Customs Checkpoint

STOPPPPPPP!!!!!

All journeys have a starting point. As your official customs officers, we have the unfortunate task of telling you that you must return to the first post in August to properly read the blog. Got a problem? Talk to Ugresic, Kincaid, Hamid, or any of the many authors we have explored this semester about their frustrations with airports and customs regulations. Don't forget to keep your passport handy!

until next time...

Dear Blog-o-sphere,

Thanks for joining us on our ICS intellectual developmental journey. There have been moments of extreme frustration, epiphanies of epic proportions and conclusions and connections that we hope will be helpful for all our loyal followers. ICS has been more demanding on us than any of our other classes. It has required us to not only grasp theoretical concepts and contextualize them in the framework of this discipline, but also it has required us to share our personal experience and pull in information from all other areas of study.

Our frustrations in ICS 125 have been rewarded by ICS 200S. We have opened our minds to many different ways of envisioning and discussing both the world we live in and the world we wish to live in. We have been exposed to optimism and pessimism about the flow of goods and ideas throughout the world and have never been pressured to pick one world view. At times it has felt like we are on a a sea-saw constantly oscillating between different perspectives: east/west, optimistic/pessimistc, north/south, us/them, verbal/non-verbal, etc...

But ultimately, we are grateful for the opportunity we have been given to explore the world as well as our own belief systems. What ICS has succeeded in doing is making us so uncomfortable that we are forced to learn and try to find comfort through this process.

We have appreicated this extended time with the Quaker Rock and now wish to pass it on to the next class of ICS 200S students.


Ciao! Au revoir & Arrivederci!

Spitty (Haley Spitz) and Chaz (Charlie DePietro)

I see no Changez, I wake up in the morning and ask myself..

Found this interview with Mohsin Hamid while browsing the internet trying to find out how to pronounce Changez's name properly. While I think the class was able to understand many of the points rasied by Hamid, he explains the ending of the book, the way that it is received in different cultures and countries based on their interactions with terrorism, and the "empty gaps of the American perspective" which is deliberately left vague.

I love that the last thing we read for this class ended so ambiguously and forced each of us to look within ourselves to determine how we perceive the actions of the Pakistani...Also makes me wonder: is this book "a chilling thriller" or is that fabricated by an American perspective?

I also can't talk about this character without immediately thinking of this.

there's no place like home

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" was a great story to end on. Not only was it a quick read, but also it was really interesting. Changez, who comes all the way from Pakistan to attend one of the most prestigious American Universities and takes a job with one of the top consulting firms in New York City, struggles with imposed identity. Since he stepped foot in America he felt like he had to compromise his own personal identity just to fit in. He was bombarded with pressures from all aspects of his life. Erica was his symbol of America, as she pranced around in her Mickey Mouse t-shirt, she represented what he couldn’t ever have, or be.

We see a distinctive transformation occur gradually. The first physical sign is the long beard. The mental transformation began before he left for Buenos Aires. It seemed like he had already made up his mind that he was done with it all and it was finally time to return home where he could be at ease and be himself. Then, he met Juan-Bautista (who was one of my favorite characters in the book). For me, Juan Bautista was like the voice of reason, you know, that little guy that stands on your shoulder and tells you the right thing to do (and Erica was like the little devilish figure, drawing him back to old habits and trying to make him keep trying to be American).

I think this story has a lot to say about identity and how we perceive ourselves. What Changez went through was a lot like mine and Chaz’ abroad experiences. We both struggled to fit in. We tried to alter our clothing to seem more authentic and we adjusted our accents to sound more local, but when it came down to it, we were both just American students, studying abroad. For Changez, no matter how hard he tried, he was bound to return home to the places he belonged.

So what does this say for Charlie and me? Was there any value in our European travels? Were our efforts of cultural acceptance futile? I think not! I think our experiences taught us a lot about ourselves and gave us the opportunity to see what it was like to be one of them (or at least try). I can only speak for myself, but I think my experience abroad made me proud of my identity. As much as I wanted to fit in, I did not hope to compromise my own identity to do so. And yes, I sighed a big breath of relief when stepped foot back in American and again felt like I was an “us” again. There is definitely something to be said for the comforting feeling of being home.

