The Glocal vs. Identity/Culture: All

lose !?

Zvi Bekerman, Ph.D.

School of Education, Melton Center

Hebrew University

zvi.bekerman@mail.huji.ac.il

Science, the Social Sciences, should not assume

that people are dead; nor should it help to choke

them to death with categories that do not reveal

the rich lives and struggles, ALL, of those who

appear to be alive.

AMEN

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And yet

Linnaeus helped race became a scientific fact.

Darwin helped race became an evolutionary fact.

Mendel helped race became a genetic fact.

And following the invasion of psychology

identity, ethnicity, culture, and more became

facts too.

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Funny they have, when considering that

Culture from the Latin cultura-ae means work as

in agri-culture.

And identity is a math property which states: A+0=A and A*1=A or as in A=A

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Some new words

The global

The local

and

The glocal

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The global points to the increasing economic, cultural, and social integration among countries and regions in the world(Beck, 1997; Castells, 1996; Macgilchrist & Cristophe, 2011). Anthony Giddens (1990) defines globalization as the “intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (p.64)

This process, the outcomes of which are yet to be realized, reshapes the local for it is articulated and mediated by national forces with their incumbent economic, cultural and social constraints.

Within this context the global appears as a homogenizing force, an enemy of particularization, while the local appears as an enemy of the more open and encompassing.

The glocal refers to the forced dialectics between these two seemingly contradictory developments. Within the contexts of the glocal a variety of discourses on identity and culture have evolved.

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One of the central aspects of identity formation relates to individual and ‘collective’ memories/cultures. These cultures/memories have traditionally been considered to be bounded by tight social and political groups – ethnic groups and nation states.

Globalizing processes have brought theoreticians to reconsider these memories/cultures as being firmly embedded within the ‘container of the nation state’.

It is assumed that recent global processes characterized by a deterritorialization of politics and culture can bring about processes of internal globalization.

That is to say that issues of global concern are able to become part and parcel of everyday local experiences and moral life worlds of an increasing number of peoples and groups. The global becoming part of the local is here the glocal.

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We are told that the local sustains an illusion of

fixed boundaries and the impression that the

borders first proposed by the Renaissance,

reinforced by the Enlightenment, and

institutionalized in the 19th century are indeed an

artifact to be seriously considered by humans in

general and the social sciences in particular.

Within this context it makes sense to speak about

identity and culture and to be ready to die for

them.

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We are told the global – the transnational, the

cosmopolitan – is around and engages our

imagination and asks us to reconsider the illusion

of fixity offering in exchange volatility, fluidity,

and uncertainty. The global with its double pass

of tolerance to and reduction of difference unites,

reconciles and can bring peace and co-

existence…or so we are told.

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Critics would strongly point at the resemblance between global definitions and those through which modernity or modernization are characterized. Critics would suggest that no great difference is to be found between the global, today, and European nation building (the local today), capitalism and colonialism which can be characterized as spreading transnational networks.

We ask, could it be not different at all?

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Nassehi (1999) suggests that the difference rests in the cognitive shift that has taken place and by which observers see the world different and perceive it as being globalized.

Global moves might not be as new as we may think of them. What seems to be really new is that us interactants in the 21st century we have a sense of being global.

Yet, not all share this sense. Only the lucky ones, the ones that can still expect a brighter future – not many of us left –, the ones that travel, the ones that have computers, the ones who participate in the social networks where we can fashion ourselves every time a new.

Understood this way globalization can lead to important educational questions regarding the way globalization is constituted in diverse educational settings.

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This presentation starts with several concrete

graphic examples. I review ethnographic data on

the use of identity, culture and memory. The

review should lead us to reconsider the potential

of education conducted under the influence of

glocal forces to overcome conflict.

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Before the appearance of the global anthropology, for the most part, was equipped with the theoretical assumptions needed to overcome essentialized perspectives.

Anthropology does not allow us to take refuge in the illusion that we can ever find the ‘authentic’, the ‘real’ bearer of an original culture or identity.

Anthropology has advanced the idea that there is no essence to culture; by emphasizing the identification of contextualized, relational processes as opposed to the identification of contents it has shown the vainness of searching for ‘things’ out there.

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This anthropological take is not always welcomed. In a world torn between global/local tensions interactants can perceive these approaches as an attack on their socio-political realities and their perceived needs.

Denying the essentiality of identities and cultures can be perceived by some as a political position in support of the dominant societal forces; by supporting a global perspective in a very local world; asserting them can be interpreted as supporting, unnecessary divisions in a world going global.

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Now let us take a look at some examples first those that clearly anchor in the global.

