scholarly journals EXPRESS: Questing for meaningfulness through narrative identity work: The helpers, the heroes, and the hurt

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872672110430
Author(s):  
Sarah-Louise Weller ◽  
Andrew D. Brown ◽  
Caroline A Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Identity Narratives ◽  
Primary Contribution ◽  
Meaningful Lives

What identity narratives do those engaged in dangerous volunteering fabricate and how do they help satisfy their quest for meaningful lives? Based on a three-year ethnographic study of QuakeRescue, a UK-based voluntary, search and rescue charity, we show that volunteers worked on identity narratives as helpers, heroes and hurt. The primary contribution we make is to analyse how meaningfulness (the sense of personal purpose and fulfilment) that people attribute to their lives, is both developed through and a resource for individuals’ narrative identity work. We show how organizationally based actors attribute significance to their lives through authorship of desired identities which are sanctioned and supplied by societal (master) narratives embedded in and constitutive of local communities. In our case, the helper and hero identities dangerous volunteering offered members were seductive. However, their pursuit had ambiguous and sometimes, arguably, negative consequences for volunteers who had seen action overseas, and our study adds to understanding of how organizational members’ quest for meaningful identities may falter and sometimes fail.

‘I am a schizophrene’: Narrative Identity, Affective Disorder and White’s Stories of Self

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Moran
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Manic Depression ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Agency Conflict ◽  
Central Aspect ◽  
Identity Narratives

This chapter contextualises White’s stories of self within contemporary scholarship on narrative identity. White’s search for an exploration of her illness that would account for her psychic turmoil and inexplicable behaviour is consistent with the emphasis in such scholarship that narrative is a central aspect of identity formation. The possession of an identity narrative plays a key role in both public and private presentations of self. Yet the very principles an identity narrative embodies—principles of coherence, plausibility, causality, motivation and agency—conflict with the chaos and havoc created by severe bipolar disorder. The chapter explores how illness in general and manic-depression in particular destroyed White’s sense of a coherent self and motivated her to construct identity narratives through the master narratives of psychoanalysis and Catholicism.

Cognitive Migrations

2019 ◽  
pp. 622-642
Author(s):  
Thomas DeGloma ◽  
Erin F. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Possible Selves ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Spatial Metaphor ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Personal Transformations ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Contested Meanings ◽  
Plot Structure

This chapter explores the ways individuals account for cognitive migrations—significant changes of mind and consciousness that are often expressed as powerful discoveries, transformative experiences, and newly embraced worldviews. It outlines three ideal typical forms of cognitive migration: awakenings, self-actualizations, and ongoing quests. Building on prior approaches to such personal transformations, it develops the notion of cognitive migration to argue the following set of interrelated points. First, cognitive migrations take autobiographical form, which is to say they manifest as the narrative identity work of individuals who undergo them. Second, such narrative identity work provides a reflexive foundation for an individual’s understanding of self and identity in relation to other possible selves and identities—for seeing oneself as a relationally situated character. Third, individuals who articulate cognitive migrations use the plot structure and cultural coding at the root of their narratives to express their allegiance to a new sociomental community. They thereby take on new cognitive norms and identity-defining conventions while rejecting potential alternatives, locating themselves within a broader sociomental field. The spatial metaphor of cognitive migrations draws explicit attention to the broader sociomental field in which such radical changes of mind take place. Finally, such narrative identity work links self-understandings to the often-contested meanings of broadly relevant issues, events, and experiences; when individuals account for their cognitive migrations, they also advance claims that reach well-beyond their personal lives.

