‘You build your house,we'll build ours’: The Attractions and Pitfalls of Dalit Identity Politics

Dalit (ex-Untouchable) movements across Tamilnadu are struggling to achieve equality, justice and an end to caste based discrimination. Over the past decades they have succeeded in entering parliamentary politics in the state. Many of the movements that have contributed to the current profile of Dalit politics organized on the basis of a ‘Dalit’ identity. Increasingly, however, Dalit activists in Tamilnadu have come to stress more parochial and ‘primordial’ identities and adopt ever more specific objectives. The premise of identity politics is that social categories can and should represent themselves and assert their own priorities and agendas, but who defines the category and how representative are they? This paper teases out the contradictory aspects of such mobilization and interrogates the strategies of Tamil Dalit movements before considering whether the discourse of human rights can help transcend the impasse of identity politics.     

Changing Identities: A Case Study of Western Muslim Converts Whose Conversion Revised Their Relationship to Their National Identity

Few studies explore the impact conversion to Islam has on a Western individual’s social identity configuration. This article focuses on six Western Muslim converts—three from Montreal, two from Berlin, and one from Copenhagen—who experienced difficulties relating to their national identities prior to conversion, exploring how it developed afterwards. A qualitative interview guide was adapted in a semi-structured format to the demands of each individual, and interviews were analyzed applying thematic content analysis. The participants reveal how they revised their social identity configuration upon conversion, ultimately reversing their antagonistic relationship to their national identity. Their narratives relate how political realities are embedded in the perception and development of the Western Muslim identity, necessitating a revaluation of their national identity as a form of social critique. Our results demonstrate how socio-political experiences of discrimination and race are all significantly implicated in the process of conversion and Muslim identity development.     

Unequal among equals: lessons from discourses on ‘Dalit Muslims’ in modern India

Questioning ‘Dalit Muslims’ as an authentic social group, the authors enumerate the challenges inherent in presupposing that clearly delineated social groups exist and challenge the efficacy of designating such groups as discernible and cohesive. An interdisciplinary critique that draws on history, religion and social sciences, reveals a pervasive, yet ambiguous, group consciousness shaped by two prevalent discourses: social stratification among Muslims in India; and emerging activist platforms claiming to represent a Dalit Muslim polity. The ways in which ‘Dalit Muslims’ are reified as a presumably singular social group are highlighted (and disputed) in order to further scholarly debate regarding dynamics of group formation and definition. The analysis shows that, given similar social, economic and political experiences of some segments of the population, ‘Dalit Muslims’ may be treated (cautiously) as a social category for purposes of discussion. Nevertheless, despite enduring discourses about social hierarchy and socio-political activism, and a generalized have-nots versus elite rhetoric that underlies assertions of community coherence and demands for amelioration, no established, homogeneous group appropriate for either scholarly investigation or policy planning can be identified. Rather, diversity, status ambiguity and ongoing change processes provide the most cogent characterization of Dalit Muslim communities in India today.     

Immigration Policies and Social Determinants of Health: Is Immigrants’ Health at Risk?

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of immigration legislation on Latino immigrants within the social determinants of health framework to understand the impact of such legislation on the immigrant’s health. While the socio-political climate in California is geared towards more pro-integration immigration policies, findings indicate that immigrants still experiences poor treatment in the form of microaggressions, horizontal discrimination, and institutional discrimination. This poor treatment may be an indication of residual anti-immigrant sentiment that remains in the state as well as a spillover effect from the anti-immigrant legislation being passed in neighboring states or national rhetoric. The findings overlap with four domains of the social determinants of health framework including economic stability, education, health and access to care, and social and community context. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed.     

Race and Religion in Social Services

Members of non-dominant racial and religious groups may experience discrimination and inequalities in American society simply because of their race or religious affiliation. The experience may make recipients feel disempowered, humiliated, angry, and hopeless. Social service providers, including mental health counselors and social workers, are tasked with helping to improve individuals’ well-being in ways that range from basic needs to mental health. Given the growth in racial diversity and the role it plays in religion in the USA, it is important to understand social service providers’ experiences, thoughts, attitudes, or actions as they relate to the role of race and religion in service provision in order to better meet the needs of clients who may be marginalized and discriminated against. This qualitative study explored the research question of: What role do issues of race and religion play in social services. Themes identified included: (1) the marginalization of smaller racial and religious groups; (2) the existing assistance provided by religious organizations; and (3) the role of race and religion in social services. Findings from this study may contribute to a better understanding of the impact of race and religion on vulnerable populations in order to provide better social services.     

