo: A woman carries her baby on her back, she's in the forest with another woman and two children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441192/original/file-20220117-23-jk1chm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous Nations have always maintained their citizenship orders. They have always retained the right to determine who does and does not belong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/49483789437/">(R. D. Davidson. Department of Mines and Technical Surveys/Library and Archives Canada, PA-020304)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Re-casting oneself as Indigenous</h2>
<p>The problem with re-inventing oneself as “Indigenous” is based on the same logic of possession and fantasies of entitlement that rationalized settler possession of Indigenous lands. </p>
<p>Embracing your “Indigenous roots,” re-casting oneself as Indigenous and thinking that this is the best way to account for your history or to help Indigenous Peoples is not supporting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180121994681">Indigenous sovereignties</a> or the movement toward <a href="https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.3518">decolonial futures</a>. </p>
<p>In her new book, <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303188/red-scare"><em>Red Scare: The State’s Indigenous Terrorist</em></a>, Lenape scholar Joanne Barker uses the term “kinless Indian” to describe how individuals whose initial claim to indigeneity stems from a false, tenuous or distant ancestor, and how this claiming absolves the notion that they have any benefit from or complicity with the dispossession of, and violence against, Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>Drawing on the work of <a href="https://ualberta.academia.edu/AdamGaudry">Métis scholar Adam Gaudry</a>, Barker clearly articulates how this process of individual or collective Indigenous “re-invention” undermines Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty, as it reflects this idea that Indigenous communities and their respective governance systems did not survive colonization.</p>
<p>It is very clear that we are not facing an Indigenous identity crisis in public institutions. Indigenous Nations have always maintained their citizenship orders. They have always retained the right to determine who does and does not belong. We know who we are. </p>
<p>What we are facing has been, and continues to be, a settler colonial crisis, which under its current guise, seeks to replace us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Celeste Pedri-Spade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous Nations have always maintained their citizenship orders. They have always retained the right to determine who does and does not belong. We know who we are.Celeste Pedri-Spade, Associate Professor & QNS in Indigenous Studies, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1677252022-01-12T14:42:43Z2022-01-12T14:42:43ZFrom mercenaries to citizens: how the Nubians gained acceptance in Uganda<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440414/original/file-20220112-15-e7l747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ugandan strongman General Idi Amin raised the national profile of Uganda Nubians -- but they were persecuted soon after his overthrow in 1979.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Keystone/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been well over a century since the Nubian people arrived in Uganda from what was then Sudan, as the armed enforcers of the British colonial government. Over time, the new arrivals assimilated individuals from different ethnic backgrounds within Uganda while remaining a distinct group. Now officially recognised as Ugandans, the history of Ugandan Nubians – sometimes referred to simply as the “Nubi” – makes a case study of how social identity is formed and changed.</p>
<p>The Uganda Nubian origins were in what is now South Sudan. There, in the 1820s, some members of the Shilluk, Dinka, Bari, Lotuko, Madi, Lugbara and Alur ethnic groups coalesced into a community of people known as “Sudanese-Nubians”. They <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/722844">practised</a> Islamic culture and spoke a creolised form of Arabic. </p>
<p>The Sudanese Nubians developed as a distinct group as a result of Egypt’s military expansion south into Sudan in the first half of the nineteenth century. Among Sudanese Nubians were professional mercenaries who were used by both Africans and Europeans to capture slaves, ivory and minerals from Gondokoro (southern Sudan) during the 19th century. In the process, Africans adapted to the Arabic culture.</p>
<p>This is the group from which the British military administrator in Uganda <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-Lugard">Lord Frederick Lugard</a> recruited a band of mercenaries to keep law and order. </p>
<p>The Sudanese mercenaries under their leader Selim Bey were recruited at Kavali, an area in the southwestern corner of Lake Albert in Uganda. The band of about 8,200 Nubian men, women and children set off by canoe on Lake Albert via Bunyoro, a kingdom in western Uganda.</p>
