Education Studies & Education Studies (Early Childhood)
ES3301: CONSTRUCTING THE ‘OTHER’: ‘
Tutor: Simon Boxley
Semester 2, 2009-10, Tuesday, 9:00-11:00, SH2
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Last updated 11.05.10.
Aims
The aims and learning outcomes for students of this module, as stated in the Definitive Document 2003, are as follows:
• Show an ability to employ theorists critically in relation to issues
• Show an ability to use concepts as critical tools in discussing issues and questions as appropriate
• Show an ability to employ theoretical perspectives as critical tools
• Therein, to develop in their work a critical synthesis informed and deepened by appropriate use of theory as critique
In this module you will have the opportunity to analyse the ways in which groups and populations have been identified and constructed as the ‘other’. We will examine the question of ‘race’ not as one of biological or ‘ethnic’ fact, but as discursive construct, and, later in the module, as product of economic relations. Our two main bodies of theory will centre around:
1) The work of Edward Said whose important and influential study of Orientalism is considered one of the defining texts in the study of the construction of ‘Otherness’; this will be supported by some contemporary critical theorists whose recent work on post-9/11 relations have been influenced in part by Said’s work. This will include a consideration of the impact of these relations on schooling.
2) One of the many Marxist accounts of ‘race’ as an ideological phenomenon arising from economic relations: that proposed in many works by Robert Miles. Miles’ focus on migration in his labour-theory of race will be supported by contemporary Marxist/neo-Marxist theorists and the veteran Marxist writer on ‘race’ issues A. Sivanandan.
You will be guided through an application of these theories of ‘otherness’ to some of the central questions taxing ‘race’ theorists in the twenty first century: how has the discourse of ‘otherness’ shifted from ‘ethnicity’ to ‘religion’? Why are Muslims, asylum seekers, migrant workers and others the targets of new variants of racist belief and practice such as ‘Islamophobia’, and ‘xenoracism’? Orientalism and racialisation will be applied in relation to ‘public pedagogy’, the role of the media and of terror in reproducing ‘otherness’. Mid-module, we will take a diversion into the intersection between gender and ‘race’ to consider the ways in which ‘racial otherness has become sexualised both historically and in contemporary Orientalism – a theme which will reappear in relation to, for example, Cohen’s work. You will also be asked to apply the theories of Said, Miles and others to matters of contemporary interest (and hopefully of interest to you) in your assignments by focussing on the particular ‘others’ constructed in Britain today, including a critique of an article you select from a newspaper or magazine – so get reading, and keep any interesting items you find on ‘race’, multiculturalism, British Muslims, etc. for your second assignment.
(A useful book which might serve you well as an introduction to some of the themes we will pickup in this module is Arun Kundnani’s The End of Tolerance: Racism in the 21st Century, 2007. Alternatively you might try A Suitable Enemy, 2009, by Liz Fekete)
Assignments
1. Select an account of the construction of ‘otherness’ offered by theorists covered in the module, and explain how this theory might be applied to explain the creation of a category of ‘others’ within Western societies.
50 %: 2000 words. To be submitted, Tuesday, Week 9, May 4th
Please note, I am happy to accept submission of this essay in week 7 before Easter, or in week 8 to accommodate your schedule in preparing your dissertation, the hand-in date for which is the same day, Tuesday May 4th.
2. Using a selected newspaper or magazine article, offer a critique of the constructions of the ‘other’ depicted in this article by applying a theoretical perspective explored in the module.
50%: either 2250-2500 word essay to be submitted Tuesday, Week 14, June 8th, or 15-minute individual presentation to be given in the session in week 11 or 12, accompanied by 500-750 word handout.
