scholarly journals Race, Politics and History in a Survey of Contemporary Ethnographic Writing on Trinidad

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sacha Geer
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Considerable Difficulty ◽  
Race Politics ◽  
Ethnographic Writing

Contemporary anthropological work in Trinidad is largely focused on theorizing the racial antagonisms between Indo and Afro Trinidadians. Since the time of independence, political leaders have called for unity and harmony amongst . Trinidadians, but individuals of all racial groups who utilize primordial understandings of race in everyday discourse to negotiate tensions and define themselves contest the shape and content of what it means to be Trinidadian. While a study of Trinidadian history shows that many of the stereotypes which operate in contemporary Trinidad have their roots in colonial discourses surrounding Afro and Indo Trinidadians, ethnographic work shows that these stereotypes have changed in response to various political and economic pressures, and that individuals utilize or ignore these stereotypes depending on context and goals. Further, Indo-Trinidadians have historically been semantically excluded from the lexicon which describes what it means to be Trinidadian by their exclusion from the term 'Creole,' and as such have faced considerable difficulty accessing reins of political power due to their exclusion from a sense of Trinidadian identity.

National identity and money: Czech and Slovak Lands 1918–2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Veselkova ◽  
Julius Horvath
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Political Power ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Limited Support ◽  
International Audience

An expanding literature on money and identity is built around the assumption that political elites deliberately use currency design to foster national identities. However, the empirical evidence in favor of this assumption has been fragmentary. Drawing on detailed primary sources we demonstrate nationalist intentions of political elites involved in currency design. We also examine how political elites use banknotes as official pronouncements on who is and who is not part of the nation and what the official attitude toward foreigners is. By tracing changes in the inclusive and exclusive messages directed at an intra-state or international audience we document that there is no connection between ingroup (national) love and outgroup (foreigners, minorities, opposition) hate. The amount of exclusive messages to outgroups culminated in conditions of perceived threat when political leaders tried to mobilize pre-existing identities to secure or maintain political power. In contrast, the officials deliberately tried to broaden ingroup boundaries in order to build international communities. Finally, we document that in the case of limited support for the new conception of identity, officials tried to depict the old and the new identity as complementary, embedding the new identity in existing discourses.

race

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Eileen McCoskey
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Skin Color ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
Reception Studies ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Ethnographic Writing ◽  
Classical Studies ◽  
Racial Thought

Contrary to the assumptions of previous eras, since the late 20th century, race has been widely regarded as a form of identity based in social construction rather than biology. The concept of race has experienced a corresponding return to classical studies, although this approach gives it significant overlap with terminology like ethnicity and cultural identity. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not consider human biology or skin color the source of racial identity, although the belief that human variation was determined by the environment or climate persisted throughout antiquity. Ancient ethnographic writing provides insight into ancient racial thought and stereotypes in both the Greek and Roman periods. Race in the Greek world centered in large part around the emergence of the category of Greek alongside that of barbarian, but there were other important racial frameworks in operation, including a form of racialized citizenship in Athens. Modes for expressing racial identity changed in the aftermath of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, a figure whose own racial identity has been the subject of debate. In the Roman period, Roman citizenship became a major factor in determining one’s identity, but racial thought nonetheless persisted. Ideas about race were closely correlated with the Roman practice of empire, and representations of diverse racial groups are especially prominent in conquest narratives. Hellenistic and Roman Egypt provide an opportunity for looking at race in everyday life in antiquity, while Greek and Roman attitudes towards Jews suggest that they were perceived as a distinct group. Reception studies play a critical role in analyzing the continuing connections between race and classics.

The Khilafat Movement in India: The First Phase

1968 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal Krishna
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Spiritual Leader ◽  
Islamic Empire ◽  
The One ◽  
The Ideal

When the european war ended in November 1918 the fate of the defeated Turkish Empire was no longer in doubt. The other fallen empire, Austria-Hungary, had been dismembered, and the Ottoman Turks could not hope to escape the consequences of allying themselves with Germany. For Indian Muslims this raised grave issues of the political power of Islam. They had provided a large number of recruits in the war and had contributed materially towards the defeat of Turkey. Their political leaders had regretted Turkey's entry into the war on the side of Britain's enemies; their sympathies, however, were with the Turks, for the Turkish Sultan was looked upon as the Khalifa, the temporal and spiritual leader of the Islamic community, and—still more important for Indian Muslims—the Khalifa stood for the unity of the Islamic people, and the Turkish Empire, by then the only surviving Islamic Empire, was the symbol of Islam's worldly power. Muslims in India fervently believed in the ideal of Islamic brotherhood. This had always been an integral part of the religious outlook of Islam, but Pan-Islamism appealed especially to Muslims in India because of their minority status. Their interest in the Khalifate was largely due to the fact that it was the one centre of authority to which they could look for protection. The spread of nationalism threatened to submerge them and made them anxious to preserve and strengthen the Khalifate as an institution which might provide them with a rallying point and mobilize in their defence the united forces of the Islamic world.

