Context, Identity and Human Rights: A Journey in Sociology and Anthropology
Angela Weber
As an ambitious sixteen year old, just returned from my first trip to New York City, I became infatuated with the idea of attending NYU and becoming a dance major. The “Big Apple” was as exotic to me as any place and I desperately sought freedom from the small town life that I knew. In my college search I scoured the country for institutions with opportunities to dance and study abroad. Ironically, St. Olaf and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, were the only two schools I applied to. The small community feel of St. Olaf ultimately brought me here. Still, I was curious to explore and find my place in the world. My major changed from dance to history, and I finally settled on sociology and anthropology midway through sophomore year.
I followed the advice to sample several disciplines before deciding on a major. My first two years included a selection of history, economics, psychology, English, management studies, and sociology courses. Eventually, sociology and anthropology proved to be the most interesting to me. A study abroad experience during interim of sophomore year helped me to realize the significance of this major. I was in Martinique living with a French-speaking host family and one night at dinner my host-mom asked why Americans made such a big deal out of Bill Clinton having an affair. She said in Martinique, the number of mistresses a political leader has equates to his ability as leader. I was puzzled, because in my opinion, most Americans would probably not agree with her. Since it was my first time outside the country, it dawned on me during this conversation how dramatically context shapes experience and ideas and perked my curiosity to learn more. This example is proof that in these subjects my global aspirations could become a reality in terms of exploring the world and better understanding its dynamics.
The five pieces of work I chose for my portfolio represent the progress I have made in the major over the past three years and a theme of interest: context and identity. My first attempt at sociological analysis was in Intro to Sociology in a paper titled “Explorations in the Sociological Imagination.” The assignment analyzes Benjamin Barber’s clash of civilizations in Jihad vs. McWorld and Samuel Huntington’s analysis of American identity in Who Are We? Reading it now, I am trying to determine if it is the product of an all-nighter or just an ill attempt by a beginner in the study. The phrases are crude, the thoughts incomplete, and my analysis shallow. The basic ideas of sociology are present in the paper, but my rudimentary understanding of the concepts stand out in its poor style.
Since that time, I have learned more about the ideas behind these theses. In Religion, Culture and Community and the Arab World I learned more about the foundations of religious fundamentalism. The Arab World also examined the danger of assigning monolithic descriptions to groups of people and polarizing these groups as a “clash of civilizations.” In Global Interdependence, we critiqued the culture of capitalism and identified certain characteristics, such as inequality, that are inherent to the system. Discussing liberation theories in Sociological and Anthropological Theory and Senior Seminar, we recognized the agency of individuals to make decisions. These expanded concepts have given me a better understanding of and argument against Barber’s thesis. In addition, after studying the intersection of history, social institutions and personal biography, the construction of meaning, and complexity of human behavior in both theory classes I view identity and Huntington’s argument with a more critical eye toward the priority he gives to white, Anglo-Saxon values. Examining the work of these authors began a journey in the critical analysis of ideas. Disputing others’ arguments I am forced to solidify my own ideas as well.
My next portfolio piece, Stories, Traditions and a Small Place, was written for Global Interdependence shortly after returning from spending fall semester in Italy. In my Italian sociology course, Social Issues in Southern Italy, I was introduced to Eric Hobsbawn’s theory of “invented traditions.” I was fascinated by this topic because I could see it so vividly in the Italian cities I visited. Prior to its unification in 1861, Italy was comprised of many city-states, each unique and vastly different from the next. Post-unification, the country had to consciously construct an identity under a national banner using actual or created traditions, often drawing on the glorious legacy of the Roman Empire for inspiration. National identity was purposefully constructed for a sense of cultural unity. In Italy, invented traditions enabled the creation of an “imagined community.” In Senior Seminar, we discuss this concept of imagined community, originated by Benedict Anderson to represent consciously constructed group identities. These concepts also lead us to raise moral and ethical questions about what is desirable in a community and how do we go about achieving those aims.