Seminar Schedule
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Orientalism & ‘the Other’
Essential Reading
Said, E. (1978) Orientalism, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp.1-15 Said, E. (2003c) ‘Preface (2003)’ in Said, E., Orientalism, London: Penguin Books, pp. xi-xxiii
Additional Reading
Said, E. (2003a) ‘Dreams and delusions’, Al-Ahram Weekly, 562, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/652/op1.htm, accessed 10/07/06 Said, E. (2003b) ‘Imperial Perspectives’, Al-Ahram Weekly, 648, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/648/op2.htm, accessed 10/07/06 Said, E. (2005) ‘Dignity and Solidarity’ in Said, E. From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map: Essays, New York: Vintage
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From ‘Race’ to Religion: Islamophobia & the Miseducation of the West
Essential Reading
Allen, C. (2005) ‘From Race to Religion: the New face of Discrimination’, in Abbas, T. (Ed.) Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure, London: Zed Books Kincheloe, J. (2004) ‘Introduction’ in Kincheloe, J. & Steinberg, S. (eds.) The Miseducation of the West: How Schools and the media Distort Our Understanding of the Islamic World, Westport, CT : Praeger
Additional Reading
Kincheloe, J. & Steinberg, S. (1997) Changing Multiculturalism Buckingham: Open University Press Modood, T. (2005a) ‘Foreword’ in Abbas, T. (Ed.) Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure, London: Zed Books Modood, T. (2005b) Multicultural politics : racism, ethnicity and Muslims in Britain, Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press Peach, C. (2005) ‘Britain’s Muslim Population: an Overview’ in Abbas, T. (Ed.) Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure, London: Zed Books Said, E. (1997) Covering Islam, London: Vintage
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‘Race’, Education & Terror: The Role of Fear in the Construction of ‘the Other’ in the first decade of the Twenty First Century
Essential Reading
Giroux, H. (2006) Beyond the Spectacle of Terrorism: Global Uncertainty and the Challenge of the New Media, London: Paradigm Publishers, pp.1-18
Additional Reading
Pape, R. (2006) Dying to Win: Why Suicide Terrorists Do It, London: Gibson Square Peters, M. (2004) ‘Education in the Age of Terrorism’, in Peters, M. (Ed.) Education, Globalisation, and the State in the Age of Terrorism, London: Paradigm Publishers Lawrence, B. (2005) ‘Introduction’ in Lawrence, B. (Ed.) Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, London: Verso Said. E. (2004) ‘Collective Passion’ in Said, E. From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map: Essays, New York: Vintage Said. E. (2004) ‘Backlash, Backtrack’ in Said, E. From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map: Essays, New York: Vintage
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Orientalist Histories of the Sexualised ‘Other’
Essential Reading
Massad, J. (2007) Desiring Arabs, Chicago: University of Chicago Press [Introduction]
Additional Reading
Primary Sources:
Anonymous [1838] (1997) The Lustful Turk: or, Scenes in the harem of an eastern potentate, Ware: Wordsworth Editions Ltd Anonymous [1880] (1977) ‘The Sultan’s Reverie: An Extract from the Pleasures of Cruelty’, The Pearl, A Journal of Facetiæ and Voluptuous Reading, Vol 1, Sevenoaks : New English Library Beckford, W.[1787] (1994) The Episodes of Vathek, Sawtry: Dedalus Flaubert, G. (1996) Flaubert in Egypt : a sensibility on tour, Harmondsworth : Penguin (The relevant text is also available in Flaubert, G. (2005) Desert and the Dancing Girls, London: Penguin) Flaubert, G. [1874] (2001) The Temptation of Saint Anthony, New York: Modern Library Hull, E. [1921] (1996) The Sheik, London: Virago
Secondary texts:
Hopwood, D. (1999) Sexual Encounters in the Middle East: The British, the French and the Arabs, Reading: Ithaca Press Lewis, R. (1996) Gendering Orientalism : race, femininity and representation, London : Routledge Lewis, R. & Mills, S. (Eds.) (2003) Feminist postcolonial theory : a reader, Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press Marcus, S. (1966) The Other Victorians : a study of sexuality and pornography in mid-nineteenth century England, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson [Chapter 5 ‘The World of Fiction’] Schick, I (1999) The Erotic Margin, London: Verso Sharpley-Whiting, T (1999) Black Venus : sexualized savages, primal fears, and primitive narratives in French, Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press Wall, G. (2002) Flaubert: A Life, London : Faber [Chapter 14 ‘Sailing the Nile’] Wheatcroft, A. (1995) The Ottomons: Dissolving Images, London: Penguin [Chapter 7 ‘The Lustful Turk’]
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The Sexualised ‘Other’ in the Twenty First century
Essential Reading Massad, J. (2007) Desiring Arabs, Chicago: University of Chicago Press [Introduction]
Additional Reading:
Collins, P. (Ed.) (2005) Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism, London: Routledge Ebert, T. & Zavarzadeh, M. (2008) Class in Culture, Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers [Chapter 4 ‘Abu Ghraib and Class Erotics’] Shimizu, C. (2007) The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American women on screen and scene, Durhan, ND: Duke University Press [pp.153-9] Tétreault, M. (2006) ‘The Sexual Politics of Abu Ghraib: Hegemony, Spectacle, and the Global War on Terror’, NWSA Journal, 14 (3) pp.33-50
