Majority versus minority: Governmentality and Muslims in Sweden Roald

This is my notes about Muslims in Sweden, and of of my reading book, although it about Sweden, and some very similar with Norway.

Scandinavia and the Equitable Society

Scandinavian countries have a good track record of gender equality, openness to sexual orientation and same­sex marriage, and a flat social stratification, whereby education is often free, and where those out of work for redundancy, disability and retirement are taken care of by state­funded welfare. In addition, the Scandinavian countries are well known for being proactive in issues of the environment and economic sustainability. They are frequently referred to as holding a feminist ethic, for example in relation to maternal leave and child­care, and regularly appear at the top of the global indexes on quality of life. A European narrative of Scandinavia demarcates them as liberal, free and equal. 北欧国家性别的平等开放，良好的福利，女权主义在北欧国家表现明显。

An alternative interpretation of Scandinavian success, however, would locate these narratives of progress as simply markers of the successful application of neoliberal policies in small, nationally and ethnically cohesive contexts. This might be referred to, for example, as a form of ‘obligated freedom’: accepted so long as it is keeping with those practices of the self that best support the state and the economy. Foucault (2003, 2008) would have termed this a form of bio­political ‘governmentality’, whereby apparatus of the state (arts, politics, education, media) are distilled and distributed, and create subject positions that people come to live through and define themselves by. Indeed, it can be argued that in so­called ‘liberal societies’, the bio­politics of the managed population make radical political resistance much more difficult to enact, because equality is already assumed (but perhaps not questioned) by the people. 斯堪的纳维亚的成功，自由社会，义务自由

Beneath the surface of liberalism in Scandinavian countries is, then, a managed form of freedom and self­expression. Or, put another way, if Scandinavian countries are really that liberal: how can they produce instances such as those we saw in Norway in 2011, when Anders Breivik killed over 70 people in the name of far­right anti­Semitic racism? How is it that, in Scandinavian feminism, we see the denigration and social abjection of those women who are often marked as ‘foreign’ and therefore ‘dirty’ and ‘unclean’? How do right wing political parties manage to proliferate in Scandinavian parliaments with their anti­immigration policies? How much does language play a part in maintaining racial and ethnic hegemony? How liberal is the ‘equitable society’? 斯堪的纳维亚国家是真正的自由吗？女权主义是真正的存在么，自由怎么成为一个平等的社会。

This project will explore different constructs of equality and liberalism as part of the national identity of Scandinavian countries and in how it presents opportunities for equal education and gender mainstreaming policies, against neoliberalism, anti­immigration, the invisibility of ‘race’, and normalization of whiteness in this context. 探讨不同结构的平等和自由作为斯堪的纳维亚民族识别的一部分，和怎样提供平等的教育机会和性别主流化政策，反对新自由主义，反对移民的，隐形的种族在这个正常的苍白的内容。

1. Majority versus Minority: Governmentality and Muslims in Sweden

多数党和少数党，政府和穆斯林

The article talk about the Muslim community in view of majority and minority dynamics in Sweden with focus on the values, attitudes, behaviors, and practices of the Swedish majority influence the minority少数 communities and how majority society’s approach to Muslims and Islam influence both the relationship Muslims and the non-Muslims.穆斯林是伊斯兰的派生词，是顺从真主，致力和平的人就是穆斯林人

9.11 whether this A1-qaida attack on US economic and political symbols of power was really a clash between these two civilizations? To analyze this violent event in view of other factors, first, the globalization of the media, and the Arab-speaking families got access to news from the world, as well as to critical political analyses of their own political leadership, and of the relation between the west and the rest, so it seems that this event is because the political rather than civilizational factors. Secondly, conflict between Muslim regions and the secularized west, third reason, the globalization of the western entertainment culture. Muslin consumers in particular have the impression of a western degenerating culture with sex and violence as he main ingredients. Islamist resistance to western cultural.

Case study: Sweden

Main discussed in Sweden but compare with Norway and in Denmark, to talk about how the relationship between the majority non-muslim population and muslim minority communities influences the behavior through two part: the coverage of immigrants in the media, and the Swedish populist party.

Receiving Sweden:

From 1930s, Sweden became a receiving country, and as the first Muslim community. The tartars established the first Islamic congregation in 1948, despite the increased immigration beginning in the 1940s, mid-1970s that a particular attitude towards immigrants was launched, characterized by the words “equality”, “freedom of choice”, and “partnership”. The article

introduces the rights of minorities “to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language”, thus indicating minority rights even in political and social development.

