Browsing by Subject "race"

This research had the fundamental aim of closely examining the identity negotiation of people who are of bi-racial heritage. Utilizing a combination of the positioning concept and discourse analysis, the objective was to get an in-depth view of how the bi-racial identity is negotiated and situated within four sub-identities or variants, and those four subidentities being referred to are the singular, border, protean and transcendent identities by Rocquemore. The questions used to guide the research goals were the following: How does the identity negotiation take place? What are the discursive resources and tools used to facilitate the negotiation? Are all four sub-identities engaged equally? What is the relationship between the four sub-identities? What role does the media play in the identity negotiation? Through purposive sampling, the text was selected to represent cases from America, Britain, and Finland. Four cases were selected of which two are American. One from Finland and the other from Britain. The cases feature three females and one male. The study mainly utilized discourse analysis techniques with a particular focus on critical discursive psychology, which all form part of the qualitative approach methodologies. The outcomes indicated that for all the cases studied, the identity was observed to be negotiated within the confines of the four sub-identities. However, the ordering, the positioning of the identities, and the discursive tools that were employed to negotiate the identities varied, and this variation was found to be connected to an assigned identity or a challenged asserted identity. As a result, certain negotiations caused stress or cognitive dissonance, and to avoid the stress or minimise the dissonance, various discursive resources were strategically employed to help negotiate or situate other identity variants. As the analysis continued six theoretical themes emerged, that were found to be supported by the discursive works. This six theoretical themes were, self-agency, distant other, cognitive dissonance, emotional repertoires, sense of belonging and altruism. An interconnectedness between the six themes was also noticed, due to the proximity of functionality within which some of them operated. The implication is that the identity, whether assigned or asserted is rather complex, and is not without psycho-social conflict, perhaps its stability is through its continuous negotiations and mobility.

Labor market effects of military service have been a popular topic for economic research, and in a subset of these studies, interactions with elements like race, parental socioeconomic status, and ability have been submitted as considerations. Introducing an Mincer-type empirical model for framing the problem, I undertake a literature survey of studies concerning themselves with such treatment effect heterogeneities, complemented by a brief empirical survey using CPS data. It is found that, whether the overall effect of service is positive or negative, comparatively gains/non-losses in earnings and education tend to accrue to the disadvantaged individuals over advantaged ones. The plurality of studies correspondingly find positive-to-neutral effects along this gradient, although neutral-to-negative findings are also featured. The contexts under study commonly involve notable influence from educational subsidies and draft deferment incentives, but there are some counterfactuals, which however are unable to establish a definite causal mechanism between service and earnings or education. The main findings of the paper should be considered in making adjustments to existing compulsory service policies.

Racism continues to be both a widely discussed topic and continuing problem within many of our societies. Yet, most of the mainstream discourse on race lacks any reference to the actual concept of race itself. This has led to a situation in which racism is understood as systematic discrimination but race itself is generally treated as a neutral and unproblematized identity category instead of a political system of oppression. In this master’s thesis I will examine the ontological relationship between the concept of race and power. The main goal is twofold. Firstly, I will show that the relationship between race and power is an inherent one. Secondly, I will show that it is not only possible but necessary to take Whiteness as a vantage point as we examine this relationship. For while we are generally accustomed to approach the topic of racism and racial injustice through the experiences of people of color, Whiteness continues to remain in the margins of our political, social, and theoretical conversations. This, I claim, results from the normalization of Whiteness that has rendered White people unable to see how race functions and affects their daily lives. I will begin by briefly examining how the ideas of race and Whiteness were historically constructed and implemented as oppressive systems. This will help us establish that race was never discovered but constructed to serve a specific purpose. From here I move onto examine the relationship between race and power through the frameworks of class and state power. First, I look at Charles Mills’ argument for why racial power relations are distinct from and transcend those of class. After this I examine how Michel Foucault conceptualizes race as a necessary technology of power to the modern state. Then I move onto examine George Yancy’s method that not only forces Whites to see the workings of race but allows us to comprehend that there is no sense in making a distinction between “good” and “bad” White people. Finally, I present my own method of asking the ethically laden question: “Is there anything good about Whiteness?” I argue that any meaningful discussions on racism must theoretically examine the historical construction of race and the purposes that it has been used. For this reveals the ontological relationship between race and power as an inherent one. In addition, it is also crucial to comprehend that race is first and foremost a lived experience that affects the daily lives of countless people before any of our conceptual analysis. Thus, examining both the theoretical and the empirical level of race is a necessity for us to have any change to move beyond race. And I suggest that we start by asking “Is there anything good about Whiteness?” For an adequate answer to this question requires an understanding of what it is to be White. Which then necessitates a thorough theoretical understanding of the construction, history and workings of race.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how race and racism are understood in the policy documents called Equality Plans of the Finnish language-based Universities of Applied Sciences. The research questions are 1) what is said about racism and other related concepts in the Equality Plans, and 2) where and in relation to what are they acknowledged? Moreover, the study examines how whiteness and other values of Finnish society are reflected in the Equality Plans and what types of solutions higher educational institutions offer to racism. The analytical reading of the Equality Plans is informed by the theoretical framework that includes perspectives of critical whiteness, intersectional postcolonial feminism, Nordic exceptionalism to racism and colonialism, and feminist and education policy studies that discuss interpretations and practices of equality in educational institutions. The research material includes Equality Plans in eighteen Finnish language-based Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland. The analysis utilises the tools of the abductive content analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis in identifying the explicit and implicit meanings connected to race and racism. The results of the study indicate that the understanding of race in Finnish policy documents is vague, and the synonyms such as “ethnicity” are connected to ethnic and racialised minorities. The solutions for racism are abstract and appeal to the attitudes of the university community instead of challenging the structures that maintain and produce racism. According to this study, whiteness remains unrecognised and unquestioned in higher education institutions. Thus, resisting racism and promoting equality and justice requires a systematic and profound analysis of institutional whiteness in higher education structures and practices. The results align with the previous research on policy documents in Finnish education institutions, contributing to the discussion with Universities of Applied Sciences.