Kinēsis, Navies, and the Power Trap in Thucydides

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene W. Saxonhouse
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Static Condition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The City

In the Archaeology of his History, Thucydides traces those factors that led to the rise of the cities that face one another in the war that he records. Foremost among them is the navy. I contend that this focus on the navy as the basis of political power captures for Thucydides the connection between movement and power: possession of power is not a static condition but always entails the unending search for more power, allowing the cities who possess navies/power no respite from constant motion. In contrast to what I call the “power trap” that ultimately leads to the destruction of the city engaged in the constant motion of pursuing power after power stands the permanence of the speech, the logoi, of the historian who can offer an “everlasting possession” such as eludes the political leaders of cities such as Athens caught up as they are in the power trap.

Learning from your comrade’s mistakes: the impact of the Soviet past on China’s future

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
The Impact

While the Soviet Union imploded in the midst of its attempt to reform itself, more than a decade later China stands as a testament to the resilience of Communist rule. I suggest that one reason China has been able to stave off a regime collapse is that Chinese leaders have sought to learn from the collapse of the Soviet Union and are seeking to adjust their policies to buttress their political power. I present evidence in support of this position including statements of political leaders and party insiders, internal government documents, and Chinese scholarshipon the Soviet collapse.

scholarly journals Scaling proximity to whiteness: Racial boundary-making on São Tomé Island

Ethnography ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146613812096737
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Bouchard
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Racial Privilege ◽  
Boundary Making

In this article, I examine how scales are produced, stabilized, and challenged through communicative practices, and how these scales organize (since colonial times) the racial groups that form Santomean society. I argue that the historical distinctive status of the Forros and the prestigious status of the Portuguese language are influenced by different scaling practices that are intertwined and interrelated. I demonstrate that it is the Forros’ imagined and historical proximity to whiteness that bestow them racial privilege, and that allows them to maintain their position of social and political power in the country. In other words, their power results from proximity to Whiteness.

scholarly journals Gambian Women’s Struggles through Collective Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. p41
Author(s):  
Fatou Janneh
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Grassroots Organizations ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Political Patronage

Women have a long history of organizing collective action in The Gambia. Between the 1970s to the 1990s, they were instrumental?to The Gambia’s politics. Yet they?have?held no political power within its government. This paper argues that, since authorities failed to serve women’s interests, Gambian women resorted to using collective action to overcome their challenges through kafoolu and kompins [women’s grassroots organizations] operating in the rural and urban areas. They shifted their efforts towards organizations that focused on social and political change. These women’s organizations grew significantly as they helped women to promote social and economic empowerment. The women cultivated political patronage with male political leaders to achieve their goals. Political leaders who needed popular support to buttress their political power under the new republican government cash in patronage. Thus, this study relies on primary data from oral interviews. Secondary sources such as academic journals, books, and policy reports provide context to the study.

Iterative Development of a Home Review Program to Promote Preschoolers' Vocabulary Skills: Social Validity and Learning Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xigrid Soto ◽  
Yagmur Seven ◽  
Meaghan McKenna ◽  
Keri Madsen ◽  
Lindsey Peters-Sanders ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Stress ◽  
Social Validity ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Considerable Difficulty ◽  
Home Program ◽  
Iterative Development ◽  
Vocabulary Skills ◽  
Validity Measures ◽  
At Home

Purpose This article describes the iterative development of a home review program designed to augment vocabulary instruction for young children (ages 4 and 5 years) occurring at school through the use of a home review component. Method A pilot study followed by two experiments used adapted alternating treatment designs to compare the learning of academic words taught at school to words taught at school and reviewed at home. At school, children in small groups were taught academic words embedded in prerecorded storybooks for 6 weeks. Children were given materials such as stickers with review prompts (e.g., “Tell me what brave means”) to take home for half the words. Across iterations of the home intervention, the home review component was enhanced by promoting parent engagement and buy-in through in-person training, video modeling, and daily text message reminders. Visual analyses of single-subject graphs, multilevel modeling, and social validity measures were used to evaluate the additive effects and feasibility of the home review component. Results Social validity results informed each iteration of the home program. The effects of the home program across sites were mixed, with only one site showing consistently strong effects. Superior learning was evident in the school + home review condition for families that reviewed words frequently at home. Although the home review program was effective in improving the vocabulary skills of many children, some families had considerable difficulty practicing vocabulary words. Conclusion These studies highlight the importance of using social validity measures to inform iterative development of home interventions that promote feasible strategies for enhancing the home language environment. Further research is needed to identify strategies that stimulate facilitators and overcome barriers to implementation, especially in high-stress homes, to enrich the home language environments of more families.

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