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kitmcroninillustration · 3 years

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‘An introduction to Sociological Art theories’ (2018)

ARTHUR DANTO - the idea of an art world

Danto (1924-2013) addressed the concept of an 'art world' in 1964 because he was looking for a way to understand the conceptual and abstract art of the 1950s and 1960s. What is the distinction between an everyday object and an art object of Marcel Duchamp? What is represented in pure abstract art? The changes that took place in art aesthetics made him realize more clearly than ever that "to see something as art requires something the eye cannot descry - an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an art world" (Danto 1964: 577). An art world, for Danto, was literally that which makes it possible to define and view something as a work of art, focusing predominately on the visual arts. This ideology "deliberately aimed to shift the attention of art historians, critics and other professionals from the tradition idea that artworks have intrinsic value and typical features that make them art, to the view that works become art on the basis of their position in the (historical) context", i.e. position in the art world (Van Maanen 2009: 19). Danto's idea of an 'Art world' has since been replaced by the notion that "works can be identified as artworks because of their specific values and functions" (Van Maanen 2009: 9). This idea of value and function and the resulting 'art world' scheme can then, in theory, be applied to any art form.

GEORGE DICKIE - the institutional approach

While Danto was concerned primarily with what an artwork represents, George Dickie (b. 1926) is concerned with the "space between art and not-art" (Van Maanen 2009: 21). He explored this between 1964-1989 as institutional theory: "an attempt to sketch an account of the specific institutional structure within which works have their being" (Dickie 1984: 27). Dickie did not believe that what art works were 'about' determined their definition as an 'artwork'. And he believed that art could be defined by more than its intrinsic properties. He became determined to distinguish between 'art' (i.e. "this is art") and a 'work of art', or 'art work', and classifying the meaning of 'art work' became the entire basis of institutional theory.

The importance of 'artifactual' art was paramount for Dickie, defining an artwork to be the product of human activity, and generating this heavily used definition: "A work of art in the classificatory sense is 1) an artifact 2) upon which some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution (the art world) has conferred the status of candidate for appreciation" (Dickie 1971: 101). Dickie considered that the art work, presence of an art world, and the general 'receiving' public all part of his institutional approach. This framework, and the rules for those occupying it, clarified the "significance of conventions in making the art world system operate" (Van Maanen 2009: 28). He was also one of the first to place the public within his system. Dickie acknowledged that his institutional approach does give room to theorize about what artworks do. Furthermore, his theory does not make suggestions about how art functions in society, nor how the art world produce art. What Dickie did, however, provide a theoretical definition of art that removed considerations of essence, value and function, separating the institutional and functional approaches.

MONROE BEARDSLEY- the essentialist

While Van Maanen only refers to Beardsley (1915-1985) in relation to the other theorists, I did want to add him to this list, briefly, because I feel that his philosophies on aesthetics are important to the development sociological art theory. His 1956 Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism is universally acknowledged by philosophers as one of the most important books in the 20th century addressing analytic aesthetics. Aesthetics focuses on literature, music and art, and Beardsley was quite interested in distinguishing between various forms an 'art work': an artifact, its production, a particular performance and a particular presentation (this perspective applies best to performing arts like dance, theater, and music). While he avoided defining art in Aesthetics, especially avoiding the term 'art work', in The Aesthetic Point of View, he said that art is “either an arrangement of conditions intended to be capable of affording an experience with marked aesthetic character or (incidentally) an arrangement belonging to a class or type of arrangements that is typically intended to have this capacity” (1982: 299). Unlike Dickie, Beardsley was concerned more with what the arts do, not what they are: "there is a function that is essential to human culture (...) and that work of art fulfill, or at least aspire or purport to fulfill" (1976: 209). Beardsley was also one of the first to write against intentionalism; he did not believe that art was defined (or its aesthetic function was defined) by what an artist intended, nor did he believe that the artists intention is relevant to its interpretation.

HOWARD BECKER - the interactional approach

Sociologist Howard Becker (b. 1928) only addressed art in one book, Art Worlds (1982), and yet he has come to be viewed as a leading voice in the development of art sociology. It seems to me that Becker felt the institutional approaches of Dickie and Danto were 'first steps', from which he tried to expand and explain the 'art world' system using sociological analysis, rather than aesthetic theory, seeking a theorized system that answered questions 'who', 'what', 'how much' and 'how many'. He understood the art world to be a cooperation of participants, even if consensus amongst participants is impossible. Becker came from the 'Chicago School of Symbolic Interactionism', which was a school of social psychology that was concerned with how humans exist/struggle/react to the existing social structures in which they live. This thinking motivated Becker to look at the relationship between participants and the institutions of the art world.

By art world, Becker means "the network of people whose cooperative activity, organized via their joined knowledge of conventional means of doing things, produces the kind of art works that art world is noted for" (Becker 1982: X). This means, first, that there are multiple art worlds, depending on the 'kind of art work' produced therein. Becker established what he called collective activity, which drew together seven activities that Becker found necessary for making art: developing an idea, executing the idea, manufacturing the materials needed for execution, distributing, supporting activities, reception and response, and "creating and maintaining the rationale", of which there is no hierarchy (Van Maanen 2009: 35). Not only are artists not independent, but all participants are equally important for creating and sustaining the art world. Further, this means that artistic product is dependent on domains of distribution and reception: "artists make what distribution institutions can assimilate and what audiences appreciate" (Van Maanen 2009: 38). Becker proposes an economic model for the art world system:

(1) [E]ffective demand is generated by people who will spend money for art. (2) What they demand is what they have learned to enjoy and want, and that is a result of their education and experience. (3) Price varies with demand and quality. (4) The works the system handles are those it can distribute effectively enough to stay in operation. (5) Enough artistic will produce works the system can effectively distribute that it can continue to operate. (6) Artists whose work the distribution systems cannot or will not handle find other means of distribution; alternatively, their work achieves minimal or no distribution. (1982: 107)

While this seems very capitalist, very 'supply and demand', there is always the option for artists (true artists, according to Becker) to avoid this conventional system of distribution, either through self support, patronage, or a state subsidy (government support). The result, though, of being 'too' experimental/outside the norm, will be that the work will not be staged, published or exhibited (Van Maanen 2009: 40). And no matter what, Becker says, "artworks always bear the marks of the system which distributes them" (1982: 94). I, myself, wonder what this means for a field like contemporary music. While I do not believe in as cut and dry a system as Becker outlines, with only true artists breaking conventions but never being received, I wonder if its possible to quantify institutional effects on an artwork. There is a lot of new music, in Finland and in the US, which is created within the institution of academia, and it would be interesting to see if differences exist between 'academic' new music and independent new music (or if there is such thing as 'independent music'...).

While Becker provides a great deal more analytic tools than Dickie and Danto, without attempting inclusion of any sort of aesthetic theory, it proves impossible for him to explain further the who, what, why, etc., of art itself. He also cannot rectify his sense that artist have a higher place within the art world (importance, prestige, etc) within the system he has proposed. He also believes that true artists break conventions, which is not compatible in a system that excludes aesthetic value from the artistic world, and also one that views the art world as a fixed system within society (Van Maanen 2009: 42).

PAUL DIMAGGIO - new institutionalism

Paul DiMaggio (b. 1951) is categorized as a 'new institutionalist', because he, with Walter Powell, co wrote that "institutions begin as conventions, which, because they are based on coincidence of interest, are vulnerable to defection, renegotiation, and free riding" (DiMaggio and Powell 1991: 24). Institutions have the power to form and sustain social relationships, but they also are subject to change with peoples' interests. DiMaggio is included here because he applied his new institutionalist theories to the art world, and in a quite analytic way. His well known study, "Why Do Some theatres Innovate More than Others. An Empirical Analysis" (Poetics 1985), co written with Kristen Stenberg, concluded that "artistic innovation depends on the behavior of formal organizations" and in order to "understand art, we must understand the dynamics of such organizations and the principals that govern their relationship to their economic and social environment" (1985: 121). DiMaggio and Stenberg thought that too often artists are viewed as the sole innovators, when really, the institutions/fields/organizations within which they work control, to a greater extent, the level of innovativeness. This notion is especially relevant to my research, in particular the orchestra reports, which reveal trends of orchestral programming and show the amount of contemporary music orchestras play (which is often considered a benchmark for innovation).

The second important point of the 1985 study was the move away from Max Weber's "Iron Cage" metaphor (humanity is imprisoned in an iron cage of bureaucracy and rational order) and to the view that bureaucracy and rational order are actually the result of 'organizational fields' (formerly identified as institutions). Unlike Becker, who was concerned with interactions between the people in a given 'field', DiMaggio and Stenberg examined the field as a whole and how the field acted upon its members. They did, however, use more traditional institutionalizing methods to define their fields, with a process of four steps based on DiMaggio, 1983: 1) "an increase in the extent of interaction among organizations", 2) "The emergence of inter organizational structures of domination and patterns of coalition", 3) "An increase in the information load with which organizations in a field must contend", and 4) "the development of mutual awareness among participants in a set of organizations that they are involved in a common enterprise" (Van Maanen 2009: 47). These steps will be useful in comparison to Bourdieu's steps below. Further, DiMaggio and Powell identified twelve factors that determine the processes within and structure of a field, two of which are particularly important for art study (1983: 76-77):

The greater the extent to which an organizational field is dependent upon a single (or several similar) source(s) of support for vital resources, the higher the level of isomorphism.

The greater the extent to which organizations in a field transact with agencies of the state, the greater the extent of isomorphism in the field as a whole.

This can be applied to a contemporary music study, not only to use the 4-step processes to determine the relationship between the contemporary music and classical music fields, but also how financial support sources, and whether they are through state agencies, shape the structure of the contemporary music field, and similarities between different contemporary music fields.

PIERRE BOURDIEU - field theory

Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) is the most well-known and influential art sociologist of the late twentieth century and his work focused predominantly on the dynamics of power within a society, particularly on cultural, social and symbolic forms of power. For the purposes of his study, Van Maanen focuses on Bourdieu's development of field theory, which was in many ways a direct rebuttal to Howard Becker's 'art world'. Rather than understanding works of art as the result of all the interacting activities of an 'art world', Bourdieu tried "to build a theoretical construct of concepts through which the working of a field can be analyzed" (Van Maanen 2009: 55). His result was -

An artistic field is a structure of relations between positions, which, with the help of several forms of capital, on the one hand, and based on joint illusio and their own doxa, on the other, struggle for specific symbolic capital (prestige). The positions are occupied by agents, who take these positions on the basis of their habitus. (Van Maanen 2009: 55)

To explain further, Bourdieu's position is one that is tied to the type of art produced, or artistic genre. These genres can be quite specific (21st century American musical theater or 1960s krautrock), or more general. There is also a presumed hierarchy between agents in a given field, and even between the positions themselves within the field, as determined by the division of capital. Like DiMaggio, Bourdieu establishes a set of 'laws', four defining how fields function and three which address how a field can be identified (Van Maanen 2009: 61-62):

Newcomers have to buy a right of admittance in the form of recognition of the value of the game and in the form of knowledge of the working principles of it.