<p>The Nubians later assimilated with those around them with whom they socially identified. This included the Kuku, Lugbara, Acholi, Kakwa, Bganda and Batoro. They became the Nubi-Muganda, Nubi-Kuku, Nubi-Toro, Nubi-Lugbara, Nubi-Acholi and Nubi-Kakwa, among others. </p>
<p>Most of Uganda’s ethnic groups are associated with specific ancestral territories. For instance the Baganda of central Uganda, Bagishu of eastern Uganda and Banyankole of western Uganda. However, Uganda Nubians have had no territorial claim because they settled in the different places they were deployed.</p>
<p>For decades Ugandan Nubians were treated as foreigners or “Abagwira” and discriminated against. But the country’s 1995 <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Uganda_2017.pdf?lang=en">constitution</a> recognised the Nubians as a Ugandan indigenous ethnic community and as citizens. This was a significant step because their identity was now officially recognised with similar rights as other Ugandans. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJHC/article-full-text-pdf/3410C7860468">PhD research</a> I studied the formation and shifts of the Nubian ethnic identity, and the strategies Uganda Nubians have used to define and sustain themselves as a distinct ethnic group in Uganda. Understanding identity shifts over time allows for an appreciation of the fluidity and the construction of identities. </p>
<p>I drew the conclusion that there is more to ethnic identity than ancestral location or settlement pattern. It goes beyond language or family history too. Understanding this can lead to lessening of ethnic conflicts worsened by the colonially constructed ethnic territorial boundaries.</p>
<h2>Shifting identity</h2>
<p>Like most historical studies, my research relied mainly on oral history and written archival records. Oral interviews were conducted in Bombo and Kampala (both in central Uganda), Kabarole district (western Uganda) and Arua Adjuman and Pakwach (west Nile districts of Uganda). </p>
<p>Based on the oral narratives and archival documents, my study found that over the years, the Uganda Nubians came to take on different identities. But they retained a distinct group identity bound together by Islam and other aspects of culture, including language, food, dress and crafts. </p>
<p>In the early colonial period (1890s-1930s), the Nubians were identified by the British as “Sudanese mercenaries”. This was because they had worked as Sudanese-Egyptian mercenaries during the Anglo-Egyptian imperial campaign in Sudan during the 19th century. </p>
<p>This is why they were hired by Lugard for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kenya/The-British-East-Africa-Company">Imperial British East African Company</a>. But their mercenary identity changed when the British recruited them formally into the British army (Uganda Rifles and later East African Rifles) with the intention to boost the colonial army in order to “pacify” East Africa. </p>
<p>Throughout the colonial period to independence (1894-1962), the Uganda Nubians had settled wherever they were deployed by the British. By the mid-20th century, many Nubian soldiers were retired from service and integrated with other ethnic communities because they could not go back to Sudan. The Sudanese government did not consider the Uganda Nubians as their own since many decades had passed since they had left Sudan. </p>
<p>After Uganda’s independence in 1962, the Uganda Nubians came to be seen as “Sudanese foreigners” or “Sudanese mercenaries”. Even after living in Uganda for many decades, they were still perceived as “Abasudani Abagwira”. This is the local phrase for “Sudanese immigrants”. Thus the Uganda Nubians were left out of national programmes like education, health and poverty eradication. </p>
<p>Perceptions of the Uganda Nubians were to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/722844">change</a> again during Idi Amin’s regime (1971-1979). Some people labelled them as “Amin’s men”. Amin came from the Kakwa ethnic group, a Sudanic speaking Nilotic group in the West Nile part of Uganda. He identified himself as a Nubi-Kakwa and elevated the Uganda Nubians to crucial positions in the army, police, business, and other fields in his military government.</p>
<p>With the fall of Amin’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Idi-Amin">notoriously brutal</a> regime in 1979, many Uganda Nubians were targeted as having been his accomplices. Nubian settlements were destroyed, bank accounts were frozen and shops belonging to Nubians were looted. Some Nubians fled into exile in neighbouring Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania. </p>
<p>Those who remained in Uganda suffered from marginalisation and discrimination. Some of them changed their names and those of their children to disguise themselves as other ethnic groups to get access to government services. </p>
<h2>End of marginalisation</h2>
<p>The Uganda Nubians were able to return to Uganda and resettle after President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement took over in 1986. The framers of the 1995 constitution recognised them as Ugandans since they had settled in Uganda before 1926 (the deciding date for the country’s boundaries and citizenship). They became known as the Nubi.</p>