Group Essay——Week 1

Anthony Luvera transverses in the idea of authorship, participation and pedagogy as an artistic habitude. He reconnoiters the relationship between authorship and participation in the creation process, and investigate the ethics involved when representing people’s lives with photography. Shaun Hides explores the interaction between power, identity and culture within E learning in higher education facilities. With Luvera we question why he started volunteering, is it a white man’s guilt? As a researcher and photographer we believe he did not want to feel as if he was conforming to the power hierarchy that has been set between the homeless and society by doing this he is avoiding ‘the power of the researcher’. Mauss talks about the gift, can we really give a free gift?. “I have never found a man so generous and hospitable that he would not receive a present, nor one so liberal with his money that he would dislike a reward if he could get one“ Mauss,1967).  Luvera gave himself to the volunteers, but at the end of the day he will get paid for his work, overall this was just a project he was making his livelihood from Ethnographic research was conducted in forms of interviews, critical enquiry, and long-term circumspection with participants. Participatory pedagogy was reenacted with participants, who also subjugated majority of the work, in the creation of collaborative portraits(self-assisted photography). He then comprehended the self-representation and identity of homeless community and individuals within the context of images and description. In quintessence Lovera’s primary objective was to construct a ‘public archive’ for the sake of a ‘collective memory’ preservation for ‘homeless Belfast’.

Luvera spent a significant part of his research with observation to generate insightful understandings of the participants and their own ‘culture’ within the naturalistic setting. “When opportunities arose I told the people I met about my work with photography” (Luvera, 2010) Through this, Luvera was able to gain rapport with his participants intending to deliver comfortable feelings. This is crucial for valid research as authentic information was gained when participants would act as they were if the researcher was not present. Hine suggests that by becoming an “active participant…it allows for a deeper sense of understanding…instead of being a detached and invisible analyst the ethnographer becomes visible and active” (Hine, 2000)

The effectiveness of ethnographic research can be questioned with the limited and invalid representation of an individual. According to Hammersley, the most valid example of this anti-realist representation and trend is the growing interest in the rhetorical strategies used by ethnographers, these often being treated as constituting rather than merely representing what they describe.” (Hammersley 2013:2) The liability of this research and its method is challenged, when some of its contributors are not so much anthropologists, but artists who use ethnographic research and anthropological ideas to inform their practice.(Sarah Pink, László Kürti, Ana Isabel Afonso 2004:3)

Then, Luvera iterated the validity of the project exists in the likelihood to further demonstrate the presentation of the individuals, despite those representation is constrained by institutions and their social regulations. “Forms of self-representation may go some way to broadening our understanding of individuals whose portraits are depicted primarily through the trace of their brushes with the institutions … Filling in some of the remaining gaps and absences of the archival record with the first-hand representation of the points of view of people…may offer a more complex, nuanced and varied understanding of the experience of home-lessness.”(Luvera, 2010) Luvera scrutinised on the modesty and first-hand information the self-representation captures, and how it takes along to offer the scenario of a full scale of life. However, it seems that the nature in capturing authentic life history and memory lost within the ignorance of photographs and its description. It is seemingly that the collection of photographs lost its continuity to present a complete life journey of the homelessness or queers, instead, the acknowledgement of different and marginalised groups or class is raised.

In comparison, Hides examined the interplay of power, identity and culture in HE and e-learning, he also questioned the disappearance of ideology within postmodernism. He penetratingly made use of Slavoj Zizek’s work to analysis and critique the instrumental e-learning and its connotation in the performativity principle, and the comparison between different types of institutions indeed strengthen his theme. Hides proposed that international students, the performative learner and the plagiarizing students functioned as symptoms within the operation of ideology in HE. Given an incisive insight into the ideology across the HE and its engagement with contemporary technology, Hides made clear about the ideological critique after postmodernism.

Luvera suggested that hidden(personal) memory can be recalled through photography. He used photographs and the archive without the political control to record people who suffered from homeless, helping to capture and remain the life experience of the homelessness. “There is no political power without control of the archive, if not of memory(Derrida 4). ” On the other hand, Hides revisited that memory is featured in the hyper-intelligences software, where memory became the infrastructure of the adaptive learning model, advancing the learning outcome and experience.

Moreover, Hides and Luvera both agreed that social values and ideals be unraveled under certain social behaviours, in their cases, it will be the construction of learning models and photographic representation. Luvera emphasied on the consideration a public archive make and its concealed social values, e.g. homelessness being marginalised and misunderstood in social class. “here is relatively little information available about the experience of being homeless as told directly by the individual” (Rosler, “Fragments of a Metropolitan Viewpoint” 20). While Hides inspected the aim of the revisal in the modern cognition, accusing the assumptions embedded in the technology, e.g. the evaluation of the learning effectiveness be the aim of education. “dramatic depiction of one e-Learning ideal: perfect, performative assimilation?” (Hides, 2010).

Multiculturalism was presented in Luvera’s archive where it absorbed the heterogeneity to construct the authentic and miscellaneous public archive. “The spectacle cannot be understood as a mere visual excess produced by a mass-media technologies. It is a worldview that has been materialised, that has become an objective… putting power in the hands of the disempowered” (Luvera, 2010). For Hides, multiculturalism serves as a spectacle in higher education. Its diversity helps to bring convenience and advancement in the rapid development of contemporary technology.

The themes of social power, representations and vulnerability are shared in both speakers’ research. largely we miss the structural changes in our affairs that are introduced subtly, or over long periods of time. The fact that most population relied on information technology proved us the cultural shift existed over the years. “we become what we behold”(McLuhan,). Though Shaun and Anthony are aware of the social and personal outcomes of any medium be the consequence of our own representations or those formed by the power of the media, ie the classroom has now became a place to be within the medium but also outside in other social platforms. The homeless man is uneducated, filthy, smelly and begging for food.