One of the factors that protect a game from a total revolution, is the very investment in time and effort necessary to enter the game.

This lists bears resemblance to both the work of DiMaggio and Danto. The identification qualifications are surprisingly specific, and I wonder how they might be applied to contemporary music study. First, how can contemporary music be subdivided into subfields, for comparison sake. Can they be divided geographically, for instance a Finnish contemporary music field and an American music contemporary field? A Finnish contemporary music field would probably be possible, with this criteria, but I think an American contemporary music field would be much more difficult to identify and define.

Bourdieu also discusses cultural capital, derived strongly from Marx's theory of value, as a value that is the result of accumulated labor, no different than economic and social capital. Symbolic in nature, both social and cultural capital can only function if they are not explicitly recognized as capital (the way economic capital is). For cultural capital, this means it exists "as a form of knowledge that equips the social gent with appreciation for or competence in deciphering cultural relations and artefacts", and it is symbolic because the act of acquiring it is mostly invisible (Van Maanen 2009: 59). According to Bourdieu, cultural capital can be turned into material objects, which can then be transferred as economic goods (i.e., a painting), but this is only part of 'the story'. Cultural capital exists in three forms, embodied/incorporated (cultural knowledge acquired by the agent), objectified (material goods), or institutionalized. In this third form, cultural capital is confirmed by some sort of institution (university, government, artistic organization, etc), meaning that a persons cultural capital is both confirmed officially, regardless of a persons embodiment of cultural capital at any given moment, and also the official certification carries with it an economic value, guaranteeing perhaps a higher paid position within the field. Bourdieu says that these states of cultural capital, in conjunction with social capital, create hierarchy and competition between artists within an artistic field.

In The Rules of Art (1996), Bourdieu discusses at length the relationships between different fields and different types of capital. Lack of economic capital with more cultural capital results with in more autonomy (for example, small scale production and avant-garde art forms), while economic capital without (or with less) cultural capital creates the more heteronomous art (like musicals and Hollywood cinema). Van Maanen argues that aspects of Bourdieu's model do not necessarily hold for all art fields across all periods of time. For instance, the state has played an increasing role in providing economic support that is separate from Bourdieu/Marxist capitalist economic capital. And it is possible for autonomous art fields to attract economic capital (though no example is provided). What came to my mind is that most artistic production is quite economically demanding, therefore there must be some (likely more than some) economic capital present to produce art, especially avant-garde art. It would be interesting to try and apply Bourdieu's field theory and make an actual field map for aspects of my project, like American academic contemporary art, or Finnish contemporary music 1975-1990. While his writings do not define art aesthetically, and come off quite cynically, his analysis of cultural capital especially in relation to economic and political fields warrant further discussion (in another post...).

https://www.lucyabrams.net/news/2018/5/28/an-introduction-to-sociological-art-theory

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cicadacreativemag · 4 years

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The commodification of Black pain: Why "White Fragility" falls short

Jay Serrano, Editorial Director

In the midst of yet another reckoning with the antiblackness that permeates every corner of the U.S., many people have scrambled for ways to make sense of it all. For some, it is a familiar topic of conversation, one that has shaped their entire life. For others, it is an abstract knowledge they may only be exploring for the first time.

For these individuals, self-education has become a common prescription. Social media users who are more well versed in the topic of antiblack racism have curated various reading lists with recommended reading for nonblack people. One title has popped up in several of these posts, often floating to the top of the list. I recognized it from when it hit the New York Times Best Seller List in 2018 and stayed there for over a year. It stirred some controversy then, but it has since reemerged in the wake of the George Floyd protests, once again becoming a best seller, highly recommended and rated on Amazon and endlessly passed around on my Facebook feed.

The book is called “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” written by a White academic named Robin DiAngelo. You’ve likely heard of this book before—or, at the very least, have heard of its central thesis. Her primary assertion is that White people are inherently complicit in racism and that they must do work to dismantle this, defining resistance to this concept “white fragility” or “white defensiveness.”

I am not the target audience for this book and withheld critique because I did not have a strong opinion of it. I’m mixed AfroLatine and thought there was no reason for me to read a simplified version of racism for reluctant White people, but as it became more and more famous, I noticed insidious things about it. Reading it validated some of my more cynical analyses of the narcissism of neoliberal elite establishments, but it also deeply confused me. It appears I was not alone.

The critiques of the book vary. One common critique is some variation of “racism is not that bad, and I’m upset at being implicated.” I view this critique as fundamentally absurd, ahistorical, and demonstrably false. Another critique, primarily presented on the Left, is that DiAngelo uses corporate framing to offer a prescriptive non-solution to a problem that could be more effectively solved by addressing workers’ rights and establishing socialized policy. The idea is that class solidarity supersedes racial solidarity and that to proclaim otherwise is playing into corporate division tactics and identity politics. The Left has very scant media representation and, perhaps predictably, the voices that have succeeded have been almost exclusively White. It is not shocking to me, then, that their critique correctly analyzes DiAngelo’s poor framing and conflict of interest but fails to diagnose the real pervasiveness and seriousness of antiblackness.

I think the real problem with “White Fragility” is that is reads as a self-congratulatory Racism 101 course that centers the White experience above all and sanitizes the experience of people of color, especially Black people—ironically, likely to be more palatable for a White audience. The book is incredibly repetitive and condescending, entirely satisfied in its commodification of racism in the U.S. and once you realize how much money she’s made from this book and how much it has brought her fame, it feels openly exploitative.

Centering the White Experience

DiAngelo is a White woman. A White author being the primary spokesman for people of color would seem to undermine the ethos of the book, which often emphasizes listening to us. There is a strong narcissistic streak to the entire narrative; it is all about White people, even as we are being finger wagged at about how we leave people of color out of conversations about their own oppression.

We hear plenty about white privilege, white fragility, white tears, white guilt, etc. But we hear very little from or about people of color’s experiences outside of being oppression boards. She offers few positive stories about people of color—instead, every interaction regarding racism is combative and confrontational. There’s also a creepiness to the way in which nonwhite people are reduced to props in the backdrop of White people’s journey towards enlightenment.

There is an incredible irony in watching groups of rich White elites argue amongst themselves about racism. There is even more irony is watching the critique of these people come from other White people and watching their arguments still miss the point. It’s a bizarre reminder that we aren’t allowed to be the protagonist even in stories ostensibly about us. DiAngelo didn’t write about us. She wrote about White people’s feelings about us.

The Corporate Angle

This is part of the Left critique of DiAngelo’s work that is actually quite prudent. DiAngelo fills her books with anecdotes of defensive workers she met during her stint as a corporate diversity trainer. She, bizarrely, appears to offer her advice as a corporate consultant without acknowledging this approach would be inappropriate with family and friends. She doesn’t appear to acknowledge this because she doesn’t realize it, which makes it even more concerning.

Prescribed lines come across as insincere and almost cartoonishly silly, furthering the impression that this is about optics and sounding woke rather than about effecting meaningful change. She also often paints coworkers as being the harbingers of inequality but fails to ever acknowledge the way corporations are plagued by systemic racism. To eliminate racism from the workplace would require a reckoning with the capitalist structures that have historically disenfranchised people of color, particularly Black and brown people.

She even often frames racism as…microaggressions in the workplace. Sure, this happens and yes, it is inappropriate and negatively affects people of color. However, it betrays a bias in which it is clear she believes the more overt types of racism—lynching, hate crimes, wrongful termination, being denied housing, poor access to medical care, higher mortality rates, etc.—are either less important or less common than corporate microaggressions. We don’t need to protect ourselves from a lawsuit. We need to foster more empathy for people of color. Now, more than ever, what we need is for White people to see the humanity of Black people. This book does not give us the tools to make that happen.

The Political Divide

Part of what makes this book stand out and, I believe, part of why this book was so instinctively rejected by the Left is because there is a huge ideological rift between the Democratic Party and progressives. DiAngelo incorrectly defines “progressives,” couching it into the term “White progressives,” which feels as though it is intentionally avoiding Martin Luther King Jr.’s naming of “the White moderate.”

Through subtleties like that, it becomes apparent that DiAngelo has a political ideology that is notoriously infantilizing and condescending towards people of color and is diametrically opposed to the politics of racial justice groups, which are typically Leftist in nature. The New York Times is a moderate outlet with a clear ideological bend, and it feels like no coincidence that this book was widely covered by the publication and then began increasing in sales. To be entirely fair, the New York Times and other more moderate outlets have praised Black literature and showcased it, helping to garner attention, but they can be problematic vessels.

One of the largest critiques of White moderates is that they are often incredibly complicit in systems of racism and inequality, but instead of addressing these issues head-on, they offer strong rhetoric that they do not practice nor seem to truly believe. This political divide is, despite popular belief, not a new one. Again, Martin Luther King Jr. criticized White moderates, and although DiAngelo often says the “correct” answer, her rhetoric is insidious in its insincerity.

Letting White Academics Set the Conversation

The fetishization of academia and intelligence that pervades a substantial wing of the Left and Liberals is often our own undoing—we are so impressed by the intellectual novelty of a topic we presume the argument is more substantive than it truly is. We view intelligence as authority, granting them implicit trust. While this instinct is a reasonable one, it is ultimately part of the problem.

When we offer academics a disproportionately large amount of credibility, we allow them to set the tone of the conversation. Perhaps this would be appropriate in the case of something like neurobiology or electrical engineering, but when discussing race issues, particularly the systemic kind, academia is hardly the authority. Colleges uphold and perpetuate systemic racism in complicated, nuanced ways, which is not the primary topic of this piece, but remains incredibly relevant. When considering how this book became so famous, one must consider the systems of power that allowed a White academic to set the narrative.

This critique is substantially reduced with Black academics and other nonwhite academics, but even then, the discourse can be divorced from material realities or become corroded by stewing in a context that is implicitly hostile towards antiracism.

Offering No Solutions—What was the Goal?

DiAngelo very conspicuously offers no solutions as to how to actually improve the material conditions of Black people. She only appears to encourage self-flagellation to absolve oneself of any accidental racism while engaging in said racism. Feeling guilty is centering your fragile white feelings, she insists, as she continues intentionally provoking guilt and centering the White experience. She paints the reader into a corner by taking the possibility of criticism off the table and gives them nothing but the recommendation they attend her pricey racial sensitivity seminars.