In this paper I expanded on stories for their capacity to invent traditions and give meaning and continuity to history. I also examined the role of colonialism and Eurocentrism in creating traditions for the oppression and submission of colonial subjects. Jamaica Kincaid offered an example of this idea by examining the stories Britain had imposed on colonial Antigua and a counter-example by creating a new story for Antiguan society. Clifford Geertz’s “thick description” also applies to this theme because it entails digging beneath the surface to uncover the meanings and origins of history to understand how we conceive of our present situation (Delaney, 15). Kincaid utilized thick description of Antiguan society to discover her individual agency within the confines of post-colonial social structure.
Later in the semester I created a structural analysis of Morocco for the Arab World. I chose this course because I knew so little prior to the class about Arab culture, yet knowledge of it is becoming ever more important for understanding current events in our increasingly interdependent world. This assignment provided an opportunity to utilize the skills I had gained up to that point by examining Moroccan newspaper articles, integrating the prominent structural themes, and relating them to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. I learned about progress being made in education, religion, family, economics, politics, and environmental issues showcasing Morocco as a leader in the Arab world.
The most intriguing aspect of this country was the mixture of continuity with the past and change for the future. While maintaining a Muslim identity Morocco embraces modernization and democratization. The transformation of social institutions combined with the historical context brought about incredible changes for individuals. Widespread education and literacy programs empower women and children, infrastructure projects strengthen remote areas, the Family Code promotes equality between men and women, and a focus on Arab dialogue helps individuals recognize, appreciate and change their position in the world. Using this mode of investigation I was able to uncover social values and prominent issues in Morocco and gain a valuable tool for researching future travel destinations.
New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Class and Identity is a more recent example of my ability to analyze class readings and follows the same themes of context and identity. Sherry Ortner’s ethnography, New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Culture, and the Class of ‘58, discusses the general prosperity of that era and the success of this graduating class specifically. This paper, written for Anthropological Theory, focuses on how the high school class negotiated their identities in the context of historical, structural and personal factors. The author states, “the main point of this book has been the simple, yet very complex, idea that history makes people, but people make history” (Ortner, 277).
I find this comment especially relevant to my situation as a soon-to-be graduate. As I am contemplating which direction to move in, I am also hearing that my generation will have a much more difficult task than the generation before us in terms of being equally or more well off than our parents. This book encouraged me to examine how certain opportunities are available to me given the larger context and what role my individual agency will play in achieving my goals. To reiterate the conclusion of my paper, “we are agents constantly reconfiguring our identities relative to our experiences.”
The final piece for this portfolio, written for the Ken Olson Essay Contest, summarizes several major themes from within the Sociology/Anthropology major and parallels them with the St. Olaf mission of global perspectives and citizenship. Not only did this essay provide me with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on four years of learning, but it helped me recognize how I have been preparing to take action in my future in terms of critical thinking and developing a skill set. Sociology and anthropology have raised difficult questions, especially “What kind of world is possible?” As a result of the education I have received I feel confident to confront difficult questions with thoughtful responses and ask challenging questions myself.
In the chronological progression of these works each piece becomes slightly more concrete and deeper, both in my analysis and my personal development. As graduation quickly approaches I am forced to confront the question “What will I do with my life?” For the first time there does not appear to be a “natural” next step. From very early on I knew I wanted my vocational path to be “meaningful” in two ways. First is achieving self fulfillment and satisfaction in my vocation, in a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs sort of way. Second is pursuing meaningful work in the larger sense of helping others. The form that these ideals will culminate in is still unknown to me. Anthropology, in following the Clifford Geertz method of “thick description” for discovering meaning, brought my ideas of what is meaningful to a different level. I have learned to explore, scrutinize and interpret surroundings, ideologies, relationships, and actions with a critical eye whether I am encountering something for the first time or re-examining a familiar ritual.
