Origin Of The Term Identity Politics Cultural Studies Essay

Origin Of The Term Identity Politics Cultural Studies Essay A Contested Term. The origin of the term identity politics is sometimes traced to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement but it was articulated by women of colour in their 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement. The term refers to collective group identities like race, ethnicity, sex, religion, caste, sexual orientation, physical disability as the basis for political analysis and action. Its main objective is to empower individuals to articulate their discrimination and invisibility through consciousness raising and action. Identities and Movements It is important to debate this term and its politics as it has been the basis for several movements as well as an ideological challenge to existing analytical frameworks and explanations. In the 1980s, there was a cultural and religious revivalism in the form of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Hindu communalism in India and global Islamist fundamentalism. In the 1990s, there was the violence and tragedy of former Yugoslavia, movements based on tribal identities in Rwanda and Sudan. Many countries especially in the European Union saw right wing movements in the context of immigration and nationalism with debates on Britishness or the banning of headscarves in France. Currently, scholars have seen its re-appearance in the Presidential contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton in the USA i.e. pitching their campaigns around the first woman president or the first black president. Making of an Identity Some identities come with birth like the black, caste or religious ones. Or they can be acquired like national ones, sexual preferences or interest groups. Identities are fluid, multiple and unstable. They may be blurred or erased over a period of time. That they may be created as the identity of being Indian was propagated after Independence from British colonialism. Multiple identities mean that they are competing with each other often resulting in conflicting loyalties like a woman may during a communal riot have to choose between her religious group identity and that of her gender. Often there is strong societal resistance to crossing identity boundaries like in the case of sexual identities. Social norms and institutions do not allow people to step out of their prescribed identity. Causes for Identity Mobilisations Why have identity movements emerged during this conjuncture of history? Theoretical explanations bring together the cultural, political and economic. The global flight of capital has spread industrialisation all over the world. World wide trade and communication has created a homogenization of culture and politics. Young people in most parts of the world are familiar with the Coke and Jean culture, American films and TV serials. However the impact of the economic process has been uneven. There is a polarisation between the rich and the poor in a country and between nations of the North and the South. Gender relations are also changing as more women are joining the workforce often when men are unemployed creating resentment and competition. Women are more mobile and visible. And the patriarchal family structure is weakening. Bitter Sweet There is a section of people who are benefiting from the globalised world market. But the aspirations and hopes of many are belied. Descending social and economic groups resent their loss of privileges. So there is a public outburst in UK that Indian doctors are taking over the British medical system or that outsiders are taking over jobs which should rightfully belong to Marathi speaking people in Mumbai. The onslaught of Westernisation and its values due to globalisation has created a reaction of orthodoxy. Right wing Muslim, Hindu and Christian groups have called for cultural re-assertion and pride in ones identity. Parallel to the sweeping cultural, political and economic changes and identity based movements was the rise of post modernism in academia. As a critique of Marxist dominance in theory, post modernists gave culture a significant place in analysis and shifted the focus to power relations, identities, construction of gender, class, race etc. The Rise of Identity Movements [ Used in Womens Movement] Identities are powerful sources of consciousness and mobilization as they make an individual conscious of his/her identity and bring them together for political protest and demands through violent or other means. At present there are large mobilisations based on identities like: World wide Islamist Movements Hindu right wing movements Regional self determination movements like Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and North East in India, Kurds in Turkey Sexual preferences like the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered [LGBT] movement Trade Union Movements There is a tendency to see id based movements as regressive because they are usually associated with right wing movements. But the sexuality movements have challenged conservative notions of sex and sexual activities. 