It comes across as being provocative for the sake of being provocative and really, the idea is a self-defeating one. The theory of White fragility is fundamentally unprovable because any critique of it is an apparent confirmation of itself. It does not encourage dialogue or move the needle—it simply alienates for the sake of establishing one’s own moral superiority.

At the end of the day, this is a book that reviews the same concepts over and over without offering any suggestions on how to help advance the liberation of nonwhite people. It doesn’t seem interested in endearing itself to the reader and is, in fact, openly hostile towards the reader, who is ostensibly trying to unlearn their racism. It is difficult to believe her goal is to convert the layman. She simply presents her narrow realm of corporate moderate ideology that abstracts our experiences with racism to make White people feel guilty and buy her books so she can profit off our pain while talking about us like cardboard cutouts.

If we are to assume the goal is self-education, there are far better books written by authors of color which we can and should be reading instead.

----------------------------------------------------

Recommended Reading

As Black Lives Matter is the focal point of this newsletter and the framing I had in mind when critiquing “White Fragility,” I am recommending specifically Black pieces. Many Black liberation writers are Leftists, which comes across in their writings, and I strongly believe we need to reclaim that space on the Left. We must be able to discuss our lived experiences without it being erased as being mere identity politics. A great first step is getting truly educated and building genuine empathy for Black people. Here are some of cornerstone pieces that are actually written by Black people, many of whom were/are Black academics and/or activists:

“Are Prisons Obsolete?” – Angela Davis

“The Fire Next Time” – James Baldwin

“Ain't I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism” – bell hooks

“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” – Malcolm X with Alex Haley

“Report from the Bahamas” – June Jordan

“When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir” – Patrisse Khan-Cullors

“Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” – Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

“How to Be an Antiracist” – Ibram X. Kendi

“Between the World and Me” – Ta-Nehisi Coates

This doesn’t begin to scratch the surface and there are many pieces specifically on intersectionality, exploring queer Black identity, Black feminism, Black disability activism, capitalism’s effects on Black people, etc. At some point, we will hopefully explore some of these concepts in depth here.

#jay #essay #BLM #july 2020

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alexsmitposts · 5 years

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Cheating Scandal in Admission to Elite American Universities is Telltale Sign of Decay in Higher Education One only needs to give a few lessons about how to apply to US universities – you teach students about the admission policies, motivational letters, etc. However, it is also necessary to make an attempt to get across to them the simple truth that they are most probably wasting their time and money applying to the so-called elite universities, unless they have super-rich parents or sugar daddies (gender notwithstanding). As a graduate of a US academic program, I would advise them that it is better to aim for the average universities, as the quality of education there is just as good, if not better; they are also far more likely to get accepted at one of these. But this advice applies mostly to the above-average students dreaming the Great American Dream, as the best of the tribe would not pay heed to my advice, howsoever logical it might be. As a teacher, what is most discouraging and disheartening to know is that deserving students cannot obtain the places they deserve, just because they are not from families through whom they can call the Clintons and the Obamas family friends. But what is especially discouraging is when foreign students, and those from working class families, who have brains and can actually get accepted, fail to get accepted to their dream Universities. What is even more disheartening is that, when deserving students have asked me over the years how the kids of the rich, famous and the powerful have always managed to enroll in the elite universities, I have had no answer. But I now have. It should always have been obvious – they scam their way in. When, in March, Federal prosecutors in the US charged nearly 50 parents, including celebrities and others in higher education, some of the who’s who among the “rich and famous”, with taking part in a massive cheating scandal designed to get their less than “so bright” children into elite universities, I understood why deserving students I knew were missing out on university seats that should rightfully have been theirs. While a lot many of us will rejoice that the perpetrators have been booked, as someone who understands how the underground power structure of the world works, I know very well that this is just the tip of an iceberg, and something that has been going on for a long time. In reality, elite universities are often just a country club for the brats of the rich. They are full of legacy admissions. One only has to think of George W. Bush, and how he got accepted into Yale and then somehow managed to graduate. The latest scandal even involved paying bribes to a so-called charity, and then using the bribe as a tax write off, a trick your Average Joe would never be able to get away with. I am close to Berea College in Kentucky, which is technically an elite college based on academics, as you had to be poor with lots of brains to get accepted. It is perhaps the only college in America that will not even consider your application if you come from a higher income class and are not in financial need. Back in my day, it had a 12 percent admission rate. You also had to work at least 10 hours a week to earn your keep at various college-based jobs and industries. But I would add the caveat that my characterization of corruption, and better choices of where to attend an American university, is more applicable to undergraduate education. The top universities are still the “go-tos” for masters and PhDs, I would say—those where you get the most bang for the buck. In this context, where academics are key, the admissions process is generally a legitimate one. I still wouldn’t discourage undergrads from applying to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and such-like, because they often get better financial aid packages as well as perhaps more useful connections in terms of internships or work later on. Many such universities have blind admission policies, which means they don’t look at your financial status when examining your candidature. If they find you eligible, and if you don’t have the money, they will find it for you. But for those who fail to get into the American Ivy League, I sincerely advise them to look into other places where the educational experience is just as rich, if not even fuller. What I always try to instill in my students is a sense that education is a way of self-formation, of growth, of something that will make them inherently valuable. I think many of them appreciate that approach. As one of my former students wrote, “My life experience has been so different. I’m quite spoilt, and I continue to be spoilt. Can you imagine the Virginia taxpayer is footing the bill so that I do things I love – read and write? God bless them. I often wonder how and when I’ll give back to so many to whom I owe so much.” But – no offence – that’s a stupid sentiment to have. My friend, albeit well-intentioned, is overlooking how little he is involved in the entire scheme of the world. He is like a slave worrying about the dire condition of other worse off slaves. The true problem is that his only choices are “reading and writing”, and the State of Virginia pays him to remain ineffectual. The “God bless them” statement in his email is to me the ultimate affirmation of his own superiority and his own self-deception. It appears that he thinks his reading and writing are authentic experiences, rather than empty distraction for faux intellectuals. Once hooked by such ideas, foreign students often have a tendency to look down on those less fortunate. Thinking of my own college experience – who wouldn’t want a unique, fantastic education like that, especially if it was on a full scholarship? But you must find the money for most colleges, unless you fit their selection requirements: academically strong, motivated, and committed to the Appalachian region. I was deeply privileged, blessed, and just plain lucky to have managed to get funded. That’s a key element in the mix, needless to say. Another colleague recently shared with me about the status of higher education in the USA, “As part of my Ph.D. studies here in the US, I am participating in a small seminar course on the state of the university and academia in general. It has been very eye-opening. I always knew I wouldn’t want to be a part of the cut-throat publish-or-perish world, but I didn’t realize how, for example, disciplines, sub-disciplines, and tenure committees are as a rule highly specialized and rigid in their expectations – to the extent that, as a professor awaiting tenure, one is actively discouraged from engaging with the world through, say, op-eds in newspapers or blogging or other such public activities.” If you believe me, it is all about your field, and publishing in certain important journals and getting one or two academic books out (which should, in turn, be published by certain key university presses). It all seems a bit much to me. I think I just want to return to the classroom and teach, tenure be damned. But ask me again in a few years, I suppose. That is why plagiarism, even self-plagiarism, is so common amongst university professors – publish or perish. I took a graduate course on the economics of education, and how programs are funded, and universities ranked, based on publications, even volumes of books in libraries. All that goes into the national and world rankings. The other side of the coin is former USSR countries, where little or no research is being conducted. Lecturers are using the same notes year on year and are paid peanuts—no outside research, no office hours and little student interaction in or outside of the classroom. Special Relationship But how is it in Europe, and specifically the UK, the country the US long had a “Special Relationship” with? That may be the next great scandal waiting to happen, as foreign students push out native Brits, who cannot afford to go to university anymore because tuition fees were tripled by the previous coalition government, despite one of the coalition parties, the Liberal Democrats, having won a lot of votes on a public promise that it would abolish tuition fees. Those Brits who can afford to go are now focused on diplomas rather than the once-dominant social aspects of university, for obvious reasons, But their parents have watched in horror as the value of their degrees is progressively eroded, to the point where being well connected is a greater guarantee of a job and a future, exactly what opening up higher education to all was supposed to prevent. Of course, tongue in cheek, such a cheating and bribery scandal could never happen at a British university, as Brits already know not to apply where they are not welcome due to their social class. But like Americans, Brits are also a bit naive at times, especially when it comes to white privilege and the Golden Rule -he who has the Gold makes the rules. Unlike Americans, Brits make a distinction between how you talk to a dustman and how you talk to an elected politician. As they don’t see the problem this causes, as it does in other countries, cheating by those who can becomes a way of life, as universities such as Exeter – described in guides as having a “high twit factor” – amply demonstrate. But keep in mind that the American system is completely different. You can’t get access to Cambridge, for instance, by means of sports achievements. There is no such system there. The entrance requirements for new undergrads are strict, and 87% of the students selected for each year are either from the UK or have lived in the country for most of their lives (it’s really difficult to get accepted as a foreigner on an UG course). The problem is that if you have two candidates, both brilliant, one coming from a state school in a non -prestigious place and the other from an elite school, in all probability they will take the rich kid – or they will send the rich kid to the most exclusive college, e.g. the likes of St John’s or Brasenose, and the poor one to a second-rate college. Why? The UK is effectively run by an aristocracy which still owns 1/3 of the land and has most of the financial power. This class is very well represented in the academic world – to put it simply, it can’t get rid of itself. When it comes to post-grad, MD or MSc etc, the criteria are completely different. There is much more flexibility. But say a rich Chinese or Arab entrepreneur tells the college: if you take my son, I will give you a donation of 25 mln pounds. You know what the college will do, and there are many examples – all those chairs of Islamic Studies, funded by and named after Arab businessmen and sheikhs, haven’t appeared out of academic curiosity or considerations of balance. Who would say no? Another thing to investigate is that there’s quite a rich history of the sons and daughters of people who studied at Oxford or Cambridge, politicians and businessmen, ascending to degree courses by some sort of hereditary right. Is it possible, for instance, that the son of a couple of former Pakistani prime ministers is so gifted that he was able to pass the severe tests again? Was that in his DNA? I’ve never heard of any serious investigation of how so many of these cases occur. They might be more credible through the private school route, where donors buy privilege routinely, but not amongst comparative arrivistes who think privilege can subvert democracy, though not without foundation. . So there you have it – even what makes America Great is not what it used to be, and elite universities are proving themselves to be rotten to the core. But I see hope, as at least the new generation is starting to realize, not only on the international level, that the financial payoff from an expensive American degree is not what it is billed as. But is any degree worth it for that matter?

