[View the story "Where do we belong? Whose side are you on? " on Storify] Where do we belong? Whose side are you on? We spoke to Les Back, an academic at Goldsmiths College University of London. The aim is to establish an academic view of where the study of race and ethnicity is today and what the terms mean for people in a globalised and the securitization debate . We asked Les three questions which we will discuss below. Storified by raman · Tue, Jul 24 2012 08:24:15 Can you explain where your interests lie in studying race and ethnicity?Going to school in the 1970s really defined the debate around racism and multiculturalism in London. The emergence of the National Front in the 1970s brought about a new white community. Individuals growing up in that era began to witness the intergration of different people from different cultures. Where do you feel the field of studying race and ethnicity is today?The problematic point for this emergence of an intergrated multiculturalism arose in the 1980s and 1990s. From the 1990s our conceptual language of this multicultualism began to surface. From the 20th century onwards, the focus was around the identity of race was to be understood. For Les Back we need to find a more effective way to understand the migrant experience, the world is increasingly becoming globalised. In this new culture individuals are simultaneously from different places. The catgegories with which we identify ourselves with are not supple enough to be fixed. We then need a plural understanding around the debates that arose in the 1980s and 1990s. We need a language that describes this experince. We are moving to the point of asking where do we belong?Our lives are made up of a profound hyperconnectedness of experience, our lives are distributed globally. Furthermore we need define people in a place, securitization (war on terror) and globalization opens up space for how racism is articulated.Below Les Back talks about the culture of racism with reference to social identity and popular culture (UK Summer riots) Interview: Les Back on the 2011 riots in the UKriotarchives What do the terms race and ethnicity mean today?The categories we use to describe race and ethnicity are linked to historical processes.Political struggles happen around language and around catgeories.The categories that we use to describe ourselves are not fixed, race is determined by history and hierarchy of the human family. The forms of making difference blur into cultural categories.To elaborate, in the name of labelling difference (examples include the census categories), the categories in fact reduce the differences between people. Forms of monitoring mechanisms reduces and flattens the experiences of people, that is the paradox that is formed when we think about the categories we use to identify ourselves. It is a pragmatic reduction for trying to do a noble act such as identifying any inequalities formed for individuals of an ethnic minority background.
Storified by raman · Tue, Jul 24 2012 08:24:15
[View the story "Concepts and Terms" on Storify] Concepts and Terms Below we have listed the definitions of the terms that are relevent to our paper. We have quoted from the work of David Mason (1995). For Mason there is no concept of race in the biological sense, rather there are social interactions that are constituted as social relationships. Ethnicity is also a relational concept " the existence of one ethnic group or identity presumes another" Storified by raman · Fri, Jul 13 2012 05:40:55 Race “Race is a social relationship in which structural positions and social actions are ordered, justified and explained by reference to systems of symbols and believes which emphasize the social and cultural relevance of biologically rooted characteristics” (Mason:1995:8) Ethnicity “Ethnicity is then situational. The implication is that people have different ethnic identities in different situations. Thus it is possible to be simultaneously English, British and European, stressing these identities more or less strongly in different aspects of daily life. Similarly the same person might identify as Gujerati, Indian, Hindu, East African Asian or British depending on situation, immediate objectives and the responses and behaviour of others. (Mason:1995:12) Minority“It represents another attempt to find a satisfactory alternative to race; an attempt to recognise the diversity of the bases upon which oppression could take place; and a means of identifying the common features of phenomena such as anti-Semitism, white racism, ethnocentrism and nationalism” (Mason:1995:14) Ethnic MinorityThe term ethnic minority is widely understood in Britain to denote a category of people whose recent origins lie in the countries of the New Commonwealth and Pakistan; in other words in former British colonies in the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, Africa and sometimes the so called Far East” (Mason: 1995:15) Dreamstime Sodahead Swprsc
Storified by raman · Fri, Jul 13 2012 05:40:55
Ethnicity “Ethnicity is then situational. The implication is that people have different ethnic identities in different situations. Thus it is possible to be simultaneously English, British and European, stressing these identities more or less strongly in different aspects of daily life. Similarly the same person might identify as Gujerati, Indian, Hindu, East African Asian or British depending on situation, immediate objectives and the responses and behaviour of others. (Mason:1995:12)