<p>As citizens of Uganda, the Nubi were at last able to obtain national identification cards and passports. They now also enjoy voting rights. They became accepted by other ethnic communities, for example through intermarriage. This has eased ethnic tension and conflict in areas where the Nubi settled. </p>
<p>The 2014 <a href="https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/03_20182014_National_Census_Main_Report.pdf">statistical report</a> puts the Uganda Nubian population at 28,772 out of about 34 million Ugandans. </p>
<p>The history of the Nubi is an example of how ethnicities change and are not limited to geographical boundaries. They are socially created by the power centres of the time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abudul Mahajubu receives funding from Gerda-Hankel Stiftung. </span></em></p>There is more to ethnic identity than ancestral location or settlement pattern, language or family history.Abudul Mahajubu, Researcher, Makerere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1713932021-11-18T19:10:19Z2021-11-18T19:10:19ZFriday essay: how do I understand who I am, when my family have hidden themselves from recent history?<p>My auntie has stopped speaking to her siblings. Rifts like these are commonplace in my family, where people fall out with each other like dealt cards. The size of our family doesn’t help. The original eight siblings have grown into four generations and almost 90 people. Full family parties happen only at parks and playgrounds or in the backyards of wealthy family members, which are the only backyards that can accommodate us all.</p>
<p>Some of the grievances are historic, dating back decades and finessed over time. Others are new, fresh. It’s a condition prevalent among migrant families, especially those like mine who have been tentative – because of differences in language, culture, class, education – to socialise widely in Australia. We are tethered to each other and this tether grows thin, frayed by too many gatherings filled with the same faces and the echoes of old pains. In this context my 70-year-old auntie’s antagonism is understandable.</p>
<p>Except for this. She will speak to her siblings (and presumably to us nieces and nephews) if we speak to her in English or French. She just won’t speak to anyone in Creole anymore.</p>
<p>It was my dad who told me this, and when I asked why, he muttered something about Creole being a low language. What do you mean, I pressed.</p>
<p>“A low language”, my dad said again. “You know, without proper verbs and things like that.”</p>
<p>Creole, the language that my Mauritian family speak with one another, is a patois – a variation on French. That’s what I’ve always been told, anyway. Google tells me something else: that it’s a mix of a European with “local” languages, especially African languages spoken by slaves in the West Indies – this is mentioned discretely, in brackets. </p>
<p>Like my auntie, Google also privileges French. </p>
<p>And while there is no official language stipulated by the Mauritian constitution, in places like Parliament, the chosen languages are English and French, despite the fact that <a href="https://www.sunresortshotels.com/en/newsroom/cultural-diversity-history-mauritius">86.5% of the population</a> speak Creole. </p>
<p>In not wanting to speak Creole, my auntie is merely doing what her country asks of her. She is also doing what her mother asked of her. Despite her Chinese husband and surname, my grandmère taught her children to speak French, but not Chinese. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renaming-english-does-the-world-language-need-a-new-name-14763">Renaming English: does the world language need a new name?</a>
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<p>Growing up, I could count to ten in Cantonese, and the only phrases I knew were “wash your bum”, “wash your vagina” and “wash your penis”. These were the height of our pre-teen insults. Once, in anger, I told my father to “<em>gong hei fat choy</em>”. He laughed. “What’s so funny?” I asked in indignation. “I just told you to leave me alone.”</p>
<p>“No you didn’t. You wished me a happy new year.”</p>
<p>But when it came to French, my grandmère schooled us on the intricacies of pronunciation. Her favourite grandkids were the ones who pronounced the words flawlessly, with a French tongue. Like everyone else in my family, Grandmère spoke Creole most – but for her, French was the language in which she wasn’t just seen as poor and brown, and she made sure all her children could speak it. As though the language were a cloak that could be thrown over them all, allowing them to pass, for a moment, as something they weren’t.</p>