It was concluded that Luvera and Hides research shared the discussion of social values, multiculturalism, power, spectacle and memory being embedded in different social behaviour. In contrast, Hides’ research was more incisive and critical, while the  authenticity of Luvera’s methodologies and analysis was challenged.

 

Bibilography

Martyn Hammersley，2013，What’s Wrong With Ethnography? Routledge

Sarah Pink, László Kürti, Ana Isabel Afonso， 2004，Working Images: Visual Research and Representation in Ethnography, Psychology Press

Hine,C.(2000). Virtual Ethnography. Surrey: University of Surrey

Luvera, A(2010).Residency.Photographies,S

Bayne, S., Land, R., and Oliver, M. (2005) Learning in the Digital Age: papers from the second Ideas in Cyberspace Education symposium. E-Learning [online] 2 (4), 314-316. available from <http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/validate.asp?j=elea&vol=2&issue=4&year=2005&article=1_Editorial_ELEA_2_4_web&gt; [20 October 2014]

Beyond student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy: Teaching and learning as guided participation | Michael Mascolo –Academia.edu. 2014. Beyond student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy: Teaching and learning as guided participation | Michael Mascolo – Academia.edu. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.academia.edu/1027631/Beyond_student-centered_and_teacher-centered_pedagogy_Teaching_and_learning_as_guided_participation. [Accessed 18 October 2014].

Jacques Derrida, Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression, trans. Eric Prenowitz (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1995): 4

Rosler , Martha. “Fragments of a Metropolitan Viewpoint. ” If Y ou Lived Here: The City in Art,

Theory, and Social Activism. Ed. Brian Wallis. New York: New, 1991. 15–43. ———. “Post-Documentary, Post-Photography?” Decoys and Disruptions Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 2004. 207–44.

Luvera, A. (2010) ‘Residency’ Photographies 3 (2), 225-241

Luvera, A (2013) Not Going Shopping (online). Available from < http://www.luvera.com/not-going-shopping-2/> [20th October 2014]

Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies 1967 [ONLINE] Available at http://goodmachine.org/PDF/mauss_gift.pdf [Acessed 19 October 2014]

Group Essay——Week 2

The contextual content of both Gemma Commane’s and Mafalda Stasi’s talk, left our group with curiosity and variety of opinion about the idea of  subculture in today’s society, particularily focusing what immerses a social being into a certain sodality. In quintessence most people associate BDSM with deviance or negative impression, proffesor Commane intended to use participant observtion to deviate away from this stereotypical representation of the new era Kinky fetish and divulge into the BDSM utopia.

“It is argued that gender coherence, consistency, conformity and identity are culturally mandated normative ideals” (Goldner, 2009) A positive outlook on this can be perceived as “ heteronormativity” due to genders conforming to their own values and characteristics for example when a “boy grows up he will marry a girl” thus alluding a gender conformity however society can suggest that it may become a problem when participants go against their own norms and move out of a naturalist setting by adapting values which are not seen as socially acceptable for them, this can be related to geek culture this is because women are moving into a more male dominated subculture and are educating themselves on geek culture “the particular battle at stake is women entering male space and that it change”. Furthermore, according to Chris Barker, “subcultures offer maps of meaning which makes intelligible to its member” it creates and ideal utopian for those participating in that particular social dynamic, as barker suggests subcultures can create a route of escapism for its members and a sense of belonging this is due to their attitudes, values and behavior being mimicked by other participants in the subculture, looking more so at BDSM, the bourgeoisie of today’s society rejects the BDSM cultural phenomenon and perceive it as immoral, however these subcultures have prohibited the hegemonic power from standing in the way of their beliefs and progression for their society, many BDSM clubs have taken in forms of VIP and concealment to protect their subculture and identity.

Commane(2011) and Stasi(2014) both shared the idea of subculture’s acceptance of the “others” in the mainstream culture, being the intention of their behaviour. Gayatri Spivak suggests that othering be “the process by which imperial discourse creates its others”. Stasi notes that the border policy and geek hierarchy have the notion of replicating the act of “othering” and internalized it in the internal hierarchy.(Stasi, 2014) The distinction allows them to submit themselves in the opportunity where they get to be accepted again, perhaps as the “good kind”, by excluding the “unwanted” and “out-of-the-mainstream” in the subculture hierarchy. In addition to the escapism, subculture offers opportunities to “renew” identities by letting participants to commit the “good” behaviour in it. According to Ashcroft et al., they argue that “construction of the other is fundamental to the construction of the Self”(Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin: 1998 171-72). Both speakers support this idea in explaining the self and identity construction in the self/other and good/normal fan binary. Moreover, emotion could also demonstrate the intention of the behaviour. Within the context of Commane’s research, facing those disgrace and misunderstandings from public, sadomasochist tended to alter their feeling and emotion into the world of BDSM with ease as to forget their trauma in the reality. As in the fandom culture, fangirls usually escapes their real life by fantasizing themselves within the subculture and those enjoyments often transforms to an obsession behavior about celebrities and fiction sphere etc.