6. The Other Exclusion and Inclusion are critical criteria for identity formation. The we of a certain group can only be identified versus they of the other group. The process of defining and controlling these boundaries of difference has been coined as Other-ing. This process of creating sameness and otherness amongst people, has been used to justify all manners of oppression and violence against marginalized, weaker, less powerful groups. Across history these have included Women, Blacks, Jews, Homosexuals, Dalits, Tribals, lower classes, People with Disabilities etc. The Ideal Woman Identity Movements, which are right wing, have given a special place to women. For example, both Muslim fundamentalism and Hindu communalism project an ideal woman as indispensible for society. These ideals are related to womens dress, behaviour, sexual activity and motherhood. Nazi Germany glorified the blond Aryan woman, who bears children, accepts secondary status to her husband and the State. Muslim fundamentalism advocates a return to tradition as Islam is in danger, reinforces Muslim identity by rejecting Westernisation and especially by propagating the veil for women, role of a homemaker, and the return to or imposition of the Sharia Laws or Muslim Personal Laws. Roots of tradition are in the past and is not open to interpretation. Life and Laws flow from the holy book, and its meanings are fixed and non debatable. Women are regarded as guardians of Muslim culture and honoured as long as they perform their duties to be good mothers and raise their sons as warriors of Islam. 8. Sita not Draupadi Hindu communalists idealise Sita, the wife of the mythological god, Ram. The qualities of Sita are that of a chaste pati vrata or ideal wife who follows her husband to the forest, bears him sons and immolates herself when her fidelity is in suspicion. Draupadi on the other hand was an articulate, assertive and proud woman who has 5 husbands, who she continually challenges and even seeks revenge. Women have been part of the internalisation process since their childhood. They too believe in many of these values and strive to maintain the roles propagated by fundamentalists. And for doing so, they are honoured and given status by their men and fundamentalist leaders. Many educated, professional and Westernised women have turned to their religion because it also offers them mental and physical security. Crisis in Feminism The womens movement and feminist theory went into a crisis with the advent of post modernism and identity based movements. The former contested the category woman as also all universalisms. Women could not be considered a homogenous group and the using of we was politically incorrect. The slogans of women of colour were picked up by Jewish women, indigenous and later Third World women. Global sisterhood was laid to rest. These voices of other feminists introduced the notions of feminisms, rather than simply feminism. In addition, these feminisms brought in the notion of multiple oppressions, multiple patriarchies and womens movements. Feminist analysis shifted from standpoint feminism to various postmodernist feminisms. Studies on womens subordination across cultures, societies, and historical periods shifted to micro-narratives of class/race/and gender. 10. Crisis in Feminist Politics The clash of multiple identities and allegiances which surround them came out into the public. The womens movement in India and the feminist groups are not that large or popular to have reached the masses of women to shore up a gender based identity. In the absence of a popular secular movement, the majority of women align with their caste or religious identities. Large numbers of them participated during the Mumbai Riots of 1992-93 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid against Muslims and in support of the sati of Roop Kanwar [1987] against feminist groups and progressive movements asking for a ban. In the Shah Bano Case [1985], women supported a maintenance law formulated by the govt and Muslim leaders against their own interests. Sometimes women are pulled into battles not of their making as in the case of the Cauvery River riots. Both Tamil and Kannadiga women had no knowledge of river water issues but were subjected to rape and molestation by the rival community. Domestic violence becomes invisible in the face of other state wide violence like in Kashmir, North East and Sri Lanka. Women would like to address domestic violence but sacrifice their individual rights as women to community rights for self determination. 10. Strategies One of the main problems with identity politics is that its assumptions can lead to an almost infinite number of small, atomised identity groups. Taken forward this logic comes to mean that ultimately each individual is her own group. Identity politics makes it difficult to bring together large groups to protest and collectively act for radical social change. In an oblique way, it supports conservatism and status quo and works against collective struggle. On the other hand, identity politics has introduced important elements and lessons within the womens movement. It has changed its lexicon, challenged its assumptions and visibilised many sections of women and transgendered people. Sexual minorities, religious minorities, women with disabilities and race and caste based womens groups have come into their own with vibrant movements. The lessons for the womens movement in general is that it has to respect and build bridges with different identity groups, take on board their agendas and issues and together move towards transformative strategies for a just society.

