OSP postcolonial theory: Paul Gilroy

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

consistently argued that racial identities are historically constructed – formed by colonialization, slavery, nationalist philosophies and consumer capitalism. This Factsheet will be considering his work on race identity and postcolonialism. ‘Race’ [is not] the eternal cause of racism [but is] its complex, unstable product. I should probably emphasise at this point that neither race nor racism are the exclusive historical property of the minorities who are their primary victims. (Gilroy, 2004)

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

Here Gilroy is saying that racism isn’t caused by race, racism causes race. Racism is not caused by the clash of two or more races – racism is not a natural phenomenon. Instead, Gilroy states that racial difference and racial identities are the product of racial oppression. Racial identities are caused by historical conflicts that have brought different groups into opposition. That is not to say that there were no human differences before historical conflict between different groups; different human groups existed but their differences were not defined by ‘race’ lines.

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

At this point, we need to consider the term ethnicity and ethnic absolutism. Ethnic absolutism is a line of thinking which sees humans are part of different ethnic compartments, with race as the basis of human differentiation. Gilroy is opposed to ethnic absolutism as it is counter to his argument that racism causes race. Ethnicity is the identity that is shared with others in your ethnic group; inherited from parents; passed down from generations before. Ethnicity is defined by: the national and/or religious holidays an individual observes; the language spoken; the religion followed; the food eaten. Absolutism considers separate ethnic compartments are absolute which are invisible & tightly bonded together. Compromising your ethnic group would, for an ethnic absolutist, be against natural order and risk the future existence of that ethnic group. Gilroy identifies with a position that is opposite to ethnic absolutist compartments.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

Gilroy’s work focuses on the concept of the African diaspora. The term diaspora is taken from the Greek ‘dispersion’ meaning ‘scattering of seeds’. It is first seen in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy when Moses warns Jewish people that there would “be a diaspora in all kingdoms of the earth” if they did not observe God’s commandments. Diaspora means a scattering of people, from the original place to elsewhere. Diasporas are considered to comprise of members of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious groups who live in countries to which their ancestors migrated. Identities of individuals within a diaspora are formed over time, as a result of the historical, social and cultural relationships within the group and other groups. Transnational diasporas have emerged over time due to global migration, such as the mass migrations of the 18th century to the New World. Within these groups, slaves and Europeans moved and displaced the indigenous communities. A diaspora is generally considered to exist within a small group in scattered numbers within countries across continents.

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

Gilroy argues that we need to take British slavery into account & consider the influence on history, culture and identity. However, in acknowledging the British slave trade as an essential component to British culture caused political issues in the 1980s. At the time, the dominant representation of black Britons was as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation.” As such, to accept the role of slavery into the cultural identities of Britain would be to challenge the negative stereotype of black Britons at the time, and reverse the “external and estranged” relationship with the nation.

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

Diaspora challenges national ideologies, through the commitment and loyalty to the origin nation or place. However, diasporic identities can also become trapped within a national ideology; diasporic cultural ideologies and practices exist within a national ideology based upon its social, economic and cultural integrations and as such there is a cultural difference with the diasporic identities. This difference becomes associated with minority groups and a cultural tension occurs. This tension between the national ideology and the diasporic ideologies helps to create the diasporic identity. Identities are created in both positive and negative ways. Positive ways of creating an identity could be in the participation and relationships individuals experience. On the other hand, negative experiences of exclusion, exposure to regressive ideologies and marginalisation will also create an identity which is then shared within the diasporic community and perhaps from the origin country.

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

Charities and public services use the same manipulative advertising techniques evidenced in Kony 2012 all the time. The issues that were raised in criticism were not simply about the emotional nature of the video but the accuracy of the information was challenged. Another perceived problem with the video was the way it represented Uganda and Ugandans, Africa and Africans, in ways that acted to reinforce some stereotypes and generalised assumptions that are argued to be potentially harmful. Postcolonial theory suggests that many representations of non-Western countries and people reinforce a binary opposition that has been in place since European colonization; the West represents goodness, power and strength and the non-West represents weakness and deficiency. The Invisible Children films can be seen to be problematic from this perspective.

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

Gilroy also argues the importance of slavery to modernity and capitalism. The modern world was built upon a normalised view of slavery, particularly plantation slavery. Slavery was only rejected when it was revealed as incompatible with enlightened rationality and capitalist production. Gilroy argues that the figure of the black slave of ‘the Negro’ provided enlightened thinkers and philosophers an insight into concepts of property rights, consciousness and art.

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

The media is widely consumed by a variety of different people and so when someone who is black in the UK or the USA see's their own diaspora or demographic being labelled as 'not from here' and 'to go back home' even though the only home they and their parents have ever know is the UK or USA creates that atmosphere and feeling of double consciousness as they don't feel like they belong anywhere, always represented as the 'other' a foreigner.

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.

I think that the film attempts to challenge double consciousness by portraying that struggle against white male dominance in places like NASA, where a black woman is able to lead the charge in the extraordinary feat of getting a man into space. Furthermore the portrayal of the lead making remarks against race and ethnicity creates that idea of being equal.