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“Because I’m Neither Gringa nor Latina”: Conceptualizing Multiple Identities Within Transnational Social Fields

Débora Upegui-Hernández

in Navigating Multiple Identities: Race, Gender, Culture, Nationality, and Roles

This chapter explores how Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants living in New York City negotiate multiple identities, selves, cultures, and histories within transnational social fields. ... More

This chapter explores how Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants living in New York City negotiate multiple identities, selves, cultures, and histories within transnational social fields. Children of immigrants grow up in the midst of multiple cultures and juggle an array of cultural norms, values, and expectations of their parents’ culture and those of mainstream “American” culture, while they maintain transnational ties to the home country of their parents. This chapter is based on a mixed-methods secondary analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data collected on Dominican and Colombian young adult children of immigrants (ages 18 to 32) living in New York City by the Immigrant Second Generation in Metropolitan New York study (ISGMNY) in 1998–2000 (Kasinitz, Mollenkopf, & Waters, 2004). The author argues that children of immigrants navigate multiple identities as a result of their experiences of growing up within transnational social fields shaped by their parents’ home country and the United States. Second, children of immigrants embrace and feel at ease with the complexity and ambiguity inherent in their border-crossing lives. Third, children of immigrants construct and manage their personal and social identities by comparing and contrasting their multiple cultural repertoires without juxtaposing them as oppositional dichotomies. Using a transnational perspective allows us to approach the study of migration and its impact on people’s lives with a lens of continuity and recognizes migration as a family project and as a process of transition and change where migrants maintain connection between their pasts, presents, and futures through subsequent generations.Less

The Humanitarian Space

Shai M. Dromi

in Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

Humanitarian NGOs receive wide support from donors, policymakers, and diplomats, despite a lively scholarly debate about their effectiveness and ethical grounding. How did the humanitarian NGO sector ... More

Humanitarian NGOs receive wide support from donors, policymakers, and diplomats, despite a lively scholarly debate about their effectiveness and ethical grounding. How did the humanitarian NGO sector attain such an unusually trusted status? The introduction examines this question in light of existing work on the history and sociology of humanitarian work. It focuses on the central role religion has played in long-distance humanitarian projects, and highlights the mid-nineteenth-century as a key turning point in the development of the humanitarian NGO sector. Building on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and on the Strong Program in Cultural Sociology, the introduction argues that the humanitarian NGO sector achieved its prominent international status through a set of cultural and religious processes occurring in the second half of the nineteenth-century.Less

“Trying to Have an Identity without a Place in the World”

Thea Renda Abu El-Haj

in Unsettled Belonging: Educating Palestinian American Youth after 9/11

Young people’s sense of being Palestinian and belonging to a national community was produced through everyday practices that unfolded across transnational social fields, constituting an informal ... More

Young people’s sense of being Palestinian and belonging to a national community was produced through everyday practices that unfolded across transnational social fields, constituting an informal citizenship education. These identifications were bound up with an independence movement, co-constructing a sense of self, a notion of a people, and a relationship with an imagined national community. This chapter illustrates the range of practices through which this sense of belonging was produced. For example, after the Oslo Accords, many mothers moved back to Palestine in order to afford the children a cultural, linguistic, religious, and national education. In the U.S., most families lived in a tight-knit Palestinian community, routinely spoke Arabic and socialized together, worked to send remittances to family members in the Middle East, watched Arabic media, and participated in political advocacy for justice and peace in Palestine. Through these communal practices, Palestinian American youth developed a sense of belonging to a Palestinian national imaginary. The meaning and parameters of this imagined community were constructed in relation to three themes: connection to a particular land experienced as an intimate, moral space; a (contested) notion of cultural authenticity; and a sense of Palestinian identity as inextricably linked with suffering and sacrifice.Less

The Réveil and the Founding of the Red Cross

Shai M. Dromi

in Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

The early Red Cross movement promoted a controversial idea: establishing a sector of nongovernmental and impartial volunteer societies, which would be considered neutral parties on the battlefield. ... More

The early Red Cross movement promoted a controversial idea: establishing a sector of nongovernmental and impartial volunteer societies, which would be considered neutral parties on the battlefield. What convinced the Red Cross founders that this is an appropriate model for relief work? This chapter delves into the early genesis of the Red Cross in the 1860s and presents the theological origins of its proposal to organize a humanitarian sector. It focuses on the nineteenth-century Reformed Protestant Réveil movement and the social conditions in Geneva that led to the establishment and success of the movement there. The chapter shows that the principles the Red Cross espoused – impartiality, neutrality, permanence – were rooted in the religious convictions of its founding members about the nature of war, the agency of humankind in alleviating its effects, and the proper relationship between the state and civil associations. The chapter demonstrates how those principles became embedded in the legal and organizational structures of the humanitarian field.Less

The Spread of Humanitarian Logics into New Domains

Shai M. Dromi

in Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

The nascent transnational humanitarian field relied in many ways on actors in other fields who affirmed its importance and independence, such as legal scholars, nursing professionals, and ... More