Challenges in Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Urban Asian American Adolescents: Service Providers’ Perspectives

Although Asian American youth are often viewed as the model minority group who are doing well, research with youths, parents, and school personnel have documented significant unmet mental health needs among this population. However, little is known about the perspectives of service providers who work with Asian American youth in afterschool and mental health care settings with respect to what they perceive as challenges meeting the psychosocial needs of the population. The current exploratory study used Consensual Qualitative Research to analyze in-depth interviews with mental health providers, educators, and advocates working with Asian American youths in a multiethnic large urban environment. Results found that service providers were attuned to the multiple needs of the community but also spoke of challenges in meeting basic and psychological needs due to difficult family dynamics, structural stressors (e.g., economic and legal), and societal stigma and discrimination. We draw implications for providing more integrated services across different levels of urban Asian American adolescents’ ecological system to better meet the psychosocial challenges facing this population.     

Perceptions about Skin Colour and Heritage: The Experience of Anglo-Indian Women in Western Australia

Anglo-Indian women have been described as ‘mixed-race’ and ‘hybrid’. This paper explores the identity of 26 Anglo-Indian women in Western Australia. The process of immigration to and settlement in Australia provides a major focus. Two components of identity that emerged were perceptions about skin colour and Indian heritage. 22 women who participated in this study emigrated from India between 1947 and 1996. Four other women were Australian-born. This qualitative study involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the participants who expressed varying levels of identification with Anglo-Indian identity. Realisations about prejudice and discrimination came to the fore during the interview process. This paper picks up on these realisations, investigates the social environments within which they developed and their implications for the identities of Anglo-Indian women.     

Religious Social Support,Discrimination, and Psychiatric Disorders Among Black Adolescents

Discrimination is a common experience for black adolescents that can jeopardize their mental health. However, research suggests that various dimensions of religion have positive effects on their mental health and well-being. Additionally, exposure to discrimination may vary by youths’ socio-demographic factors, such as gender and ethnicity. Numerous studies identify the protective effects of emotional and tangible religious social support on the mental health of black adults reporting discrimination. Conversely, fewer studies address the influence of emotional and tangible religious social support on mental health for black adolescents experiencing discrimination, while also accounting for socio-demographic heterogeneity among black adolescents. Historically, religion has played an instrumental role in the diverse narratives of the black Diaspora in the United States. It is important to account for its potential protective effects for black youth. Examining these factors using a compensatory risk and resilience model, our study finds that black adolescents who experience discrimination are also more likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder. Additionally, those who report experiencing religious social support are less likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder. These findings were not moderated by the socio-demographic factors of gender or ethnicity. To date, this investigation is one of the first to examine the effect of different types of religious social support in the presence of discrimination on psychiatric illness among African American and Caribbean black adolescents.     

Navigating health care: brokerage and access for undocumented Latino immigrants under the 2010 Affordable Care Act

ABSTRACT

Brokerage is a prominent mechanism that explains access for Latino immigrants to many American institutions. However, few studies examine the dual nature of brokerage in answering questions on access to health care for undocumented Latino immigrants. The growing importance of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and ethnic navigators connecting immigrants to health care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act calls attention to the duality of brokers and its role in access. The study draws from 44 in-depth interviews with providers, clinic directors, navigators, and immigrant patients and two years of fieldwork in FQHCs in California’s San Francisco Bay Area (2011–2013). Results show that brokers enable access through coaching and myth-busting but they also hinder it through scrutiny and bureaucratic filtering. The widespread dependence on brokerage, I argue, leads to ersatz brokerage, such as when providers navigate the health-care system for the undocumented without the appropriate linguistic resources or coordination. Furthermore, the study shows that the duality in brokerage generates misinformation, churning, and alienation. Understanding the relational processes that both include and exclude vulnerable populations from needed services enhances theories of immigrant integration and can help design more efficient policies and address inequalities related to documentation status.     

民族认同与国家认同研究述评

民族认同与国家认同的研究一直以来都是学界关注的重点内容之一,学者们为此进行了不懈的努力,成就卓然。文章通过对目前国内外民族认同和国家认同的相关研究成果进行系统梳理,指出通过引入身份认同理论,把群体或个体的意识和行为同文化和社会结构因素联系起来,从综合性、历时性的动态视角来研究民族问题,并由此总结出民族认同与国家认同变迁的规律或机理,将会更好地服务于现实社会。     

Everyday inter-ethnic tensions and discomfort in a culturally diverse Australian workplace

Australian workplaces are increasingly becoming culturally diverse. As a space of involuntary encounter of racial difference, multicultural workplaces are significant sites for understanding how workers deal with cultural difference. Involuntary cross-cultural encounters are a facet of living with cultural difference which can produce discomfort, tension and conflict in the workplace. The study of workplace social relations has traditionally focused on practices of racial discrimination. In this paper, we shift the focus to examine different modes of negative inter-ethnic interactions at work through the lens of discomfort. It suggests that analysing tension and conflict arising in multicultural workplaces as racially motivated or simply racist fails to capture other factors that adversely affect inter-ethnic interaction. This paper presents findings from a research into workplace interaction in the Australian employment services providers to emphasise that changing work conditions and increasing cultural diversity have profound impact on the workers’ experiences of workplace relations.     

