Cultural Dynamics recent issues

Contesting/Negotiating Power and Domination on the US -- Mexico Border: Mexican and Central American Migrants in El Paso

Bhimji, F. — 2009-07-27

The article examines the ways in which twenty Mexican and five Central Americans male undocumented migrants construct the border in varying ways while they speak of their work conditions and their encounters and perceptions of the border patrol agents on the Texas/Mexico border area. Many of them who work as construction workers are economically exploited since they are paid below standard minimum wages. The temporary migrant workers display knowledge of their rights and entitlements through discursive practices such as evaluations, knowledge of their exploitative conditions, and resolutions to move further into the US or to find alternative means of income. In doing so, the migrants construct the border in many instances as a transitional space which is rather exploitative. More significantly, the undocumented migrants tend to differ in the ways in which they experience the border. Despite the militarization and exploitative work conditions for some undocumented migrants the border is perceived as relatively fluid. While for other immigrant groups such as Central Americans, migrants with past criminal records, and younger demonized males the border is more enclosed where they have to contend with power structures on a different level. There has been much focus on the border and border narratives across various disciplines but little attention has been given to the ways in which undocumented migrants experience the border during their temporary stay in order to transition to further points in the US such as Dallas, Los Angeles, and Denver. Data are based on participant observation, informal conversations, and recorded interviews of 25 male undocumented migrants residing at a temporary shelter in El Paso, Texas, over two summer periods in the years 2006 and 2007.

Transnational Gender Studies and the Migrating Concept of Gender in the Middle East and North Africa

Hale, S. — 2009-07-27

This article is an attempt to capture aspects of ramifying networks that are transporting the fluid concept of `gender'. Assuming that transnationality is a central feature in diasporic contexts, how does it manifest itself in diasporic practices? If one of these practices is knowledge production, then what are the processes of migrating epistemologies and how are these gendered? This begs the question of whether or not gender is still an important site from which to view the fluid phenomena of postcolonial/transnational processes or if the contemporary valences of transnationalism require, instead, a fluid gendering of the contemporary categories of empire that operate differently through space. By reading the transnational through the local, with particular reference to Ahfad University for Women (Sudan), the article interrogates the ways concepts of women/gender and feminist ideas travel across boundaries and how these concepts are changed in the process.

Duty Bound?: Militarization, Romances, and New Forms of Violence among Sri Lanka's Free Trade Zone Factory Workers

Hewamanne, S. — 2009-07-27

This article analyzes how the complex intersections of political economy of war and transnational production led to particular social dynamics between Sri Lanka's women Free Trade Zone workers and military personnel. It explores the new spaces of violence against factory workers that resulted from increased militarization and women's FTZ garment factory employment. The article shows how the militarizing process continued even during the peace process and asserts that there will be little hope of eliminating the new spaces of violence without revising some of the political economic processes behind the war and transnational production.

Containing East Bengal: Language, Nation, and State Formation in Pakistan, 1947--1952'

Toor, S. — 2009-07-27

Recent scholarship on the state has moved towards a focus on state formation as a contingent and contradictory process, and the role of culture therein. Since all states today are understood to be `nation-states', `national culture' becomes a key arena for struggles over hegemony and consequently for understanding nation-state formation. This article uses the `national language controversy' in Pakistan between 1947 and 1952 as a lens through which to explore the relationship between discourses of national culture and the consolidation and contestation of power within the modern (postcolonial) nation-state.

Practices of Faith and Racial Integration in South Texas: A Case Study of Mexican Segregation

Najera, J. — 2009-03-18

The article presents a case study about the experience of segregation and the process of racial integration within a local Catholic church in South Texas. Following the ideology of segregation that was prevalent during the early part of the 20th century, Anglo Catholics made efforts to both stymie Mexican popular religious practices and to segregate Mexican origin people. The case study demonstrates that, despite desegregation litigation of the 1960s, `customary' practices of Mexican segregation remained active well into the 1970s. The article suggests that because Mexican segregation had become custom, a change in the dominant racial ideology and, subsequently, racial integration could only occur through community building and the cultural empowerment of the Mexican origin community. In this case, cultural empowerment took root in the revival of Mexican popular religious practices.

`The Beacon of Hope for the Black Race': State Race-Craft and Identity Formation in Modern Ghana

Pierre, J. — 2009-03-18

This article presents an ethnographic analysis of the state-sponsored Pan-African Historical Festival (PANAFEST) and Emancipation Day celebrations that commemorate Ghana's history of Pan-African and slavery while promoting `heritage tourism'. I argue that with calls for African emancipation and Pan-African cooperation, these celebrations create the space for the state's concrete production of social meanings around history, politics, and, especially, race. This Ghanaian state `race-craft', specifically, is revealed through the deployment of a particular narrative of slavery that allows for not only the explicit claim to racial affiliation with diaspora Black communities, but it also enables the recalling of Ghana's own racialized heritage for the production of new national subjectivities. It is also significant that, along with the concomitant growth of the global heritage tourism industry, these PANAFEST/Emancipation Day celebrations are occurring within the context of a shift to a neoliberal economic agenda. As the Ghanaian state continues to host and sponsor these international Pan-Africanist events, it draws on its position in the global economy to craft local and transnational racial subjectivity.