I guess Dorthy did know what she was talking about....

the day Jim became Marcus

We’ve talked about identity quite a bit, but today something really weird happened. Jim told us that his real name is Marcus. WHATT?? Why would you have people call you Jim if your name is Marcus. Well, Jim (Marcus) explained that his middle name (Jim) came first on his American passport, and so that’s how his named appears on ACES. He said that it has just been easier to go by Jim.


This kind of changed my perception of how important a person’s name is to their identity. Whether he was called Jim or Marcus wasn’t really all that big of a difference, but it got me thinking. What if my name wasn’t Haley? What if Charlie’s name wasn’t Charlie. Would our personalities be different? Would we act differently? Do we identify ourselves based on the name that we are given?


This also made me think about when I was abroad and my Italian professor couldn’t pronounce my name. The H gave him such trouble. It was slightly amusing to hear him struggle each day. Ahh-Lee. He would call me. It was silly. But it was interesting in a way. The hard H of my name was something that so clearly marked me as American and made me wonder about Jim. Did going by Jim make him feel more American or did it make him feel like he was an outsider?


Also, while I’m on the topic of identity and abroad, since Chaz went on a whole long schpeel about his murce (man purse) and how it made him feel so in the French circle, I should probably tell you about my attempt to fit in while I was in Florence. I thought that the only way I was ever going to look, act and feel like a local was if I wore a leather jacket and a scarf. So, I set off on the journey to find la giacca di pelle perfetta. I searched long and hard, until I stumbled upon Massimo. I tried on probably every jacket in the store. It had to be perfect. It had to make me look Italian. Two hours later, I immerged from the store clad in leather, kissing Massimo on the left then the right cheek, “Ciao Ciao!” I said to him. And as I strolled through the leather market back to my apartment, I finally felt like I was one of them. I waved to the venders as I normally did, but this time they responded to me in Italian. I guess there are a lot of things that contribute to a person’s identity. For the Fiorentinas, the leather jacket meant I was one of them.


I guess for Marcus, going by Jim makes him one of us (Americans).

Tin-Tin in Iraq in ICS

We discussed "Tintin en Irak" in my French class today, it reminded me of ICS, because I think that a lot of what we talk about is the way that the accounts of the same event differ across Eastern and Western culture. This is a comic about war in Iraq from French perspective. How a story changes when it is told in a foreign language and a less traditional media…

The story was published illegally and can only be found online. You can read it in French here. How do YOU think this version of the events in Iraq compares to the way that Americans construct the war?

being a tourist

I just finished reading Kincaid’s “A Small Place” and I have to say, I feel a bit uneasy. It reminded me of a vacation I took with my family on a cruise a few summers ago….. CLICK HERE while you read about my Kicaid - like experience...

We just docked in the St. Maarten. The sun is shining bright and there is not a cloud in the sky. Our Monday Morning itinerary gave us a brief description of the island’s history. But I was most excited for the full day excursion of snorkeling we had booked months ago. All the travel books said that we would be missing out if we didn’t take the opportunity to go visit this beautiful reef. We got off the ship, and we were immediately directed over to the staging ground for the group tours. After checking in with the group leader, we made our way to one of those big conversion van taxis. The engine roared and we were on our way. The roads were windy, run down and most likely would not pass code back home, but hey, it all seemed to add to that rustic feeling; the feeling of being away, so far and distant from home that it was a nice change of pace. I took the window seat so that I could have a clear view of the scenery. The first thing we passed was a school. There were some children playing outside. The game was unrecognizable, but there was a ball, and lots of jumping and screaming. They looked like they were enjoying themselves. It all seemed so perfect. Next we passed a shanty looking strip; our taxi driver informed us that it was the center of town. I took note of some of the stores. There was a small grocery store, a bar, and a liquor store among them. Everything seemed so simple and pleasant. It was not built up like back home; there were not strip malls, or big shopping centers.

We arrived at a beach. It was beautiful. It was dotted with chairs and umbrellas. In the distance I saw a tiki bar. I could see the bar tender pouring a frozen drink into a coconut cup. It was glorious, exactly what I had been looking forward to: some much needed rest and relaxation. I looked around and saw that the beach was populated by other white, American tourists like myself. My family and I spent the day swimming and snorkeling through the crystal clear water, gawking over the colorful fish and coral. It was a breath taking experience.