Afghan-Australians: Diasporic Tensions,Homeland Transformations and the “2014 Syndrome”

With the withdrawal of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan pending in 2014, Afghanistan and its sizeable diaspora are facing an ambiguous new beginning. As in Afghanistan itself, the 35,000-strong Afghan community in Australia is negotiating what has been labelled the “2014 Syndrome”—a chronic state of anxiety about Afghanistan's future. Drawing on data from a series of dialogues and consultations held with Afghan-Australians of different ethnicities in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013, this article contextualizes and critically examines the tensions and shared concerns of the Afghan-Australian community in light of the impending withdrawal. Our study shows that the 2014 Syndrome has exacerbated existing tensions over “Afghan” identity in Australia, which has become intertwined with tensions over the status of Hazara asylum seekers and refugees arriving in Australia. Given the widely held belief amongst Afghan-Australians that the 2014 withdrawal will prompt increased flows of asylum seekers from Afghanistan to Australia, this study argues that tensions around identity frame quite different hopes for the future of Afghanistan and the future of the Afghan-Australian community after 2014.     

Learning to be gay: LGBTQ forced migrant identities and narratives in Belgium

Within the wider population of forced migrants, LGBTQs face particular challenges. While sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are recognised grounds for asylum, academic and civil society observers are critical of the imposition of Western identity labels and liberation narratives on asylum seekers. This paper explores the situation in Belgium, where an increasing number of people obtain asylum based on SOGI claims. First, the relevant regulations and practices are discussed, based on desk research as well as interviews with advocates. Second, the personal experiences of forced migrants are discussed, based on in-depth interviews with gay-identifying men. The advocates confirm the prominence of (Western) conceptions and narratives of sexual identity in the procedure. While the forced migrants seem to reinforce this view, by expressing Western views on sexuality in the research interview, this paper explores the degree to which this can be attributed to the asylum procedure.     

Race and Gender Concordance: Strategy to Reduce Healthcare Disparities or Red Herring? Evidence from a Qualitative Study

Healthcare treatment differences persist for African Americans even after controlling for socioeconomic status (van Ryn and Burke 2000). Although blacks represent a sizable percentage of the middle class, most disparities research does not address class heterogeneity. Furthermore, research indicates patient–provider race concordance may mitigate racial disparities in health care (Laveist and Neru-jeter in J Health Soc Behav 43(3):296–306, 2002; IOM in Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. National Academies Press, Washington, 2002). This study explores race and gender preference for black middle-class women in healthcare settings. The study uses in-depth interviews and focus groups to explore the experiences of thirty African American women between 38 and 67 in a large urban area. The majority of respondents expressed a strong preference for a female OB/GYN (of any race) while 9 preferred a female primary care provider (of any race). Although the women did not express an explicit race preference, they had a strong affinity for black female providers. Importantly, respondents complicated the idea of provider-level race preference by noting that other site-level factors like wait times and the site’s racial composition affected their racial preferences. Although increasing racial diversity among providers is generally positive, respondents suggest that alone will not ameliorate racial disparities. The complexities of the healthcare encounter, including time pressure, clinical uncertainty, and the patient’s desire for expertise regardless of race or gender, all impinge on respondents’ race preferences. Lastly, women noted that site-level factors may be conflated with the race of provider such that having a black provider does not necessarily lead to better care or protect women from discrimination or bias.     

Labour migration brokerage and Dalit politics in Andhra Pradesh: a Dalit fabric of labour circulation

ABSTRACT

Why and how do labour migrant brokers engage with henchmen of bosses, small-time criminals and violent politicians? What significance do labour brokers’ political relations have in the fabric of labour circulation? This article argues for migration brokerage to be examined along a broad continuum of brokerage to explore the local fabric of labour circulation in the Indian construction sector. Considering migration brokerage as part of a broader landscape of brokerage firstly allows look at how migration brokers concretely navigate the worlds of labour and politics to pursue their activities and to further their own agendas. It secondly offers insight into how the everyday relations between migrant brokers and henchmen of bosses shape the lives of migrant labourers in the urban construction sector. Based on a detailed ethnography of the relation between a Dalit labour maistri and a Dalit henchman of a boss in a context of violent criminal political economy, this article explores the roles of Dalit politics in shaping the Dalit fabric of labour circulation and labour broker’s trajectories in South India. It further looks at the ambivalent production and mobilisation of Dalit identities in the making of an ideal Dalit migrant labourer.     

