Geographies of Identity and Difference - Week 7 Slides PDF

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia GEOGRAPHIES OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE D R. BRYAN DALE ESG126 | WEEK 7 FEB. 17, 2025 AGENDA Identity and Difference Race and Ethnicity Gender and Sexuality Intersectionality and...

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia GEOGRAPHIES OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE D R. BRYAN DALE ESG126 | WEEK 7 FEB. 17, 2025 AGENDA Identity and Difference Race and Ethnicity Gender and Sexuality Intersectionality and Indigeneity Mid-term Test Review  LOGICAL FALL ACIES A P P E A L TO A U T H O R I T Y makes the argument that if one credible source believes something then it must be true. EXAMPLE The mayor said that the crime rate is down. The statistics claiming otherwise must be erroneous. If the Pope says that an aspect of doctrine is true, then it should be added to the creed, since he is infallible. www.logicalfallacies.org  LOGICAL FALL ACIES A P P E A L TO E M O T I O N makes a claim based on sympathy or empathy instead of just or logical grounds. EXAMPLE Sarah did not want to eat liverwurst for dinner, but her mother told her to think of all the starving children in the world who do not have any food at all. If you don’t go to university, you will spend your whole life regretting your decision. www.logicalfallacies.org IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE Identity as socially constructed HEGEMONY When members of a society interpret their interests STUART HALL in line with the worldview and interests of a (1932–2014) dominant group E.g. accepting justifications for inequality; believing in a meritocracy / trickle-down economics Cultural hegemony can shape identity creation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWP_N_FoW-I ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1891–1937)  IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE Analysis of critical geographers Table 7.1 – Examples of scales of difference RACE AND ETHNICITY THE MYTH OF RACE Myth: Race represents distinct human subspecies Human Genome Project: Humans are 99.9% identical at the genetic level The idea of race continues as a social construct We can use terms like ‘racialized’ and ‘racialization’ RACISM Prejudices and/or unequal access to power / resources based on how people look or their cultural traits What current or prominent examples occur to you when you hear the word ‘racism’? Are there relevant spatial factors? RACISM AND GENOCIDE XENOPHOBIA: SCAPEGOATING: GENOCIDE: Fear or dislike of Blaming a person or Organized, systematic people perceived to people for the effort to destroy a be foreign or strange wrongdoings or defined group (e.g., from other mistakes of others, Use of symbolic, and countries) or for problems they sometimes spatial, did not cause distancing Active denigration of the group RACISM AND GENOCIDE GENOCIDE: Holocaust (1941-1945) Organized, systematic effort to destroy a defined group Use of symbolic, and sometimes spatial, distancing Active denigration of Cambodia (1975-1979) the group RACISM AND GENOCIDE GENOCIDE: Burma / Myanmar (2016-Present) Organized, systematic (Rohingya genocide) effort to destroy a defined group Use of symbolic, and sometimes spatial, distancing Active denigration of Rwanda (1994) the group www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnHizRC6S8U RACISM AND GENOCIDE GENOCIDE: Presently: Organized, systematic Accusations of effort to destroy a genocidal intent defined group against both Israel Use of symbolic, and and Hamas sometimes spatial, distancing Active denigration of the group International scale: UN Convention on Genocide and International Court of Justice hold ongoing relevance in different cases APARTHEID European colonization practices usually emphasized ethnic differences Apartheid in South Africa: 1948–1994 Mandela and the ANC as terrorists? Influence of international solidarity efforts RACISM, MIGRATION, AND LABOUR Histories of involuntary migration: CHATTEL SLAVERY: an enslaved person is legally rendered the personal property of the slave owner INDENTURED LABOUR: a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years Forced migration for labour remains a problem! Imported products may be connected to slavery www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index RACISM, MIGRATION, AND LABOUR Canada’s history of racist immigration policies Bias against people from non-European origins Chinese “head tax” (early 1900s) Anti-Indian immigration policy (1908) Restrictions on Japanese migration (early 1900s) Also singled out: Black people from the U.S. and Caribbean Today: many ‘temporary’ migrant workers have no path to permanent residency ETHNICITY Shared cultural traits Shared history and identity ETHNIC GROUP: A group whose members perceive themselves as different from others because of a common ancestry and shared culture ETHNIC MIGRATION Ethnic group migrations can create new geographies (e.g., through chain migration) Social and spatial isolation can create enclaves ETHNIC IDENTITIES ASSIMILATION: absorption into a larger society ACCULTURATION: partial absorption into larger society MULTICULTURALISM: a formal state policy GENDER AND SEXUALITY  GENDER The socially www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/genderbread-person constructed differences between men and women Versus the biological and anatomical differences between the sexes GENDER IN THE LANDSCAPE Landscape can reflect power inequalities between women and men PATRIARCHY: A social system in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women GENDER AND WORK Spatial divisions of labour Undervaluing of work predominantly performed by women (both paid and unpaid) Sexism / stereotyping in the workplace GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT Different access to education, health, work, political expression Gender equality is a fundamental development goal www.globalgoals.org/goals/5-gender-equality GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT Figure 7.3 – Global distribution of the Gender Development Index (GDI), 2021 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT Gender Inequality Index (GII) https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/thematic-composite-indices/gender-inequality-index#/indicies/GII GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT Top 10 Bottom 10 Country GII Rank GII Value Country GII Rank GII Value Switzerland 1 0.025 Haiti 152 0.636 Denmark 2 0.038 Côte d’Ivoire 153 0.638 Sweden 3 0.039 Niger 154 0.642 Netherlands T4 0.043 Sierra Leone 155 0.650 Belgium T4 0.043 Afghanistan 156 0.655 Norway 6 0.045 Mali 157 0.671 Finland 7 0.047 Central African Republic 158 0.680 France 8 0.049 Chad 159 0.710 Iceland 9 0.058 Papua New Guinea 160 0.725 Slovenia 10 0.063 Yemen 161 0.795 Table 7.3 – Gender Inequality Index, 2019 SEXUALITY Studied as an expression of identity Often focuses on challenges to a dominant heterosexual landscape Debates about percentages of people who make up LGBTQ+ communities Homosexual acts still criminalized in ~80 countries GENDER & SEXUALITY What other issues or challenges related to GENDER and/or SEXUALITY can you think of? Are there geographical aspects to consider? INTERSECTIONALITY AND INDIGENEITY IDENTITIES AND LANDSCAPES INTERSECTIONALITY Recognizing the existence of multiple, often-overlapping, axes of inequality E.g., gender, race, class, indigeneity, ability Built landscapes generally reflect the dominant culture! IDENTITIES AND LANDSCAPES INTERSECTIONALITY Recognizing the existence of multiple, often-overlapping, axes of inequality E.g., gender, race, class, indigeneity, ability Landscapes reflect inequalities of well-being, including mental health INDIGENEITY IN CANADA Ongoing settler-colonial histories and intergenerational trauma INDIGENEITY IN CANADA From Colonization Roads to Residential Schools www.colonizationroad.com/work INDIGENEITY IN CANADA From Colonization Roads to Residential Schools ~150,000 children removed from their families At least 3,200 students died Last school closed in 1996 Child welfare system perpetuating problems INDIGENEITY IN CANADA Resistance is fertile! Blockades of development projects #LandBack Language reclamation Solidarity organizing MID-TERM TEST REVIEW MID-TERM TEST FORMAT 1. Multiple Choice (10 questions, 1 mark each) 2. Short Answer (2 questions, 5 marks each) TOTAL: 20 marks (WORTH: 15% of grade) TIPS Study! Test will cover content from Weeks 1 – 7 (Chapters 1 – 7) See textbook or contact me if you’re not clear about any concepts Consider links between different concepts, themes, and issues Ensure you are (concisely) answering all parts of each question MID-TERM TEST W E D. F E B. 1 9 | N I C 0 0 1 1. WHAT IS HUMAN GEOGRAPHY? Defining Human Geography …Questions: Where? Why there? Why care? CONCEPTS: Space (absolute and relative) Scale, Region, Landscape Location, Place Sense of Place vs. Placelessness Distance (and the Friction of Distance) Movement (Relocation & Expansion Diffusion) Maps (including thematic mapping) and other tools 2. ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETY Holistic perspectives; Socio-ecology THE ANTHROPOCENE: Humans’ role within the global ecosystem Impacts on vegetation, animals, land, air, & water Environmentalism (politics; the Capitalocene) CLIMATE CHANGE: The IPCC’s work Consequences of climate change; Climate Justice RESPONDING TO CLIMATE CHANGE: Renewable energy transitions Catastrophist vs. Cornucopian viewpoints 3. GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBALIZATION OVERCOMING DISTANCE: Time-space convergence Transportation (water, rail, road, air + containerization) TRADE, BUSINESS, COMMUNICATIONS: Factors influencing trade; regional integration TNCs and the International Division of Labour; FDI The digital divide; social media INTERPRETING GLOBALIZATION: Theses: Hyperglobalist, Skeptic, Transformationalist Measuring global connectedness Economic, cultural, political globalization Alternative globalization 4. POPULATION, HEALTH & MIGRATION POPULATION: Spatial and political aspects of demography Carrying Capacity and Malthusian Theory Population trends and projections Demographic equation / dynamics …and policy MIGRATION: Crises and debates Push and Pull Factors Categories (e.g. environmental) and types (e.g. forced) HEALTH GEOGRAPHIES: Distribution and diffusion of disease Social Determinants of Health 5. UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT & GLOBAL INEQUALITIES DEVELOPMENT: Measuring development (e.g. GDP, HDI …alternatives) Explanations (e.g. World Systems Theory) Solutions to uneven development INEQUALITY: Systems that contribute to inequality globally and within countries, and proposals to reduce it REFUGEE CRISIS: Links to geopolitical issues, cultural politics Solutions (e.g. voluntary repatriation) 6. GEOGRAPHIES OF CULTURE & LANDSCAPE CULTURAL GEOGRAPHIES: Spatial dimensions (Landscapes, regions, diffusion) Divisions (Orientalism and othering) Influence of capitalist mode of production LANGUAGE: Developments based on diffusion (e.g. creole languages) …and the loss of languages; nationalism RELIGION: Diffusion (e.g. via hearths); and religious landscapes Ethnic and universalizing religions 7. GEOGRAPHIES OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE Identity, hegemony, and intersectionality RACE AND ETHNICITY: Race as a myth Xenophobia, scapegoating, genocide, apartheid Migration: labour; ethnicity and assimilation, etc. GENDER AND SEXUALITY: Gender and landscape, work, development Sexuality and landscape, policies INDIGENEITY IN CANADA: Settler colonial histories; forms of resistance