<p>I loved my grandmère. There was a pillowy warmth about her. She smiled easily. She pulled us onto her lap and sang us songs and told us stories. She went to church every week, carried ten babies in her womb and buried two. When she and her family lived in Mauritius, she rose at 5am and worked until 11pm making manioc (tapioca). This meant cutting, peeling, grating and draining cassava, soaking it for days, straining and kneading and drying it. My aunts would get up and work with her before going to school for the day, their hands still bleeding.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432526/original/file-20211117-17-15zw1aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A photo of the author’s grandmère.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>My grandpère’s job was cycling around Mauritius selling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT">DDT</a> to farmers. While raising a large family, Grandpère became sick, first with tuberculosis and then with typhoid. A bucket was kept by his bed into which he vomited blood. My favourite auntie remembers vividly the bucket, the blood and the distance they were forced to keep from it.</p>
<p>This is all, of course, a way of me telling you not to judge my grandmère. I don’t judge my grandmère, or even my auntie, for privileging French over Creole. Their experiences are not my own. Neither of them had the luxury of studying for an arts degree at a university where the curriculum was taught in the language that the vast majority of the population spoke. English is a language that has been forced on us all. </p>
<p>That doesn’t make us all heard, by the way. But it suggests that we might be heard if we say the right things to the right people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432537/original/file-20211118-14-f19bs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author with her Grandmere and Grandpere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Questions of identity</h2>
<p>Like most countries with a history of slavery, both real and economic – indentured workers are not enslaved physically, but they are also not free – Mauritius has deep issues around racism and identity. It has been colonised twice, first by the French and then by the English. At one point in history, slaves constituted <a href="https://mauritianarchaeology.sites.stanford.edu/history">80% of the Mauritian population</a>. </p>
<p>It’s no surprise, then, that many Mauritians were eager to emphasise their European heritage. They hold the other parts of themselves – Chinese, African, Indian – under deep water.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/treatment-of-foreign-workers-lends-a-lie-to-myth-of-the-mauritian-miracle-67180">Treatment of foreign workers lends a lie to myth of the Mauritian 'miracle'</a>
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<p>The country was formally decolonised in 1968. It was too late for my family, who emigrated to Australia in 1969. They never got to feel what their country was like free of British rule, to exhale as (some) of its institutions became more democratic and multicultural. In coming here to escape British imperialism, they merely traded one form of racial discrimination for another.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432542/original/file-20211118-16-1k8odx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chinatown, Port Louis, Mauritius 1960s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Raouf Oderuth/ Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is why Grandmère insisted that her mother was light-skinned with grey eyes. This is how her story goes, though everything about us – our hair, eyes, lips, skin – suggests that this cannot be true. My grandmère’s surname before Kon-yu was Leubas (pronounced Le-bah), though this is an uncommon name and one I’ve had some difficulty tracing. </p>
<p>My Mauritian family has a history of strange names: Kon-yu is a strange name, a Chinese academic once told me. As far as she knew, Chinese names weren’t hyphenated. There aren’t many Kon-yus around the world, and we’re the only ones in Australia. If you search for Leubas and its variations, the most popular name you will find is Leuba (pronounced Loo-bar), which is a name most commonly found in Switzerland.</p>
<p>These are not our people.</p>
<p>Creole was one of the first languages I knew. A language I didn’t have to translate, but one that sat within my skin. I probably stopped speaking Creole in my early 20s when my grandmère died. I try to speak it still with my aunties, but I fumble, embarrassed, over my loss of basic words and phrases. I find myself translating from English to Creole in my mind. </p>
<p>The only time in my adult life when the language comes back to me is when I am with my children. All my lullabies are in Creole and, as it turns out, so are many of my commands. “<em>Donne moi ton li pied</em>,” I ask my son as I dress him in his pyjamas. “<em>Pa touché ça!</em>” I’ll cry out. My kids, born in Australia to two English-speaking parents, don’t know yet that they’re hearing Creole. They don’t know how low their language is. </p>
<p>The other language they hear, the other one I speak, my other first language, is Italian. This comes from my mother and from my nonna and nonno. It’s easier to put effort into relearning Italian – there are books and apps and classes. It is, as my father and auntie and grandmère have intimated, a proper language. People want to learn it. </p>
