Who Gets to Be in The Guild?

While media studies have frequently assessed the importance of representation, research in this area has often been siloed by institutional and methodological norms that define academics as “gender”, “race”, or “class” scholars, rather than inclusive scholars of all these and more. This paper thus responds to recent calls for more intersectional work by simultaneously addressing the overlapping representations of race, gender, and gamer identity, and their relation to Lorde’s concept of the mythical norm, in the popular webseries, The Guild (YouTube, 2007-2013). Via a detailed, inductive thematic analysis of the show’s two characters of color, Zaboo and Tinkerballa, we find a doubly problematic intersection between standard “gamer identity” tropes and gendered Asian/American stereotypes. The show forecloses on its potential to be truly diverse and reinforces the oppressive, marginalizing practices it tries to mock, suggesting that gaming culture will not change until we address its intersecting axes of power and exclusion. This research also demonstrates how the constructed identity of media audiences-- in this case, stereotypical “gamer” identity-- can exacerbate and reaffirm existing power disparities in representation. We suggest that media scholars remain attentive to the intersecting articulations of media consumer and individual identities in considering how representation can influence systems of inclusion and exclusion, as well as viewers’ lived outcomes.

To Be #Celts Today

The aim of this chapter is to define the characters of the online neo-Celtic Italian society, especially their religious beliefs, through the observation of their activities on blogs and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Social media became, in fact, the main diffusion channel for these religions, replacing forums and other kinds of online communities as virtual places where people are allowed to interact with others who share their own spirituality. Within neo-paganism, some groups belonging to this religion started, during the last decade, identifying themselves with a more specific name, that is neo-Celtic instead of neo-pagan, that clearly defines the group as a part of pre-Christian cultural heritage. In this chapter, the author will attempt to define the characteristics of these neo-pagan groups focussing on their self-constructed identity and their relationship with the larger society.

“Don't tell me that I don't exist”:

This article discusses the ways national identity is constructed and practiced in North Macedonia. Based on data collected in 2015 during fieldwork in the Macedonian city of Bitola, and, especially, in the village of Trnovo and the city of Ohrid, the article explains how various notions of Macedonianness are constructed and politicized.To do this, several analytical prisms characteristic to the field of nationalism studies are used. The Macedonians' need for having their constructed identity recognized has its roots in Macedonia's turbulent national and international political environment. Even so, the evidence collected in the interviews with local informants will highlight how Macedonianness is often practiced by marking the rejection of other national identifications. In particular, the article demonstrates how the idea of antique national roots marks an attempt to re-use available historical materials on two different levels: to boost national pride and to legitimize political claims made by some Macedonian politicians.

Constitutional Alchemy

In ‘The End of Law’, Bill Scheuerman illustrates the ways normativity, context and decision interlace, putting the lie to Carl Schmitt’s claim that decision is pure will. In doing so, Scheuerman gestures toward a truth about the alchemical nature of constitutions. Like decisions, I argue, constitutions are alchemical mechanisms for actualizing norms and normativizing facts. They accomplish this in part through mediating between dynamic (individual and political) selves before and after the moment of decision or coming-into-force. Schmitt’s error – or perhaps his strategy – is to make static this dynamic process of political self-formation. Viewed as static, it is more difficult to discern the process of normativizing facts and concretizing norms. I show how contemporary populist authoritarians are particularly skilled at harnessing this strategy. Populist authoritarians often use constitutional change to consolidate not just power but constructed identity. They are able to do so because constitutions provide this strategy of dynamic identity formation, which, by generating new normative imperatives, in turn shores up legitimacy.

“Señora, diak!”: Co-Constructed Identity of a Foreigner in Timor-Leste

This article takes place in not one taxi, but all the taxis I have caught in Timor-Leste, encapsulating first encounter conversations I have had across the country, where my “otherness” as a Señora, an Australian who towers over the local population is contrasted to my knowledge of the country. I take a reflexive approach to explore how my identity as a work colleague and researcher has been constructed by many factors. Such encounters as I typify here challenge me to consider who I am and what is expected of me as a sensitive and ethical adviser and researcher.

Committee chair as a jointly constructed identity at Chinese PhD dissertation defences

This study aims to investigate how the identity of committee chair is constructed in academic interaction based on data from seven Chinese PhD dissertation defences. The analysis of the data shows that, while the identity of committee chair is mainly constructed by the chairs themselves, it is also constituted by the organisers of the events, PhD candidates, and other committee members in the dissertation defence interaction. Thus, the construction of the committee chair identity is the result of the joint work done by various parties at different moments of the academic event, and the chair identity is an interactional achievement. The complexity of the identity construction reflects the participants’ fulfilment of their own rights and obligations in the academic community of practice and the achievement of specific communicative goals in a given context. It is hoped that this study can shed some light on the understanding of identity construction at PhD dissertation defences in the Chinese context and the investigation into identity construction from an interactional perspective.

Chapter 3: Just for the casuals? Leisure and learning in eikaiwa

Through a narrative telling of his journey as an eikaiwa teacher and researcher, Daniel Hooper takes on the issue of “fun” or “leisure” within eikaiwa teaching in this chapter. He claims that while the notion of eikaiwa teachers being “fun” is often marked as cause for eikaiwa being positioned outside of “serious” education, the socially-constructed identity of the “entertainer” is by no means restricted to eikaiwa. Furthermore, he also argues that “fun” has undeservedly been given a bad name in the field and that, even in the face of social/professional stigma, eikaiwa teachers can craft their own valid “educator” identities.

3. Given or constructed? Identity in cultural anthropology

‘Who are we?’ is just as tricky a question as ‘Who am I?’ Humanity is one, but at the same time divided into multiple groups. Humans exhibit many variations, notably race, language, and religion. These features constitute ‘ethnicity’, marking what seem to be clear distinctions; yet their usefulness for a coherent classification is limited. They are contingent, and hence subject to perpetual change, and they are vague, allowing for partial and shifting attachment. What is more, how we see ourselves often does not match how others see us. ‘Given or constructed? Identity in cultural anthropology’ considers the issues of ethnographic imagination, administrative classifications, ascription and assertion, voluntary attachment, stereotypes, and ethnocentrism.

Constructing professional identity of an active subject:examples of family assistants

According to the accepted understanding in this article, the professional identity expresses itself through the activity. Identity understood in this way is a social construct formed between the expression of the active subject and the impression of others. The text presents conclusions regarding the process of identifying assistants based on the specificity of their activity expressed in style, functions and identification acts that occur in specific situational contexts. Considerations regarding professional identity as constructed in the intersubjective space, in the course of the activity of influencing Other. The professional identity is under the dynamics of the influence of the transmitted self-images and constructed identity representations.