The differences between good and normal fan were connected with emotion. Fans usually have strong interest to the focal object. They demonstrated their involvement with the area of interest through certain behaviors (attending conventions, posting online, displaying team banners outside their homes, etc.). Participating in these events can create a borrowed sense of self-esteem, it would synchronize to the extent that they would consider themselves to be successful if the focal object succeed. Dr. Jeffrey James describes the process where kids go through when they convert to being sports fans. Only when kids are around 8 or 9 years old, after they’ve developed the skill of concrete operational thinking; they’re capable of developing an emotional, long-term attachment to a sport, team, or particular athlete. Usually kids would first get attached to a particular sport, then to a team, and then to a player. A child’s main influences (socializing agents) throughout this process include their family (father, mother, or an older sibling), media and their personal sports participation (playing with friends, at school or at their local club). Therefore, fans’ behavior related to their growing process and environment, which makes them have an increasingly emotional tendency for their focal object. In terms of good fans, who find a sense of acceptance and belonging through participation, have not been able to have real life experience or engagement, when the shared experience with the focal object were not “lived” by themselves. Those shared experience creates a deep and real emotional investment in it, but has no actual involvement in fans’ real life. Good fan are more likely to hide their real emotional connection when they defend their focal object. It also explains the phenomenon where happy ending always be expected.

 

Reference

Aschroft, Bill, Griffins, G. and Tiffins eds, H. 1998. Key Concepts in Postcolonial Studies. London/NewYork: Routledge,

Goldner, V. 1991 Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives Volume 1, Issue 3

Jensen, S.Q. 2011. Othering, identity formation and agency. Qualitative Studies, 2(2): 63-78.

Perzow, S.M., Kets de Vries, M.F.R. (Ed) (1991) Handbook of character studies: Psychoanalytic explorations. Madison, CT: International Universities Press. 27-30.

Santrock, J.W. (2008). A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development. 4th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill, 305-307

Shengold, L. (1972). ‘A parapraxis of Freud’s in relation to Karl Abraham’. The American imago; a psychoanalytic journal for the arts and sciences. 29 (2), 123-159

Stephenson, S. 2012. The fans who never lost faith: slang 1970s subculture theory Voloume VI: Issue 1

Introduction to Sigmund Freud, Module on Psychosexual Development (2011) Purdue Liberal Arts [online] available from <http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html&gt; [21st Oct 2014]

http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2012/02/15/the-psychology-of-sports-fans-what-makes-them-so-crazy/

381MC-DEBATE-WEN YAN

Computer replace books- agrees or disagrees

The function of computer covered spread message, analysis, search and more brilliant multi points. The main function of Book are save and propagate information, it is also the one of the function of computer. Talking to function, there two are overlap. When people use tools in their daily life, they more focus on more convenient and multi-function, thus this tool will be universalness. Such as people use electric lamp replace candle, electric lamp can be more convenient in people’s live. Book depend on picture and word to disseminate message. But computer cover book’s feature and also have more, faster and extensive strengths. More is the computer can use less space to reserve more information, Multimedia devices included listen, speak, interaction and watch. When you in study, this function let more interesting; Faster is computer can edit, spread and research very convenient. People can read information online from whole world; The propagation purpose of computer is extensive, dissemination of information is not limit, but get international under the figures. Compare to time, computer save a lot of information transmission time. In 21 century, it is the outbreak of information age. If people get more information, it means you will be superior about technology and economy. What is more, computer is very general in people’s live, we can see computer everywhere, even the smartest one- Ipad. Ipad is a kind of computer, it is more convenient to bring out. But the function of ipad is same like as computer. More and more bring ipad everywhere to read book, play games, research news and more. Thus it enough cover the function of book.

Different things have different strengths in different field. Some important calligraphy has high collection value in everywhere. Such as ancient books, although the book is not new, but the historical significance, value and status is higher than computer. Even now, some people spend a lot of money to collect an oldest book. To those people, some books have previous meaning to them. For example, in the church, if every Christians hold computer singing hymns, the frame will looks very strange. Singing hymns is a sacred thing and full of historical significance, if just want to following the development of development, the previous tradition will lose. And the situation in court is similar, in western countries, when people vow they must read the words from book. If book change to computer, it means change the law proceedings. Furthermore, if computer totally replace books, blind cannot study from books. They cannot use computer, their only way to receive information is from braille books. If books are disappearing, it equal to they loses the right to study. And book is real, the information all cover on it. If computer has virus to infringement, the documents maybe all lose and need long time to repair. But book is tangible, it do worried about virus.

Thus, for my opinion, computer cannot replace book. Although computer have more multi-media functions, but book also have it own meaning. Like part of books has especially collection value and status, computer cannot achieve it. Through this debate, it related to my 305MC. The main point is about the development of new media tool, such as iphone or ipad these electrical tools. To sum up, computer and book all have important status in different field.