Before heading back to the ship, we walked through the straw market, admiring the wonderful hand woven purses, the vibrant hand painted pictures of sun setting over the tranquil beach. My mom walked over to a man at a booth in the corner to take a closer look at a piece of art that caught her eye. After bargaining with him for a minute or so, she walked back over to me, satisfied with her purchase. I walked down the next aisle, and shiny silver ring caught my attention. It was different, tropical and I knew I had to have it. I too entered into negotiations with the woman behind the table and returned to my mother satisfied.

Later that evening as we set sail for the next island, I began to think about Kincaid. Her description of the tourist really got me thinking. Did the women behind the counter really think I was an ugly thing, an ugly, empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish (17). Did the women behind the counter really think I was strange, did she really laugh at me behind closed doors, did she think I had bad manners did she dislike the way I spoke (17)?

Come to think of it, I did feel a bit uneasy as I pulled my wallet out of my purse to buy the ring. The look in the women’s eyes was envious. Come to think of it, maybe Kincaid’s analysis was right. Upon first read, I felt she was a bit outlandish and attacking with her accusations against me, the tourist, but as I thought more and more about it, it became much clearer. I had no intention of doing it, but it was clear that I had done exactly what she had described, exactly what I had hoped I wouldn’t do. I had become the ugly, empty thing. As I walked through the aisles of the straw market, I realize now how absent minded I was. It was as if my mind was in another place; I was in vacation mode. I was an intruder on her land. I had come to her home to vacation and get away. But for the woman behind the counter, as Kinkaid describes, every native everywhere lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression, and it was clear that she hated ME for it.

So, I became sad and frustrated. I began thinking about the moment in the market when I felt uneasy and why I felt that way. It was unintentional, but it was natural. I felt the division between me and her, us and them. I was a tourist in her home. I was different. My skin color, my language, my clothing. I was the outsider. Berraby would say that I was only an outsider because that’s how I perceived myself, but I think it was more than that. There was a clear division. Our exchange confirmed that no matter how hard I tried to avoid this distinction, the boundaries were clear and not imagined.

But, Kincaid’s rant was attacking and accusing, and made me feel like a bad person. Was I really empty and ugly? Ultimately I came to my own conclusion: this whole us and them thing, it does exist, it is natural. We use our similarities and differences to interact with one another. The lady in the straw market may have hated me, but she was also grateful that I was an outsider, and that I had come to her island, her straw market and her stand and bought her silver ring. Maybe having outsiders isn’t such a bad thing.

Collegiate Collages

Today was the presentation of collages in class. Some of the collages met my expectations and assumptions about the points and questions they would raise; however, others completely surprised me. The areas of interests of students manifested themselves in each of the collages. It has always been clear that Izzi is interested in women’s issues and in Africa and her collage, remaking the picture of a woman through different snippets succeeded in showing this. My interest in France was even more obvious and I tried to raise a question about the cultures which France is willing to accept and which it is not (similar to Jim and American immigration). I like that the topics of our collages reflected both our personal and academic pursuits, as if each of us were a master of some areas of knowledge (hmm…kind of like those country projects I guess). Two collages which really struck me came from Melissa and Tom.

Melissa’s collage came out of nowhere. We have discussed the question of the human condition many different times this semester; however, the language we use in this class has been focused elsewhere and our conversations appear to usually graze the surface of this topic. From Berreby to Fanon, from individual presentations to group ones, our language and discussion have been saturated with theories and examples of collective groups and individuals function within the human race. By using no language, Melissa surfaced something that is constantly present in our discussions, papers, and projects. I think that this demonstrates the importance of understanding concepts through different media. Verbally, I was unaware of the stickiness of the situation yet, visually, it became so clear to me that our class deals with these issues on a day to day basis.

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to see another person as human? How does membership in a group change our personal agency and what it means to be human? Are we always the most important actors in our lives? All of these questions raced through my brain when I saw Melissa’s poster.