Epistemic competitions over Jewish Holocaust survivors’ stories in interviews

2021 ◽  
pp. 095792652199214
Author(s):  
Kim Schoofs ◽  
Dorien Van De Mieroop
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Holocaust Survivors ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Epistemic Authority ◽  
World War ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specialist Knowledge ◽  
Expert Status ◽  
The One

In this article, we scrutinise epistemic competitions in interviews about World War II. In particular, we analyse how the interlocutors draw on their epistemic authority concerning WWII to construct their interactional telling rights. On the one hand, the analyses illustrate how the interviewers rely on their historical expert status – as evidenced through their specialist knowledge and ventriloquisation of vicarious WWII narratives – in order to topicalise certain master narratives and thereby attempt to project particular identities upon the interviewees. On the other hand, the interviewees derive their epistemic authority from their first-hand experience as Jewish Holocaust survivors, on which they draw in order to counter these story projections, whilst constructing a more distinct self-positioning to protect their nuanced personal identity work. Overall, these epistemic competitions not only shaped the interviewees’ identity work, but they also made the link between storytelling and the social context more tangible as they brought – typically rather elusive – master narratives to the surface.

scholarly journals Municipal Responses to COVID-19: the case of library closures in New South Wales local government

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Andrea Wallace ◽  
Brian Dollery
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Community Wellbeing ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Library Use ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government ordered the closure of all municipal libraries in order to limit the impact of the contagion. As a result, 372 public libraries in NSW ceased operation on the 23rd March 2020. While the closure of public libraries will undoubtedly contribute to restricting the spread of the coronavirus, given the pivotal role played by municipal libraries in local communities, as well as the special characteristics of library patrons, it will have other negative consequences. In this paper we consider the impact of the closure of municipal libraries in NSW from two perspectives: (a) its effect on the fiscal circumstances of local authorities and (b) its impact on the spread of the corona contagion as well as its broader effects on local community wellbeing. We conclude that rather than complete closure, partial constraints on library use should have been considered.

scholarly journals Appropriating Stereotypes of Kin, Romance and Gender: An Ethnographic Study of Filipina Migrants  Married to or in De-Facto Relationships with New Zealand Men

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hollie Alexandria Doar
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Marriage Migration ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Mail Order Brides ◽  
Transnational Marriage ◽  
And Gender

<p>Transnational marriage migration is an emerging area of interest in anthropology, and contemporary scholars have written extensively on the international movements of Filipina women who have married non-Filipino men. Extending this research into an antipodean context, this thesis is based on interviews with Filipina migrants married to or in de-facto relationships with New Zealand men. Through an examination of narratives of love and romance, identity, and kinship, this work highlights the ways participants undertook identity work in their interviews. In particular, this thesis reveals the strategies employed by Filipina migrants in constructing narratives in which they distance themselves from negative stereotypes, while incorporating more positive typologies into their identities. Stereotypes included Filipina women as mail-order brides, domestic workers, subservient wives, and good family members. These narrative strategies demonstrated the ways participants sought to control and manipulate stereotypes in order to present themselves as successful and virtuous migrants. This thesis applies current scholarship on identity work and stereotypes. It also contributes to literature on marriage migration by expanding a contemporary focus on participant agency through acknowledging how migrants utilise identity resources, in this case stereotypes, available in their host society.</p>

scholarly journals ANALYSING FACTORS FOR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Heri Puspito Diyah Setiyorini ◽  
Rini Andari ◽  
Juju Masunah
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Community Collaboration ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Place Satisfaction

This study aims to understand the perceptions of local communities to participate in tourism development. The method used in the research is a quantitative approach. Questionnaires were distributed to local communities in major destinations in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. There were 200 data set analyzed by factor analysis. The result showed that from 28 indicators of community participation, eight groups of factors formed. The groups are 1) place attachments; 2) perception of negative consequences; 3) Community Involvement; 4) Infrastructure Development; 5) Place Satisfaction; 6) Economic Benefit; 7) Government Support; 8) Community Collaboration. This result also shows that place attachment, perception of negative consequences, place satisfaction, and community collaboration have higher factor loading compares to other groups. The finding implies that in gaining community participation, these factors could be considered as the essence of communication message in raising public awareness and participation for tourism development.