Locating Global Feminisms Elsewhere: Braiding US Women of Color and Transnational Feminisms

Chowdhury, E. H. — 2009-03-18

This article explores the trajectory of global feminism from the vantage point of the US, and its treatment of `Other Women' in the service of its own hegemonic (re)construction and simultaneous occlusion of multiple feminisms both within and beyond the US. It also offers reflections on locating global feminisms instead in `alternate' venues and avoiding reproducing the West as its predetermined default frame of reference. I am proposing to undertake a critique of global feminism in two ways: through how the discipline of women's studies is organized and how global feminism is deployed politically. The analytical tools that help me take on global feminism are to be found in US anti-racist feminism and transnational feminism. That is, US anti-racist and transnational feminisms can aid in the analysis and shifting the politics of feminism.

Violence, Business, and Identity in the Borderlands: Chinese-Mexicans in Mexicali, Mexico

Martinez, E. — 2009-03-18

Studies of the US—Mexico border continue to inform and challenge sociocultural anthropologists on how to think about race relations, ethnic communities, and identity. This article introduces the Chinese-Mexican community living in the northwest part of the Mexican—US border city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Identity plays a major role for this community in order for it to survive and, in some cases, thrive financially. I argue that long-standing people of Mexicali with Chinese ancestry (who I refer to as Chinescos) refuse to be categorized when asked to choose an identity. This community struggles to survive economically and socially at the border like other people in the community and live a moral life—a life with a set of values that will protect themselves, their families, and what matters most to them. Their identity is not static and they will choose their identity carefully. They will deploy Chinese values and citizenship strategies when appropriate, but will not shy away from being part of the Mexican community. This article illustrates these issues through two case studies: (a) a violent crime committed in Mexicali involving the Chinescos, and (b) the formation of businesses by the community. In conclusion, studying Mexicali, a US—Mexico border community provides a venue for understanding race relations and community formations.

The Little Mosque On the Prairie: Examining (Multi) Cultural Spaces of Nation and Religion

Canas, S. — 2008-10-21

In the post-9/11 geopolitical context characterized by the reinforcement of orientalist ideas about Islam, and increasing xenophobia against Muslims, this article examines the politics of representation of Canadian television comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie. Drawing upon Frederic Jameson's contributions and postcolonial feminist critiques of western feminism, it highlights the ways this television show challenges orientalist conceptions of Islam and Muslims—particularly Muslim women—promoting diversity and tolerance among people from different origins and religious beliefs. Moreover, it also shows how even though Little Mosque on the Prairie seeks to promote religious and cultural diversity, this promotion has its own limitations and marginalizes those expressions considered extreme or contrary to a liberal conception of multiculturalism.

Success, Market, Ethics: Information Technology and the Shifting Politics of Governance and Citizenship in the Indian Silicon Plateau

Dasgupta, S. — 2008-10-21

The global success of the Information Technology (IT) industry in India is narrated as an unprecedented episode. The rhetoric of success, however, is neither limited to economics nor the IT industry alone. In their collaboration with middle class non-governmental organizations (NGO) it has generated a parallel ethico-political narrative on the failure of the state to alleviate India from the disgrace of a developing country. Drawing on ethnographic work I conducted with IT professionals and their partner NGOs in Bangalore in this article I argue that the ethico-political narrative has initiated two emergent ways of recasting the state and citizenship: first, it has established the indispensable value of the market; second, the IT corporate governance model now offers a blueprint for reforming public governance and citizenship in contemporary India. This dual process, I contend, are crucial ways to understand how the amorphous ideas of neoliberalization are concretely shifting the notion of the nation state from a socialist redistributive model to one based on the market.

Authoring (in)Authenticity, Regulating Religious Tolerance: The Implications of Anti-Conversion Legislation for Indian Secularism

Coleman, J. — 2008-10-21

This article explores the politicization of `conversion' discourses in contemporary India, focusing on the rising popularity of anti-conversion legislation at the individual state level. While `Freedom of Religion' bills contend to represent the power of the Hindu nationalist cause, these pieces of legislation reflect both the political mobility of Hindutva as a symbolic discourse and the practical limits of its enforcement value within Indian law. This resurgence, however, highlights the enduring nature of questions regarding the quality of `conversion' as a `right' of individuals and communities, as well as reigniting the ongoing battle over the line between `conversion' and `propagation'. Ultimately, I argue that, while the politics of conversion continue to represent a decisive point of reference in debates over the quality and substance of religious freedom as a discernible right of Indian democracy and citizenship, the widespread negative consequences of this legislation's enforcement remain to be seen. Moreover, the role of gender in these debates cannot be ignored; indeed, the politics of gender play a decisive role in the manner in which the anti-conversion debates have unfolded. Consequently, the gulf between the unsecular nature of the legislation in theory and its questionable impact in practice indicates that the project of Indian secularism is negotiating religious intolerance rather than succumbing fully to the politics of Hindutva.