A second presentation that was unexpected was Tom’s. Tom’s collage revealed to me that he pays full attention in class and that he has lots of interesting ideas despite the fact that he doesn’t always contribute to our class discussion. Haley and I have no problem explaining ourselves in class. We feel comfortable and confident using language; moreover, we both had problems pushing further using the collage and not using words in expressing ourselves. On the other hand, it was so clear that Tom expressed himself fully through the power of his images. They were picked very meticulously and the way they were assembled made his collage both interactive and intriguing. By exploring this visual media, we were able to hear and see new perspectives and unheard voices.

its time to get creative

I enjoyed this reading the most of everything we have read thus far. I think it was a combination of both her writing style and content. After reading the book though, I felt overwhelmed, frustrated and helpless. She touched on some of the topics we discussed in ICS 125 like borders. With the map project we had to explain how we use borders to create our own personal maps. Nordstrom describes borders as physical lines monitored by armed forces. I think these two types are borders are a lot more similar than most would think. The borders described in Global Outlaws were just as imagined as the ones on my map; they were imagined by those in control of the trade routes, monitored by men with guns.

After we discussed the book as a class, Marcy had us break into groups to do an exercise. She instructed us to pick an issue that Nordstrom talked about in her book. We had to identify the problem, describe it, and talk about the actors who gain/lose in the situation. This alone was a frustrating task. Nordstrom exposed so many different problems of today’s society that it was difficult to pin point one specific issue. Finally, my group decided we wanted to tackle the regulation of goods. We narrowed this down further to the regulation of goods at shipping ports. We identified the actors: producers, ports, countries agencies, customs, consumers, laborers… and the list went on. Next Marcy asked us to propose a solution to the problem. And so the frustration continued. Our group had struggled to pick the issue and now we were supposed to try to solve it? Isn’t this what the UN does? If they haven’t already solved this problem, how are we supposed to? My creative idea was to develop a large electronic scanner to install in the ocean. In my head I pictured a giant X-ray machine that a boat would sail through to be scanned and searched in a matter of seconds. I came to my senses and realized this was neither rational nor plausible. But it made me realize how frustrated I really was because these are real issues and we could not come up with any real solution that seemed remotely plausible. We talked about taxes and fines for people who break the law, but the image of the little Angolan boy Okidi, selling cigarettes made us think about how this would effect people who had benefited form these illegal actions. What would happen those illegally imported cigarettes didn’t make it to Okidi. Would he not have money to get food? Would he have to go another day in hunger? Would the benefits outweigh the costs, and who would really be paying for the wrong doings. Uhg, this is way to depressing and complicated and makes me not even want to think about it anymore. ….

Maybe we are looking for the answers in the wrong places. We (the students of ICS 200S) are the future masterminds of the world and we are going to be responsible for finding the solutions. Maybe we need to think outside of the box. Maybe a giant X-ray machine in the middle of the ocean isn’t such a crazy idea! I’m just sayin’….

Empire State of Mind

Haley and I left class today with mixed emotions. We felt really guilty about the discussion that our class had about international aid and volunteer experiences in countries around the world (for our class it was mostly Africa and Latin America) since we didn’t have any. We thought that we looked dumb and probably selfish, that we hadn’t given back in the same way the EVERY other person in our class had. This turned into frustration in not being able to include ourselves in the conversation. And ur exclusion then turned to a feeling that the topic was exhausted even before the class ended as we retreated to our own conversations unable to contribute to the class topic.

There were, however, moments of relief for the bloggers of Globally Challenged, when we discussed the two readings for the day. Ben Fountain’s The Lion’s Mouth and Rachel Corrie’s Let Me Stand Alone offer two accounts (one fictional and one real respectively) of aid which allowed our class to discuss aid from a critical perspective, which isn’t often done. The main character in The Lion’s Mouth, Jill is one who is motivated by dubious or selfish reasons to get involved with aid. She also takes actions with serious negative consequences while she thinkg she is doing good in Sierra Leone. Thus, the only person she seems to benefit is herself. It was interesting to see that Kana felt many of these emotions as well in her time in Africa. Aid is a frustrating process for all the member of our class. They made it clear that it isn’t easy to go to these places and adjust working there, but that it is harder to leave.

This is a nice transition into Corrie, who is frustrated about what she is able to do in Palestine to save homes and raise international awareness. Potentially motivated by less selfish reasons than Jill, she is successful in raising awareness and communicating the help that these people needs to her family back home. However, she dies in doing so begging the question: do her ends justify her means? Is this the best form of aid to be giving? (Ah, just like Nordstrom and food for work).

