Walking the story of my Indo-Mauritian indentured ancestry: An arts-based inquiry into voiced resistance and conflict with reconciliation

Reconciliation is a contested term often associated with postcolonial discourses, contending with global histories of injustice, racial discrimination and dispossession that affect diverse groups (slaves, indentures or Indigenous people). Reconciliation stories mainly encounter resistance when problematized by individual experiences. As a woman of Indo-Mauritian indenture descent, I explore my ancestral stories from gendered dimensions: hailed by hardships, discrimination and patriarchal norms from colonialization and its legacies. I discuss my perceived subalternity and disempowerment in defining my positioning and identity. From an arts-based inquiry, I use bricolage to combine art·I/f/act·ology, evocative auto-ethnography and emotional reflexivity in framing emotion-based writing. Intersectionality as a theoretical lens situates the influences of race, culture, ethnicity, caste, gender and identity processes within my narratives. The discussion emphasizes a voiced resistance and conflict with reconciliation. My visual narratives display and are rooted in the listening and co-ownership of ancestral stories as mine, wherein I find voice and agency.

Doing Web Surveys During Uncertain Times

The chapter will focus on using a web survey administered using social networks as a gathering point to collect data on people's risk perception and their undertaking of protective behaviors during the Italian COVID-19 crisis. This was an unprecedented moment in the digital age when there was no possibility of physical contact due to the limitations imposed on coexistence by the health emergency to stem the spread of the virus. This is when digital connections are the only link among people, and the only tool that can be used for doing social research is trying to satisfy the desire for knowledge without limiting the potential for knowledge production even in times of profound uncertainty and several limitations. Analyzing the participants' feedback on web surveys during times of deep uncertainty allows the authors to show what is clearly happening to social research currently. The discussions will be supported by an auto-ethnography conducted on comments left by the respondents to the survey.

Back to Practices and Narratives

The role of digital platforms in everyday life is a concern within different research fields; therefore, several authors have supported the need to investigate them and their underlying meshing of human and computational logic. In this chapter, the authors present a methodological proposal according to which auto-ethnographic diaries can be fruitfully employed to examine the relationship between individuals and algorithmic platforms. By drawing on a critical pedagogy approach, they consider auto-ethnography both as a practice of access to algorithmic logics through rich first-hand data regarding everyday usage practices as a response to datafication. The core idea behind this narrative method is to use inductive self-reflexive methodological tools to help individuals critically reflect on their daily activities, thereby making their consumption of algorithmic contents more aware and allowing researchers to collect in-depth reports about their use of digital platforms and the following processes of subjectification.

Opening or Impasse? Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in a Posttruth Era

Critical media literacy (CML) education is an approach to teaching about power, ideology, and hegemony through media. As a critical intervention in mainstream media literacy education, CML education integrates a cultural studies lens with a critical pedagogy orientation. In this article, we use critical auto-ethnography and personal reflective narratives or “anti-biography” to explore the dynamics and tensions of teaching CML in the posttruth era. We locate the shift to posttruth in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and election of Donald Trump, which produced a resurgence in far-right discourses promoting distrust of media and state institutions. We show how this shift created openings to criticality that made teaching CML easier in some ways; however, as we look deeper, what appears as an opening may in fact be an impasse. Through personal narratives, we illustrate what these openings and impasses looked like, how they felt and how they played out, to theorize about the possibilities and tensions of teaching CML in the current political moment. We argue the posttruth era necessitates a change in how we teach CML but not, as commonly argued, by teaching students how to fact-check or identify reliable sources. Instead, we must learn and teach about how the right uses media in transgressive ways to promote and normalize a racist, sexist, and authoritarian political agenda. We must also work to better understand students’ experiences of economic precarity and the limits of neoliberal multiculturalism.