Musical life stories coherence through musicking in the prison setting

2022 ◽  
pp. 174165902110591
Author(s):  
Kjetil Hjørnevik ◽  
Leif Waage ◽  
Anita Lill Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Prison Inmates ◽  
Musical Life ◽  
Prison Life ◽  
The Past

Despite the strong relationships evidenced between music and identity little research exists into the significance of music in prisoners’ shifting sense of identity. This article explores musicking as part of the ongoing identity work of prisoners in light of theory on musical performance, narrative and desistance and discusses implications for penal practice and research. Through the presentation of an ethnographic study of music therapy in a low security Norwegian prison we show how participation in music activities afforded congruence between the past, the present and the projected future for participants by way of their unfolding musical life stories. Complementing existing conceptualisations of music as an agent for change, our study suggests that musicking afforded the maintenance of a coherent sense of self for participating prison inmates, whilst offering opportunities for noncoercive personal development. We argue that research into musicking in prison offers fruitful ways of tracing how the complexities inherent in processes of change are enacted in everyday prison life, and that it can advance our knowledge of relationships between culture, penal practice and desistance.

Social, Political, and Environmental Impacts in Latin America

2018 ◽  
pp. 284-318
Author(s):  
Rhys Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Caribbean

Rather less has been written about the social, political, and environmental impacts of China on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) than the economic impacts. In terms of social impacts, the chapter considers the effects in terms of both employment and the way in which Chinese companies in the extractive industries have affected local communities. In LAC, discussion of the political implications have mainly focussed on whether or not China’s growing presence represents a threat to US interests in the region, but there is no evidence that China is exercising undue political influence in the region as the case studies of Brazil and Venezuela illustrate. There is little systematic evidence concerning the environmental impacts, although the case of soybeans illustrates the potential negative consequences of growing demand from China.

scholarly journals ‘Living at the border of poverty’: How theater actors maintain their calling through narrative identity work

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872672090866
Author(s):  
Silvia Cinque ◽  
Daniel Nyberg ◽  
Ken Starkey
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
The Other ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Work Situation ◽  
Role Identities ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Dominant Narratives

People who have a sense of calling to their work are more inspired, motivated and engaged with what they do. But how is calling constructed and maintained within organizations? More importantly, how do people maintain a sense of calling to their work when this is a source of ongoing material and existential hardships? This article seeks to address these questions by looking at the artistic setting of theater where actors maintain their calling despite their precarious work situation. The study employs a narrative approach to illustrate how three dominant narratives—religious, political and therapeutic—are central in constructing theater work as deeply meaningful. Specifically, each narrative explains how theater actors maintain their calling through different processes of identity work enacted through sacrifice (religious), responsibility (political) and self-care (therapeutic), with corresponding role identities as martyrs (religious), citizens (political) and self-coaches (therapeutic). We contribute to the literature on callings by: (a) showing how different processes of identity work are central to maintaining callings in precarious work situations, (b) exploring the role played by the ‘other’ as an interlocutor in accounting for and maintaining callings, and (c) advancing a theoretical explanation of callings that illustrates how callings contingently emerge as acts of elevation, resistance or resilience within contemporary society.

scholarly journals REDD+ and Community Forestry in Nepal: Strengthening or Paralysing Decentralised Governance?

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dil Khatri ◽  
Gyanu Maskey ◽  
Bikash Adhikari
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Community Forestry ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Community Forest Management ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Community Forest ◽  
Forestry Policy

At a time when community forestry has become a prominent mode of forest governance in many developing countries, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest degradation) has emerged as a new conservation policy to contribute to climate change mitigation by incentivising such countries to conserve forest. While the proponents of REDD+ claim that it can help to strengthen decentralised forest governance through an increased flow of resources of fund and knowledge, the critics evince that there are negative consequences of REDD+ implementation to the decentralisation process, local control, and access to forests. Drawing on the ongoing engagement of the authors in the national REDD+ policy process and an ethnographic study of the REDD+ initiatives in Nepal, this paper demonstrates that REDD+ might paralyze Nepal’s long-standing community forestry policy rather than strengthening it. Findings show the instrumental use of participation in REDD+ policy development and limited representation of local voices in the policy processes. The piloting project implemented on community forestry suggest that REDD+, if implemented at full scale, can put new demand(s) to the long-standing community forestry policy and practices resulting in threatening of local uses of forests by smallholders. The implementation of REDD+ is likely to reshape community forest management practices driven from the priority of generating revenue which in turn undermines the need to manage forests to meet diverse needs of the smallholders. This analysis indicates the need for paying greater attention to represent local voices in developing national policies and programs, and align REDD+ objectives to the core principles of community forest management, local access, and control of forests.

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