In John and Jean Comaroff new book Ethnicity Inc. a worldwide craze by which ethnic groups are selling their ‘natural’ identities to global tourists is described.

The sale of these identity/ethnicized and cultural products is the only left exit from, global marketplace produced, misery - a last resort to find viable means of survival.

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Take for example The North Catalan Economy, as it appears in their website and described by the Camaroff’s as the Inspiration of Identity

The "identity" sector of the North Catalonian economy represents a new open mindedness [that] will see an expansion based on the culture of the region ... as an alternative to globalisation.

The Catalan identity is a collective sentiment, a vision of the communal world, a language, a culture, a lifestyle ... Becoming less local, [it] can now rediscover itself and find new-forms of expression. CATALOGNE-NORD HOME PAGE

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Comaroff asks us to note the reference to the "identity economy.“

The Catalonians, who are deploying the identity economy-in pursuit, they say, of a renewed sense of collective sentiment- by recuperating past modes of production as "an alternative

to globalization”. It is globalization that brings about the turn and opportunity.

The global begets identify and culture.

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One other example - Two Angles on the Amazon, Peru

The Website reads: Welcome to the Land and Life-Ways of the Shipibo

Experience the Shipibo Way of Life for yourself in the heart of the Amazon Basin with

our Peru Eco-Tourism adventure! Learn how to make Shipibo ceramic artwork, go

spear fishing in the Amazon river and much, much more.

Find ancient Shipibo remedies for various illness ranging from the common cold to

cancer and receive visionary consultation from licensed Shipibo Shamans. Chat with a

Shipibo in Peru via Email, Instant Message, or Phone.

SHIPIBO HOME PAGE

... Ayahuasca ceremonies [ayahuasca is a powerful hallucinogen used in shamanic

practiceS-JLC/Jc] can be purchased in most major tourist destinations in Peru, and

numerous jungle lodges now offer ceremonies or retreats, the latter costing in the

neighborhood of $700-$1,500 a week.

RACHEL PROCTOR, CULTURAL SURVIVAL, 2001

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Once more, tradition is offered in alienable form,

here as indigenous knowledge that inheres in

Shipibo identity and culture: 'ceramics; 'remedies

for illnesses‘ both trivial and dire, 'licensed

shamanism,' even a 'way of life.' In this case,

though, cultural products and practices are

directed explicitly at consumers of the exotic, of

spiritual reclamation, of jungle adventure.

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There are examples which work in contradictory directions.

Note the case of Finland where the era of globalization seems to have initiated also an

era of cultural protectionism by raising educational standards to civilize minority

culture so as to better control national borders and foreign or indigenous influences.

(Alassutari, 2000)

Note now the activities of organizations like Suoma Santi Nuorat, a Sami movement

that protests the exploitation of their culture and its images by government and

commercial ventures in Finland. Its members have demonstrated at the Santa Claus

Theme Park and their internet lists a series of indignities, from "fake Shamanistic

ceremonies" and Lappish “winter fantasias" to playing cards depicting jolly Sami

characters as drunken, drugged, and deranged;

http:/ /boreale.konto.itv.se/rovaniem.i.htm.1 accessed 8 December 2006.

The global can both beget and oppress identity

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In any direction we move identity and culture

Can produce a problem or a solution.

A problem to social cohesion.

A solution the social schisms.

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Now we move to the local with a global shade – the

glocal.

We move to the six existing Palestinian-Jewish

bilingual schools in Israel. These are more detailed

examples for they belong to my own research.

The schools serve a population of approximately

1000 students who, for the most part belong to the

middle middle-upper classes of professional and

merchants in Israel. The population easily represents

the ones who are lucky to belong to a global sphere.

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Time is short and will not allow to show all

existing data. I’ll just mention in short my

understanding of an event which took place in

the context of an in-service training sessions of

Jewish and Palestinian Israeli teachers who teach

in bilingual integrated schools while they are

discussing and learning about issues which relate

to the Palestinian and the Jewish historical

Narratives and in events which took places when

these same teachers where teaching related issues in

class.

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I will just note that in the events I’m alluding too among the teachers participating in the workshop we saw that it was for the most part the Jewish teachers the ones that resisted the attempt to create symmetry (between the Holocaust and the Nakba) and it was the Palestinian teachers the ones that demand it as if in symmetry they would reveal the identity recognition that has been in their view denied form their plight.

Somewhat surprisingly it is these same teachers that in the classroom activity go into great efforts so as to present the holocaust not as a unique Jewish tragedy in a sense working towards some type of balance-symmetry.

The glocal offers both the opportunity to relax identity/cultural tensions as well as the opportunity to reinforce tensions through the emphasis on difference.