Afterglow: Belonging, diversity, and emotional expression in barbershop singing in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>Over the last three years, since the development of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s “Everyone in Harmony” inclusivity and diversification initiative, barbershop singing networks have increasingly broken down systems of class, gender and race. Despite a history of conservative and traditionalist musical practice, I argue that participating in barbershop music offers singers in New Zealand opportunities to express themselves and create lasting relationships in increasingly diverse social contexts. In light of this, this thesis explores ideas of belonging, camaraderie, diversity and self-expression in barbershop music in New Zealand, through ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Vocal FX chorus, based in Wellington, New Zealand. This thesis works through these ideas in three ways: I consider historical context and discuss who gets to sing, belong or contribute to barbershop music; I then explore diversity and Māori and Pacific Island influence in barbershop in New Zealand; and I conclude with a discussion of performative emotional expression in the barbershop style, and how that contributes to free and healthy modes of self-expression in a predominantly homo-social male space. These threads combine to display how ideas of belonging – both to an ensemble and to a wider, global style of music – and camaraderie are complex and culturally nuanced concepts in barbershop music contexts. Furthermore, this research displays ways in which established socio-cultural norms in barbershop contexts can be challenged by ensembles working in this musical style. Ethnography, including personal reflection through performative auto-ethnography and memory, informs much of the thesis. I draw on conversations with singers and observations of rehearsals and contests for Vocal FX to narrate many of the ways in which barbershop music works in New Zealand.</p>

Afterglow: Belonging, diversity, and emotional expression in barbershop singing in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>Over the last three years, since the development of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s “Everyone in Harmony” inclusivity and diversification initiative, barbershop singing networks have increasingly broken down systems of class, gender and race. Despite a history of conservative and traditionalist musical practice, I argue that participating in barbershop music offers singers in New Zealand opportunities to express themselves and create lasting relationships in increasingly diverse social contexts. In light of this, this thesis explores ideas of belonging, camaraderie, diversity and self-expression in barbershop music in New Zealand, through ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Vocal FX chorus, based in Wellington, New Zealand. This thesis works through these ideas in three ways: I consider historical context and discuss who gets to sing, belong or contribute to barbershop music; I then explore diversity and Māori and Pacific Island influence in barbershop in New Zealand; and I conclude with a discussion of performative emotional expression in the barbershop style, and how that contributes to free and healthy modes of self-expression in a predominantly homo-social male space. These threads combine to display how ideas of belonging – both to an ensemble and to a wider, global style of music – and camaraderie are complex and culturally nuanced concepts in barbershop music contexts. Furthermore, this research displays ways in which established socio-cultural norms in barbershop contexts can be challenged by ensembles working in this musical style. Ethnography, including personal reflection through performative auto-ethnography and memory, informs much of the thesis. I draw on conversations with singers and observations of rehearsals and contests for Vocal FX to narrate many of the ways in which barbershop music works in New Zealand.</p>

Student volunteering at business events in China: Motivations and conceptualization

<p>With the continuous growth of the global event industry, the importance of event volunteering has been widely acknowledged, while the understanding beyond sports events is overlooked. Moreover, the current literature on event volunteering is very Western-centric, and volunteering in different cultural contexts needs to be further explored. China is undergoing substantial economic and social changes and scholarly attention has been given to its tourism development. However, little is known about volunteering in the Chinese context. This thesis examines student volunteering at business events in China by studying students’ motivations for getting involved in volunteer activities at business events and conceptualization of this phenomenon. An adapted constructivist grounded theory approach was applied. This qualitative study started with the researcher’s auto-ethnography, demonstrating the emersion of the researcher in the explored field to gain a richness of data. This was followed by in-depth interviews with data triangulation from three groups: students, business event organisers, and education institution administrators. The combination of different methods reflected the holistic and critical research approach within the research paradigm, with a relativistic ontology, a subjectivist epistemology, and a naturalistic method. In the first stage of auto-ethnography, the researcher became an ‘insider’ at two business events in China and used personal experience to gain a fuller understanding of volunteering in this context. In the second stage, semi-structured interviews captured the perspectives of 20 students, 10 organisers, and 9 education institution administrators. Data were then analysed by a two-stage coding process using NVivo. Five themes and two frameworks of motivations and conceptualization emerged from the analysis. The identified motivations were complex, with students driven by instrumental and self-centred motives, demonstrating the characteristics of reflexive volunteers. Volunteering was a tool to construct distinctive personal identities and achieve self-realization. Regarding the concept of student volunteering at business events, participants had a broad understanding relating to this phenomenon. The voluntary exchange nature was prominent with symbolic, productive, and economic elements. Monetary remunerations were accepted and the behaviours were not purely students’ free choice, however, the voluntary spirit formed a distinctive line between volunteering at business events and other social activities. The results illustrated the complexity of the concept by encapsulating notions of reflexive volunteering, personal benefits, payment, exchange nature, voluntary spirit, and independent choice. Based on the exploration of motivation and conceptualization, it was identified that the phenomenon under research was a Chinese culturally specific construction of volunteering with the concepts of zhi yuan (volunteering) and zhi yuan zhe (volunteer(s)) demonstrating the culturally-situated understanding. Students’ zhi yuan service at business events was multi-dimensional and paradoxical, which transcended altruism/solidarity explanations for volunteer motivation and the dichotomy of paid employment/unpaid work. The findings contribute to the cultural understanding of volunteering and suggests further debate about the understanding of volunteering in different countries to capture the complexities of the embedded sociality residing in volunteering practices. The results of this research have important implications for scholars and practitioners in terms of volunteering research, volunteer management, and volunteer programme establishment.</p>