<p>Like Creole, Italian bursts out of me at odd moments. Most often at the Italian deli, where the air is thick with baccala, provolone and the sounds of words I remember, however dimly. It forces its way through, like Creole, when I am with my children. Again, lullabies and commands are sung and given in Italian. Here the languages are easy.</p>
<p>They slip out of me as though no other language stands in their way. There is no translating. There is just memory.</p>
<h2>Tying down a definition</h2>
<p>This is an uncomfortable matrix of things to be born into. Especially now, in this cultural moment when it seems as if everything must be tied down, defined. I feel a pressure, exerted from almost everywhere, to define myself in a certain way, as a woman of colour, even though this definition doesn’t quite fit. </p>
<p>I am wary of taking space from people who are defined much more categorically by their skin colour, who cannot pass. </p>
<p>And I am cautious of tying myself to a set of definitions based on my skin colour and unusual surname. When the issue is racism, then racial categorisations can only get us so far. Racism doesn’t respect geographic or religious differences. I’m also painfully aware that Mauritius is a country where the <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/colour-bar">colour bar</a> was instituted and wielded against its citizens. And I’ve never forgotten what Toni Morrison pointed out in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6149.Beloved">Beloved</a> – that “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined”.</p>
<p>Yet, even so, sometime in early 2020, I decided to take a DNA test. I was sceptical, but curiosity got the better of me.</p>
<p>The results came during the pandemic and the first lockdown here in Melbourne. They were a brilliant moment of sunshine in days that hung greyly together. Here, at last, was the answer to who I actually was and where my family were definitely from. And yes, I know these things are not always accurate, that mistakes are made and cultures lumped clumsily together. But I was ready for a different thread of the story.</p>
<p>The results were a seismic shift in the narrative of who we are and where we are from. I found out I am Asian, but not Chinese. It turns out only a measly 2.6% of my DNA is Chinese. There is no French. None at all.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-i-get-my-dna-tested-we-asked-five-experts-120664">Should I get my DNA tested? We asked five experts</a>
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<p>When I shared my DNA results with my cousins over a family group chat, they were shocked. One exclaimed, “you are more than half-Asian!” Both her parents are from Mauritius, and it reminds me that even in my own family, we categorise ourselves. I was surprised by this too, assuming my ethnicity was split down the middle, that my shorthand cultural signification was “Eurasian”. All this time, I have been far more Asian than Eur.</p>
<p>I grieved when I got these results. I grieved for the cultures I had been told I belonged to, whose traditions my family and I practised. Our love of yum cha, the little red envelopes my grandpère gave us at Chinese New Year when we were kids, the easy way I fold wonton and use chopsticks. My own Chinese surname. What had once seemed genetically and culturally solid now felt like an accident of fate. A Chinese man in the right place at the right time. </p>
<p>So where does Leubas come from? It is undeniable that both my grandmère’s names are French-sounding, but are they Creole names – Afro-French rather than European French? No one knows. And while I am used to being seen as a stranger by other people, it was quite another thing to feel like a stranger to myself. Looking at the Ethnicity Estimate in my test results, seeing myself in various coloured blobs spread out all over the world, I felt like I was from everywhere, and therefore from nowhere.</p>
<p>I am still Italian – at least that part of my history is true – but I’m a bit less Italian than I would like. I’m also 12% English, which explains, perhaps, my nonna’s blue eyes, passed down to my son, who is the only Kon-yu born with eyes this colour. The Englishness was a particular blow to me, as someone who does postcolonial work and habitually blames the English for All the Things Wrong With the World. I won’t lie. I felt the shift of the moral high ground change under my feet when I read this.</p>
<p>Mauritian didn’t even rank as an ethnicity. It can’t. Everyone from Mauritius is from somewhere else, or from many places at the same time. </p>
<h2>Stories in DNA</h2>
