A Gift of a Pagoda, the Presence of a Prominent Citizen, and the Possibilities of Hospitality

10.1068/d347t ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wun Fung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Ethnic Differences ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Economic Vitality ◽  
The City

To counter accusations that ethnic minorities in Britain are a problem, there is an emerging discourse that has begun to celebrate diversity as an asset, which contributes towards the nation's cultural and economic vitality. However, although this reevaluation of ethnic differences has proved to be a useful defence of the presence of ethnic minorities, the types of contributions and their significance have been left unexplored. In this paper I closely examine one such contribution, a Chinese pagoda, which was given to the City of Birmingham by an ethnic entrepreneur. By carefully analysing the views of the gift giver, planning documents, and public discourse on the pagoda, I argue that the different narratives—which encompass the themes of representing an ethnic community, hospitality, and gift giving—are discontinuous. In doing so, I illustrate some of the limits to Birmingham's hospitality and mark out a series of informal obligations of citizenship that are written into Birmingham's public space. I conclude by suggesting that if a gift of hospitality is to be given it is necessary to consider the other of the ethnic minority as an asset, citizenship, and presence.

scholarly journals Ethnic Minority Youths’ Encounters With Private Security Guards: Unwelcome in the City Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Elsa Saarikkomäki ◽  
Anne Alvesalo-Kuusi
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Security Guards ◽  
City Space ◽  
The City ◽  
Being Moved ◽  
Net Widening

An increasing amount of literature is suggesting that ethnic minorities perceive their relations with the police as negative and procedurally unjust. There is, however, a distinctive lack of research on the relations between ethnic minorities and private security agents. This study uses the qualitative interviews of 30 ethnic minority youths living in Finland to explore their interactions with security guards. The findings suggest that perceptions of discrimination, suspicion, being moved on, and exclusion from city space were common. The study advances the theorizations of the changes in policing and procedural justice and incorporates these into the discussions on policing the city space. It argues that net-widening of policing means that city spaces are becoming more unwelcoming for ethnic minority youths in particular, limiting their opportunities to use city spaces.

scholarly journals Ethnic minorities in the southern territories of the country: problems of the formation of Laz in the conditions of the Soviet period (1918–1950s)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Nikolay F. Bugay ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
Sequential Presentation ◽  
Russian Academy Of Sciences ◽  
National Question ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The proposed article, based on new archival documents identified in the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the involvement of researchers in the history of ethnic minorities on the territory of the USSR, Russia, reveals the role and place of the Laz ethnic minority in the south within Abkhazia and Georgia. Laz, as an ethnic minority, have undergone all those difficulties of transformation, including negative ones. Destructive measures were taken against them by the Government of the USSR – forced resettlement, deportation. Mohamed Vanlishi, Laz by nationality, being a member of the government of the Adjarian ASSR, minister, writer, sent a letter to L. Be-ria, the content of which touched Beria's feelings. The Lazes were returned from the special resettlement to their own homes. This side of the life of the ethnic minority of Georgia – Laz was reflected in the documents of "Stalin's special folder" The publication mentions many of the current representatives of the Laz in different periods of the his-tory of Georgia and Abkhazia and ethnic minorities living on their territory. The life of the Laz was also influenced by the policy carried out in Georgia to implement the "crys-tallization of society", pursuing the formation of statehood with one ethnic community, one culture. Introduction. The development of the problem itself in the scientific works of the author and other researchers is briefly stated. This is also a kind of reaction to complaints from the Laz themselves that the history of the ethnic minority is not being paid enough attention to. Little is known in the historiography of the Laz and their leaders, who led various kinds of movements for freedom and justice, the solution of social problems in society, the involvement of the Laz in party and state building. The content of punitive measures taken against Laz is partially revealed, the reasons and possibilities to overcome the built system in relations between the state and society, ethnic minorities are shown. Methods. The content of the article is based on different research methods. First of all, the method of historicism, a sequential presentation of the series of events that charac-terize the content of historical events, their relationship with accompanying events. It is also important to use the prosopographic method of presenting material about the main political figure of the Laz, representatives of the highest authorities. By using the narrative method, the ethnic community of the Laz is more widely represented and its participation in solving many issues in national state policy, the interaction of the ethnic community itself in the system of interethnic ties. The use of the information method is of particular value for building up an event series. This method is also quite applicable to the analysis of national processes taking place in the region where the Laz live. In the presentation of the article, the method of comparative historical analysis was also ap-plied. Results. This article was based primarily on archival documents about the holes, identi-fied in the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This allowed a broader charac-terization of the Laz as an ethnic minority. Along with the well-known materials, show the settlement of Laz in the territory of the regions of residence. The documents of the archive make it possible to reveal the role and place of the Section for the Study of the National Question created in the structure of the Communist Academy. The forms and methods of work in the Communist Academy in the study of the history of the national question and ethnic minorities have been clarified.