Student volunteering at business events in China: Motivations and conceptualization

<p>With the continuous growth of the global event industry, the importance of event volunteering has been widely acknowledged, while the understanding beyond sports events is overlooked. Moreover, the current literature on event volunteering is very Western-centric, and volunteering in different cultural contexts needs to be further explored. China is undergoing substantial economic and social changes and scholarly attention has been given to its tourism development. However, little is known about volunteering in the Chinese context. This thesis examines student volunteering at business events in China by studying students’ motivations for getting involved in volunteer activities at business events and conceptualization of this phenomenon. An adapted constructivist grounded theory approach was applied. This qualitative study started with the researcher’s auto-ethnography, demonstrating the emersion of the researcher in the explored field to gain a richness of data. This was followed by in-depth interviews with data triangulation from three groups: students, business event organisers, and education institution administrators. The combination of different methods reflected the holistic and critical research approach within the research paradigm, with a relativistic ontology, a subjectivist epistemology, and a naturalistic method. In the first stage of auto-ethnography, the researcher became an ‘insider’ at two business events in China and used personal experience to gain a fuller understanding of volunteering in this context. In the second stage, semi-structured interviews captured the perspectives of 20 students, 10 organisers, and 9 education institution administrators. Data were then analysed by a two-stage coding process using NVivo. Five themes and two frameworks of motivations and conceptualization emerged from the analysis. The identified motivations were complex, with students driven by instrumental and self-centred motives, demonstrating the characteristics of reflexive volunteers. Volunteering was a tool to construct distinctive personal identities and achieve self-realization. Regarding the concept of student volunteering at business events, participants had a broad understanding relating to this phenomenon. The voluntary exchange nature was prominent with symbolic, productive, and economic elements. Monetary remunerations were accepted and the behaviours were not purely students’ free choice, however, the voluntary spirit formed a distinctive line between volunteering at business events and other social activities. The results illustrated the complexity of the concept by encapsulating notions of reflexive volunteering, personal benefits, payment, exchange nature, voluntary spirit, and independent choice. Based on the exploration of motivation and conceptualization, it was identified that the phenomenon under research was a Chinese culturally specific construction of volunteering with the concepts of zhi yuan (volunteering) and zhi yuan zhe (volunteer(s)) demonstrating the culturally-situated understanding. Students’ zhi yuan service at business events was multi-dimensional and paradoxical, which transcended altruism/solidarity explanations for volunteer motivation and the dichotomy of paid employment/unpaid work. The findings contribute to the cultural understanding of volunteering and suggests further debate about the understanding of volunteering in different countries to capture the complexities of the embedded sociality residing in volunteering practices. The results of this research have important implications for scholars and practitioners in terms of volunteering research, volunteer management, and volunteer programme establishment.</p>