My desire for a meaningful experience, in part, led to an internship with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. This experience was groundbreaking for me in several ways. For one, I realized the importance of education for cross-cultural understanding, dissolving differences, and empowering individuals. I also understood how vastly deprived people around the world are of education. This internship also began my journey into discovering how difficult it is to define or construct “human rights” and to implement what we would like to consider undeniable universal rights. Finally, I began to understand the complexity of recent civil wars, such as in Guatemala and Liberia, and the influence of global interconnectedness and the legacy of colonialism on these conflicts. What I struggled with in concluding my internship experience is why human rights abuses, like genocide, occur and why, as an international community, we have failed in many ways to recognize our connections historically and as human beings. Furthermore, how do you construct identity in a context of violence?
One conflict situation I became interested in and more informed on as a result of my internship was the Liberian Civil War (1989-2003). Liberia was established as a colony for freed American slaves in 1812, with support from the U.S. government, and became an independent state in 1847. The settlers, known as the Americo-Liberians, retained American traditions of clothing and housing and continued to speak English. In fact, the Liberian flag was created closely resembling the U.S. flag. The recent civil war stems from animosity and cultural differences between the minority of former slaves in charge of government and the indigenous people of the hinterland frustrated with widespread poverty and suppression. In 1980, a coup d’etat brought 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule to an end, but the period following is identified by declining living standards, human rights abuses, corruption, and further suppression. On December 24, 1989, Americo-Liberian Charles Taylor and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) invaded Liberia from Côte d’Ivoire and began a civil war that killed 200,000, created one million refugees, and one million internally displaced people. Killings, mutilations, recruitment of child soldiers, rape and persecution marked of period of Taylor’s leadership (Liberian TRC Project).
From the materials I studied during my internship I began to understand more of the complex context of the war, including the involvement, or lack thereof, of the international community. A Liberian man I worked with explained that Liberians are very aware of America’s role in their history, while Americans know virtually nothing about Liberia. From a documentary film, I learned the frustration of Liberians with the U.S. for our non-involvement and lack of interest in the conflict and its resolution. On a different note, the Mano River Union, formed between Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in 1973, with the aim of economic cooperation, was influential in fueling the conflict. Weapons and combatants flowed across the borders, insurgent groups and governments used “blood” diamonds and timber to finance the fighting, and governments supported rebel groups (Liberian TRC Project). In both examples, the countries acted in their own self-interest and did not respond to the blatant disrespect for human life.
What makes such displays of violence so prominent on a global scale? “Violence in modern societies… is both institutional and symbolic, though no less real and omnipresent” (Gilsenan, 106). Violence serves several purposes in societies, beginning with the military as a foundation for many nations and a measure of power. “War is part of the enchantment of the state, of what makes it appear magical and worthy of sacrifice” (Gilsenan, 101). Conflict also requires an enemy to create an in-group/out-group complex. “’Violence’ is thus identified as a characteristic of ‘the dysfunctional,’ ‘perverse,’ or ‘dangerous,’ some essential quality of ‘them’ against whom it is possible to mobilize opinion and virtuous force” (Gilsenan, 108). Therefore, we are defining ourselves not only in terms of who we are, but who we are not.
Conflict seems to be embedded in the nature of many societies around the world because military structures, as a base for nation-states, require opposition. What challenges does this system create to establishing peace and equality? Part of the problem evolves from the language we use when terms like defense dilute the inherent violence. “Such a language of functional, conflictless social order disturbed only by the irrational or deviant, conceals the creation and development of greater social inequalities. It also helps to sanctify the state as the sole legitimate user of ‘good’ violence” (Gilsenan, 108). The language of human rights in international law is a more recently constructed phenomenon with several victories and defeats of its own. Raphael Lemkin, the originator of the term genocide said “’large countries can defend themselves by arms; small countries need the protection of law’” (Power, 53). However, legal definitions also carry pitfalls. Lemkin successfully brought genocide into public jargon and consciousness, but in many cases its too narrowly defined criteria kept countries from recognizing and intervening in situations of mass killings, such as the Cambodian genocide.