The nascent transnational humanitarian field relied in many ways on actors in other fields who affirmed its importance and independence, such as legal scholars, nursing professionals, and journalists. This chapter traces the relationships between the humanitarian field and the fields of nursing, journalism, religion, and international law in the late nineteenth century. It examines the symbiotic relationship that emerged between the transnational humanitarian field and each of these other fields. As the chapter shows, the affiliation with humanitarian actors helped these other fields reimagine their own undertakings as aligning with the common good. The Red Cross in particular provided the language to confer distinction and prestige on their undertakings.Less

The Street Casino

Simon Harding

in The Street Casino: Survival in violent street gangs

The final chapter considers the cumulative impact of this social field upon the young lives lived within it. It also reviews the value and utility of the social field theory and the street capital ... More

The final chapter considers the cumulative impact of this social field upon the young lives lived within it. It also reviews the value and utility of the social field theory and the street capital theory. Key elements and findings are summarised. Finally this chapter considers how field theory and street capital theory offer fresh insights into the gang and how it works, including fresh perspectives on policy developments.Less

The Spread of Humanitarian Culture Across Borders

Shai M. Dromi

in Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

The international Red Cross movement emerged at a period of rising nationalism in politics and culture, and yet the movement spread across borders with considerable ease. This chapter examines how ... More

The international Red Cross movement emerged at a period of rising nationalism in politics and culture, and yet the movement spread across borders with considerable ease. This chapter examines how the cultural structures and the organizational logics of the Red Cross to the international disseminated between the 1860s to the 1890s. It shows that processes of cultural production and of translation of meanings across national contexts mediated the transition from social movement to a broad social field. In particular, the first large-scale achievement of the movement - the Geneva Convention - afforded numerous parties in different nations with the language to problematize and criticize belligerents’ conduct, to classify specific populations as neutral or vulnerable, and to formalize the role of volunteer humanitarians. The chapter demonstrates that the growth of the transnational humanitarian field was facilitated by the resonance of its meaning structures with patriotic sentiments that were prevalent across late-nineteenth-century Europe and beyond.Less

Creativity and genius: a systems perspective

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

in Genius and the Mind: Studies of Creativity and Temperament

A complementary perspective on creativity and achievement is provided in this chapter with respect to the sociocultural dimension. The author of this chapter has been prominent in the investigation ... More

A complementary perspective on creativity and achievement is provided in this chapter with respect to the sociocultural dimension. The author of this chapter has been prominent in the investigation of talent in early life, and in studying the relationship between optimal experiences, ‘flow’ and inventiveness. This chapter reminds us that exceptional ability is not a property of the individual in isolation, but depends on social recognition and appreciation. There is a complicated interchange between the person, the domain of activity in which he or she works, be it painting, science, or fiction writing, and the social organization of that domain. This is best understood within a ‘systems’ perspective of interaction and feedback. The chapter argues that it is the ‘gatekeepers’ of that domain who determine what is creative and what is not.Less

Sans-Frontiérisme and the Rise of “New Humanitarianism”

Shai M. Dromi

in Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

To what extent does the contemporary transnational humanitarian field continue to bear the mark of the religious faith of its founders? This chapter shows that although the field has seen significant ... More

To what extent does the contemporary transnational humanitarian field continue to bear the mark of the religious faith of its founders? This chapter shows that although the field has seen significant upheavals, its core identity and logics have persevered since the late-nineteenth-century. However, humanitarians have continuously disagreed about the ways in which they believed core field values should be realized. The chapter traces the increasing contestation among humanitarian actors over the proper ways to organize their field. It focuses in particular on the 1970s rise of Doctors without Borders, a movement highly critical of Red Cross organizational and ethical logics. The chapter shows that despite the multiple aspirations for revolution, Doctors without Borders had to rely on the existing moral infrastructure laid in place by the Red Cross to gain a prominent standing in the civil sphere.Less

Media: The Bridge to Globalization

Noha Mellor

in Modern Arab Journalism: Problems and Prospects

This chapter reviews some Arab scholarly works on globalization to illustrate the Arab view of hybridity. The chapter draws heavily on Giddens’ theory of structuration combined with Bourdieu’s field ... More

This chapter reviews some Arab scholarly works on globalization to illustrate the Arab view of hybridity. The chapter draws heavily on Giddens’ theory of structuration combined with Bourdieu’s field theory. The chapter discusses the concept of hybridity and its significance in the post-independence era in the Arab region.Less

Motivations and characteristics of owners

Simon Harding

in Unleashed: The phenomena of status dogs and weapon dogs

This chapter uses social field analysis derived from French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to determine the motivations and characteristics of owners from different social fields. Dog choice is linked ... More

This chapter uses social field analysis derived from French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to determine the motivations and characteristics of owners from different social fields. Dog choice is linked to canine brand values and functional requirements. A motivational typology is established including, entrepreneurship, protection, fashion and image and identity. Links to breeding and ownership are considered under each motivational category. Masculinity and self-image are linked to the habitus and levels of street capital. Links to gang activity in the USA and UK are revealed alongside use of dogs for criminal activity. Examples of use of dogs as weapons are provided. Finally the cultural, media and marketing influences behind this phenomenon are considered, including the influence of Hip Hop, pitbull merchandising etc which links to the violent branding image of the pitbull.Less

Introduction

Noha Mellor

in Modern Arab Journalism: Problems and Prospects

The introduction provides an overview of the structure of the book. It presents the aim of the book which is to apply Social Critical Theory to the study of Arab journalism.