Community gardening for integrated urban renewal in Copenhagen: securing or denying minorities’ right to the city?

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Parama Roy
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Community Gardening ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

This chapter presents a case study from Copenhagen on a community-based, but state-initiated urban gardening effort to examine what such efforts mean for the minorities’ (the homeless and the ethnic minorities’) right to the city (Purcell, 2002; 2013) especially within the context of a traditionally welfare-driven, but increasingly neoliberalized urban context. David Harvey has described the right to the city as “not merely a right of access to what already exists, but a right to change it after our heart’s desire” (Harvey, 2003). As such, in this chapter the concept of “right to the city” is operationalized as a measure or proxy for social and spatial justice to explore how the state-initiated community gardening effort in the Sundholm District shapes/secures/denies the homeless and the ethnic minorities’ ability to, a) use and just be in the physical space of the garden (a public space) and b) to translate this into access to the political space of urban governance (and governance of the garden space) where they can voice their needs/concerns.

scholarly journals What does “language” mean for its users? Constructing a theoretical model of a notion of language in the public space

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Vuk Vukotić
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Language Variety ◽  
Public Debates

Research into language ideologies is a fast growing field of research, especially within its critical paradigm, highlighting reproductions of dominant and often repressive ideologies about language (racism, sexism, nationalism, etc.). On the other hand, the other, cognitive paradigm has contributed to the field of language ideology by way of closer insights into the world of the speaker, providing a more subtle understanding of the cognitive processes at work behind attitudes to language and ideologies of language. Some of the studies employing the cognitive approach have also looked to how “language” is conceptualised in public discourse. In spite of the differences in the material and the foci in these studies, re-occurring patterns have begun to emerge. This paper offers a systematic review of these studies in order to answer the question “What elements of notions of language have been identified in the research on public debates about language?”. The aim of this review is to create a theoretical model of the “public notions of language”, which would explain differences in understanding of language in public debates. A total of 12 studies examining public notions of language have been collected, analysed and their findings synthesized into a model of a public notion of language. Three key elements construct the notion of language: (1) the function of language, (2) the identification of linguistic expertise, or who the bearer of true/good language is and (3) the identification of language variety which is representative of the language users.

scholarly journals Uliczni „przedsiębiorcy”, czyli spór o widzialność w przestrzeni publicznej miasta

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-85
Author(s):  
Beata Kowalczyk
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Street Trading ◽  
City Street ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

This text is an attempt at a sociological description of the phenomenon of street trading as a form of (in)visible presence in the public space of the city. Street traders are (in)visible in the sense that, in breaking the legal regulations setting the frame for public visibility, they must be invisible to the apparatus of power in order to avoid fines and ensure their ability to achieve their aims, their livelihoods. On the one hand, street traders balance on the edge of the law, transgressing the public order, and on the other hand, they are active creators of its (in)visible portion, metaphorically speaking—protesters against the established socio-cultural structures but in reality people seeking the means to survive.

scholarly journals Brincando na rua: relações entre moradores de camadas médias e populares no Morro da Caixa

ILUMINURAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (37) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Kraieski de Assunção
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The City

O artigo trata das relações entre moradores de camadas médias e populares do bairro do Morro da Caixa, no município de Tubarão (SC). Busca-se mostrar como as brincadeiras das crianças nas ruas do bairro evidenciam diferenças – e tensões – entre os sujeitos de camadas sociais distintas. Neste sentido, brincar (ou não) na rua serve para pensar as percepções dos sujeitos sobre o “outro” e a forma como estes indivíduos se apropriam do espaço público. Pode-se, desta forma, problematizar estes espaços, recorrentemente compreendidos como lugares do encontro e da diversidade. Os dados de pesquisa foram produzidos por diferentes abordagens metodológicas, dentre as quais apresento as caminhadas pelo bairro. Através delas, foi possível fazer parte do cotidiano dos moradores, de suas práticas recorrentes, de seus usos do tempo e do espaço.Palavras-chave: Rua. Espaço público. Brincar. CotidianoPlaying on the street: relations between residents of medium and popular class in Morro da CaixaAbstractThe article deals with the relationships between residents of middle and lower classes of Morro da Caixa neighborhood, in the city of Tubarão (SC). It aims at showing how children's play on neighborhood streets revealed differences - and tensions - between subjects of different social strata. In this sense, playing (or not) on the street reveals the subjects perceptions on the "other" and how these individuals appropriate the public space. One can thus problematize these spaces, repeatedly understood as places of encounter and diversity. Survey data were produced by different methodological approaches, among which I highlight the walks through the neighborhood. Through them, I could be part of the daily lives of residents, their recurrent practices, as well as their use of time and space.Keywords: Street. Public space. Play. Everyday life.  