<p>I couldn’t speak English when I went to school, despite being born in Australia. I became aware of the differences between myself and my classmates when I was moved from a school of working-class brown kids to one filled with working-class and middle-class white kids. I was aware at the age of seven, when my new classmates kept a polite distance from me and my difference, how little control I had over the story of who I was. Like my auntie, I refused to speak Italian and Creole at home after I started school, knowing even then how tightly English needed to be cleaved to my self. That I needed it not only to get by, but to do well.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432543/original/file-20211118-13-wvorls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s cousin, Morena, as a child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the loss of Creole and Italian I can no longer claim to be trilingual. And there are things I’ve forgotten that I want to remember. My grandmére’s stories, for one. No one in my Mauritian family remembers these stories. Not one. It’s like we lost them in the deep water between here and there, discarding them as things we no longer needed. I’ve looked for them online. I’ve bought books of Mauritian fairy tales and asked people to transcribe them. But they are not our stories. I’ve searched for African fairy tales, for Indian fairy tales, for French fairy tales. All with no luck.</p>
<p>So where am I actually from, and does it matter? The bulk of my DNA is West Asian (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan) followed by South Asian (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka). The West Asian, I think, can be ascribed to my Italian family, who are from Sicily (a place that has a precarious relationship to Italianness at the best of times). The South Asian is something I share with another cousin who took the DNA test. And there are stories, hushed of course, of my grandpère’s mother, a Muslim woman who was either (depending on who tells the story) ostracised by her mostly Christian family, or was well-loved and died young.</p>
<p>My Ethnicity Estimate gives me 42 ethnicities. By contrast, my husband’s ethnicity comprises two major ethnic groups: Irish and Northern European. His coloured blobs sit side by side on a map. It is a map of people who were content enough to stay where they were born, who didn’t venture too far.</p>
<p>When I look at my own map, all I see is people fleeing.</p>
<p>I know that the truth doesn’t reside in a random swab of my cheek, but nor does it lie in family stories that contradict themselves. It is somewhere else, secret and hidden. The hiding makes me sad. The fact that my family come from places they want to keep hidden. The fact that we are a family devoid of lore. Nobody knows anything definite about my great-grandparents, and information about my grandparents is scarce. Where did Grandmère and Grandpère meet? I asked my favourite auntie, the one who cleaved to her mother, who listened actively for information. She couldn’t say because she didn’t know. </p>
<p>There is grief here, to be part of a family who have hidden themselves from recent history. Who can’t trace their lineage back more than two generations before the trail wisps into nothing. Who are probably not spelling either of their surnames (Grandmère’s or Grandpère’s) properly. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432544/original/file-20211118-21-1fk7aa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s dad as a child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Along with the sadness and loss I feel, I am lucky enough to see an exit here. To think about how this multiplicity is not all bad. As an academic and writer, I have always been interested in the in-between and how it can trouble the things surrounding it. And I am bothered by the push in our culture to define ourselves as one thing and not another. </p>
<p>The idea of one thing and not another has been used against us all our lives. To buy into this binary, to use it against ourselves, is to enact a kind of violence. To let it in, under our skin. As Audre Lorde <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-masters-tools-will-never-dismantle-the-masters-house-9780241339725">told us</a>, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.”</p>
<p>As sociologist Malenn Oodiah <a href="https://www.luxury-in-mauritius.com/people/the-mauritian-identity-the-result-of-a-long-journey">writes</a> of the Mauritian identity, “Our cultural and religious differences constitute our wealth. Looking for a single identity is impoverishing.” For me, it means inhabiting, however precariously, all of my ethnicities and owning all my family stories, however misguidedly they have been forged. To listen to my family in whatever language they choose to speak. I have to be comfortable living in between because it is the only place I actually belong. </p>
<p>Everything I’ve been told about my family is wrong and everything I’ve been told about my family is right. We belong here and there, on many different continents and in the vast, unknown waters between them.</p>
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<p><em>This piece is an edited extract, republished with permission from <a href="https://www.griffithreview.com/editions/escape-routes/">GriffithReview74: Escape Routes</a> edited by Ashley Hay</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Kon-yu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>My family is Mauritian, but when I take a DNA test, Mauritian didn’t even rank as an ethnicity. It can’t. Everyone from Mauritius is from somewhere else, or from many places at the same time.Natalie Kon-yu, Lecturer in Creative and Professionaln, Literature and Gender Studies, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.