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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
A New Twist On The “Un-African” Script: Representing Gay And Lesbian African Weddings In Democratic South Africa, Michael W. Yarbrough
A New Twist On The “Un-African” Script: Representing Gay And Lesbian African Weddings In Democratic South Africa, Michael W. Yarbrough
Publications and Research
This essay examines the media coverage surrounding two African weddings of lesbian and gay couples in South Africa, as a lens onto the evolving cultural politics of black queerness in that country. Two decades after South Africa launched a world-leading legal framework for LGBTI protections, I argue that these media representations depict the growing inclusion of black LGBTIQ people as a process of bridging the supposed “gap” between homosexuality and African culture. This new “bridging the gap” script seemingly rejects the older, dominant script portraying homosexuality as intrinsically “un-African.” But I argue that it instead reproduces the “un-African” script in …
Transforming Through Power: Teachers And The Negotiation Of Authority In Schools, Madhu Narayanan
Transforming Through Power: Teachers And The Negotiation Of Authority In Schools, Madhu Narayanan
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Schools are unique institutions where structural and cultural dynamics shape the actions of humans. Teachers work within structures of power to establish themselves as legitimate figures of authority worthy of the right to command respect. Such efforts are complicated by the multi-faceted and swirling relationships of power that exist everywhere in schools, defining and guiding individuals. In this study, I interview and observe the practice of seven secondary teachers working in New York City public schools. All in their third year of teaching, they were at an interesting time in their development, not novice teachers and not quite veteran. Using …
Dios En Carne: Rastafari And The Embodiment Of Spiritual Blackness In Puerto Rico, Omar Ramadan-Santiago
Dios En Carne: Rastafari And The Embodiment Of Spiritual Blackness In Puerto Rico, Omar Ramadan-Santiago
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
In my dissertation, I examine how the Rastafari community in Puerto Rico constructs, reshapes, imagines and embodies blackness as a personal, political, and ideological identity. I argue that my interlocutors refuse non-black privilege and choose blackness, an act that is understood as identification not with subjugation but with power. I consider their identification with blackness and enactment of this identity as a performance. My analysis, based on 22 months of ethnographic research, and utilizing ethnography, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews, explores how my interlocutors claim blackness as a spiritual identity. In doing so, they demonstrate the metaphysical nature of race …
From Invisibility To Liminality: The Imposition Of Identity Among Non-Federally Recognized Tribes Within The Federal Acknowledgment Process, Christopher M. Drake
From Invisibility To Liminality: The Imposition Of Identity Among Non-Federally Recognized Tribes Within The Federal Acknowledgment Process, Christopher M. Drake
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis discusses the imposition of a “liminal” identity among non-federally recognized American Indian tribes pursuing federal recognition through the Federal Acknowledgment Process. By requiring a tribe to simultaneously appear as both intelligible/similar to and distinctive/different from American society, the “liminal” identity fails to be maintained, barring a tribe’s recognition.
Food And Negotiation Of Identity Among The Russian Immigrant Community Of Brighton Beach, Elena Starkova
Food And Negotiation Of Identity Among The Russian Immigrant Community Of Brighton Beach, Elena Starkova
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis explores the construction of ethnic identity among Russian immigrants in New York, by examining how it has been negotiated and articulated through foods, including traditional and non-native foods as a vehicle for their shifting identities and for reaffirming their position and participation in mainstream American society.
Ritualization Of Ethno-Nationalism: A Textual Analysis Of A Hungarian Corpus Christi Procession, Lisa Pope Fischer
Ritualization Of Ethno-Nationalism: A Textual Analysis Of A Hungarian Corpus Christi Procession, Lisa Pope Fischer
Publications and Research
Observing a Corpus Christi procession in post-socialist Hungary, this article uses a textual analysis to explore how the ritual mirrors post-socialist trends that affirm Hungarian identity. This article serves to both document an interesting ritual procession but also view it in light of growing ethno-nationalism that both unites a community yet also shows exclusion of others. It is like a mirror at a microcosmic level that reflects a kind of ritualization of ethno-nationalism.
A House Without A Roof, Adam Golfer
A House Without A Roof, Adam Golfer
Theses and Dissertations
A House Without a Roof (AHWAR) is a project that scrutinizes the histories of violence and displacement connecting Europe, Israel, and Palestine. With photographs, appropriated imagery, and texts, I weave together fictions of my family history with representations from Israel’s founding and ongoing military occupation. Ethnic and national identities are ruptured and reassembled as the project interrogates contradictory histories and notions of selfhood. AHWAR questions how we understand global conflict and trauma in light of our individual experience.
Institutionalizing Colonial Identity: A Case Study On The Indian Partition, Jamie Bodine
Institutionalizing Colonial Identity: A Case Study On The Indian Partition, Jamie Bodine
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
In 1947, the British colony of India was declared independent and emerged as two separate states, Pakistan and India. To examine this event, I ask what material cause(s) made possible the institutional separation between these two new states. To approach this question, I will review the process of political identity formation from the upheaval of 1857 to the 1947 partition. In so doing, I argue that the system of categorizing those who were under British colonial rule manufactured a particular set of political identities on the Indian subcontinent.
Latinas Converting To Islam In New York: Habitus’ Influence In Modern Identity Formation, Amalia Alonzo
Latinas Converting To Islam In New York: Habitus’ Influence In Modern Identity Formation, Amalia Alonzo
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This paper explores the topic of religious conversion in relation to Pierre Bourdieu's theory of habitus, with a focus on Catholic Latina converts to Sunni Islam. Bourdieu suggests that these types of religious choices are not choices at all, but predetermined by an individual's history, culture, and setting. That is, an individual already has dispositions that are taken for granted. While this study's participants report that Islam is a new religion for them and not a continuation of their Catholic faith (as habitus would suggest,) this study shows that these converts retain dispositions that are consistent with their previous religious …
The Music And Multiple Identities Of Kurdish Alevis From Turkey In Germany, Ozan Aksoy
The Music And Multiple Identities Of Kurdish Alevis From Turkey In Germany, Ozan Aksoy
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This dissertation investigates the experiences of Kurdish Alevis, currently living in Germany, who trace their background to locations within the boundaries of the Republic of Turkey. I argue that music has been a particularly important mode through which Kurdish Alevis in Germany have articulated collective histories and have fashioned narratives of belonging and multiple and sometimes contradictory identities. The subjects of my research are immigrants and refugees who are ethnically Kurdish and whose religion is Alevi, an Anatolian religion whose relations to both Sunni and Shi'a Islam are historically controversial. They speak Turkish along with Kurdish, in most cases are …
Assessing (Multi)Culturalism Through Public Art Practices, Anru Lee, Perng-Juh Peter Shyong
Assessing (Multi)Culturalism Through Public Art Practices, Anru Lee, Perng-Juh Peter Shyong
Publications and Research
No abstract provided.