These two perspectives felt like they were drowned out by the experiences of the class and this is what caused us to lose our sense of understanding of aid and of participating in the conversation. Angry about this, we discussed aid during the car-ride home. In an attempt to justify the fact that we have never volunteered in this same capacity, or just to make light of the situation, we reached an important conclusion. We loved what we had done with our summers and if it didn’t include this same international volunteerism then too bad.

ICS is a major of individuals with different and diverse interests and backgrounds and while the connection with global aid is obvious it is not the only profession that we need to think about. Working in Bryant Park or at UBS were also enriching experiences that taught us about ourselves and the world we live in. They were also both volunteer positions since neither of us got paid. And most importantly, we were motivated by the right reasons to get involved. International volunteerism maybe make more sense to us one day, but for now we will except this exclusion and have fun in New York.

I love movie days!

Today we watched a documentary called Mechina. This film was made by two of our very own ICS graduates: Matal Guttman and Madeleine Sackler. The film documented a group of Israeli students who had the opportunity to take a gap year after school before entering into IDF. I’m not going to lie, this movie was pretty emotional. It tackled some tough issues and really opened my eyes to what kids my age are like in Israel. When I think about the decisions I make on a daily basis, picking classes or deciding how and when to go to the library to do work, it makes me really appreciate what these kids are going through. At age 18, both females and are required to serve for two to three years. This is a huge responsibility and risk. At 18, I was nervous to leave home for college, and these kids have to leave their families to learn to hold and shoot a gun and they are trained to kill. I have never held a real gun before (and don’t intend to) and I can’t imagine shooting one, let alone shooting one with the intention of killing.

I was extremely impressed by the group of students of the Mechina. Each displayed an exceptional maturity. I really enjoyed the conversational tone of the documentary that gave us real insight into how these kids were feeling. I felt a personal connection to Amitai and I must admit that I did get a teary eyed when the Mechina year was over and Amitai boarded the bus with his family surrounding him to see him on his way.
I think the point of this film was to show different ways of discussing global issues. Matal made the movie because she was “frustrated with the way Israel was portrayed on campus, as a place of conflict and violence and wanted to show the human story, beyond the headlines.” The film helped to expose this global issue in a more personal way.

Maybe this is what ICS is all about: creating a personal connection with global issues. I can’t solve all the problems of the world, I cant even solve some of the problems of the world, but maybe if I could just pick one that I feel a personal connection with, I could have a real tangible impact. Hey, maybe I’m getting somewhere with this now?

Check out the facebook page for the movie. Talk about globalization and getting connected....

"_____________________"

This blog is untitled on purpose: get it, no language?

How awesome is this video from Ukraine’s Got Talent. At first I was a little upset that we didn’t talk about it in class, but now I realize that by trying to put the message of the video into words or by using language to describe it, we would alter the individual impression/interpretation each of us has of the video by itself. Ahh, the fruitful frustrations of non-language! Enjoy. (as a side-note: it depicts the invasion of Ukraine by Nazi Germany). Click on the screenshot for a link to the whole video!

Holy Moly Quacamole: Religion, War, and Terrorism in 11'09''01

Ok so we discussed the film in class today. It was great that each person brought in a new point of view, interpretation, or opinion to the different sequences and to September 11th itself. It was like we multiplied the number of scenes by 18 and then added 18 more because each of us has a different way of envisioning and representing that particular day. This weird snake scene still seems pretty abstract to me and while there were good explanations offered in class about fable, holy war not being unique to Islam, the everlasting effects of war, etc… I am still struggling to understand the film. It seems too detached and obscure for me. After our class discussion, I think that the major link between all of the different films is the question of humanity and I understand that connection (even in the Japanese film), but I’m still not drinking the kool-aid. There is even a connection between this and Fanon.

There are so many different events presented in the different films and there is a blurring in the lines of what it means to be portrayed as victims or as perpetrators or as innocent or guilty. The film, in its entirety, challenges people’s preconceived notions about 9/11. I think the film must have been even more powerful right when it came out since people felt so confident in who they thought was guilty and who they thought was suffering. Other than the scene from India that I discussed yesterday, we discussed the opening scene from Iran at length.