Minority“It represents another attempt to find a satisfactory alternative to race; an attempt to recognise the diversity of the bases upon which oppression could take place; and a means of identifying the common features of phenomena such as anti-Semitism, white racism, ethnocentrism and nationalism” (Mason:1995:14)
Ethnic MinorityThe term ethnic minority is widely understood in Britain to denote a category of people whose recent origins lie in the countries of the New Commonwealth and Pakistan; in other words in former British colonies in the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, Africa and sometimes the so called Far East” (Mason: 1995:15)
[View the story "What does the term Race mean" on Storify] What does the term Race mean The meaning of the term race has been debated widely over many years in academic study, as well as by policy makers, politicians and the public alike. The term race holds many definitions in academia, ranging from distinguishing a person by their physical appearance, to the construction of race. Storified by raman · Wed, Jun 13 2012 04:44:47 According to the Race Relations Act 1976 discriminating against another person on racial grounds refers to “racial grounds” means any of the following grounds, namely colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins;“racial group” means a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins, and references to a person’s racial group refer to any racial group into which he falls.The fact that a racial group comprises two or more distinct racial groups does not prevent it from constituting a particular racial group for the purposes of this Act. Throughout various discussions on race, the term itself has been connected to to term ethnicity and this is evident in many academic, political and general discussion. What racial differences signify are not static, they change over time with people and their experiences. An example includes the work of the theorist Yasmin Gunaratnam in her book “Researching race and ethnicity” ( Gunaratnam, Y, (2003), Researching race and ethnicity, Sage, London) . She discusses in her argument about the reliance upon categorical approaches to race and ethnicity.‘the conceptual fixing of “race” and ethnicty is dangerous in terms of the limitations that it can place upon analysis and because it can serve to produce and reproduce wider forms of essentialism, stereotyping and racism” (19)” I point to the need for a doubled research practice in which researchers need to work both with and against racial and ethnic categories at the levels of epistemology and methodology” (29) Within the British census there is a reliance upon objective categories of race and ethnicity and in turn these categories create tension between establishing cultural identity and racial differences.“There is the perverse relationship between theoretical recognition of race and ethnicity as social categories that contain and overflow with multiple meanings and the real present day political and other reasons why essentialist identities continue to be invoked and often deeply felt” (33) Essentialism “Processes of essentialism and their uses in research can be witnessed in the driving impetus to categorize the bodies, experiences, practices and even the thoughts of individuals and groups in relation to race and ethnicity” (29)‘How we work with categories of race and ethnicity in research is the analytic attention given to how essentialism can construct particular racialised effects at any time and how these racialised effects may intersect with and/or obscure other forms of social and personal difference” (30) The term race contains much more meaning for individuals than is presented by the objective racial categories presented in the census. “Race and ethnicity have been seen as variegated social categories that are in a constant state of production and negotiation with other forms of difference and within specific social, historical and interactional arenas, whilst also serving to constitute these arena’s” (32) Gunaratnam argues for a “doubled – practice” approach to help develop a theoretical and political approach to researching race and ethnicity. “it means challenging and seeking to transform the essentialism of categorical approaches to race and ethnicity. It means connecting theory with lived experience, where the claiming of person-hood through categories of race , ethnicity, gender and sexuality needs to be recognized and examined critically as part of a potential move towards social transformation” )35)
Storified by raman · Wed, Jun 13 2012 04:44:47
Within the British census there is a reliance upon objective categories of race and ethnicity and in turn these categories create tension between establishing cultural identity and racial differences.“There is the perverse relationship between theoretical recognition of race and ethnicity as social categories that contain and overflow with multiple meanings and the real present day political and other reasons why essentialist identities continue to be invoked and often deeply felt” (33)
Essentialism “Processes of essentialism and their uses in research can be witnessed in the driving impetus to categorize the bodies, experiences, practices and even the thoughts of individuals and groups in relation to race and ethnicity” (29)‘How we work with categories of race and ethnicity in research is the analytic attention given to how essentialism can construct particular racialised effects at any time and how these racialised effects may intersect with and/or obscure other forms of social and personal difference” (30)
The term race contains much more meaning for individuals than is presented by the objective racial categories presented in the census.