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fqtoxicity · 4 years

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New Post has been published on My Quin Story

New Post has been published on http://www.myquinstory.info/is-fluoroquinolone-brain-fog-actually-chemobrain/

Is Fluoroquinolone Brain Fog Actually Chemobrain?

Decades ago, women who had bravely fought breast cancer and survived, started describing various adverse symptoms long after completing their course of chemotherapy. One of the most predominant adverse symptoms was cognitive impairment or “brain fog.” For a long time, most women who brought up these symptoms found their concerns dismissed by doctors (1). Brain fog wasn’t considered a valid medical condition and a narrow way of thinking prevented doctors from connecting disparate symptoms and for along time prevented doctors from recognizing it. This is despite the fact that ALL the women had chemotherapy as the common factor.

The medical community has a long-standing reputation for dismissing patient complaints that fall outside standard paradigms. It is the old adage, “can’t see the forest through the trees.” This behavior isn’t unique to just a certain select group of chemotherapy patients, this dismissal of patient complaints is fairly universal phenomenon.

Despite the fact that common sense should have prevailed, Julia Rowland, Ph.D., director of NCI’s Office of Cancer Survivorship said that doctors are starting to realize that “you have to understand what the consequences of therapy are and that very few if any of our treatments are entirely benign,” something that patients have known for a very long time.

Chemotherapy Brain or “Chemobrain”

Like previously mentioned, one of the major phenomenon that these aforementioned cancer survivors were describing was cognitive impairment or colloquially coined as “brain fog.” Since they were all chemotherapy recipients the moniker “chemobrain” was coined. One of the predominant symptoms they experienced was cognitive impairment, but researchers fully admit that the patients experienced varied impairments, with cognitive impairments, fairly universal.

Because of the sheer number of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment reports or complaints, the phenomena is now becoming increasingly recognized as a significant complication of cancer chemotherapy (2).

Despite the increased attention this issue has garnered from the clinical and research communities, the mechanisms of the resulting cognitive impairment are not fully understood but are thought to be caused by the peripheral toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs that lead to downstream structural and functional changes in the brain.

Topoisomerase Inhibition

It is determined that chemotherapy exposure causes changes in global genome DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation. These changes directly exert epigenetic pressures and change gene expression in areas that are important in health and disease. Of these areas affected are cognitive regulation, memory and aging (3). These Central Nervous System (CNS) adverse events effects “aka Chemobrain” have been reported in several forms of chemotherapy, but interestingly enough one of these is topoisomerase inhibitors (3).

Now let’s make some logical connections:

Fluoroquinolones are topoisomerase inhibitors (4).

Fluoroquinolones affect not only bacteria but are cytotoxic to normal “mammalian” eukaryotic cells (5, 6).

Fluoroquinolones affect methylation and epigenetics in “mammalian” eukaryotic cells (6).

Fluoroquinolones cause CNS adverse events, so much so that the FDA required a class wide labeling change to list CNS adverse events in their own ‘mental health” label classification (7).

Of these FQ CNS adverse events “brain Fog” is a commonly reported adverse event, whose duration can vary from short to long term, and in some cases be quite debilitating (8).

It is my contention that FQ induced “brain fog” is, at its very essence, Chemobrain.

Let’s look at some compelling causes…

How FQ’s Could Cause Chemobrain

In October of 2018 an excellent research paper hit academia on the negative effects of FQ antibiotics. Published by Oxford Academic in its Nucleic Acids Research, the paper entitled “Ciprofloxacin impairs mitochondrial DNA replication initiation through inhibition of Topoisomerase 2” the paper damningly discusses how Ciprofloxacin impairs mitochondrial DNA replication (9).

Researchers found that mitochondria contain two forms of Topoisomerase 2. The isoforms of Topoisomerase 2 are Top2α and Top2β. These isoforms have specialized roles in the maintenance of the nuclear genome and mitochondrial genome. For our discussion we will focus on Top2β.

It is imperative that Top2α and Top2β function correctly to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis which allows for damage to be repaired to a certain degree. Their research documented that Ciprofloxacin caused a dramatic effect on mtDNA topology, causing various insults to the DNA such as blocking replication initiation, reducing copy number and inhibiting mitochondrial transcription. Additionally, it also stops the cleavage/re-ligation reaction of type II topoisomerases midway, generates double-strand breaks, creates persistent protein–DNA adducts, and reduces also the overall enzyme activity (10).

Interestingly, their researchers found that Top2β, affected by the FQ’s, exists in brain mitochondria at far higher levels compared to other tissues. Let me repeat that, Top2β, affected by the FQ’s, exists in brain mitochondria at far higher levels compared to other tissues. This suggests a specific demand for mtDNA topology regulation in the delicate neural cells. This would logically explain why we see a whole host of neuropsychiatric effects of FQ’s, including brain fog or or FQ chemobrain. These adverse events are commonly seen and reported by many individuals in the FQ community, acknowledged in case reports (8) and recently researched and documented by Dr. Bennett (11).

Dr. Noble’s Research

In 2006, research from a team led by Dr. Mark Noble, professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center, revealed the shocking extent of the chemobrain problem: common chemotherapy drugs used to treat breast, ovarian, and colon and rectal cancer, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, were more toxic to multiple kinds of brain cells than the cancer cells themselves.

Dr. Noble has worked with the FQ community in the past at our behest. Our team initially contacted Dr. Noble in 2010 due to his research with chemotherapeutic pharmaceuticals such as 5FU, chemo brain, and the capabilities of his lab. We noticed strong similarities in the adverse events of fluorouracil (5FU) and that of FQ’s. This information can be read here and here.

A later study by Noble’s team done in mice showed that another commonly used chemotherapeutic drug caused damage to oligodendrocytes, the cells that cover axons with myelin. Myelin helps expedite messaging among nerve cells, or neurons. When oligodendrocytes are damaged, myelin breaks down, disrupting communication among the nerve cells vital to brain functioning.

From Dr. Noble to our FQ team in 2010…. To put our findings on Levaquin in the context of our previous work on chemotherapeutic agents, the outcomes of the Levaquin experiments are disturbingly similar to the kinds and levels of toxicity that we initially found in our work on 5-fluorouracil. When clinically relevant drug concentrations exhibit such toxicities in vitro, this is very troublesome.”

Dr. Noble found the same disturbing toxicities to the myelin–forming oligodendrocytes of the CNS when exposing them to Levaquin (FQ’s), just as if they were negatively affected by commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-fluorouracil.

Other researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center hypothesized the drugs that cause chemo brain are those best able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Which as most people know, is no problem for the FQ’s (18).

How Common is FQ Chemobrain?

Very common. I would call it a class effect. Almost all floxies suffer from it to one degree or another in their timeline. Anecdotally the data on brain fog is all over the place in terms of onset, duration, and severity with some individuals barely bothered by it, while others are incapacitated by its brain numbing effects. The one thing that is true is that it happens very frequently.

For me I suffered from it in a period two years post floxing and it lasted moderately for about a year. I still occasionally get bouts of it when my CFS symptoms are bad. I was blessed that I maintained my IQ although I have had reports of individuals who felt they were ‘dumbed down’ by the horrible affects of the FQ’s.

For the majority, especially those experiencing an immediate adverse event, FQ Chemobrain shows up quite soon after the adverse event ensues, but we have had reports of cases showing up as long two years or longer post floxing. Then there are the others who have reported cyclical FQ Chemobrain manifestations.

Common Cause, Uncommon Trajectory

Despite the fact that brain fog could, at its core, be easily caused by Top2β inhibition or Dr. Noble’s nerve damage findings, what follows after FQ exposure is a study in chaos theory. Like branches in a tree, the tentacles of FQ pathology could encompass a vasts array of options. In floxies we have found mast cell activation, alterations in neurotransmitters, dysregulation of blood pressure and/or blood sugar, poor quality sleep, toxin overload from SIBO or Candida, and much more which can all contribute to brain fog.

Because of this brain fog, especially in floxies, is very hard to universally dissect. Although each floxed person could have similar brain fog symptoms, the underlying pathology, despite being initiated by the FQ’s, can be wildly variable.

The good news is that, in time, the symptoms of FQ Chemobrain, for many, seem to lesson. Because the symptoms and severity differ from person to person, treatment for brain fog tends to be quite personal. For some, finding a professional that could work with them to develop an individualized approach was one of the best options, but also one of the hardest to do. These professionals ranged from neuropsychologists to Naturopaths, but according to the opinion of many, finding care is easier said than done. Unfortunately it has left a majority of floxies to experiment on their own to find out what works and what doesn’t work for them.

To reiterate, since there is no one-size-fits all solution, finding substances to help with brain fog is very individual. In the next section I will list a few supplements that came in as being higher rated as help some individuals.

What Helps

Please Note: this brain fog help list is not all inclusive nor is it listed in order of effectiveness or importance. It was compiled by information supplied by floxed individuals.

Rhodiola Rosea

Clinical trials involving Rhodiola rosea show that it fights brain fog by energizing the central nervous system. Animal studies involving Rhodiola indicate it also repairs damaged neurons and stimulates brain cell growth in the hippocampus. (12)

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 60 adult men and women who reported symptoms of mental fatigue, Rhodiola rosea increased attention, reduced fatigue, and improved cognitive function. Researchers concluded that, “Rhodiola, acting as an adaptogen, increases attention and endurance in situations of decreased performance cause by fatigue. (13)

Rhodiola is best known for its mood-boosting, stress-busting properties. For mental fatigue and brain fog caused by burnout, Rhodiola’s mechanisms work to protect the brain from the effects of stress and repair damaged cells.

Citicoline

Citicoline is considered a powerful all-around brain boosters. There are several clinical studies that show that citicoline boosts mental energy by improving cerebral blood flow and protecting brain cells from free radical damage. This nootropic is so powerful that it’s used to enhance cognitive function damaged by neurological disorders or brain trauma.

Citicoline boosts acetylcholine levels, a neurotransmitter closely involved in learning and memory. Citicoline contains CDP choline, an active component of phosphatidylcholine, a phospholipid that preserves brain cell membranes, protects memory, and facilitates neural communication.

A study investigating a certain form of Citicoline, called Cognizin® found that citicoline can mitigate the effects of mental fatigue by increasing frontal lobe activity brain energy reserves.(14)

There are some cautions that need to pointed out. The FQ’s interfere with acetylcholine levels. For instance, the FQ’s are contraindicated in those with Myasthenia Gravis because they exhibit a peculiar nerve blocking capability. The exact mechanism by which FQ’s affect neuromuscular transmission is not entirely understood; however, a main theories are that they inhibit acetylcholine release presynaptically and/or they have a direct toxic effect on the acetylcholine channel. I lean towards the latter.