This scene takes place in Afghanistan and shows a group of school children as they go through an average school day. This was a really powerful scene in challenging the way that we think about other cultures. The Afghani children don’t think about the conflict in America at all and are only concerned about the well that caved in a few days ago in their town. Right after the war, nobody spoke for Afghanis and this was an attempt the producer made to expose Americans to their voices. The students have no concept of Holy War or to their terrorist attacks on September 11th. Many Americans want to paint all Afghanis as complicit or guilty but it is clear that the children are clueless and that their teacher is in no way linked to terrorism (or even the concept of jihad). This makes me wonder, should the US have invaded Afghanistan? Should little kids and their parents suffer for something they don’t have any connections with? This scene was passed over since it was the opening and since there was not a lot of action involved; however, the message is powerful and unsettling.

This made me reflect on the Rebecca Stein lectures in ICS 125 where the class examined the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a perspective that wasn’t as pro-Israel as we are used to in the United States.(One that I am particularly accustomed to due to where I live: a village with a majority population of Jews). It is always important and unsettling to understand the opinion and the humanity of a people against whom you are fighting, perhaps that will lead to the end to the fighting and to finding a solution.

Dinner & A Movie ICS Style

If someone approached me and asked me to create an interpretation of the events of September 11th I don’t think I would be able to nearly as creative or insightful as the presentations that we saw at the film tonight: 11'09''01 (watch trailer by clicking on the movie poster). I know that I am not in the movie industry so this statement makes some sense; however, I am so shocked and impressed at how one event is portrayed so differently without overlapping or interweaving.

I have a strong personal connection with 9/11 since I live in Westchester. I remember when we were slowly given pieces of information throughout the day by our teachers and how this information was very secret and frantic at first but then became increasingly alarming. It was first a small plane in the river, then we were told about the large planes and the attacks, and eventually we were released to go home where my family gathered in front of the television and frantically called friends and other family members.

We watched as helicopters and planes flew overhead from West Point towards the city. Life felt like it went on as per usual in our town just 10 miles north of the city, but at sunset I vividly remember a majority of the town sitting on the Hudson watching as smoke and debris billowed up the river with an anxiety that the aftermath of the attack were getting closer and closer (both figuratively and literally as loved ones were no longer accounted for). This proximity to New York City has given me a sense that I know what happened on September 11th better than someone living further away; however, the film showed me that to tell the story of that day you could live anywhere in the world and come from any walk of life.

No part of the film conflicted with my personal experience with the events; they only complicated it and made me reflect more about my personal reactions and my personal connection to September 11th. Each portion offered something different. The directors used allegory, language/non-language, image, sound, and the seen/unseen to engage all of the viewer’s senses. Since I had a sensation of being there and being desensitized to the events since then, I was shocked at how real and how human these experiences were even though few showed the entirety of the events.

That last sequence from Japan was so strange; there is literally no way for me to make sense of how weird that person/snake was or how it fit in with the events of 9/11. Even Haley and the girl in the other ICS 200S section we were sitting with couldn’t make sense of it. Like what the hell does a creepy Japanese man who acts like a snake have to do with September 11th?

My favorite sequence was definitely the one from India because it made me think very differently about the United States and the way that Americans turned on American citizens who looked Arab after September 11th. It touches on the racism and paranoia that were present, but keeps a distant as not to fully criticize the United States (we don’t know fully about the son’s whereabouts when the film ends). It was so obvious that the family was judged not on the fact that they had lived in Brooklyn for so long but just that they were foreign. I think that, like Spitty said, my personal take of the events would have been different after seeing this movie.

sorry i'm not sorry

After watching this movie, I was most surprised by my reaction to the USA segment. As an American, I thought I would feel the most in tune with this part, but I actually felt the most connection with Indian segment. It clearly emphasized the us and them division that resulted from the attacks when all of the neighbors began to avoid the Pakistani family, suspecting them as terrorists. Seeing this section of the movie made me think about my emotions and my feelings after September 11, and I realized that I was guilty of the same stereotyping. I remember specifically flying with my mom a few months after. As we were waiting to board the flight my mom looked at me with eyes of fear. I knew what she was referring to, but I felt uncomfortable acknowledging that I felt the same way.