Bibliography

Darley, A (2000) Visual digital culture, Hoboken: Taylor and Francis

George, D (1995) Computer technology and social issues, London: Idea Group

Lull, J (2000) Culture in the communication age, Routledge

Group Essay——Week 3

Through this week talks of file sharing and free access to journals and research, which bring us the discussion of the inherent tension between consumer practices and brands. The apparent contrast of ideology between the two presenters made us question how does the interplay of power or control function between cultural industries and consumer, and is it possible to strike the right balance. The concept of ‘textual poaching’, which developed by Michel de Certeau (1984) and further elaborated by Henry Jenkins (1992), position fans of media texts as active audience who borrow, remix and manipulate textual materials as part of their consumption (Jenkins 2006). However, this potentially invasive activities are usually associated with the copyrights and seen as deviant thieves.

Within the file sharing communities, instated of simply sharing files, some member certainly go further by extending their passion through participate in the work of construction and amendment those files. Take Korean drama or reality programe for instance, due to the rapid gain in popularity among the global, subtitling has become instrumental to the circulation of  the fandom culture, way of convenience fans from aboard who mainly relay on the subtitles to understand the dialogue between characters. With the efforts devoted to the work, the file shares claimed their action of ‘fansubs’ as adding value to their obsessions, and completely inconsistent with the ‘real’ pirates who simply redistributed the work of others (Crisp, 2014). Even in the file sharing communities, there are plain distinction between different ways of ‘pirates’ viewed. Crisp highlights ways in which the authority of media producers and such negative labeling on piracy have addressed the traditional copyright law into public, in term of limiting the activities in fandom.

Crisp(2014) and Adema shared the discussion of piracy as an act of power challenging the existing power hierarchy. Crisp(2014) argues that piracy can varies under different context, and in Chinese case, this is against the Government’s power hierarchy and its information control(censorship). While Adema suggests the option to have ‘open access’ where the act of against power/knowledge structure is replicated to prevent knowledge control or constraint being held by publishers. “Power comes from below; that is, there is no binary and all-encompassing opposition between rulers and ruled at the root of power relations, and serving as a general matrix – no such duality extending from the top down and reacting on more and more limited groups to the very depths of the social body”(Foucault, 1997). They fully demonstrated Foucault’s model of power that both speaker held a radical examination where power doesn’t simply be held by certain party or identity but rather decides by different context. Which leads to a clear view that power, even in the controversies of copyright, knowledge and digital sales, is being distributed in different relationships or networks, to creat discourse.

Adema and Crisp(2014) corresponded in the disscusion of ideology when deciding the exclusive content for publishing. Adema argued that ideology/generalisation is inserted when considering the content being released or exclusive, it adapted to the global structure where the power hierarchy and flow of knowledge are dictated from the “prestiged” to the low, and preventing the exchange, innovation or discovery of information and intelligent, particularly when the author and publisher of the journals do not cooperate in partnership or any employment, no monetary exchange inbetween. However, Crisp’s(2014) idea of ideology dealt with the boundaries of the “deviant” or normal behaviour and the act of “othering” in piracy, where the ideology of deviance is demonstrated through the Western’s conception of “copyright”. According to Gayatri Spivak, it is suggested that othering be “the process by which imperial discourse creates its others”. Both speakers also handled the “exclusive knowledge” the imperial discourse is trying to protect, where the act of othering is replicated, to remain the prestiged status of the imperial with its power and knowledge. Addtionally, the concept of hegemony is also examined. “…Dominant groups in society, including fundamentally but not exclusively the ruling class, maintain their dominance by securing the ‘spontaneous consent’ of subordinate groups, including the working class, through the negotiated construction of a political and ideological consensus which incorporates both dominant and dominated groups.”(Strinati, 1995: 165). “These two levels correspond on the one hand to the functions of ‘hegemony’ which the dominant group exercises throughout society and on the other hand to that of ‘direct domination’ or command exercised through the state and ‘juridical’ government.” (Gramsci, 1971: 12). Here both author maintained the discussion of dominance of dominant group and it being the notion, which involved both intellectual and monetary inducement. Although they didn’t further explain the class movement and struggle inbetween, we believe they illustrated the essence of hegemony. Due to the fact that both cases(digital piracy and ‘open access’) exemplify the act of taking other classes’ interest into account and finding a way to combined them with its own interest(previlege to hold the highest place in the hierarchy), which is the signature of hegemony besides the dominance and interplay of power. It corresponded with and further displayed Foucault’s idea where power is dispersed within the networked relationships.

Copyright interests tend to make the piracy become a matter of morality. But due to the capitalism society concept, people make a full use of any resources so as to bring a fertile environment to piracy. And the form of capitalism society to a certain extent combined with the democracy. For the ordinary people or stand on the side of consumers, piracy represents their rights to watch and provides them with the equal chance to participate. According to Yingjin Zhang, “a form of Internet democracy triumphed in this spectacular case of visual democracy, a form of democracy made possible primarily by film piracy and secondarily by digital video and Internet technologies.” Therefore, the process of piracy appears to be a battle for the democracy, which was rebelling against the corporate overlords or the inherent social conditions. It is a voice of freedom, however, the digital world merely makes the piracy becomes easily.