Another caution is that some floxes have reported that too much CDP choline can actually worsen brain fog. Even the study mentioned above showed that research participants benefited more from a lower dose. More is not better with this nootropic.

N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine

It is theorized that brain fog can appear in floxies after the depletion of catecholamines like dopamine and norepinephrine that your brain needs to stay sharp and quick. Again, another effect of the FQ’s.

A lot of floxed individuals report that after floxing when the put some stress on their brains, a downward cognitive spiral results in crippling brain fog.

N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine (NALT) combats brain fog by boosting catecholamine levels. It can help some meet the demands of stress and protecting cognitive functions.

Animal studies show that tyrosine supplementation lowers stress levels, enhances catecholamine synthesis, and protects the brain from neurochemical depletion. This multi-faceted approach staves off brain fog by preserving cognitive functions like learning and working memory.(15)

Phosphatidylserine

Phosphatidylserine a phospholipid and is a component of the cell membrane, seems to have a positive affect on short-term and long-term memory functions like learning, recall, and attention.

It works by protecting the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve pathways and cell membranes. Studies show that its protective mechanisms can safely slow, stop, and even reverse nerve cell deterioration. Better nerve cell integrity and communication improves concentration, problem-solving, communication, and language skills.(16)

Human studies show that phosphatidylserine is effective for preserving cognitive activity, protecting against cognitive aging, and retaining optimal cognitive functioning abilities. This was personal favorite of mine years ago when I suffered from brain fog. It also had the added benefit of helping me to have less disturbed sleep by cortisol spikes. There is also a soy free variety, for those sensitive to soy.

Magnesium l-threonate

Magnesium has mixed reviews among floxies where some have touted it as a miracle cure to others who feel much worse after they take it. There is a lot of questionable information floating around about magnesium and floxing in general and the theory that magnesium, or the lack thereof, plays a role in floxing is still controversial. Some misinformation about Mag is pushed by those selling ebooks. The problem is that different forms of magnesium do different things in the body. For instance magnesium glycinate is the best form to help with sleep. Magnesium plays a very important role in the many metabolic reactions but that is not our focus right now. Anyway, Magnesium l-threonate is not your run of the mill magnesium either. Many individuals are very surprised by this supplement after given it a try, even by those cynical individuals who have tried other forms of magnesium in the past with little to no effect.

According to an MIT, this form of magnesium, albeit rather expensive, was shown to be effective at loading magnesium into the brain and at enhancing brain function. Their results were that As a result, studies show that magnesium-L-threonate improves brain plasticity, leading to direct and significant improvements in memory, learning, and cognition (17). Some floxies have reported this form of magnesium has help their brain fog considerably.

On average it takes while for Magnesium l-threonate to build up enough to start working but again this varies greatly from person to person.

Phospholipids

Lipids are a key cellular component in our body. Phospholipids, a class of lipids, or fats, are especially crucial to the health of both cell membranes and neurotransmitters. Brain cell membranes are rich in two phospholipids in particular: phosphatidylserine (mentioned above) and phosphatidylcholine (also, mentioned above as well in the form of Citicoline), with PC accounting for the larger percentage.

There is something called the gut-brain axis in our body where the brain and GI tract constantly communicate with each other by sending signals. Many of these signals involve both initiation and halting of inflammation. With excessive inflammation initiated in the brain, it can lead to a “leaky brain”, which mostly translates to slowed mental ability and brain fog.

Some individuals have found success in using standard lecithin to help combat brain fog. It is usually much less expensive than some of the more ‘tailored’ supplements and contains necessary phospholipids for brain health. Regardless of whether it helps with the brain fog or not, I believe lecithin is a good foundational supplement for overall cellular health.

Obviously this list is not all inclusive. I am sure that there are many other individuals that have found supplements or treatments to help their brain fog. If you have used something that has helped, please be sure to share it with me so I can supply that data to others.

Conclusion

Until the medical community understands that FQ’s are, in essence, chemotherapy (and that is not too likely anytime soon) we will see these adverse events treated as disparate pieces of information and not connected to one another.

Do you know of a loved one, a friend, a co-worker, or someone else who suffers from brain fog of unknown origin? If so ask them to do some detective work and search their medical history, and not necessarily their immediate past. Tell them that FQ’s are often given during surgery, often without the patient’s knowledge.

If you are faced with potential antibiotic use, for yourself or a loved one, please become informed as to the choices that you have available. If antibiotic use is necessary, there are generally safer alternatives than the Fluoroquinolones. Discuss all concerns with your doctor about treatment to help you choose the safest possible method.

#Brain Fog #Chemobrain #General Medical #Methylation #Supplements

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qmcareers · 5 years

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From PhD to social research

Dr Shivonne Gates has a PhD in Linguistics from QMUL and is now a Researcher at social research agency NatCen. She tells us what it’s like to be researching in a different domain to her PhD.

In a couple of sentences, what do you do day-to-day?

I do qualitative research into social problems that then informs government policy. I work in a team called Communities, Work and Income – working on projects such as transport and inequality, an evaluation of shared parental leave policies, and discretionary housing payments.

How did you make the decision to leave academia?

In the end, leaving academia wasn’t a decision I made, it was the reality of the situation. I went through the academic job cycle during my fourth year to get a permanent lectureship or postdoc and I didn’t get any interviews. I was surprised not to have gotten at least one as I had done all the right things: I was published, I had teaching experience, and I’d done public engagement, impact work, conferences etc. But because I had been aware of the nature of the academic job market, I was in a good position to go in another direction.

Linguistics is quite niche so I knew I wouldn’t be able to work in my exact domain (adolescent language) outside of academia. But I decided that I did want to work with kids or do research in education. During the third and fourth year of my PhD I researched other career options outside academia. I looked into social research and found there was a lot of overlap in the skills needed for this area and the research training I received during my PhD. From that, I was able to identify different organisations that I would potentially like to work for such as NFER (education research) and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (welfare research).

What attracted you to the role of Researcher at NatCen?

I looked at NatCen’s research pages online and I remember thinking ‘that’s cool, I’d like to work on something like that.’ I liked the fact that social research used a lot of the skills I’d gained from my PhD, like interviewing and report writing. I was also interested in doing research in an applied context, so you’re not only thinking about what would be interesting intellectually or theoretically but also things like ‘What social change does this government department want to effect? Is it possible? What impact would it have?’ A common criticism of academia is that it’s very blinkered and not applicable to real life so I think, from a long-term career perspective, it’s good to have a balance of being involved in research from both sides.

Do you think the skills you developed during your PhD help you in the role?

Yes! Everything I do at work draws on skills learned from my PhD. For example, synthesising information – I used to do that for conferences and teaching, now I do it for reports and client presentations. I had to do transcription for my PhD and while at NatCen we outsource that, I do have to analyse the transcriptions. NatCen give you lot of training in analysis and research methods once you get the job but the skills from my PhD continue to be helpful.

Experience of archival research would also be useful in social research. We do ‘desk research’ within social research, which is very similar to what you might do for the initial stages of a PhD thesis literature review. And there’s a research method used in the sector called ‘Rapid Evidence Assessments’. That’s basically where you have to read a lot of information very quickly and make transparent decisions as to whether it’s relevant to your research – essentially a systematic literature review!

Did the job require you to have a PhD?

No. The job said a masters was desirable. But the job also required a few years’ experience of doing research. I had 4 years of professional research experience through my PhD so that ticked that box. And here at least half of my team have a PhD (and there are about 15 people on my team). As a Researcher Assistant (a level below my position of Researcher) you really don’t need a PhD but at all other levels lots of people do have them and it is seen as useful and relevant experience. To get a job as a Senior Researcher, you need to have postdoctoral experience if you don’t have experience in an applied research setting.

What else, apart from your PhD, helped you to break into the business?

I think the fact that I had done teaching and other administrative responsibility showed that I was well-rounded. It gave me lots of useful experiences that I talked about in my application e.g. that I had managed a team (organising a group of student volunteers). At the interview they said they were particularly impressed that a PhD colleague and I had pitched for (and won!) some ESRC funding to run an event. I think it showed I was a self-starter.

How else did you make sure your applications and interview performance was as good as possible?

I really thought hard about how to draw connections between what I did in my PhD and what the role involved, and I think that paid off. I know that this field is really competitive and employers are not going to make those connections for you. For example, for my PhD research I did quantitative analysis specific to linguistics, but I didn’t go into detail about that in my application or interview, I just talked about how I could use linear regression models which people recognise as a statistical method. I also talked about my experience with qualitative methods and interviews rather than the specific linguistic approach or research questions that I was trying to answer. And I demonstrated my project management skills by talking about how I had managed my own project (my PhD) and juggled that alongside other responsibilities like teaching.

Before being invited for interview, they got me to do a research task over a couple of days and I had to write a proposal. This echoes what you’re doing in the job so it was good to see what that was like before I started in the role.

What other career options do you feel are open to people from a similar background to you?

If you’re interested in doing research and getting your hands on data and you don’t mind so much what the data is about then market research is a great option. UX, or user experience, is another field that uses research skills, but I think that’s one where you might have to get an internship or take a low-paid position to initially break into. The Civil Service, thinktanks, and charities are also organisations that often advertise research-related jobs.

Any other advice to current PhDs?

Two things.

Don’t worry if there’s not an explicit link between your PhD topic and jobs out there. You’re used to being an expert in academia but outside of academia you don’t always need to be one. You don’t actually have to know that much about something to do research on it – I find in my job that it’s more about being a quick learner and being able to engage with and understand a policy area in a short space of time.

After you have settled into your PhD, you really do need to develop your broader skill-set. The Doctoral College at QM is really good at giving postgrads opportunities to do this (e.g. GradFest), so engage with those things. It would have been really difficult for me to get a job outside academia if I hadn’t done things outside the PhD.

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#QMCareers QMUL Jobs Blog #Careers #QMUL #London #Enterprise #Queen Mary University of London

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whittlebaggett8 · 5 years

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China’s Influence Operations in Asia: Minding the Open Door Challenge

When consideration to Beijing’s conduct is vital, addressing the permissive conditions that create an enabling atmosphere for its pursuits must continue being entrance and heart.

