Liminal Identity: Reconstruction of Syrian Identity in Trump's America

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-24
Author(s):  
May Mzayek

Abstract During November of 2016, the Electoral College elected Donald Trump as President of the United States of America. The following spring, I conducted research with Syrian refugees in Austin, Texas. Using liminality, or the space of uncertainty, I examined identity loss and change with Syrian refugees and within myself. As an immigrant from Syria, my identity was always an issue growing up in the United States, especially as my family struggled for years to attain citizenship. Trump's election evoked my past feelings of uncertainty regarding personhood. Understanding the political context and the challenges of resettlement, I conducted my thesis research in Austin, Texas, with Syrian refugees in order to examine changes in their identities. Their continued feelings of identity loss and change fortified their existence in a space I am very familiar with—liminality.

Author(s):  
N. Klyukin

The article is devoted to the analysis of the political activities of Donald Trump as the president of the United States of America. The key political issues of the United States interaction with countries such as the China, North Korea, Russia, India and Syria. Each of the issues discussed contributes to the creation of a full-fledged image of Trump as a politician who is a tough, unprincipled leader who takes constant risks in order to achieve certain goals. Despite the number of Trump’s opponents and ill-wishers, his decisions mostly bring dividends and open up new opportunities for his country. Many experts argue that it will be difficult for Trump to maintain a leading position in the upcoming presidential election since the current president currently has rather weak approval ratings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142199484
Author(s):  
Vicente Navarro

This article analyses the political changes that have been occurring in the United States (including the elections for the presidency of the country) and their consequences for the health and quality of life of the population. A major thesis of this article is that there is a need to analyse, besides race and gender, other categories of power - such as social class - in order to understand what happens in the country. While the class structure of the United States is similar to that of major Western European countries, the political context is very different. The U.S. political context has resulted in the very limited power of its working class, which explains the scarcity of labor, political and social rights in the country, such as universal access to health care.


Author(s):  
Karen Ann Donnachie ◽  
Andy Simionato

This paper will outline the ideation, background and development of the electronic artwork The Trumpet of the Swan (Donnachie & Simionato, 2017) presented by the authors at the Electronic Literature Organisation conference in Porto, Portugal in 2017. The artwork is a custom-coded drawing-robot which automatically inscribes in natural media, every post published from the personal Twitter profile of the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, identified on Twitter as @realDonaldTrump. The machine, which has the appearance reminiscent of a swan, including a broad “body” balanced on two short legs that end in webbed “feet”, is a semi-autonomous robot that writes in a pen, crowned by a long white plume, on a continuous scroll of paper while producing bird-like sounds. The drawing-robot remains permanently in a state of attention and the demonstrated sequence of actions can only be triggered remotely and by the 45th President of the U.S.A. himself (or more precisely, by whomever publishes a new tweet through his Twitter account ‘@realDonaldTrump’). In other words, to borrow a popular phrase taken from twentieth century cold-war propaganda: only the President has the ability to “launch” this artwork which otherwise remains dormant, in waiting.


1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Huysamen

In an earlier article, the psychometrics of various fair selection models that had been proposed in the United States of America in the late 1960s, early 1970s were presented. The purpose of the present article is to discuss the subsequent history of the application of these models in personnel selection in that country and to view its implications for the South African situation. Because the question of fair selection models ties in with the issue of affirmative action, a brief history of this issue as it pertains to personnel selection is also given. Key decisions of the American Supreme Court that have a bearing on this matter are also reviewed. The failure to widely apply these fair selection models may be attributed to the prevalent socio-political context which favours the preferential treatment of certain groups but is hesitant to specify the particulars and limits of such treatment. Opsomming 'n Vorige artikel het die psigometi-ika onderliggend aan verskeie billike keuringsmodelle wat in die laat sestigerjare, vroee sewentigerjare in die Verenigde State van Amerika voorgestel is, behandel. Die doel met die onderhawige artikel is om 'n oorsig te verskaf van die daaropvolgende geskiedenis van die toepassing van daardie modelle in personeelkeuring in daardie land, en om die implikasies daarvan vir die Suid-Afrikaanse situasie te belig. Omdat die aangeleentheid van billike keuringsmodelle verband hou met die kwessie van regstellende aksie, word 'n bondige geskiedenis van hierdie kwessie soos dit op personeelkeuring van toepassing is, ook verskaf. Sleutel-uitsprake van die Amerikaanse Hooggeregshof wat betrekking het op hierdie aangeleentheid word ook beskou. Die beperkte toepassing van hierdie billike keuringsmodelle kan toegeskryf word aan die heersende sosio-politieke konteks wat die voorkeurbehandeling van bepaalde groepe voorstaan, maar wat huiwerig is om die besonderhede en perke van sodanige behandeling te spesifiseer.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J. Cramer

Higher education in the United States has proud roots in the mission to enable people to engage in self-governance. The current political context is pushing us in another direction. I discuss the context in Wisconsin in particular, and use the challenges there as a reason to consider the civic purposes of political science. Rather than allow the political winds to blow us further into elitism, I argue that we should renew our commitment to educating people for citizenship.


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