Decolonization and Coloniality in Human Development: Neoliberalism, Globalization and Narratives of Indian Youth

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 207-221
Author(s):  
Sunil Bhatia

In this article, I argue that globalization is interwoven with colonialism and coloniality and both psychology and human development are shaped by the enduring legacy of Eurocentric colonial knowledge. In particular, I draw on my ethnographic research in Pune, India, to show how the transnational elite, middle- and working-class urban Indian youth are engaging with new practices of globalization. I examine how particular class practices shape youth narratives about globalization and “Indianness” generally, as well as specific stories about their self, identity, and family. This article is organized around three questions: (a) How has Euro-American psychology as a dominant force supported colonization and racialized models of human development? (b) What kind of stories do urban Indian youth from varied classes tell about their identity formation in contexts of neoliberal globalization? (c) How can we create and promote models of human development and psychology that are inclusive of the lives of people who live in the Global South?

Author(s):  
Sunil Bhatia

This chapter investigates how neoliberal globalization is not just an economic concept or an economic condition; rather, it brings with it shifts in the spheres of culture psychology and identity. It specifically analyzes how personality and assessment tests and cross-cultural workshops on identity and difference that are primarily developed from Euro-American psychology are utilized in the Indian information technology and call center industry. The cross-cultural framework developed primarily by Western psychologists provided the most important tools, concepts, and vocabularies to understand “culture” in cultural sensitivity workshops and extended training seminars held for offshore companies, such as in India. These workshops promoted highly reified ideas about culture in which Indian work culture was viewed as inefficient, hierarchical, feudal, and indirect, whereas European culture was framed as egalitarian, professional, assertive, and non-hierarchical. This chapter reveals how neoliberal psychological discourses of self, identity, and happiness are becoming a mainstay of Indian culture and society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mielly ◽  
Catherine Jones ◽  
Mark Smith ◽  
Vikram Basistha

Purpose This paper aims to explore the experience of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) moving from the global South to the global North. It considers the relationship between country of origin and host country, the role of non-traditional destinations and the choices made by SIEs. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with Indian SIEs and key experts to explore the motives, identities and life narratives of skilled expatriate Indians in France. Findings The results shed light on how individuals’ careers are fashioned through the intersection of identities; highlighting the interplay between country of origin and the host country as a catalyst in SIEs’ choice of destination. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate a strategic form of agency exercised through these SIEs’ choice of an unconventional destination. Research limitations/implications The intricate nature of SIE trajectories holds implications for migration theory, diaspora studies and career theory. SIEs from the Global South adopt varying strategies linked to specific host-country career offerings, often in sharp contrast with home-country opportunities. Practical implications The results inform managerial and policy-maker understandings of career motivations for mobile skilled workers moving for career and lifestyle. For countries seeking to attract talent, the findings demonstrate the roles of host-country immigration policy, country reputation and perceived career opportunities. Originality/value This study helps address research gaps in relation self-initiated expatriation from the Global South to the North. At the same time, it identifies the potential for transitional spaces and the relationship between countries, identity-formation factors and career agency. These findings on France as a transitional space – one of intermediacy and in-betweenness, where self-identity and future career projections can be re-imagined and reshaped – shed new light on how SIEs and their movements can be conceptualized.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Cinthia Torres Toledo ◽  
Marília Pinto de Carvalho

Black working-class boys are the group with the most significant difficulties in their schooling process. In dialogue with Raewyn Connell, we seek to analyze how the collective conceptions of peer groups have influenced the school engagement of Brazilian boys. We conducted an ethnographic research with students around the age of 14 at an urban state school in the periphery of the city of São Paulo. We analyzed the hierarchization process between two groups of boys, demonstrating the existence of a collective notion of masculinity that works against engagement with the school. Well-known to the Anglophone academic literature, this association is rather uncommon in the Brazilian literature. We have therefore attempted to describe and analyze here the challenges faced by Black working-class Brazilian boys to establish more positive educational trajectories.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 122a-122a
Author(s):  
Fida J. Adely

The Arab Human Development Report 2005, the fourth in a series that has received much acclaim and stirred much controversy, takes up the issue of women's development in the Arab world. Through a careful reading and analysis of sections of the report that address education and economic participation, this paper offers a critique of the human capabilities framework that frames this report. I highlight critical tensions between the claim that providing education is an essential element of expanding choices and the assumptions embedded in discussions about women and education regarding which choices are acceptable and/or desirable. These tensions point to the persistence of values derived from the mandates of global capital, albeit in the new language of neoliberal choice, revealing that ‘human development’ does not represent a significant departure from earlier conceptualizations of development. I draw on my ethnographic research in Jordan as one example to interrogate such assumptions and to shed light on the ambiguities built into the educational project for young women today.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110553
Author(s):  
Matt M Husain