Perceived Racial Discrimination in Health Care and Race Differences in Physician Trust

Racial discrimination in health care is more often perceived by racial minority patients than by whites. In this study, we explored whether two types of perceived racial discrimination, perceptions that the healthcare system is racially biased in general (perceived institutional racial discrimination) and perceptions that one has personally encountered racial discrimination while seeking health care (perceived interpersonal racial discrimination), mediated racial differences in patients’ trust in physicians. We examined this in a sample of black (N = 127) and white (N = 303) patients being treated in two Veterans Affairs orthopedic clinics for advanced osteoarthritis. Patients completed measures of perceived institutional and interpersonal racial discrimination in health care before meeting with an orthopedic surgeon and a measure of physician trust after the visit. Using a multiple mediator bootstrapping procedure, we tested whether perceived institutional and/or interpersonal racial discrimination mediated the association between race and trust. Compared to whites, blacks reported lower physician trust (M = 4.00 vs. 4.17, β = ?0.15, 95 % CI = ?0.25, ?0.05), more perceived institutional racial discrimination (M = 3.13 vs. 2.60, β = 0.43, 95 % CI = 0.25, 0.61), and more perceived interpersonal racial discrimination (M = 1.94 vs. 1.21, β = 0.60, 95 % CI = 0.47, 0.74). Perceived interpersonal, but not institutional, racial discrimination mediated the race difference in physician trust and accounted for 55 % of the variance. Our finding that lower physician trust among black patients than white patients was explained by perceptions of interpersonal racial discrimination in health care suggests that issues of racial discrimination may need to be addressed in order to foster minority patients’ trust in physicians.     

Ramadan Fasting and Diabetes Management among Muslims in the United States: An Exploratory Study

There is a lack of knowledge and awareness among health care providers (HCPs) about how a member of the Islamic faith manages diabetes while fasting during Ramadan, which often leads to inadequate health advice and guidance, especially in Muslim-minority countries. The purpose of this study was to explore diabetes management practices among Muslims who chose to fast during Ramadan in the United States. Data were collected from 47 participants using a self-administered questionnaire that included measures on participants’ characteristics and diabetes management practices. The majority of the participants were males (61%), had type 2 diabetes (90%), and reported they fast during Ramadan (76%). Approximately, 26% of fasting participants reported they decreased the number of finger-stick glucose monitoring performed. Compared to non-fasting participants, fasting participants were more likely to change the dose and/or timing of their medications, but also more likely to include their HCPs in their health decisions. Almost 90% of fasting participants reported no increase in the amount of food consumed and no change in the consumption of concentrated sweets, greasy foods, and sugary drinks. This study supports the need to develop educational programs that involve religious leaders as well as HCPs to ensure patients receive health advice combining religious and medical directives.     

Perception of identity in Modern China

Abstract

China had developed relatively independently and had been almost immune to Western influences until the 19th century. Its basic way of life, cultural identity and state organization had continued almost uninterrupted from the very beginning of the archaic period. How China has adapted to the modern world since it was forced to be integrated into the modern world and, in the process, how it has changed its perception of self‐identity provide an interesting topic for study.

This paper offers a tentative discussion of the perception of cultural identity in modern China. It first explores the ideas of culture and cultural identity in traditional China, and then examines how these ideas were transformed in the context of the changing social, political and cultural environment of the early 20th century. The final part of the paper is devoted to the recent search in China for new ideas of culture and cultural identity in the context of a series of unprecedented events marked by the opening of China, economic reform, and rapid industrialisation.     

Italian Americans in the ‘Bocce Belt’: ‘Old World’ memories and ‘New World’ identities

This essay examines the development of an ethnically and racially segregated resort landscape in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York in the twentieth century. Focusing on the history of Italian American resorts clustered primarily in Greene County, New York, it demonstrates that ethnicity continued to shape the social and cultural lives of many European immigrant New Yorkers and their families well after World War II. Ethnic resorts provided vacationers with an insulated recreational environment in which group identity and transatlantic ties – both real and imagined – could be fostered and sustained. However, the flexibility of these ethnic identities and the pervasive discrimination against African Americans at ethnic resorts in the 1940s and 1950s reveals the extent to which European Americans had largely internalized a sense of white ethnic identity by the postwar decades. The history of ethnic resorts in the Catskills sheds light on the process by which generations of European Americans in New York City negotiated these multiple ethnic, national, and racial identities.