A person of the notable options of this year’s iteration of the Pentagon’s once-a-year report on Chinese navy and safety developments to Congress, introduced before this thirty day period, is the inclusion of a unique portion on what has been termed Chinese impact or interference operations. Whilst the emphasis on Chinese impact functions is sizeable within the broader context of increased scrutiny in the United States on this concern, outside of China’s behavior, it also ought to additional catalyze a broader conversation about the permissive ailments that produce a broader enabling surroundings for the perform of Beijing’s pursuits as effectively as how to offer with this facet of the obstacle.

Foreign impact functions – which can be broadly described as the coordinated utilization of capabilities to have an effect on changes in the perceptions, methods, and procedures of foreign target audiences – in and of on their own are neither new nor not special to China. But expanding concern about factors of the Chinese state and its broader carry out, as properly as a series of recent incidents which have spotlighted the extra illicit and coercive aspects of alleged influence functions – be it election interference, the bribing of key influencers, or the manipulation of media environments – have contributed to rising the highlight on this subject matter. The focus on Chinese affect operations is also happening amid a confluence of broader trends, such as intensifying significant power competitors, deepening ideological struggles involving democratic and authoritarian varieties of governance, and mounting scrutiny on the digital area, all of which have been especially stressing for open societies which include the United States and its allies.

Earlier this thirty day period, this component of Chinese electrical power was in the highlight yet again with the release of the 2019 iteration of the Pentagon’s report on Chinese army and security developments, which bundled the matter of Chinese Communist Celebration (CCP) affect functions as one of two of its selected exclusive subject areas. Even though the treatment of the subject of impact functions is really transient, its inclusion is nevertheless major amid expanding phone calls for greater transparency about this subject. It also provides some vital insights into how the Pentagon is considering about Chinese influence functions, no matter whether it be the scenario of this inside the Persons Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) development of its A few Warfares Strategy in operational organizing – psychological warfare, general public viewpoint warfare, and lawful warfare – as well as the simple fact that there is some degree of coordination concerned with actors these as the United Front Operate Section, the Propaganda Ministry, and the Ministry of State Stability.

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Although the report the natural way concentrated on China’s strategy to these affect operations, when taking into consideration the broader challenge of Chinese impact functions it is also crucial to keep in intellect the broader regional environment in which Beijing is conducting these functions, which is a further essential variable with regard to comprehension and controlling this problem. In quite a few areas of Asia, there are permissive situations that serve as enabling environments for China to carry out the quite affect functions that some regional actors are concerned about – an “open doorway,” put additional only. At times and to varying levels, the “open door” for these Chinese affect functions are even facilitated by aspects of the elite, broader modern society, and even elements of the govt, irrespective of whether deliberately or unwittingly.

Illustrations of this open door obstacle abound, even even though their manifestations may well vary across many components of the area. In the Pacific, the incidents in instances these types of as Australia and New Zealand has spotlighted vulnerabilities democratic international locations have that can offer space for Chinese influence operations to consider condition, including the absence of procedures and regulations governing funding and transparency in politics and media. In Southeast Asia, Cambodia and the Philippines supply two examples of in which governments that lean to China have paved the way for Beijing’s escalating impact in these countries, which can then open up the doorway for larger varieties of influence operations additional down the line in phrases of elite and wider public impression as well as in particular parts such as technological know-how and data networks, including 5G.

Staying knowledgeable of both the existence of this open up door obstacle, as properly as how countries are running it, is not a mere academic exercising it can also influence how policymakers diagnose and then contend with the situation of Chinese impact functions going ahead. Aspect of this requires focusing not just on discrete illicit or coercive steps by China, but also knowledge how components of Chinese influence operations tie into broader, reputable initiatives by Beijing, with a situation in place becoming Beijing’s creating of the media group inside of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which seeks to variety partnerships with regional media corporations to condition narratives on the initiative. One more aspect of this is granular consideration to the types of efforts regional states are getting to handle the issue of Chinese impact functions and their efficacy, be it the wider discussion Singapore has been hoping to have on the difficulty or the policy modifications Taiwan is thinking of. There is also space for the sharing of very best tactics between like-minded democratic international locations about how to style a a lot more entire-of-culture strategy to establish resilience that entails not only governments but also business enterprise, academia, media, and civil society extra broadly.

To be confident, comprehension and handling the open up door obstacle part of China’s impact functions goes far past the scope of the Pentagon’s recent report on Chinese army and safety developments. But as the dialogue on Chinese affect operations proceeds to evolve into the relaxation of 2019 and outside of, it will be significant to go on to glimpse at this not just from the standpoint of personal cases of what China is carrying out, but how Beijing is evolving its approach more typically, the surroundings it is operating in, how regional states are responding, and how like-minded international locations can far better manage the much more concerning factors of this conduct heading forward. That a lot more extensive method is not only a additional correct and holistic reflection of the obstacle that worried nations experience, but can also aid sieve out useful tips as to how to deal with this challenge moving ahead.

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biofunmy · 5 years

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Should These Clothes Be Saved?

It is possible that one of the more telling narratives of women’s lives in 20th-century America is housed in 50 metal storage lockers in a basement room in the theater department of a women’s college in Northampton, Mass. There, an anthropological road map traces the story from Gibson girls to the Western Front to the Dust Bowl to bringing home the bacon and onward.

To reach it, you descend a flight of stairs and pass through a cinder block corridor into a windowless space that is home to the unofficial Smith College Historic Clothing Collection: 3,000 dresses, suits, shoes, bags and accessories. They are crammed among costume racks and cardboard boxes, jammed together on padded hangers, stacked on shelves and squirreled away in any available nook and cranny.

Though the collection includes some designer names (Claire McCardell, Mary Quant) and some garments that belonged to famous people (Sylvia Plath’s Girl Scout uniform), the majority have unknown origins and may be stained, torn, mended and otherwise flawed in some way that reflects the exigencies of real life: families, responsibility, hardship.

They are the kinds of garments generally overlooked or dismissed by museums and collectors of dress, who tend to focus on fashion as an expression of elitism, artistry, aspiration.

Other colleges and universities maintain textile and apparel collections, including Drexel and Iowa State, but Smith’s focus on women’s clothing and, more specifically, on women’s “social uniforms” — clothing that signifies identity and functions as part of the archaeology of gender, complete with usage markers — sets it apart.

“It’s not about couture,” said Jan Glier Reeder, a fashion historian who was a curator of the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute show on Charles James in 2014. (She is also a Smith graduate.) “It’s about how we study the past in a very intimate way.”

How much is that actually worth? As the fate of the collection becomes a subject of debate within the college, it has stirred up uncomfortable questions about what constitutes “value” in the context of clothes, the liberal arts and the current conversation about how we talk about women’s history. Even at an institution like Smith: an esteemed women’s college and the alma mater of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan.

‘She looks at underarm stains and sees a clue’

In 1974, Catherine Smith, a graduate of the college and a costume designer, returned as a professor in the theater department. When she started sifting through the costumes used in productions, she discovered that many of them were historical garments donated by alumnae.

Ms. Smith, who goes by the name Kiki, began separating out those pieces that were too fragile or were potentially important — a 1895 traveling suit, for example — from the obvious costumes (Shakespearean monk’s robes).

It occurred to her, she said, that while such garments are generally not seen as valuable, when it comes to providing clues to what it meant to be a woman in 20th-century America, they may be worth their weight, if not in gold, at least in semiprecious gems.

“We have libraries of books, which are very valuable,” Ms. Smith said, noting that just as the college collects and preserves paintings and prints, as well as documents like diaries, yearbooks and letters, the clothes can be seen as “journals into women’s lives from the past.” “My sense is, that’s a very valuable commodity to save, and to have for the future.”

Yet, said Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, historically clothes have not been seen as such.

“Old clothes in general are so tied to the body, and female bodies in particular, that they have not been valorized as objects, like paintings, which were seen as examples of male genius,” Ms. Steele said. “They were more like rags that had lived on past their time.” (The museum at F.I.T. sees its mission as collecting pieces that are “historically or aesthetically significant in the history of fashion.”)

Generally, when building costume collections, the most famous museums not dedicated purely to fashion or textiles — the Metropolitan, the Victoria and Albert — look to pieces defined as “exceptional” and “leading.” That is, garments or textiles that speak to the decorative arts, or moments of great historical significance, as opposed to the quotidian nature of everyday life.

But it is exactly the quotidian that attracted Ms. Smith, and it was the quotidian she began to look for as she started to build the collection, which she defines as “a liberal arts archive that advances the academic inquiry of women of diverse economic and social backgrounds through the study of their dress from the 19th century to today.”

In 1981, she spent nine months of a sabbatical at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute as a curatorial assistant to Stella Blum, then curator of costumes, to learn more about managing a collection.

Clothes come via donations from alumnae, as do most university collections, and are purchased at auction (including on sites like eBay). Ms. Smith funds much of the shopping herself and donates the garments she buys to the college.

As the collection has grown and gained a reputation, outsiders have also begun to contribute, such as one donor who, Ms. Smith said, had volunteered at a women’s rights law firm in the early 1970s and supported herself as a go-go dancer. She saved her off-hours outfit in part because of what it revealed about the complications of entering the working world, and it is now in the Smith collection.

Though material culture has been a part of different fields of study since the 19th century, it became a more formal discipline after World War II. (The Journal of Material Culture was founded in 1996.)

In an increasingly virtual world, the opportunity for students to physically connect with the past has become a powerful pedagogic tool. Most university dress collections would fall under this rubric, though few have embraced the worn to the extent of Ms. Smith’s.

“She looks at underarm stains and sees a clue,” Ms. Reeder said. “A museum looks for underarm stains, too, but as something that would disqualify a garment from a collection.”

The Smith collection includes multiple examples of a single type of garment — schoolteacher pinafores from the turn of the century, housedresses from the 1930s and aprons that range from the purely decorative silks of the mid-19th century to maids’ white serving aprons with matching cuffs.

Students can use them to try to puzzle out the differences in the lives of the women who wore them through, say, the fade pattern (had the dress been covered by an apron?), the mending, the seams.

There are World War I uniforms worn by the Smith students who went where the Red Cross would not; gingham sports ensembles, including shirt, skirt and shorts, from the late 1930s; 1940s maternity tops with a label that reads “Blessed Event”; a nun’s habit from the 1960s that was taken apart every year so the pieces could be washed and then resewn; Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses from the 1970s; and stewardess uniforms from multiple airlines in the 1980s.

With the help of student interns, an online catalog is being created. (One student, Beth Pfalz, also originally saw the possibilities of the collection and gave it its name.)

The Smith collection is used by history, English, anthropology and even math classes. “To see patterns of wear is profoundly moving and telling,” Cornelia Pearsall, an English professor who uses some of the clothes in a seminar, said in a video on the collection.

Because Ms. Smith has other full-time responsibilities, however, and because there is no real display space for the collection, the number of classes that can have access to it during any given semester is limited.