“The most precious aspects of our capitalist system, which protect individuals property, creativity and investment.”(Pang 2004, 19). As we know, capitalism serves not only to allow people to have right and chance to gain the knowledge, but it also stands against the industry’s monopoly by piracy. According to Bishop, “with such a history of unfairness and one-sided contract negotiations with artists, greed, the lust for power, price gouging, and price fixing, the industry has worked hard to earn its unfavorable reputation” (2004, 101).

Although someone argue that piracy make the authors or artists lose their intellectual property right, but the fact is, “authors and artists seldom retain control over copyright, but routinely assign those rights to corporate entities who then have virtual carte blanche over decisions as to the work’s commercial exploitation” (Yar 2008, 616).” Because of pirating, people have more choice to choose what they really like. For example, people can listen music before purchase it and people can watch a low quality film before buying a DVD.

“Discourse can be both an instrument and an effect of power, but also a hindrance, a stumbling-block, a point of resistance and a starting point for an opposing strategy” Foucault, 1997) Both speaker offers a deep analyse of the piracy and its cultural practices, scrutinized of the boundaries of behaviour and such. It provoked us the reflection on the relationships of power, discourse, individual and dominant groups. Where all these elements are not stable, clear-cut and do not stand indepently, they could also be the effect or strategy of each other. It will then gives a broader understandings of the society’s regimes and its truth, where “truth” or reality can change anytime relying on the consequences of discourse, if it also to be the premise.

 

References

Foucault, Michel. 1997. J Bristow,Sexuality. London. p.177

Foucault, Michel. 1997. Bristow. London. p. 178

Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. Selections form the Prision Notebook, edited and translated by Quintin Hoare & Goffrey Nowell Smith, Lawrence and Wishart, London. 12

Jenkins, Henry. 1992. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture, Routledge. London.

Strinati, Dominic. 1995. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. Routledge. London.

Simon, Roger. 1991. Gramsci’s Political Thought: An introduction. Lawrence and Wishart. London.

Spivak G. C. 1980. Revolutions that yet have no model: Derrida’s limited inc. Diacritics, 10(4): 29-49

Spivak G. C. 1985. The Rani of Sirmur: an essay in reading the archives. History and Theory, 24(3): 247-272

Group Essay——Week 4

It brought us the discussion on power and gender, given the interconnection and relationships are so strong, we want to examine the nature of power, its validity of attempts to rationalize and interfere with the identity of the beings. We attmepted to offer different perspective to scrutinize the many aspect on the source of power, spectacle, gender and heternomativity, which suggest ways which our behaviour and perception might be constrainted.

Wedding creates discourse using moral coherent ideology and reality. The bride and the game player can through the expectation and imagination for the wedding or the virtual game world to get the emotion satisfaction and self-improvement. According to Kemper, “the emotions consist of actually or imaginatively existing social organizational or social relational conditions: “ when these conditions are met, the desired emotions will flow of themselves, authentically” (Kemper 1981:358). The modern wedding often are rehearsed in advance, and the emotion of the bride seems rehearsed as well, but due to the wedding scene existing the real social organization and social relationship, which makes the bride’s feeling become more real. This also makes the traditional wedding model be re-constructed through the discourse of their choice. Such as the type of wedding, the dress, the location, etc. In the gaming world, there is no restriction of ideology to play the game as well. They do not need to choose the same gender or environment with the real situation. All can be an expectation and imagination for the real world. Although there is the apparent complexity, these activities can be well-rehearsed. Due to they makes themselves be understood through consumption and competition. And according to Mika Aaltola, “the individualization of the sufferer in modern, secular human rights discourse points to an important watershed in the history of sufferer construction. (Mika Aaltola 2009:21) In the other words, the scene and process of the wedding and gaming world are designed through collect the memory and culture. It relates the history and the tradition as well as the modern. Therefore, the wedding and the gaming world can be understood a type of virtual imagination, where associating with social space and the spectacle.

Both speakers examined how social and cultural practice reinforce heterosexuality and the roles of gender, and expose the binary opposition of them.  Broekhuizen(2013) has a radical deconstruction of female and feminity, pointing out that bridal beauty is the perfomance to gain their own meaning through discourse of identity. While Sudén(2013) argues that lesbian as a process of becoming, which seeks to end power imbalances and oppression on the power structure based on intersection identity. She examined the construction of feminity with its interaction with techonology and their desires, and argues that feminity need not to perform its opposite, using the characteristic of gender spectrum in the character’s apperance as an demonstration(e.g. male feminity or female masculinity), suggesting that ideologies like hegemonic straight feminity and masculintity is associating with virtual spaces like WOW, and expanded Freud’s concept of desire, pointing out that women need to abandon feminity to desire and to free themselves from the dependence on men. The two speakers demonstrated Butler(1990)’s poststructuralism approach on recognizing women or men as individuals to choose and perform their identity and gender, and as a matter of social relationship. Both suggested that the identity of ‘women’ is regulated and produced through discourse and as dependant social construction. Which offers a radical examination on body, identity and power, where three of them aren’t fixed and further illustrated Foucault’s notions that gender is the predominant cultural agent which operates on the being, thus producing the opposing concepts of masculinity/femininity and the identities of heterosexuality/homosexuality. “Discourse can be both an instrument and an effect of power, but also a hindrance, a stumbling-block, a point of resistance and a starting point for an opposing strategy”(Foucault, 1997: 178).