scholarly journals Contrasting Narratives of Race and Fatness in Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azita Chellappoo
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Ethnic Differences ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Racial Inequalities ◽  
Strong Focus

AbstractThe slogan that ‘the virus doesn’t discriminate’ has been belied by the emergence of stark and persistent disparities in rates of infection, hospitalisation, and death from Covid-19 between various social groups. I focus on two groups that have been disproportionately affected, and that have been constructed or designated as particularly ‘at-risk’ during the Covid-19 pandemic: racial or ethnic minorities and fat people. I trace the range of narratives that have arisen in the context of explaining these disparities, in both the scientific literature and wider expert and public discourse. I show that the scientific and public narratives around these groups have differed significantly, revealing contested and competing conceptions of the basis of these categories themselves. These different conceptions have important impacts on the kinds of interventions that become possible or desirable. I show that in the case of racial or ethnic disparities, genetic narratives have been combatted by a strong focus on structural racism as a driver of pandemic inequalities. However, in the case of fatness, individualising and stigmatising narratives have dominated discussions. I suggest that, given racial or ethnic differences in prevalence of fatness, and scholarship casting anti-fatness as historically racialised, the stigmatisation of fatness disproportionately affects racial or ethnic minorities in terms of placing individual blame or responsibility for the increased burden of Covid-19 on these groups. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the role of structural racism in driving racial inequalities in the burden of Covid-19, anti-obesity rhetoric and research provides a ‘backdoor’ to placing blame on individuals from racial minorities.

Ethnic Minority Rights in Georgia 2013–15: A Period of Stagnation

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-280
Author(s):  
Giorgi Bobghiashvili ◽  
Graham Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The One

Georgia is the most ethnically diverse state in the South Caucasus. Since independence, it has been blighted by violent secessionism and Russian invasion, the roots of which are invariably described as having stemmed from this diversity; the lack of integration of its ethnic minorities; and the recurrent failures of Georgian governments to adequately balance the nationalizing tendencies of constructing a newly independent state on the one hand and the needs and desires of its multinational citizenry on the other. In the first part of this report, we look at the roots of the present minority situation in Georgia, noting the main minority groups and the issues concerning them, before moving on in the second part to consider the issue of minority governance. We also provide a review of the most significant developments in 2014–2015 before commenting on the prospects for the coming year.

scholarly journals Barefoot in the Overlay: The Perfect Digital City and the Ruins of Public Space

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Brown
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Digital City ◽  
Spatial Studies ◽  
City Space ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The City

Digitally generated views of Townsville's recent city centre redevelopment attempt to overlay visions of a European urban space on the contested territory of the tropical city. Such views obscure the site of an uneven relationship between the various communities which inhabit the city space, by representing a space of apparent completeness and fixity. Applying insights<br />from critical spatial studies and psychogeography, such representations of the city appear to ossify public discourse rather than work towards the creation of genuine multi user spaces, which are always problematic to successfully design and visualise.

scholarly journals Bridging (Identification) Divides: Ethnic Minority Endorsement of New Diversity Ideologies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Gale ◽  
Kumar Yogeeswaran ◽  
Maykel Verkuyten
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethnic Identification ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
National Identification ◽  
The Usa

In culturally diverse societies, ethnic minorities are faced with the challenge of negotiating between their national and ethnic identification. Diversity ideologies address this challenge in different ways, by prioritizing national identification in the case of assimilation, and ethnic identification in the case of multiculturalism. However, existing research has highlighted the risks and drawbacks of both ideologies, presenting polyculturalism and interculturalism as new alternatives which construe identities as more complex, dynamic, and interconnected between groups. Given that little is known about these ideologies from the minority perspective, the present study investigated their endorsement among ethnic minorities, as well as associations with their ethnic and national identification in the USA. Results show that, in general, pro-diversity ideologies (multiculturalism, interculturalism, and polyculturalism) are all supported by ethnic minorities, in contrast to assimilation. Moreover, ethnic identification is associated with support for multiculturalism, national identification is associated with support for assimilation, and both are associated with polyculturalism. For interculturalism, associations with ethnic and national identification depend on its subcomponents, which seem to address and bring together the other three ideologies. Interculturalism may therefore be a promising way forward to minimize the risks of assimilation, multiculturalism, and polyculturalism, while also maximizing their benefits to minorities and societies at large.

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