‘It would take some guts’

Now the question is whether the collection can become more than one woman’s crusade. To do so, it would need funding and formal institutional acknowledgment. Ms. Smith, 69, is reluctant to retire without a resolution.

She has discussed the collection, its future and uses, with different provosts of the college over the years. “To put it politely, they were skeptical and worried about the long-term value,” she said.

Stacey Schmeidel, the director of media relations at Smith, wrote in an email: “We value the collection,” but noted that the school has “no plans to create a center or other sort of permanent home for it on campus at this time. If Smith were to think about investing in the collection in the future, it would require substantial fund-raising.”

Kathleen McCartney, the president of Smith, was not available for comment. Michael Thurston, the college’s new provost, will start his position in July.

One of the problems is that much of the collection’s worth is hard to quantify. It lies in notions about the value of honoring and studying the lives of unsung women, not in any specific dollar amount tied to the quality of a textile or the profile of the person who once wore it.

Clothing is also expensive to protect and display; it requires climate control and appropriate light and storage. Ms. Smith dreams of a dedicated space for the collection, and a dedicated curatorial position.

She estimates that a building or renovation would cost around $7.5 million; endowing a chair would add another $3 million or so. At a time when institutions of higher learning are undergoing budget cuts and are under increasing pressures to elevate the STEM disciplines, the math to save a dress collection doesn’t necessarily add up.

Especially given the historical prejudice against fashion as an area of substance. A 2011 article in the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal by a group of researchers at Iowa State University concluded that “textiles and clothing have traditionally been viewed as less important or of a lower status in museums and in academia.”

Ms. Smith saw opportunity when, in 2015, Smith began to solicit ideas for a new strategic plan, which includes a $100 million renovation of its library, with a design by the architect Maya Lin and the landscape architect Edwina von Gal. Ms. Smith submitted a proposal to include the dress collection in the library’s “special collections” section, but it was not included in the plan.

After an earlier professional assessment in 2011, a previous provost suggested that the collection be de-accessioned and moved to another institution — perhaps the nearby Historic Northampton museum, which is known for its costume and textile collection.

This makes a certain amount of sense, given that it already has facilities in place for handling clothes. But it also misses the distinction between a display tool and a study tool, which is the point of the collection.

Sonnet Stanfill, a Smith graduate who is the curator of 20th-century and contemporary fashion at the V & A and who has spoken at Smith at various symposiums on dress, was initially skeptical of the collection’s worth. But, she said, “it was seeing how the students from a variety of disciplines interacted with the garments that really convinced me of the collection’s importance.”

In the last few years, alumnae have gotten involved, saying that if any college should celebrate the history and information embedded in women’s clothing — if any college has the opportunity to change attitudes both internally and more broadly — it should be a school like Smith. And because there is a new provost, Mr. Thurston (a former board member of Historic Northampton), Ms. Smith is continuing her quest.

“For a women’s college to celebrate women’s clothing instead of somehow feeling it devalues the achievements of the college to study ordinary shmattes?” she said. “It would take some guts.”

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republicstandard · 6 years

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A Critique of the Critique of the Culture of Critique

This article is a follow-up to the "Jewish Question" debate, replying to Nathan Cofnas' Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy.

Professor Kevin B. Macdonald is the Professor Emeritus and Editor of the Occidental Quarterly. He is perhaps best known for writing the three-volume series, The Culture of Critique. In this work, he writes about the history of Jewish group strategy, a variety of collective altruism used to empower Jews - religious and racial - at the disenfranchisement of gentiles, particularly individuals of European descent. He outlines this by specifying Jewish interference in multiple countries and cities throughout the post-Christ period and explains their meddling in governments, economies, and public images of many highly traditional nations.

Jews were originally expelled across states comprising the European continent, then in North Africa, and finally other Arab states within the Middle East. A common tactic used by the Jews which led to their many, many expulsions, was denying ethnic and religious identities for various demographics across different continents. Jewish legacy can be seen today, where they control a disproportionate quantity of the media and property in the West. This much at least is surely undeniable as a matter of historical fact.

Nathan Cofnas of Oxford University wrote an article in response to Kevin Macdonald’s theory of Jewish involvement in the cultural sphere. It was published in an issue of the journal Human Nature.

On the website Ideas and Data, an extensive and detailed analysis of Jewish overrepresentation in Europe and the United States was made; The Jewish Question: an Empirical Examination. This data was later used to produce a video called A Celebration of the Jewish People by Ryan Faulk, who goes by the username The Alternative Hypothesis.

youtube

A friend of Ryan Faulk, around the same time he published his video, made another video titled The Jewish Question: an Empirical Analysis. I have also been told, and anyone can see that the names are the same, that Sean Last is the proprietor of Ideas and Data.

youtube

Nathan Cofnas made a reply to the article itself, making sure to specifically refer to Sean Last. Clearly, Cofnas is at least aware of the supporting data for Macdonald's ideas.

I have four major problems with Cofnas' critique, Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy: A Critical Analysis of Kevin MacDonald’s Theory.

On anti-Gentilism and anti-Semitism

Cofnas has a mainstream perception of Jewish resentment toward gentile survival and genetic determinism – especially that of European and Arab non-Jews – relating to past events, such as persecution in Europe and Israel.

Since New Antisemitism developed after World War II, most people critical of Jews who exist within the Western world will bring up concerns over their representation in Western media, economics and political fields such as parliaments, voting, and general government-related issues, as opposed to their past atrocities, such as the Holodomor (Ethnic Ukrainian famine in Eastern Europe) and their high enrolment rate in the Soviet Union’s army (page 659). The over-representation of South Caucasians is due to most of them being Muslims (Azerbaijan comprising the largest nation in the region), as Nazi Germany made it illegal to practice any other religion aside from Christianity, and even then, just Protestantism. Catholicism and Islam were strictly prohibited, aside from Adolf Hitler having positive personal views toward Islam (page 96).

Nobody will deny Jews were oppressed throughout Europe and within the Palestinian territories, but the Jewish Question came into debate far before that of Hitler’s rise to power. Karl Marx’s On The Jewish Question was written in 1843, far before World War II and the drastic changes to Germany’s historical image occurred.

Jews escaping persecution and belittlement in Islamic, Arab countries, fled to Europe where they became evidently troublesome to the continent’s religiously and ethnically homogeneous identity. If Europeans or Arabs were to occupy Israel, then negative attitudes toward their presence would without a doubt be justified.

Seeing Jews want to protect their culture and heritage, as many surveys reveal, taking such pleasures away from Europeans and Christians is unquestionably hypocritical, in the same way it would be to Arabs and Muslims. Those who live within the Palestinian territories and are of Palestinian descent value the same qualities of a country as Israelis do. The two don’t see eye to eye, but they’re not so different when they actually confront their overt similarities.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, whether you agree with its contents or not, was originally published in 1903, and in the Russian Empire of all places. Not in Israel or America, in Russia.

You'll have to ask yourself why the Jews have been expelled so many times throughout history. The evidence suggests that because they seek to be dominant in all fields of power, including in terms of land mass. Israel today is colonizing the remaining Palestinian territories, rather than enacting state control and then declaring two independent states: Israel and Palestine.

On Chomsky and Soros

Cofnas highlights two prominent Jews who oppose Zionism (Israeli nationalism and/or imperialism) as examples as to why Macdonald is wrong. These are Noam Chomsky and George Soros, literally two people out of an ethno-religious population of roughly 16 million by 2016, which accounts for 0.000012499999999999999% of all Jews worldwide. This is clearly not statistically significant.

The Culture of Critique never states every Jew thinks the same. Data disproves that. But that there is a significant correlation between Judaism, Israelis and a bitter disdain for anything outside of that realm that happens when you combine the three.

On Cofnas' remarks surrounding Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany and the Institute for Social Research.

There are blatant hypocrites such as Heidi Beirich who don’t even attempt to hide their hypocrisy, people who can’t be cited as true defendants of the school’s critical theories, but Frankfurt School’s younger members have later arrived to defend the establishment against accusations of Cultural Marxism and Political Correctness and so on. This isn’t a generational aspect of the country, it’s something inherent about ideology.

I actually happen to agree with the concept of a think tank dedicated to promoting socialist ideas through means of academic publication, alongside enrolment of students focused on learning economics from an egalitarian perspective. Despite agreeing with many of Marx’s ideas, I cannot identify with the more socially progressive side of modern academia today. I do very much appreciate and respect the love and care going into teaching Marxist beliefs.

When people reflect upon the Frankfurt School’s legacy, it’s a consideration more on who was influenced and how they were influenced. Less about what the actual philosophers themselves thought, retrospectives on the institute discuss how the future was inspired by the past. To modern Liberals, nationalism is only acceptable in the context of non-European countries striving for independence. If you ask your average liberal person, they’ll tell you they support Tanzania or India breaking free from British colonization, but not Ukraine wanting freedom from the Soviet Union.

Past generations who have read studies published by the Institute for Social Research came to their own conclusions, had their own interpretations. Most came away agreeing with Israeli nationalism, but also believe in European identity having no meaning, and that Europeans shouldn’t act collectively; they should instead only act as individuals. They saw Jews as a group, but not gentiles.

Yet, members of the Frankfurt School would condemn antisemitism even in comedy. In Herbert Marcuse’s essay -part of his book he wrote with other philosophers at the school A Critique of Pure Tolerance, Repressive Tolerance- he argues against speech against minorities groups in the United States, Africans, Arabs, Muslims – Jews being another – Indians, homosexuals, and even ideological groups such as socialists. But free speech was allowed as long as it was directed against more populous demographics, such as European Americans, Christians, and conservatives. Marcuse was in favor of essentially banning antisemitic speech, but permitting anti-gentile sentiment. As Jews show concern for Israel being taken over by Arabs and Muslims, they also display it in the context of the West, having rather unfavorable views of American Muslims as shown by polling.

Herbert Marcuse wrote in 1965:

The whole post-fascist period is one of clear and present danger. Consequently, true pacification requires the withdrawal of tolerance before the deed, at the stage of communication in word, print, and picture. Such extreme suspension of the right of free speech and free assembly is indeed justified only if the whole of society is in extreme danger. I maintain that our society is in such an emergency situation and that it has become the normal state of affairs. Different opinions and ‘philosophies’ can no longer compete peacefully for adherence and persuasion on rational grounds: the ‘marketplace of ideas’ is organized and delimited by those who determine the national and the individual interest. In this society, for which the ideologists have proclaimed the ‘end of ideology’, the false consciousness has become the general consciousness–from the government down to its last objects. The small and powerless minorities which struggle against the false consciousness and its beneficiaries must be helped: their continued existence is more important than the preservation of abused rights and liberties which grant constitutional powers to those who oppress these minorities. It should be evident by now that the exercise of civil rights by those who don’t have them presupposes the withdrawal of civil rights from those who prevent their exercise, and that liberation of the Damned of the Earth presupposes suppression not only of their old but also of their new masters.