Furthermore, the two speakers displayed Foucault’s discursive mechanism of subjectivation and the act of othering(pathology), through the reconstruction and restraint on feminity or its behaviour. Sudén(2013) explained her own queer desire as a female being and how ‘non-normative’ female behaviour being denaturalized and identified as queer, showing the embedded pathology and ideologies of feminity and straight femintiy, and in fact is an act of othering(which Sudén described as the tool for verbal abuse). While Broekhuizen(2013) explored the binary subjectivity and professionalism on ‘good’ bride, bridal beauty, and their self-modification based on the heterosexual expectation and social convention. Both corresponded with Foucault’s mechanism of the subjectivation, which he perceived power can be resisted and so does the identities and its knowledge, hence, the act of normalization and othering, rationalizing the imperial and ‘acceptable’ discourse or norms(heteronormativity).

Additionally, Broekhuizen(2013) developed further on the function of wedding dress as a regulated presentation of one’s social class. Again adapting foucault’s model, it creates the discourse that produce discipline through self-servaillance and modification, regulating and maintaining the heterosexual and class structure(superstructure). Further, It correlated with Gramsci(1921: 12)’s hegemony, which groups that shared interests manifest certain ideologies and express them as the nucleus of culture.

Although both speakers didn’t scrutinzied on the class struggle or bourgeoisie, they fully exemplified Gramsci(1921: 12)’s cultural hegemony that needs to be preceded and achieved first, which helped us to understand the notions of ideology and culture. Where the recognition of the domination and subordination is still being seen as the ‘whole’ process, exercising power and the means to bring power relation into beings, the imperial discourse is share and allied.

Bryan Turner’s “Body Practices”

It is interesting to note that there is a major turn to incorporating the image of the social actor as an embodied being into social analysis. This has inspired fresh approaches to such topics as the sociology of medicine (Turner, 1987, 1992) arguing that the modification on the male/female body has to deal with its perception. Sudén(2013) demonstrated this idea with the discussion of the avatars’ apperance, behaviour and restrictions. She suggested the potential to develop queer desrie in the field with the option to have female mascualinity/male feminity. While Broekhuizen(2013) argues the self-modification(bridal beauty) are based on the socailly constructed feminity. Both dealt with the perception that creats reconstructed both identity.

Zainab Mogul echos note

Group Essay——Week 5

Nietzche’s work composes the idea of the integrated role between religion and values and how it affects society. Nietzche encompasses the idea theta religion is life denying and as humans we are trying to make life meaningful to us, Nihlism derived from the latin term meaning nothing complies of the idea that man is metaphorically speaking is his own god this being said it is evident when comparing to the work of George Batille’s theory on humanity which asks us ‘what makes us different to animals, what makes the human and animal so distinct ? Batille like Nietzche, believes in the concept that ‘we’ as humans have no real value on earth, like animals we live we breath we die and in retrospect are the same as animals with the only difference being as humans we are never happy, we will constantly desire in order to make our lives more fulfilling. In this case humans distract themselves with materialistic values as Batile suggests to distract us of our meaningless lives e. Idealism, religion  is a dead desperate means of viewing the world ‘We have in fact only two certainties in this world – that we are not everything and we will die”

Ones life history is the interaction of habitus “a subjective reality” with the environment which Bourdieu comprehends  as an “objective reality” John Keenan uses ‘life histories’ as a method to examine how teachers working at higher level while in FE environments make sense of their role “teachers life experiences and background affects what they believe and consequently, how they teach”(Smith,2001) ones habitus not only exists subjectively, but influenced by the environment. Therefore, we can find ways of understanding how teachers construct themselves from examining the environment of their life in order to find the inner purpose to external constraints through the method of life history. To find the points from the context of their life which means the answer will be more authentic and informative as they are not subjected to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Cotterill,Jackson and Letherby both state that the history process  starts of from what we think we know. “ It pulls us quickly into the unknown, of feeling and memory for example, as well as our difference”. (Pamela Cotterill, Sue Jackson, Gayle Letherby 2007: 77) There are three main motivations for this research. The first regards the ‘small amount of literature on teacher educators in the post-compulsory sector based in universities and further education colleges’ (Boyd, Harris and Murray 2011:14). Second reason is due to the relatively recent ‘explosion’ and government policy focus on the sector. There have been national developments such as new professional standards and alignment of these to the raising of the educational participation age in England with some important injection of government funding into FE-based teacher education schemes. And the third reason is the researchers’ hope to appropriate with Goodson’s inspiring research methodology in a purpose to give authentic ‘voice’ to HE in FE teacher educators. It is a practice of cooperation between FE and HE lecturers by FE and HE education lecturers. John also talk about how he inspect the method further in the next section followed by a consideration of the social, economic and political environment of education today.