STUDENT VOLUNTEERING AT BUSINESS EVENTS IN CHINA: MOTIVATIONS AND CONCEPTUALIZATION

<p>With the continuous growth of the global event industry, the importance of event volunteering has been widely acknowledged, while the understanding beyond sports events is overlooked. Moreover, the current literature on event volunteering is very Western-centric, and volunteering in different cultural contexts needs to be further explored. China is undergoing substantial economic and social changes and scholarly attention has been given to its tourism development. However, little is known about volunteering in the Chinese context. This thesis examines student volunteering at business events in China by studying students’ motivations for getting involved in volunteer activities at business events and conceptualization of this phenomenon. An adapted constructivist grounded theory approach was applied. This qualitative study started with the researcher’s auto-ethnography, demonstrating the emersion of the researcher in the explored field to gain a richness of data. This was followed by in-depth interviews with data triangulation from three groups: students, business event organisers, and education institution administrators. The combination of different methods reflected the holistic and critical research approach within the research paradigm, with a relativistic ontology, a subjectivist epistemology, and a naturalistic method. In the first stage of auto-ethnography, the researcher became an ‘insider’ at two business events in China and used personal experience to gain a fuller understanding of volunteering in this context. In the second stage, semi-structured interviews captured the perspectives of 20 students, 10 organisers, and 9 education institution administrators. Data were then analysed by a two-stage coding process using NVivo. Five themes and two frameworks of motivations and conceptualization emerged from the analysis. The identified motivations were complex, with students driven by instrumental and self-centred motives, demonstrating the characteristics of reflexive volunteers. Volunteering was a tool to construct distinctive personal identities and achieve self-realization. Regarding the concept of student volunteering at business events, participants had a broad understanding relating to this phenomenon. The voluntary exchange nature was prominent with symbolic, productive, and economic elements. Monetary remunerations were accepted and the behaviours were not purely students’ free choice, however, the voluntary spirit formed a distinctive line between volunteering at business events and other social activities. The results illustrated the complexity of the concept by encapsulating notions of reflexive volunteering, personal benefits, payment, exchange nature, voluntary spirit, and independent choice. Based on the exploration of motivation and conceptualization, it was identified that the phenomenon under research was a Chinese culturally specific construction of volunteering with the concepts of zhi yuan (volunteering) and zhi yuan zhe (volunteer(s)) demonstrating the culturally-situated understanding. Students’ zhi yuan service at business events was multi-dimensional and paradoxical, which transcended altruism/solidarity explanations for volunteer motivation and the dichotomy of paid employment/unpaid work. The findings contribute to the cultural understanding of volunteering and suggests further debate about the understanding of volunteering in different countries to capture the complexities of the embedded sociality residing in volunteering practices. The results of this research have important implications for scholars and practitioners in terms of volunteering research, volunteer management, and volunteer programme establishment.</p>

Portraying Informal Digital Learning of English from Management, Beliefs, and Practices

In a couple of years, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) previous works reported various informal digital learning of English (IDLE) activities within and around video games that could enhance student-gamer vocabulary outcomes; receptive and productive language skills; and language socialization. The lack of multidisciplinary literature reviews between IDLE and language policy (LP) gives this study to open discussion on both areas. The urgency of this study is the high adoption of IDLE framework without considering LP where the reason for student’s engagement from MMORPG activities can be explained. This study aims to portray IDLE practitioner's activities in MMORPG from language management, beliefs, and practices. Following the long-term process, the data were generated from auto-ethnography and photo-elicitation that were taken from in-game and out-of-game activities. This article found three major findings. First, the management of MMORPG provoked gamers to communicate as a part of the game mission, and the guild could potentially develop top-down and bottom-up LP. Second, the value of language in the community played role in the decision-making language use from the negotiation process. Third, English and Mandarin dominated language practices from different interlocutors in various forms such as language in MMORPG’s context, code mixing, and abbreviation from multilingual sides giving various reading texts in contexts. The high status of English is still dominated by out-of-game language practices. There are two major implications in theory and praxis that would be discussed in this study.Keywords: Auto-ethnography, IDLE, language policy, MMORPG, and multilingual environment