“So What If I Am Laz?” Irony, Mockery and Humor in Ethnic Integration and Insubordination

This study argues that the ethnic Laz in Turkey resort to irony, humor and mockery to cope with and negotiate the stereotypes, ethnic humor and mockery they encounter in their interactions with outsiders. The trope of irony, humor and mockery have enabled the Laz to navigate the national and regional hierarchies and reproduce their symbolic boundaries regardless of the common and ardent appropriation of Turkishness. In so doing, the Laz can more subtly challenge the official ideology of uniformity. While the public use of Lazuri is still considered a threat to the negotiated boundaries of Lazness, new instruments present creative displays of their ethnic capital which do not contradict present day principles of Turkish nationalism, and offer a legitimate sharing of intimacy without embarrassment. The Laz, like other non-Turkish Muslim peoples of the Black Sea region, abandoned their politically threatening ethnic distinctions, appropriated the capital of Turkishness through their performances, and coped with mockery and stigma by ironizing differences and negotiating, trivializing or selectively appropriating the stereotypes imposed upon them. Ironically, they have “out-performed” ethnic Turks in certain ways, in their search for acceptance as Turks, achieving upward mobility and avoiding forms of stigmatization.

Case Study: Enhancing the Learning Experiences of BAME Students at a University: The University Role

This case study examines the role of a university and academics in improving the learning experiences of BAME students, drawing on student-led participatory action research with Social Sciences BAME students at Bournemouth University (BU henceforth) between 2018-2020. The paper seeks to illuminate the critical role of the university by focusing on three inter-related facets at macro, meso and micro levels (Bronfenbrenner, 1979): financial and temporal/spatial support for students; collaboration between academic staff at departmental and faculty levels to address any issues that arose from student meetings; and its consequential impact on student wellbeing, self-worth and their overall engagement in their learning. I argue that to achieve the utmost improvement in BAME students’ learning experiences, these different levels of the support system need to work together. I further argue that maximising the potentiality of ‘ethnic capital’ (Modood, 2004) could be a powerful resource that could bring significant changes to the experiences of BAME students and subsequent outcomes of their learning during and after university.

The Dark Side of Social Capital: Race, Recidivism, and “Reintegration”

In investigating the problem of racial disparity in the recidivism statistics where the two minority groups—the Malays and Indians—had been historically disproportionately represented relative to the Chinese majority, the findings of the study led to a deconstruction of the conventional inference that the under-representation of the Chinese in the recidivism statistics implied successful mainstream reintegration and criminal desistance. Extending the social capital theoretical framework to the criminal landscape, this study put forth the view, based on interviews with 30 gang members and former custodial officers, that the Chinese possession of more efficacious ethnic capital, accessed and activated in the context of their membership in Chinese secret societies, allowed for the resumption of criminal activities whilst capitalizing on the symbiosis that organized criminal subcultures had with legitimate institutions. The “dark side” of social capital, one that created “network closures,” was evident in the cultural propensity of the Chinese to mobilize “guanxi” (relationships) that bridged conventional social capital with criminal social capital. The net effect of this was the facilitation and concealment of their criminality, thus reducing their representation on their re-arrest and recidivism statistics.

Nation-building mechanisms and correlation of identities: regional dimension (experience of the republics of Mari El and Mordovia, 2013–2019)

Introduction. Nation-building is a long-term historical process that covers many areas, directions and levels. The complex composition of the Russian population and the federative structure actualize its regional dimension. The specifics and dynamics of this dimension are shown on the example of the Republics of Mari El and Mordovia, and their peoples who participated in the formation of the Russian State for centuries. The main tasks touch upon the characterization of regulatory options for the correlation of identities, content and vectors of discursive practices of national authorities, coupling mechanisms of nation-building from the perspective of identity politics to relate to the experience of both republics. Materials and Methods. The main sources were official documents of the Republic of Mari El and the Republic of Mordovia, materials that form the content of Republican Internet portals. The research was based on system, dialectical and institutional approaches, modernist constructivism and instrumentalism. The key methods are historical and diachronic, as well as multi-level and comparative analysis, and document study. Results and Discussion. The paper revealed constants and dominants of the experience of the republics of Mari El and Mordovia in the context of nation-building and identity politics. It defined dynamic changes in the period 2013–2019 and their correlation with the previous development of the Republics as Soviet autonomies and national-state entities within the Russian Federation. It emphasizes the main internal points for the specified period that demonstrate the adjustment of reference points in the ratio of identities. Conclusion. The experience of the Republics of Mari El and Mordovia in the studied perspective is evaluated as positive, but it testifies the maintenance of continuing limitations of the institutional plan both for the positioning of regional elites and for promoting effective mechanisms of nation-building at the regional level. The evolution of their practices is associated with a decrease in the value of ethnic capital as a political tool, reduction / elimination of attributes of post-Soviet strategies for sovereignization, and constructive activation of ethno-cultural organizations in Russian national projects.

Assimilation, Heterolocalism and Ethnic Capital: The Case of an Immigrant Indian Community in America

The article examines the assimilation dynamics and functioning of ethnic organisations of a small immigrant Bengali community in the Kansas City, USA. Indian Bengalis in Overland Park (a suburban neighbourhood) formed a closely knit group and bonding social capital was sustained through activities of ethnic associations, consumption of ethnic amenities, and through weekend parties/get-togethers. Such ethnic bonding and meagre ethnic/racial diversity in the city (compared to the larger cities of the USA) are found to be contributing to slow and limited assimilation of Bengalis to the American society. These findings challenge the existing erudition that assimilation increases with improvement in socio-economic standing and suburbanisation of immigrants. Further, the article finds that assimilation there is segmental and ethnic associations not only provide a comfort zone to the immigrants in a culturally and racially different country but also play a prominent role in preserving the ethnic identity of its members.