It can be clearly seen however that life history is based on the pats, it encompasses personal memory of the individual but with this said the drawbacks of this method should be considered there are many concealments with this form of research such as the participants who are being interview with the life histories method have the ability to change their own reality not giving an accurate account in this sense this method can be questioned as date may not be valid.

Both speakers proposed the dictatorship in the author’s own narrative of their history. According to Barthes(1964), the “reality” may not come naturally, as it could be suggested that the reproduction and reinforcement of the cultural meaning, and that those mediums are known as portraying the reality are in fact constructing it. The two authors acknowledged and enabled Barthes’ idea of the altered and transmitted message, therefore suggesting a natural and original authorship in narratives. Hawkins shown the presentation of history with documentary, symbols and writings, it suggests the schematic process when interpreting history, that it may be altered by and appeals to our intellect based on the conventionally systematic connotation and denotation in meanings. While Keenan proposed the methodology to allow authors to have the entire dictatorship in their life history, where it shall not be processed and interpreted, and allows us to have a full access of the first-hand content.

 

Bibliography

Carol K. (2010) The Women Who Reconstructed American Jewish Education, Ingall UPNE

Pamela C, Sue J, Gayle L (2007) Challenges and Negotiations for Women in Higher Education, Springer Science & Business Media

Smith, L. C. (2001) Life history as a key factor in understanding teacher collaboration and classroom practice. key factor in understanding teacher collaboration and classroom practice. 112.

Barthes, R (1964) The Rhetoric of the Image.

Week 5 echos Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan Zainab Mogul

I’d like to start this piece of writing with a quote “The deal with multiculturalism is that the only culture you’re allowed to disapprove of is your own” (metcalf, 2012) When we were told to write about a piece of text which holds some sort of significant meaning to you, the first thing that came to mind was Moniza Alvi’s Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan, I remember reading this poem in year 10, I felt an immediate connection with the words in my anthology every line triggered a new emotion and certainly a new memory Connerton believes that “every group…will entrust to bodily automatisms the values and categories which they are most anxious to conserve” (Tambornino, 2002) (Connerton, 1989) therefore if I link this back to my situation could it suggest that the memories which I remembered were in fact the memories which I wanted to “conserve” (Connerton, 1989) regardless of me saying to myself ‘I hate being Pakistani I hate the culture I just want to be like my friends’ I always knew I was different from my friends and that’s what made me want to push my culture to one side, I wasn’t allowed to stay out late like them or even go to sleepovers. Whenever someone asked me what I got for Christmas to them my response was always “I don’t celebrate Christmas I celebrate Eid” there reply was often “I feel so sorry for you”. I questioned what I wanted, did I just want to be like everyone else for the sake of avoiding questions like these, but it came to me who gives anyone the right to make me feel isolated. Foucault idea of “‘exteriority” is often “synonymous” (Gamble, 2001) to othering with the idea ‘always on the outside of the power’ when ‘othering’ occurs it often singles out a group, subculture or a minority and singles out the differences in social norms and values, just because I was born into a different culture didn’t mean I was any different to them, At that point I was happy for what my mother and father did for me instead of being thrown into a ‘melting pot’ they showed me that embracing English culture and Pakistani culture were equally important for my it’s a part of me and my identity. Cornelius Castoriadis believes that “norms, values, language, tools procedures” (Tovar-Restrepo, 2012) are the reason for a unified society however what happens when we don’t conform to these social norms are we then seen as outsiders because we do not connect in the “web of meaning” (Tovar-Restrepo, 2012) Years passed since reading presents from my aunts in Pakistan, “Don Locke suggests that “personal memory consists in bringing some previously experienced thing to mind, thinking about it again and going over what it was like” (Locke, 1971) so sitting here reading Presents from my aunts in Pakistan brings back memories of my confused teenage self and how this poem helped me think about my culture my own identity instead of throwing away what was a part of me I embraced it with open arms and now I can say I love telling my friends about my culture I have been able to find a balance and am not ashamed to embed my culture in my daily life.

Bibliography

Connerton, P. (1989). How Societies Remember (Themes in the Social Sciences). In P. Connerton, How Societies Remember. Cambridge University Press .

Gamble, S. (2001). The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism. In S. Gamble, The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism. Routledge; 2 edition .

Locke, D. C. (1971). Memory (Problems of Philosophy). In D. C. Locke, Memory . Macmillan; First Edition edition .

metcalf, F. (2012). The Biteback Dictionary of Humorous Political Quotations . Biteback Publishing .

Tambornino, J. (2002). The Corporeal Turn: Passion, Necessity, Politics. In J. Tambornino, The Corporeal Turn (p. 88). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers .

Tovar-Restrepo, M. (2012). Castoriadis, Foucault, and Autonomy: New Approaches to Subjectivity, Society, and Social Change (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy). In Castoriadis, Foucault, and Autonomy: New Approaches to Subjectivity, Society, and Social Change (p. 55). Continnuum-3PL .

 

 

Week 4 Birthplace Zainab Mogul – Rugby