The Prevalence of Teenage Suicides Nowadays

During the teen years, adolescents go through many different changes. These changes cause many teens to feel as though they are the only ones that have these feelings and that no one can help them. The teen that develops these types of mentality generally has little help from friends and family to overcome the feelings that could possibly lead to suicide. Suicide is when someone tries to kill himself or herself. Teen suicide is based on the same idea, but it is for people that are teenagers. About 5,000 teenagers kill themselves every year. That makes teen suicide the third leading cause of death for teenagers next to accidents and crime. The thought of killing oneself as a solution for problems at school is common for grade school and college kids. On the grade school side, 9% think of suicide, 2% seriously consider suicide, and 1-% attempts it. On the college side, the numbers multiply by five times. A whopping 43% think about it, 15% seriously consider it, and 5% attempt it (1). The actual number of suicides is higher than the estimated one because they are not classified as suicides. They are classified as accidents or victims of crime. A car that crashed into a tree could be called an accident, but if the car was working perfectly and the driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol it would be called a suicide. Young males are five times more likely to commit suicide than young females. Females are more unsuccessful when committing suicide because they are more apt to ingest drugs or cut their wrists. Doctors still have time to save them. On the other hand, boys more commonly hang themselves or jump off tall buildings. The use of firearms in teen suicides is about the same for both sexes. By the time that doctors get to them, they're dead. It has been found that there are more white teenagers than black teenagers who kill themselves; and that teenagers in the western area of the United States are more likely to be suicidal because more people own firearms in the West (2). Teens are in a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, and this can lead to confusion and anxiety at times. Teens with an adequate support network of friends, family, religious affiliation, peer groups, or extracurricular activities may have an outlet to deal with their everyday frustrations. Teens without an adequate support network, however, may feel disconnected and isolated from their family and peer group. It's these teens who are at increased risk for suicide if they are unable to deal with their problems. Sheslow further emphasizes the importance of a support network for teens who have suffered physical or sexual abuse and those who have very poor relationships with their parents. Doctors at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) say that teens considering suicide often face problems that are out of their control -divorce, alcoholism of a family member, or exposure to domestic violence, for example. A family history of depression or suicide is another significant risk factor. Since depressive illnesses may have a genetic component, some teens may be predisposed to suffer major depression. Feelings of helplessness and worthlessness may accompany the depression. Feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness are major risk factors for suicide. A teen, for example, who experiences repeated failures at school, who is overwhelmed by violence at home, who is isolated from peers, or who faces the social stigma of homosexuality alone is likely to experience such feelings. â€Å"If he sees himself as inadequate and worthless and he believes the future is unchangeable, these are clear warning signs of possible trouble,† says Dr. Sheslow (3). Sometimes teens will attempt to numb the pain of those feelings with alcohol or drugs. Substance abuse is a major risk factor for suicide, says the APA, along with the expression of violent feelings (4). There are about five signs for suicide. The first one is depression. They may be depressed about getting an â€Å"F† on their math test or have had a death in the family. The second sign is talking about suicide. They may say things like â€Å"I'm want to kill myself,† or â€Å"You won't have to worry about me much longer.† The third sign is giving some of their most prized possessions away or writing out their will. Some people give away their favorite clothes, stereo systems, or even their cars. The fourth sign is that they start taking extremely dangerous risks. They may go rowing without a life preserver, try to fix electrical appliances by themselves, stop wearing their seat belt, and go driving while they are drunk. The fifth sign for suicide is being unexplainable cheerful or happy. By this time they probably have made up their minds about suicide (5). Anyone can be a victim of teen suicide. It could be the all-star of the football team, the girl who has the cutest guy in school, or the hyper-accelerated really smart kid down the street. Everyone has stress and everyone has to deal with it, but not everyone deals with stress the same way. For example one-person may play a sport to release and relieve their tensions, but another may start being depressed and being self-destructive. As you may see there are many different things involved when talking to teens about suicide. Some of these things involved need to be looked are items such as social stature of the adolescent, if there is apparent substance abuse, and how the child is performing in school. If an adolescent ever contemplates suicide the parent or guardian should immediately seek help. Contrary to popular belief, people who talk about suicide are likely to follow through. Pay attention to phrases such as, â€Å"It's no use, I'd be better off dead.† Also be suspicious if a child who has been very depressed suddenly becomes cheerful or hopeful. This intense mood swing may indicate that he believes suicide will be a solution to all his problems.

Interview Summary †Tessy Hunt. This Interview Process

Interview Summary – Tessy Hunt This interview process really taught me how to listen to and accept the viewpoints of other people who are not necessarily from the same background that I am from. I spoke to one person that I have known for years, and another person who I never spoke with prior to the interview. My first contact was Ms. Tessy Hunt, a direct support counselor for individuals with special needs. The people who Tessy serve, face challenges that not everyone is equipped to support. I chose to interview Ms. Hunt because she provides actual services for a group of individuals who are not allowed the same opportunities and same rights that many of us take for granted. I have known Tessy for several years, and I know that her line†¦show more content†¦She believes mentally challenged people may be some of the most fragile and vulnerable people that our country supports – and thankfully our country still does support them. One important question I asked was, â€Å"What are examples of ways t hat mentally challenged people are excluded or rejected in society?† Tessy explained that people always find a way to make themselves feel bigger and mightier, even if that means belittling someone else. She said that when she is on outings with her consumers, people often stare, give them dirty looks, â€Å"baby-talk† to the consumer, or completely avoid eye contact with them. Tessy also shared with me, an Iowa news story about how a mentally challenged man who lived alone in his own home, was terrorized by teenage boys in the mid-2000s. The teenagers tied this man to a chair, urinated and defecated on him, and then proceeded to burn the man’s Bible, and mow his carpet with a lawnmower. That story really and truly irritated me down to my very core. I always hear about how Iowan’s are raised to be â€Å"Iowa nice† and that we are always offering a helping hand to those in need. Obviously, from the sound of that local story, hate is everywhere â€⠀œ even in Iowa. Through this interview, I learned that even if someone is supported financially by government entities, and supported physically and emotionally by professionals, they still might

The Role Of Media And Its Impact On Society Essay

From the start of the United States of America, politics has always been heavily influenced by journalism and the press. These two factors continue to grow with times and evolve with different and new political ideologies. Today, modern media has a large effect on government and the outward appearance a country gives to others through its leaders and public decisions. Mass media, or the technology that is intended to reach a mass audience, serves as a primary source of communication between a countries’ government officials and its people (STUDY). The role of media, the bias it brings, and its use with politicians’ themselves all are key in fully understanding how politics work. These characteristics are found especially in, but not limited to, the election of 2016. Media is defined as â€Å"an intervening agency, means, or instrument† (DICTIONARY). 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