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‘Race’ & Class, 1: ‘Race’ and Mode-of-Production Analysis
Essential Reading
Miles, R. & Brown, M. (2003) Racism, London: Routledge, p.117-129
Additional Reading
McLaren, P. & Torres, R. (1999) ‘Racism and Multicultural Education: Rethinking ‘Race’ and ‘Whiteness’ in Late Capitalism’ in May, S. (Ed.) Critical Multiculturalism: Rethinking Multicultural and Antiracist Education, London: Falmer Press Miles, R. (1982) Racism and Migrant Labour, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Miles, R. (1993) Racism after ‘Race Relations’, London: Routledge Miles, R. & Torres, R. (1999) ‘Does “Race” Matter? Transatlantic Perspectives on Racism after “Race Relations”’ in Torres, R., Mirón, L. & Inda, J. (Eds.) Race, Identity and Citizenship: A Reader, Oxford: Blackwell
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‘Race’ & Class, 2: ‘Race’ and Migrant Labour
Essential Reading
Miles, R. & Brown, M. (2003) Racism, London: Routledge, p.130-141
Additional Reading
Miles, R. (1982) Racism and Migrant Labour, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Miles, R. (1993) Racism after ‘Race Relations’, London: Routledge Miles, R. & Torres, R. (1999) ‘Does “Race” Matter? Transatlantic Perspectives on Racism after “Race Relations”’ in Torres, R., Mirón, L. & Inda, J. (Eds.) Race, Identity and Citizenship: A Reader, Oxford: Blackwell Shelley, T. (2007) Exploited: Migrant Labour in the New Global Economy, London: Zed Books
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Xenoracism, Education & Immigration, 1
Essential Reading
Cole, M. (2004a) ‘“Brutal and stinking” and “difficult to handle”: the historical and contemporary manifestations of racialisation, institutional racism, and schooling in Britain’, Race, Ethnicity and Education, 17 (1) pp. 35-56
Additional Reading
Cole, M. (2003) ‘Ethnicity, ‘status groups’ and racialization: A contribution to a debate on national identity in Britain’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 16 (5) 962-969 Cole, M. (2004b) ‘Rule Britannia’ and the New American Empire: a Marxist analysis of the teaching of imperialism, actual and potential, in the British school curriculum’, Policy Futures in Education, 2 (3&4), 523-538 Cole, M. (2004c) ‘US Imperialism, Transmodernism and Education: a Marxist Critique, Policy Futures in Education, 2 (3&4), 633-643 Cole, M. (2004d) ‘Fuck You – Human Sewage: contemporary globalism, capitalism and the xeno-racialization of asylum seekers’, Contemporary Politics, 10 (2) 159-165 Cole, M. & Maisuria, A. (2007)'‘Shut the fuck up’, ‘you have no rights here’: Critical Race Theory and Racialisation in post-7/7 racist Britain', Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 5(1) Fekete, L. (2001) The emergence of xeno-racism, http://www.irr.org.uk/2001/september/ak000001.html , accessed 12/01/07 Fekete, L (2009) A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe, London: Pluto Kapur, R. (2005) ‘Cross-border Movements and the Law: Renegotiating the Boundaries of Difference’ in Kempadoo, K. (Ed.) Trafficking and Prostitution Reconsidered: New perspectives on Migration, Sex Work and Human Rights, Boulder, CO: Paradigm Boks Sivanandan, A. (2002) The contours of global racism, speech delivered at the conference, ‘Crossing Borders: the legacy of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962’, London Metropolitan University, November 2002. Online at http://www.irr.org.uk/2002/november/ak000007.html , accessed, 12/01/07 Sivanandan, A. (2006) ‘Race, terror and civil society’, Race and Class, 46 (3) 1-8 Sivanandan, A. (2008) Catching History on a Wing: Race, Culture and Globalisation, London: Pluto
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Xenoracism, Education & Immigration, 2
Essential Reading
Hayter, T. (2000) Open Borders: the case against immigration controls, London: Pluto Press, pp.21-36 Cohen, S. (2003) No One is Illegal: asylum and immigration control past and present, Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books, pp.48-50
Additional Reading
Cohen, S. (2003) No One is Illegal: asylum and immigration control past and present, Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books Cohen, S. (2005) Deportation Is Freedom!: The Orwellian World of Immigration Controls, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Cohen, S. (2006) Standing on the Shoulders of Fascism: from immigration control to the strong state, Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books Cohen, R. (2006) Migration and its Enemies: Global Capital, Migrant Labour and the Nation State, Aldershot: Ashgate Harris, N. (1996) The New Untouchables: Immigration and the New World Order, London: Penguin Harris, N. (2002) Thinking The Unthinkable: the immigration myth exposed, London: I.B. Taurus Hayter, T. (2000) Open Borders: the case against immigration controls, London: Pluto Press Panayi, P. (1994) Immigration, Ethnicity and Racism in Britain 1815-1945, Manchester: Manchester University Press
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‘Race’, Education & the BNP
Essential Reading
Copsey, N. (2008) Contemporary British fascism: the British National Party and the quest for legitimacy, Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan
Additional Reading
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Student presentations
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Student presentations & conclusions
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