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When not only history but also identity makes its appearance things get even more complex

Teachers often expressed the need to support the goals stated by parents.

“I am not asking to turn the school into a religious school, but I would like to strengthen the Jewish identity of children,” said one Jewish teacher.

Palestinian teachers expressed similar views: “The wider context is mostly Jewish . . . [so] we have to be careful not to allow the weakening of our students' sense of identity.

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Because of parents’ and teachers’ concerns regarding the children’s “proper” understanding of their own national, religious and cultural traditions, some curricula and ceremonial events were segregated.

For example, separate ceremonies were held for Memorial Day and the Nakbe. Children were not encouraged to attend the “other” group’s ceremony.

When one of the Palestinian children persistently requested, and was ultimately allowed, to participate in the Jewish commemoration ceremony his father, in a later interview, stated "I knew where I was sending Isam, but when hearing what had happened I was shocked. . . . I did not expect my child would do something like this. . . . I need to think about the future.”

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In the kindergarten, our recordings clearly show that the children, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, exhibited the same affinity to Palestinian and Jewish teachers. The children approached and hugged their teachers and followed directives regardless of their teachers’ ethnic identities.

Even when discussing theological issues, alignment was not along ethnic or religious lines. For example, Ari, a Jewish boy, asked his friends sitting near him (a Muslim, a Christian, and another Jew), “Who believes in God?” Then he immediately added, “I don’t believe in God because I believe we came from the monkeys.” The Christian Palestinian boy, Basel, answered in agreement, "Me too, I believe we came from the monkeys and do not believe in God either." All the children reacted with agreement to this statement.

Even when children recriminated each other, they never invoked

ethnically denigrating innuendos when naming the "guilty party.”

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This is not to say that children have no consciousness of, or

respect for, their ethnic/religious affiliation. In fact, they have an

awareness and even feel free to play with their identities.

For example, on one occasion Olfat and Nadia, two Palestinian

girls, were playing together with Noah, a Jewish girl. Olfat told

one of the researchers that Noah “is an Arab,” to which Noah

responded by saying, “She is lying, I'm really Jewish.” After this,

they all laughed and continued playing cards undistracted.

In another example, Hayim, a nine-year-old Jewish boy, was well

known for his efforts to fast with the Muslim students during

Ramadan. All the children knew him as an exception, but he did

not seem to suffer from negative peer consequences for his

decision.

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That said, teachers usually actively marked Hayim’s behavior. When the Palestinian and Jewish teachers blessed the children in the morning with the traditional “Ramadan Karim,” they added “and to you, Hayim, too.”

There seemed to be a double play in these short statements.

1. First by drawing explicit attention to Hayim each morning, they seemed to actively mark the fact that there was one Jewish exception to the unsaid rule against crossing identity borders.

2. Second this comment demonstrated a liberal perspective by offering active recognition to the choice of the child who, in this case, preferred to cross such a border.

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Teaching religious festivals creates similar difficulty. Elle, a Jewish teacher in a first-grade classroom, was conducting a short introduction to the Passover (Pesach) festival. Until this point, the children had been referring to the festival by its name without linking it to a specific group’s culture.

This pattern does not mean that the children did not know its connection to Judaism. Instead, they did not mark it in their discourse. The Jewish teacher was the one who emphasized the Jewish-specific nature of Pesach: “[W]ho chooses to celebrate, celebrates, but it is a festival of the Jews [and not a festival of either Muslims or Christians].”

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Data regarding national events reveal similar observations. When discussing Memorial Day in the third-grade classroom, the teachers drew two windows on the board to represent the different perspectives which the groups and individuals within them may have concerning the historical accounts related to the holiday. Teachers find it difficult to discuss these issues.

Our interviews with children showed that they are aware that their teachers find it difficult to discuss national issues. For example, a Jewish girl observed, “[T]hey only speak about these issues (national issues) in special events and not throughout the year,” and a Palestinian boy said, “[Y]es, yes, (reacting to the teachers talk) there were Arabs here first and then came the Jews and conquered the land, some Arabs hate Jews and the other way round but here Arab and Jews are like brothers.....”

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For the teachers in the integrated schools in Israel, dealing with national and religious issues is a complicated task. These topics are never dealt with as information, but as central ideological elements of a curriculum with a declared twofold goal of supporting integration towards co-existence and safeguarding and strengthening individual identity and sense of belonging to each “original group.” The children might easily relate to and learn about a variety of ceremonies, festivals, texts, and other cultural or national artifacts. Teachers, however, seem always to try to ensure that individual children understand to which group and traditions they are connected.