The widespread and intensely complicated activities of violence occurring around the world appear overwhelming and hopeless, but I believe education lies at the core of the solution. Constructing a positive identity in a context of violence begins by giving individuals a voice to articulate their problems and seek peaceful solutions. Empowering people in this way could effectively dissolve differences. Michel Foucault argues that “knowledge is power.” His theory recognizes the capacity for knowledge to influence while simultaneously enabling the influence necessary for mainstreaming ideas. What gives power hold is that “it produces things, it induces pleasure, it forms knowledge, it produces discourse; it must be considered a productive network which runs through the entire social body” (Nealon and Giroux, 201). Schools provide an excellent network for achieving power as self-fulfillment and opportunity in education, rather than power as domination.
Working with Minnesota Advocate’s Education Program provided a wonderful example of the successes of making cross-cultural learning an educational priority. Their immigration curriculum, Energy of a Nation, exposes middle- and high-school students to the historical and current factors propelling immigration and the positive role of immigrants in American society. By providing information before stereotypes and hatred have an opportunity to develop we are preparing a future generation for new ideologies and discourses. When the world said “never again” after the Holocaust, we did not make an adequate attempt to change the world that produces such violence. Renewing the directive of education and praising its accomplishments we could overcome these problems.
While I believe in the capacity of the human spirit to prevail, I am less optimistic about the prospects for world peace. In analyzing the problem of evil, we may never agree on the difference between right and wrong or settle on the moral and ethical issues that make it difficult to confront these issues. However, my experiences abroad, internship, and coursework in social and cultural investigation have inspired me to become involved in the solution. From these activities I have gained wonderful insight into the capacity I have for influencing cultural exchange as a teacher of English. As I pursue destinations abroad I realize that this experience will have a greater impact than simply satisfying my desire to see the world. In a small way I can contribute to creating more peaceful global relations by sharing my knowledge with others. By expanding the context of another’s education I am having an influence on their identity.
My short-term goal of teaching English abroad does not necessarily directly apply to my long-term goals. Sadly, I do not have strong career goals at the moment. I am currently focusing on the next year or two as “transition years” to fulfill my travel ambitions. When I return from abroad, I hope find a job with a corporation that has opportunities for advancement and travel. I would also like to attend graduate school within the next five years, possibly for international business. My experience with a non-profit organization was enjoyable, but I do not think this type of work would motivate me on a daily basis. However, I hope to stay involved with Minnesota Advocates as a volunteer.
Something that I have learned and embraced about myself during college is my tendency to prepare, rather than to plan. While I am always thinking ahead, I like to be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities as they come. I think this part of my identity has enabled me to pursue many of the amazing experiences I have had. I am adventurous, confident, and compassionate. These qualities will help me find “success” in whatever form that eventually takes.
I look forward to the experiences I will encounter in the future because each new context contributes in shaping my identity. Looking back, I see that I am a much different person than when I moved in on Day-One of orientation week. College provided a context for intense exploration of my potential and my purpose. While I am just as curious now as ever, the world no longer represents “exotic,” faraway places. I am part of a complex web of relationships and interdependence with a responsibility to promote compromise, understanding and exchange.
Sources:
Gilsenan, Michael. “On Conflict and Violence.” Exotic No More: Anthropology on the Front Lines. Ed. Jeremy MacClancy. Chicago: The University Press of Chicago, 2002. 99-113.
Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Project. Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. May 18, 2006. <http://liberiatrc.mnadvocates.org/>
Nealon, Jeffery, and Susan Searls Giroux. The Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003.
Ortner, Sherry. New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Culture, and the Class of ’58. London: Duke University Press, 2003.
Power, Samantha. A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2003.