This special issue contributes to the vibrant debates concerning the ‘responses and intensifying inequalities in the Global South’ underway with regard to COVID-19 and the subsequent crises of higher education. With neoliberal globalization in a deeper crisis by the pandemic, transforming higher education and teaching configurations in ways that appease the rich and powerful players, while simultaneously seeking to neutralize forms of equity in education. Rather than pointing fingers at the broken structures and wider external economic framework, we argue that re-centring the humanistic, holistic and bottom-up approach that frames the post-pandemic higher education offers a more useful framework for understanding educational transformation in the contemporary period.


Koneksi ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Dwi Sabrina ◽  
Lusia Savitri Retno Utami

No doubt the development of popular culture is very fast in the world, especially the K-Pop industry. Due to rapid development of K-Pop and more fans, innovations have begun to emerge in showing the love of fans towards K-Pop. One of them is K-Pop cover dance activities. This study discusses "The Formation of the Identity of K-Pop Cover Dance Performers in Jakarta" and uses observation and interview data collection methods to find out more about how the formation of K-Pop cover actors' self-identity formation. The theory used is their dramatism on the front stage and also the backstage. In this study the authors can see that each individual communicates themselves in different ways and not all cover dance performers perform their front stage roles up to their backstage life. The formation of the identity of the cover dance actors can change to follow the environment where they are and with whom they communicate. However, not a few also feel that his life as a cover dance on stage imitates and becomes someone else's figure carried to their   daily from various aspects such as family, experience and also the community.Tidak dipungkiri perkembangan budaya populer sangat pesat di dunia terutama K-Pop. Akibat perkembangan K-Pop yang pesat dan penggemarnya yang semakin banyak, mulai bermunculan inovasi dalam menunjukkan kecintaan dari penggemar terhadap K-Pop. Salah satunya adalah kegiatan cover dance K-Pop. Penelitian ini membahas tentang “Pembentukan Identitas Diri Para Pelaku Cover Dance K-Pop di Jakarta” dengan menggunakan teori dramatisme mereka pada front stage dan juga back stage. Dalam penelitian ini penulis dapat melihat bahwa setiap individu mengkomunikasikan diri mereka dengan cara yang berbeda-beda dan tidak semua pelaku cover dance melakukan peran front stage mereka hingga ke kehidupan backstage mereka. Peneliti menggunakan metode pengumpulan data observasi dan wawancara untuk mengetahui lebih dalam mengenai bagaimana pembentukan identitas diri para pelaku cover dance K-Pop. Pembentukan identitas diri para pelaku cover dance dapat berubah mengikuti lingkungan dimana mereka berada dan dengan siapa mereka berkomunikasi. Namun, tidak sedikit juga yang merasa bahwa kehidupannya sebagai seorang cover dance di atas panggung yang meniru dan menjadi sosok orang lain terbawa hingga ke kehidupan sehari-hari mereka dari berbagai macam aspek seperti keluarga, pengalaman dan juga komunitas. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Subandi

One of the tasks of human development is to discover its identity. There are many ways a person can find that identity. One of them is through the identification of the idol figure. This study aims to understand the process of identity formation through the identification of shadow puppet figures in the context of Javanese culture. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to understand the process retrospectively. Three main participants were involved in the study. The process of collecting data was done through in-depth interview methods to both the main participants and their significant others. FGD (focused group discussion) is also conducted to explore participants' understanding of their process of identity formation. Data analysis was done by phenomenological method. This study found three main themes, namely interested in shadow puppet figures, matching self-image with puppet characters, and the use of feeling as a bridge between self and the puppet. This study concluded that shadow puppets can be used as a means to find identity among their fans.


Author(s):  
Angela Bartie ◽  
Alistair Fraser

This chapter unites perspectives from history and sociology in excavating the lived experiences of everyday masculinities and violence that lie behind the persistent image of the Glasgow ‘hard man’, while also interrogating popular representations of the ‘hard city’. Drawing on oral history interviews with individuals involved in violent territorialism – specifically through street-based ‘gangs’ of young men – c. 1965-1975, it contrasts popular representations of the Glasgow ‘hard man’ with the lived experiences of those living and working in the city at that time. Focusing specifically on Easterhouse, it highlights the prominence of ‘the street’ in narrative accounts of masculine identity formation for young working-class men and links this to the specific social, cultural and economic composition of the locale. Overall, it argues that such ‘street’ masculinities should be understood in historical context, recognising the influence of local cultures of machismo on the persistence of forms of masculine identity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document