Jews are both a racial and religious minority in the United States, but Europeans and Christians aren’t. Well, as of then and now. Unfortunately, I can’t quite say the same for the future. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Christianity or Christians themselves, but it appears that a Jewish and Muslim America would be even more extreme.

One could point out that Marcuse’s essay was based upon the tolerance paradox, which would be true, but ultimately this misses the point. Anybody can insert political opinions into their works, even if the subject matter has nothing to do with politics whatsoever. With that said, in Marcuse’s essay, the entire purpose of why it was written was to make it clear he supported minority speech and suspension of free speech for the White American majority.

On the statistics Cofnas cites on Jewish intermarriage.

In 2013, the Pew Research Center that non-religious racial Jews in the United States married with a non-Jew 58% of the time (between 2000 to 2013; page 35). However, take into account that in 2012 Jews only comprised 2.15% of America’s national population. With this in mind, Jews are 1853.48% more likely to marry a Jew than a non-Jew based upon their population size.

I don’t have a problem with this Jewish tendency. In fact, I don’t think anyone should marry outside their race or religion. Personal feelings aside, when Cofnas claims that Jews are disobedient to their own kind, to imply that they’re not loyal –as I believe they’re perhaps the most loyal out of any of the world’s human demographics– he is denying the facts.

Let’s pretend there’s a country where half of its residents are Jews and the other half are non-Jews. There would be practically no intermarriage between the two whatsoever.

Conclusion:

I find Cofnas to be rather thought-provoking, and for that, I’m happy his criticism of the Culture of Critique exists. Even so, Cofnas lacks an understanding of the collectivism that has been and still is, historically present within Jews scattered all across Earth. And for that, I believe it’s very, very incorrect.

Kevin Macdonald's rebuttal to Cofnas can be found here.

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benyaziyomyeah · 6 years

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MIGRANTS AS DIGITAL NATIVES IN VIRTUAL SETTINGS

In our world where interconnectivity and globalization keeps on coming into prominence at a staggering pace, it is almost crystal clear that in order for an individual to fit in and keep himself or herself updated with the latest developments, he/she has to be able to be familiar with the internet use and figure out a way to incorporate it in his or her daily lives. By means of the progressive use of Web 2.0 which allows users to utilize Internet beyond the static pages by enabling them to interact in a virtual community, it becomes a factual certitude that online identities become more concrete, more integrated and more tied to our daily lives. In this context, digital natives represent a focal point. Digital native is a term coined by Mark Prensky. According to Technopedia, digital natives are individuals who were born after the widespread adoption of digital technology. They use these tools as extensions of their bodies and minds, fluidly incorporating them into their daily routines (Prensky, 2005). In fact, digital natives may represent the next big generation as they become more prominent and stand out in virtual world. According to Tapscott (2009) as a result of digital immersion, it is observed that the brains of digital natives begin to wire differently. For example, it is claimed by Hershatter & Epstein, (2010)that “digital natives are more effective in some arenas, like multitasking, responding to visual stimulation, and filtering information, but less adept in terms of face-to-face interaction and deciphering non-verbal cues”. Technology for them is a sixth sense, as a way of knowing and interacting with the world (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). In conjunction with that, I intend to investigate whether there might be a correlation between being a digital native and migrant, meaning whether being in a foreign country might compel migrants to get involved more in virtual world as a way to get themselves more familiar with the country they live in and put out an effort to fit in. On the other hand, I have been wondering whether as a result of being in a foreign country, this situation might lead a migrant to immerse themselves in an extreme manner in a virtual world as a way to avoid from the social interactions and the foreign world outside which maybe they do not feel themselves very comfortable with. The methodology that I used was drawn on the discourse analysis of the semi-qualitative interviews conducted with eleven Turkish migrants of my acquaintance who are either studying or working abroad. I decided to pick up six of them representing common patterns running through this investigation that seem to bring in an interesting angle in conjunction with the research topic.

Generally, the first answer that they come up with, as a response to the role of the Internet in their lives as a migrant, comes down to the fact that they are using the Internet just as any other individual does. One of the interviewees named S. E. who is a student in Luxembourg, says that she mainly uses the Internet to connect to her parents back where she comes from or to follow the developments in her "source country”. In addition to that, she indicates that she also uses it to follow the developments in her immediate environment but back in her source country, she used to use it to connect to her international friends and to follow international developments, as she also does now. So from this point forth, it is possible to infer that she does not really think there is a considerable difference between the amounts of time she spends on Internet that she used to. Even there is a difference; she thinks that difference stems from the fact that the world becomes more and more Internet bound. So based on those statements, I may assume that wherever she is, connecting to the world through the Internet is always the same for her.

One of the interviewees named U.G. who is a student/researcher in Berlin, thinks that one of the greater aspects of using internet in the country that he lives in as a migrant and gay, is that it allows the possibility to contact like-minded people more easily and he thinks of it as a great freedom that he does not really experience in his country. He goes on and says that since the day he has come to study in Berlin, he got to discover more activities and online platforms where LGBTQ communities can interact and keep each other updated about the events and organizations in a more out in the open, humanistic and equalitarian way, whereas those kinds of platforms in Turkey are kind of underground and it is very hard to trust their credibility as homophobia is still a neglected issue there. Therefore, he explains that in comparison with his past he has in his country, he becomes highly involved in virtual settings as it enriches his daily life as well.

Furthermore, there have been also interviewees like F. Y who is also a student thinks that Internet became a way of clutching onto the life since the day she has come to Luxembourg. She tells that whenever she does not go online, she feels like she is missing out on very important news from her country and family. On the other hand, whenever she goes on the Internet, she feels like she is able to continue her life that she left behind in Turkey as well. Hence, she considers it as a tool of socialization in Luxembourg as she does almost all kinds of event planning with her friends by using the Internet and also she goes on and says that she sees it as a tool of integration as she gets to keep herself updated about the activities in Luxembourg. In a nutshell, she does not feel alone and isolated, as she is well aware that she could have access to Internet whenever she wants and she finds comforting to know that it permeates her life from every angle.

Moreover, C.C. who is a PhD candidate and researcher in US thinks that Internet is a need, which is as vital as air and water in a more academic context. Apart from its affordance to have access to databases such as J-Stor and Scopus, he says that it allows him to keep himself updated about academic publications, conferences, paper calls or partake in virtual classes, get enrolled in online university programs or to have Skype sessions with his colleagues and friends. The vision depicted by Oblinger (2005) reflects a technological utopia whereby students are provided with iPods to be used in line with their needs whenever they want, wherever they go. From this point forth, he notes that it basically enables him to manage his academic and social life in a more effective, interactive and practical way. Apart from that, in some occasions he states that it allows him to conduct interviews via Skype with volunteers from different parts of the world for the research projects that he gets involved in. And he adds that no matter how awkward it might seem, sometimes, he finds himself thinking that his virtual life seems to be more stimulating, exhilarating and authentic in terms of its limitless nature, which defies any type of boundaries. So based on his opinions, it is obvious that the points he makes might not be really relevant to a contextualization drawn upon the correlation between the state of being a digital native and migrant but rather more to a digital native within an academic context as it is mentioned before. Nevertheless, in this case it might be construed that, especially when it comes to academia (which might be considered a conjunction of entangled worlds within itself maybe), some migrants like him with academic background, tend to identify themselves more with their persona built upon their digital native self in comparison with their state as a migrant.

On the other hand, another PhD student P.G. from Sweden says that she is an active internet user in full swing however, the only problem she is having hard time to figure out stems from the fact that some of the Swedish websites do not provide an English version of their pages. She goes on and explains that she uses Nordea bank and that there is not an English version of their Internet banking website. In that case, she has resort to Google translate and she emphasizes that it helps a lot in these circumstances. So from that point forth, it might be possible to infer that the websites of the country where the migrant lives, might not be always customized in a way that they let migrants to be integrated, in that case the migrant has to figure out a way to deal with it by himself or herself by resorting to his or her competences as a digital native that allow him or her to designate the necessary virtual tools to resolve the problem.

Apart from these, N.A. who lives in St. Petersburg as an officer of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that she mainly uses the Internet to edit the ambassadorship’s web page or to check her e-mails on a daily basis in order to keep track of the paper works that need to be handled. She notes that she does not really use the Internet in order to get in touch with her family or friends, by adding that mainly her cell phone fills the bill but when it comes to reaching out to too many people about a reception or an event in ambassadorship, she resorts to sending e-mails of course. Apart from that she points out that she uses it to follow the social activities in St. Petersburg but as she is very busy with her job’s requirements nowadays, she does not really do that anymore as she once used to. In a nutshell, she concludes that her frequency of Internet use is very in accord with the rhythm of her job.

In a nutshell, concerning the common patterns running through the rest of the surveys, the use of social networks such as Skype and Facebook to fulfill their longings of family, come up a lot. Most of them say that they have become more active in terms of integrating the use of internet in their lives in comparison with their former lives in their origin country. And also they note that they follow more closely the political situation on internet and forums in their origin country partly because of their homesickness and also some of them state that observing the situation there as an outsider feels different and allows them to come up with more comparative analyses as they live abroad and are not in the midst of it. And as for the correlation between the states of being a digital native and migrant; I think it might be hard to differ in some cases, in terms of determining whether being a migrant in a foreign country has a considerable effect to turn someone into a digital native or not because as it is seen in the cases of migrants coming from an academic background, some of them might have already internalized and customized the affordances of the virtual world in their lives. Of course, as seen in some cases mentioned above, being in a foreign country might give a fresh impetus to the induction into the virtual world and prompt someone to tap into those activities associated with the characteristics of a digital native. However, over the investigation, I have come to realize that the way migrants who got involved in the survey frame their social and occupational settings play an essential role as well, especially when it comes to establish the extent to which the Internet permeates one’s life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Hershatter, A. & Epstein, M. 2010, "Millennials and the world of work: An organization and management perspective", Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 211-223.

Janssen, C. Digital Native. Retrieved from: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/28094/digital-native

Oblinger, D. G. (2005). Learners, Learning & Technology: The Educause Learning Initiative. Educause Review, 40(5), 66-75.

Prensky, M. (2005/2006). Listen to The Natives, Learning in the Digital Age, Pages 8-13, Volume 63, Number 4.

RESEARCH MAPPING FOR “DIGITAL NATIVES”:

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