“Race and ethnicity have been seen as variegated social categories that are in a constant state of production and negotiation with other forms of difference and within specific social, historical and interactional arenas, whilst also serving to constitute these arena’s” (32)
Gunaratnam argues for a “doubled – practice” approach to help develop a theoretical and political approach to researching race and ethnicity. “it means challenging and seeking to transform the essentialism of categorical approaches to race and ethnicity. It means connecting theory with lived experience, where the claiming of person-hood through categories of race , ethnicity, gender and sexuality needs to be recognized and examined critically as part of a potential move towards social transformation” )35)
[View the story "The British Census - A History " on Storify] The British Census – A History The British Parliament passed the Census Act in 1880, and the first census for England and Wales was produced on 10th March 1801. The head of each household is asked to fill in the survey on behalf of all members of the household. Storified by raman · Thu, Jun 07 2012 06:17:35 Direct from the official Office for National Statistics “Census HistorySince 1801, every ten years the nation has set aside one day for the census – a count of all people and households. It is the most complete source of information about the population that we have. The latest census was held on Sunday 27 March 2011.Every effort is made to include everyone, and that is why the census is so important. It is the only survey which provides a detailed picture of the entire population, and is unique because it covers everyone at the same time and asks the same core questions everywhere. This makes it easy to compare different parts of the country.The information the census provides allows central and local government, health authorities and many other organizations to target their resources more effectively and to plan housing, education, health and transport services for years to come.In England and Wales, the census is planned and carried out by the Office for National Statistics. Elsewhere in the UK, responsibility lies with the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.”“Why we have a censusWe all use public services such as schools, health services, roads and libraries. These services need to be planned, and in such a way that they keep pace with fast-changing patterns of modern life. We need accurate information on the numbers of people, where they live and what their needs are.Every ten years the census provides a benchmark. Uniquely, it gives us a complete picture of the nation. It counts the numbers of people living in each city, town and country area. It tells us about each area and its population, including the balance of young and old, what jobs people do, and the type of housing they live in.Because the same questions are asked and the information is recorded in the same way throughout the UK, the census allows us to compare different groups of people across the entire nation.The information it provides enables billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to be targeted where it is needed most. The census gives us invaluable facts about:Population- An accurate count of the population in each local area helps the Government to calculate the size of grants it allocates each local authority and health authority. In turn, these authorities use census information when planning services within their areas.HealthData – on the age and socio-economic make-up of the population, and more specifically on general health, long-term illness and carers enables the Government to plan health and social services, and to allocate resources.HousingInformation- on housing and its occupants measures inadequate accommodation and, with information about the way we live as households, indicates the need for new housing.Employment- The census shows how many people work in different occupations and industries throughout the country, helping government and businesses to plan jobs and training policies and to make informed investment decisions.TransportInformation – collected on travel to and from work, and on the availability of cars, contributes to the understanding of pressures on transport systems and to the planning of roads and public transport.Ethnic GroupData – on ethnic groups help to identify the extent and nature of disadvantage in Britain and to measure the success of equal opportunities policies. The information helps central and local government to allocate resources and plan programmes to take account of the needs of minority groups.”
Storified by raman · Thu, Jun 07 2012 06:17:35