I think this speaks a lot to some of the things we talk about in ICS. Our identities force us to see things from different perspectives. Our identities help us to create divisions in our minds. In that moment, I felt like an American. Was I wrong for feeling this way? Were the neighbors wrong for avoiding their Pakistani friend? Although stereotyping may be unfair, it is natural. I am not sorry for my reaction, and I don’t think the neighbors should be either.

The Human Fanon-inom

“Europe is literally the creation of the Third World. The wealth which smothers her is that which was stolen from underdeveloped peoples. The ports of Holland, the docks of Bordeaux and Liverpool were specialized in the Negro slave trade, and owe their renown to millions of deported slaves. So when we hear the head of a European state declare with his hand on his heart that he must come to the aid of the poor underdeveloped peoples, we do not tremble with gratitude. Quite the contrary; we say to ourselves: “It’s just reparation which will be paid to us.”
-Frantz Fanon

I believed Appadurai’s claim that violence (or at least awareness of it) increased in the 1990s during the “high time of globalization;” however, it is clear that under colonialism there was a significant amount of violence across cultural, political, religious, and state boundaries. In Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, the process of globalization was one that created difference and bred hostilities.
The process of colonization and then decolonization were violent and bloody. There were genocides in Africa against full tribes and countries of people torn apart during the “scramble for Africa.” Additionally, there was more violence and terror under the rule of these European colonizers. And countries, like Algeria, faced massacres and terrorist attacks throughout the process of decolonization. All of this violence occurred before the 1990s. I think this means that Melissa was absolutely right for making the comments she did in class when she opposed the perspective of Appaduari. The Fanon reading makes it clear how the process of globalization started way before the 1990s as did the violence that Appadurai claims accompanied it. I’m glad Melissa stood up to the Appadurai reading and showed us not to take it as the whole truth.

Overall, this reading was a little over my head. The themes discussed and the writing style were hard for me to follow and even harder for me to grasp before having the class discussion. This question of what it means to be human and the processes of dehumanization, oppression, and exploitation are interesting and I think that they draw on my experiences in classes outside of the world of ICS. They touch upon my studies in Paris about France and Africa, how the French invaded, how they ruled, how they left, and how the people of these countries interact in the modern world (think the conflict of Algerian identity and Franco-Algerian relations, a subject I explored for my final project last semester in ICS). It was a truly unique opportunity for me, an American to learn about Africa from a French perspective because I have so many other conceptions of what happened (and what constitutes history) in Africa. An example of this was how all of the French students knew about the Fachoda incident and I never even heard of it. When it comes to stories of imperialism, Africa, and colonization, perspective and national origin plays an important role.

Fanon also makes me think about the different processes of dehumanization enacted by the Nazis upon the Jews and other victims during the Holocaust. I just read Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz and an important distinction that he makes in the book is that to be human is two things: to have the will to resist, and to help others in your same position. This idea of humanity as a process of helping others is a stark juxtaposition to the violence that Fanon advocates to have humanity advance. Regardless, the question of dehumanization has been important throughout history and is something that I think our generation does not address like past ones, because we have a different concept of human rights and international politics. We have been raised in a world which appears to have a defined conception of what it means to be human and which has a strict list of features which define human rights: the universal declaration human rights (something which we studied at length). My country project during ICS 125 also revealed that these issues of human rights and the reporting of them are absorbed in issues of tradition and international legacy. More complicated than I initially thought.

It also struck me that Izzi brought in an original copy of the book by Fanon that was one of her parents. It must have been a completely different talk about this book when it was first published. The people reading it witnessed the conflicts that Fanon talks about. They saw the tail end of decolonization. How do they think about humans and the provocative stance that Fanon takes throughout his piece? Maybe I’ll ask my mom.

There are two types of authors we have read so far this semester. Those who are very angry and frustrated about the changing and intermingling of cultures like Ugresic. And the ones who are more optimistic about the changes that can happen and the improvements that can be made, like Berreby. Fanon, who wrote many years ago, is one of the former. He is angry and frustrated throughout his piece and attempts to justify the violent acts which are committed against colonizers who are painted in negative light as oppressors, repressors, and exploiters of the people being colonized. I wonder if those being oppressed today would express this same advocacy of violence to become human again, has our logic as humans taught us that two wrongs don’t make a right….