https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw en-us 2020-09-21 16:21:33 UTC 2026-01-16 22:21:34 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f47f.png B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/783866696 This article ties in with points made in the lecture on the language, and so, implications, of police and policing. Although Glasgow is progressive in its drug strategy, as Scotland continues to push for the decriminalisation of drug use and possession, this article continues to frame such acts in terms of 'policing.' Describing how "people who use drugs have been far more visible" during Coronavirus, Glasgow's Superintendent states that the police are able to work more closely with crisis teams and prevention workers - however, this is still framed as ' appropriate policing.' If drug staretgy in Glasgow is focused on the prevention of drug related deaths through safe consumption and community outreach, then why is there any need for police presence and their lack of enforcement? I suggest, people who use drugs have been differentiated and categorised as 'delinquent' or 'undesirable', separated from the law-abiding in society, and so, they remian of police interest despite the decreasing power of the police. ]]> 2020-09-28 09:33:53 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/783866696 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/800703286 This article reveals the violence committed by the police in their coercion and torture of LGBT+ people in Egypt. It exemplifies how, as Han describes, policing becomes a condition of life as it is diffuse in all aspects of life, including the traditionally personal. In Egypt, the police excert extreme violence against those in society they have differentiated, in surveilling particular people and places - in this way, they work outside of the law and are not questioned as LGBT+ peoples status as ‘delinquent’, or outside of the norm, legitimises punishment. ]]> 2020-10-04 10:53:05 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/800703286 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/817117232 This interview with authors Ayad Akhtar and Laila Lalami highlights many of the key points this week about citizenship and who is excluded from this. Both write about the experience of being a Muslim American and the feeling of ambiguity in this. Lalami particularly touches on the way her citizenship is accepted and rejected; she is American when she is grateful, when she is critical she is told to "go back to you country." I think this starkly identifies an attitude that was emphasised in the lecture, and the Windrush documentary - the enforcement of citizenship by individual actors outwith the geographical institution of the Border and border control. This indignation at a Muslim woman speaking out against gender discrimination in America, for example, is also made from Orientalist pre-assumptions of the treatment of women from other countries. ]]> 2020-10-09 15:38:15 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/817117232 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/817336026 Island of the Hungry Ghosts is a brilliant documentary which follows Poh Lin Lee, a trauma counsellor who is permitted to treat ayslum-seekers detained in the grim, prison-like camps off the coast of Australia, on Christmas Island. The documentary sheds light on questions of care and 'bare humanity', as asylum-seekers are cared for on the most basic level. The permittance of trauma counselling seems to be performative, half-hearted at best, as Lee's patients are often moved to other centres with no prior warning - their existence is reduced to biological necessity. In crossing the border, asylum-seekers are acting 'illegally' and their punishment is legitimised. In locating detention centres on islands off-shore, people are caught in a liminal space, in between where they came from and where they were turned away. The documentary poignantly visualises feelings that Khosravi articulates, of "honour and shame" (p. 331). We see Lee's seemingly idyllic life with her family on the beautiful Christmas Island, while we are always uncomfortably aware of the close proximity of a centre which holds a dehumanised population of migrants who are to be shamed for their illegal status. ]]> 2020-10-09 16:41:00 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/817336026 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/833209093 It would be remiss to discuss resistace today without drawing upon the recent Black Lives Matter movement and the wave of protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in May. This article argues why the use of the term 'riot' within popular media is a dmaaging one, sensationalising resistance. Riot connotes meaningless violence, argues Steinmetz, and has historical roots in racial tensions in the US and how the media has sought to exploit them. This is reminiscnet of the techniques of Egyptian revolutionaries as depicted in The Square (2013). Here, we saw increasingly violent protests along with a government that, seemingly successfully, worked to cover up brutality. The revolutionaries here, as well as BLM protesters and organisers, realise that they must take the representation of their actions into their own hands. Who controls the media is an important question, as they are not always sympathetic and, when they hold a monopoloy on public opinion, can be dangerous. ]]> 2020-10-15 17:08:22 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/833209093 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/833285572 These images of the various protests across Latin America on Columbus Day are striking. The protests encapsulated sometimes grew violent, with testimonies of tear gas and water cannons used on Mapuche demonstartors in Chile. It is important to use Abi-Lughod's approach here and use these protests as a lense through which to view power. Indigenous people have been subjugated to colonial forces of power across the world from the moment of contact to the present day, and the inequalities produced by ethnic discrimination persist. Here, then, we see not only resistance against the celebration of Colombus, the America's infamous coloniser, but against the conditions in which indigenous people are living today. Encroachment of government and coroporate forces into indigenous land, disproportionate levels of health inequality and unemployment, and increased instances of police violence are just some of the ways in which this historical power remains ever present in indigenous lives. Resistance is an answer to this, an angry call for recognition and justice.]]