The Anti-Miscegenation History of the American Southwest, 1837 To 1970: Transforming Racial Ideology into Law

Menchaca, M. — 2008-10-21

This article proposes that a historical analysis of court cases and state statutes can be used to illustrate how racist ideologies were transformed into practice and used to legalize racism. To exemplify this argument, marriage prohibition laws in the United States Southwest from 1837 to 1970 are examined. This analysis demonstrates that African Americans and Anglo Americans were not the only groups affected by anti-miscegenation legislation. Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans were also profoundly affected and their respective histories contribute to a more indepth understanding of the policies and practices used by state governments and the courts to discriminate against people of color. This article also reveals that most legal cases reaching state supreme courts in the Southwest involved Mexican Americans because their mixed racial heritage placed them in a legally ambiguous position.

Palestinian Women's Organizations: Global Cooption and Local Contradiction

Kuttab, E. — 2008-09-16

This article is a critical reflection on gender politics in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza over the last 30 years. It traces the increasing professionalization of the women's movement from the 1970s through the Oslo year to the contemporary period. The article explores the problematic impact of both professionalization and internationalization on the possibilities of Palestinian women's and social movements for change.

`Violence All Around Us': Dilemmas of Global and Local Agendas Addressing Violence against Palestinian Women, an Initial Intervention

Johnson, P. — 2008-09-16

How do international human rights frameworks function in addressing violence against women in situations of prolonged political violence and colonial conflict? How do other voices, generated locally, take on, contest or interact with, these frameworks? These questions are addressed in the Palestinian context through examining two recent reports, the first, a problematic November 2006 report by Human Rights Watch, A Question of Security: Violence Against Palestinian Women and Girls, and the second, a report issued in March 2007 by the Palestinian Violence Against Women Forum, a network of local Palestinian NGOs. Data from the first Palestinian national survey on domestic violence (2005) are also scrutinized. Beginning with a specific incident of a recent honor crime in a Palestinian refugee camp, this initial intervention also probes the history of public debate research and activism on domestic violence in Palestine and argues for careful attention to the diversity of community responses.

At the Altar of Subalternity: The Quest for Muslim Women in the War on Terror--Pakistan after 9/11

Brohi, N. — 2008-09-16

Examining the politics and discourses around Muslim women as the subalterns of the previous `other' order that must now speak—and must speak particular dictions, the article attempts to place the `new world order' within the `old' spectrum. Under the clamor of revitalized orientalist and occidentalist narratives, it suggests that the articulation spaces for women are shrinking, and both their suppression and their agency are being coopted as expressions of political binaries, reducing empowerment-talk to kitsch. The discursive value of invoking women's voices goes beyond political endorsement to the very structures of authoritarian order and moral principles of representation: the author argues that women are a critical signifier in the process of interpellation of people as subject to both.

Suffering Men of Empire: Human Security and the War on Iraq

Youssef, M. — 2008-09-16

This article considers two discursive sites where a potential new frontier of life and death, seen by many as symptomatic of Empire, is articulated. First this article looks at two international reports that articulate a new and pressing need to formulate and adopt a discourse and practice of human security as a direct response to the challenges of a globalized world order. The second discursive site is the often drawn upon image of the Iraqi man in pain. In Iraq specifically, the emphasis on men in pain is potentially revealing of the mechanisms of humanitarian war and its reworking of international conflict. This article suggests that in the spaces of exception created by this humanitarianism, subjects like these Iraqi men in pain figure as the prepolitical humanity seen to be owed protection not guaranteed in international law.

ARCHIVING RESISTANCE Women's Testimony at the Threshold of the State

Al-Kassim, D. — 2008-09-16

Increasingly today, Fanon's imagination of the postcolonial subject of difference is reconceived in the mode of an international human rights discourse along the lines of reconciliation and reparations. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has become the paradigmatic instance of a state mechanism capable of inducing the change from nationalist to politico-social consciousness; so pervasive is its influence that Moroccan and Algerian commissions refer explicitly to the South African example and openly cite it as a model of reconciling the people. This article examines the ways that women's testimony of political violence is called upon in the nationalist postcolony to signify both a primitive sphere outside the boundaries of national memory and public debate and the progressive character of inclusion at the advent of the new state. This paradox is illustrated in the South African TRC's commitment to symbolic reparation and to providing a space for women's testimony despite the refusal of most women to testify. What conceptions of the human are naturalized in state-mandated projects of healing that depend upon such narratives? What new forms of subjection and resistance await the citizens of the modern postcolonial state? It is with these questions about the power of the symbol to deny `voice' while granting the rights of speech that I turn to Asia Djebar's Blanc de l'Algérie, Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull and Zoe Wicomb's David's Story as a counter to the politics of testimony.