Identity/culture, then, is treated in a complex fashion; the teachers simultaneously reify the idea of clear group differences while implicitly sanctioning a student’s choice to traverse the identity/cultural border.

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The attitudes of adults and children seem to reflect very different understandings of the construct of identity and its relevance within the social context.

Adults seem to be captive to hegemonic essentialized identity perspectives that create (in part) the protracted nature of the very conflict they are trying to resolve.

Young children do not seem to hold to an understanding of identity as a boundary marker.

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Given the examples I have shown it becomes apparent that neither the global nor the local work necessarily towards the easing of borders specially not those which have the potential to create conflict

The lasting question that lies at the core of this research (and, indeed, any research on identity formation and issues of difference, prejudice, and conflict) is whether the global or the local can model the backgrounding of ethnic/religious/cultural identity instead of foregrounding it.

What can make the difference? What can bring solace to tensions guided by marketable identities and commodified cultures in a glocalized world?

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Partially, at least, I would argue that not the local the global or the glocal are the issue. The main problem seems to be our foundational paradigms in that which relates to identity/culture. I want to suggest we need to work towards a radical change of our epistemologies; the ones that guide our perspectives on incorporated identities and commodified culture. The question is how?

When trying to answer this question I ask you to…

Imagine a child approaching a teacher and asking,

“What is a Jew?” or “What is a Palestinian?”

The teacher may be inclined to offer as a response some

culturally descriptive and benevolent characteristics of the groups

in question.

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This response might seem appropriate for those working under the assumption

of glocal border relaxation which our examples have shown not to be so

relaxed. However, I believe that such a response reinforces, rather than

challenges, the basis on which interethnic conflicts develop in the first place. A

better answer would be a correction of the epistemological basis that, though

potentially unknown to the child, substantiates his or her question.

Thus, a more appropriate answer might be, “Palestinians/Jews are not a

‘what’ but a ‘when’ and a ‘how.’”

What I suggest is a move in educational practice away from epistemologies

that emphasize the notion of reified and abstract, views of identity (Sampson,

1993; Todorov, 1984). Instead, I argue for understanding identities as

negotiated definitions that recognize individuals as co participants in complex

socio-historical-political contexts.

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I recognize this step—away from “what” (content – a magical unexplained word in education) and toward “when” and “how” (processes – the word we know the least about in education)—as necessary but not entirely sufficient. Putting an emphasis on the constituted nature of identity does not offer solace in conflict situations where deep suffering arises from rigid labels of identity that create a marginalized status with very real consequences.

We need more. We need to allow the social to predominate over the ideological without ignoring the power relations involved, which often make the social and the ideological difficult to distinguish.

We need to help our children become ingénues about the ways in which social categories are constructed and engineered by political contexts.

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We need to teach our students to become artists of design, explorers who uncover the ways society is organized and have the knowledge and skills to envision alternative designs (Bekerman, Zembylas & McGlynn, 2010)

Helping our students expose the ways present societies are organized entails making visible the flattened (psychologized) topography of identity theorizing (Billig, 1995) while helping them recognize the crucial influence of local (nation) global-making structures in the shaping of glocal and individual and group identities (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001).

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Finally, I want to suggest two main directions for future work.

1. The first relates to the need to seriously research

children’s subculture and the ways in which they organize the world through more flexible identity categories than the ones dictated by present national paradigms.

2. The second relates to the need to consider how these new understandings could influence curricular undertakings.

Sustaining children’s cultures is a possibility adults need to consider, especially if they offer openings for overcoming some of the greatest ailments that trouble our society and are conducive to engaging intractable conflicts.

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As researchers, when considering the roles of identity and culture, in glocalized contexts we need to be careful of uncritically adopting ready made theoretical discourses. We cannot give up on actual empirical research to uncover the trends which evolve in the intersection between the local and the global.

Globalization theory interests in cross-border flows between nation states and regions, and the insistence that nation states are becoming an outdated unit of analysis should not make us overlook local processes which are more complex than those taken into account by traditional somewhat romanticized perspectives.

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Globalizing processes are not unidirectional they craft negotiations between the global and the local which’ s outcomes are never final.

For whatever our ideological position is – for or against the creation of hybrid identities and cultures we need to remember that such a discourse is produced within the limits of both global and local forces which if not confronted coopts any other possible direction.

I want to leave you with a questions which bothers me a lot and which might become the name of my next book.

The question goes back to Nassehi and his observation that there is no global and there is no local just the observers perceptions of it. Could it be that children's perceptions are global and adults frame the local in the world? If so we should seriously consider…

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What happens when adults find solutions to

problems children do not have?

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