> 2020-10-15 17:25:17 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/833285572 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/856230542 The Mother and Baby Homes Commission was set up in Ireland to investiagte the discovery of child remains, buried in a septic tank in the grounds of a Mother and Baby home in County Galway, Ireland. These homes, ran by the Catholic Church, housed and cared for unmarried mothers, with the aim of covertly giving babies born up for adoption. Allegations of abuse and misconduct are common, and the BBC reports that a child died in these institutions every two weeks between the mid-1920s and 1960s, most commonly from malnutrition and neglect. The Irish government has now voted for a bill that will make public access to information the investigation has uncovered far more difficult, despite being widely protested as many hope to gain information and closure on family members. This is obviosuly an example of real, physical violence, resulting in the deaths of countless women and babies - but also Farmer's structural violence which proposes that "Erasing history is perhaps the most common explanatory sleight-of-hand relied upon by the architects of structural violence. Erasure or distortion of history is part of the process of resocialization necessary for the emergence of hegemonic accounts of what happened and why" (308). Studies which only account for the living would let this story fall between the gaps, only ensuring the power of the Church in Ireland - investigations into covert abuse are increasingly common and reveal an insidiuous culture of coverups and secrets.]]> 2020-10-23 15:35:33 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/856230542 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/856344069 The current Coronavirus pandemic is a poignant example of Mbembe's assertion that sovereignty is the power of states over who lives and who dies. The control of information and, most crucially, distribution of funding and healthcare effectively gives state governments this power. However, the state now acting under such scrutiny exposes how these powers also contribute to a larger framework of structural violence, as coronavirus deaths follow similar patterns to racial inequalities. In neglecting health care for Native Americans, leaving hospitals under-funded and ill-equppied, the American state defines who it considers "disposable." (Mbembe p80). ]]> 2020-10-23 16:02:18 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/856344069 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/861742997 The Sudanese government's agreement to pay billions in compensation in order to be removed from the US terrorism blacklist is an interesting way to consider who takes blame. Sudan's presence on the list is said to have denied them access to "desperately needed debt relief and foreign financing." This raises questions on who can be considered the victim and who is responsible. A country held responsible for the actions of a corrupt leader and various terrorist organisations only pushes people in precarious circumstances further into poverty and desparation. Here, money and power have control over the designation of "terrorism," despite the complicity of Western states in creating these conditions. This echoes Devji's notion of the 'globalisation of responsibility.']]> 2020-10-26 13:58:21 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/861742997 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/880249457 The question of how to study suicide bombing is one that is taken very seriously and, as exemplified by Hage's uncomfortable e-mail exchange with a colleague, it is a topic that produces a strong emotional response. The comedy, Four Lions, is contreversial in that it takes this typically serious topic and pokes fun. As Hage argues, in researching or attempting to conduct an anthropology of suicide bombing it is often seen almost as an endorsement of such acts - however, they are very obviously condemenable. The refusal to discuss suicide bombing contributes to a strong Us vs Them attitude, in which the suicide bombers (Them) are regarded as homogenous, dangerous, inhumane. In this interview, Chris Morris highlights that in making the film, he wished to shed light on the humanity and vulnerability of these men. This echoes Hage's point, that looks towards an anthropology that aims at finding the root of violence, through understanding its perpetrators.]]> 2020-11-01 17:44:10 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/880249457 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/886200803 No Stone Unturned is a documentary which seeks to uncover the collusion behind the massacre of 6 civillian men in a pub in rural Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. Although it often provides (somewhat  gratuitous) images of violence and terrorism in NI, it's central story is so striking because of the supposed distance of Loughinisland from such acts. Interviews with the famillies of the victims and eyewitnesses are reminiscent of We Are All Neighbours - the bartender of the pub described the community as close-knit, as Catholics and Protestants drank together. "The Troubles were something that happened in Belfast," according to one victim, highlighting how violence can be ignored or pushed aside by people close by, in order to live day to day. The themes raised throughout this week are clear at the end of the documentary, after the families suspicions of collusion are confirmed and they are informed that the perpetrators of the violence are free and that some even live close-by (a discovery made by the documentary crew, not the assistance of the police). It is here that the wife of one victim is most visibly distressed, worrying that she could "meet these people at the shops" and not even know who they are. The aftermath of violence is played out in the everyday, domestic sphere, weaving mistrust and threat through even the smallest rural villages. ]]> 2020-11-03 13:47:39 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/886200803 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/901710432 This episode of the AnthroPod includes a short interview with anthropologist Bianca Williams about her work in organising Black Lives Matter protests and political action. She echoes Das's sentiments that call for anthropology that doesn't just focus on dramatic stories and events but looks at how such events build into crisis, the "eventfullness of everyday life" (page 218). For Williams, the presence of police violence in US cities and the resistance against it is tied up in all other sorts of issues such as lack of affordable housing. She describes the arrest and murder of Michael Marshall in police custody and refusal of Denver police to release the tape of his death. In mobilising activists through the 2016 MLK Day march Williams helped to organise the community in speaking directly to the city mayor and acknowledging this intersection of physical and institutional violence in black communities in the US. She asserts, "anthropologists have tools that can help people better understand how voice and narrative can be heard."]]