The New Social Field of Policing

Bethan Loftus

in Police Culture in a Changing World

This chapter determines the defining developments that have occurred in the British policing landscape. It draws upon three broad axes of change to specify the new social field of British policing: ... More

This chapter determines the defining developments that have occurred in the British policing landscape. It draws upon three broad axes of change to specify the new social field of British policing: the legal context of policing; the greater political recognition of minority groups; and the burgeoning economic exclusion of late modernity. It also illustrates that the new societal configuration raises seminal questions for the cultural expressions of the police and the policing of social groups. It is also essential to provide an outline of the research context and explain the methodology that is employed in revisiting the occupational value systems and practices of the police.Less

The Game in Action: Habitus, Street Capital and Territory

Simon Harding

in The Street Casino: Survival in violent street gangs

Chapter seven reveals how many practitioners and academics have misread the concept of territoriality. It argues that territoriality is a metaphor for the habitus and the body corpus of the gang ... More

Chapter seven reveals how many practitioners and academics have misread the concept of territoriality. It argues that territoriality is a metaphor for the habitus and the body corpus of the gang which means incursions are seen as personal violations. This reveals a different approach to the so-called Postcode Beefs in south London. This chapters discusses how social field analysis permits this new perspective on territorialityLess

Conclusion

Adrian Parr

in Deleuze and Memorial Culture: Desire, Singular Memory and the Politics of Trauma

This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on contemporary forms of public remembrance or memorial culture, and explains that memory can be used by the social field in a ... More

This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on contemporary forms of public remembrance or memorial culture, and explains that memory can be used by the social field in a distinctively non-Oedipal way so that the past is not a blueprint for the future. It argues that in so far as desire is social and collective memory presupposes a social situation, the phenomenon of memorial culture is a configuration and investment of desire. What this means is that collective memory is used to reinforce the past as different to the present, and, in so doing, past, present and future are codified according to their difference from one another, or the distinction between the past and present is confounded.Less

Codes of Class

Carol Upadhya

in Reengineering India: Work, Capital, and Class in an Offshore Economy

Chapter 6 focuses on the connections between IT and the middle class, exploring processes of class consolidation and reshuffling that have been set in motion by the advent of the software outsourcing ... More

Chapter 6 focuses on the connections between IT and the middle class, exploring processes of class consolidation and reshuffling that have been set in motion by the advent of the software outsourcing industry. Viewing ‘middle-classness’ as a meaningful social identity, it explores several dimensions of class restructuring in post-liberalization India, especially the reworking of the intersections between class, caste, gender, and work. The fracturing of the middle class has produced diverse dissonances and disjunctures, which frame the mobility strategies of actors and contestations over social value. After describing the social composition of the IT workforce, the chapter examines the strategies of class distinction deployed by IT professionals, who form a visible fraction of the ‘new middle class’. It also traces the diverse lives of ‘Indian culture’ and middle class identity as mobile IT professionals pursue their projects of self-development and social mobility in a transnational social field.Less

Sociology of International Arbitration

Emmanuel Gaillard

in Practising Virtue: Inside International Arbitration

This chapter analyses international arbitration as a social field that is structured by social actors and their rituals. The social actors are structured into essentials actors, such as the parties ... More

This chapter analyses international arbitration as a social field that is structured by social actors and their rituals. The social actors are structured into essentials actors, such as the parties and arbitrators; arbitration service providers, such as arbitration institutions and counsel; and value providers, such as states passing arbitration legislation, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and arbitration scholars. Rituals that structure the interaction of these actors are, inter alia, arbitral hearings, arbitration conferences, and prizes given as symbols of professional recognition. The sociological helps to illustrate how international arbitration has changed during the past decades from a ‘solidaristic’ to a more ‘polarized’ field, in which different roles in the arbitral process are allocated to different actors and where arbitration becomes subject to intense outside scrutiny.Less

A Preliminary Typology of Complex Dependence

Peter Alexander Meyers

in Abandoned to Ourselves

The Afterword provides some concluding thoughts. This book has considered many aspects of Rousseau's complex theory of the social field from which political relationships arise. Rousseau identified ... More

The Afterword provides some concluding thoughts. This book has considered many aspects of Rousseau's complex theory of the social field from which political relationships arise. Rousseau identified dependence as the primary fabric of that social field and the generative force of social evolution. But is this sufficient for political theory in our time? The Afterword asks: how should we understand the fundamental fact of human dependence so as to bring it to the center of political theory today? The Afterword provides a very brief sketch of the structure of complex dependence, comprising its several aspects and some of the relations inherent among them.Less