> 2020-11-08 15:34:32 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/901710432 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/914578693 It would be hard to speak about the notion of 'The People' as evoked by populism and not mention Donald Trump, this week in particular. I was struck, in Stavrakakis' article, when the populist rhetoric of Barack Obama was mentioned, as he framed himself as a "champion of the people" in opposition to the Republican-protected elite. This makes the (momentary) success of Donald Trump, perhaps, ironic. This article discusses the longevity of populism, upon which the US election was percieved as a referendum of sorts. Despite the global pandemic providing damning cause for a turn to expertise, America remains a country largely split between populist and anti-populist rhetoric. As the author notes: "Implicit in [Trump's] demands for an early and arbitrary end to ballot counting in some states was an inherently populist idea: Only my supporters, the 'real people,' deserve to have their voice heard." Again, this only raises questions of who 'the people' can be defined as? or if the possibility of a homogenous people, with similar aims and values, is even possible at all? The recent turn of events in US politics seems to suggest that 'The People' are simply those that support the winner. ]]> 2020-11-11 23:30:54 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/914578693 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/914653418 This talk from Homi K. Bhabha considers the situation of 'unpreparedness' in the face of not just a global health crisis, but also a wave of protest against racial inequality. Bhabha claims that ethno-nationalist and ethno-populist governments "rampant disregard for facts, science, history, and human dignity" encourages citizens to be "actively unprepared" to stand up for their democratic rights and representations. He argues that divisive policies can then be further promoted by these populist governments, as a result of the supression of disempowered portions of the population, as 'the people' themselves are in a state of vulnerbaility and least equipped to resistance to governmental strategies - fear is promoted by the crisis of coronavirus. Bhabha goes on to discuss the importanceof museums, arguing for their ability to translate moments of resistance across cultures, in particular through art such as the murals created in response to the murder of George Floyd. This, in a way, follows a framework as proposed by Duno-Gottberg that calls for a connection to the proliferation of racial tension in the history of coloniaism in order to understand the spread of ethnopopulist rhetoric (p 272). ]]> 2020-11-12 00:18:37 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/914653418 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/928122295 An important point is made in this article by David Cormack, former head of policy and communications for New Zealand's Green party. As does the Samet reading, Cormack stresses the importance of the press in exacerbating political divides and inciting discontent. He argues that New Zealand's rejection of populist leaders and a high rate of satisfaction with the current government is because they "no longer have Murdoch-owned press in New Zealand, and it’s never taken a foothold.” Here, he echoes Samet and the situation in Venezuela in which a powerful group of media owners and opinion makers helped set the events of April 11 in motion. ]]> 2020-11-16 17:02:14 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/928122295 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/949705702 In this Ted Talk, Kabakis raises many similar points to Samet's arguments. He lays out, using examples like Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, what makes populist speeches so influential. Like Samet, he points to creating an enemy of the "Other", in his example, the immigrant, so as to naturalise the coherent identity of the nation state. Additionally, Kabakis expands on the importance of social instability or insecurity, describing how populists emphasise an unsure future with the current government, by statements that refer to the past, such as "Make America Great Again!"]]> 2020-11-22 13:43:16 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/949705702 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/954212003 This party political broadcast by the Green Party exemplifies the ways in hich elections both affirm the status quo and disrupt it. In asking voters to support a political party, the ordinary process of election and governance is maintained. However, the Green Party explicitly attack what has become the status quo within government, such as political in-fighting. It turns away from antagonism (which Schmitt would argue is ionherent in politics) and towards the kind of community involvement that Koch's interlocuters found was missing when they rejected this amoral kind of politics just months later.]]> 2020-11-23 22:24:10 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/954212003 B111609 https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/954247340 This Financial Times article raises a theme present in the EU referndum, as identified by Koch (2017), of moralising politics. In addition to this insertion of everyday moralities into politics, the leadership of the US government, according to Joe Biden, is a leading example for countries around the world to follow in their own elections. Therefore, the claims of illegitimacy made by Trump damages "democracy globally", as the West is assumed, in this article, to set the precedent of what is a "fair election." I would argue that Trump's unfounded claims of fraud expose the irony in the idea of the West as a leading moral political force.  ]]> 2020-11-23 22:44:39 UTC https://padlet.com/b111609/yd0wxq2n12gopxcw/wish/954247340