Cultural appropriation and individualism

[sqbr]

Two related topics I have strongly held opinions about which I can't quite put into words are cultural appropriation and the flaws in an overly individual focussed point of view.

But as it happens posts on both have come up in racism_101 in the last few days which deal with them reasonably well, so here they are, plus some attempts to express myself:

First: A link to, and discussion of, the video "yellow apparel: when the coolie becomes cool", about american appropriation of asian culture (while american and australian attitudes to race and culture differ in some ways, I think the history and treatment of people of asian descent is pretty similar)

It doesn't spoonfeed it's ideas, it's more a series of images and interviews which add up to a pretty compelling experience if you watch it all the way through (thus I included the discussion, for those who can't be bothered. There's also Cultural Appropriation 101, and more cultural appropriation links at my delicious)

Second: Individualism as enabler for racism about the way treating everyone as an "individual" allows people with unfair advantages to avoid taking responsibility for the inequalities of society.

And now a disconnected ramble about individuality, and how it relates to my POV as a white ex-protestant left wing atheist. Do not search for a point, there isn't one :)

I have a rather conflicted view of individuality, and always have, and I think this conflict is fairly core to my sort of counterculture left-wing WASP(ish) background. On the one hand (my upbringing says), we all need to pull together and form a cooperative collective, and should bond with the Everyday Little Guy etc. On the other, since most people aren't counterculture and left-wing, the Everyday Little Guy is wrong and we need to stick to our internal sense of right and not be sucked into the beliefs of the culture around us. This conflict is less extreme in left-wing-ish places like Australia than it is in say America (where afaict most left wing types simultaneously despise the poor as mindless republican drones and put them on a pedestal as helpless victims of a cruel system), but I think it still exists.

Anyway, starting from that point my POV has gotten even more complicated. I've been learning about history, and reading POVs outside the WASP paradigm, and am slowly realising how much of my "individuality" (and most of materialist humanist thought) is just a manifestation of the same WASP society I am "rising above", and truly transcending it and seeing the real truth (or at least something less false and limited) requires getting my head around the attitudes of other, often less individualistic societies (though I may just be misinterpreting them because they don't fit into my neat little mental boxes).

Yet being less individualistic means diving back into the same society I am reacting against, or something at least superficially similar (eg I am deeply uncomfortable opening my mind to any opinion with even a whiff of religious assumptions, and this makes it hard to engage with a lot of aboriginal writings) and so I feel, well conflicted. Still, one of the tenets of being a "rational individual" is being willing to face hard facts and stretch my brain, so I do it anyway. Hopefully at some point it will coalesce into a less flaily POV.

Comments

Re: have I bored you yet??

[alias_sqbr]

1. I agree it's hard but I think Western culture (and all the subcultures ie us, American western culture etc) are moderately distinct, even if they do get all blurry at the edges

2. I don't see that change is neccesary => more change makes you strong. I mean salt is necessary but past a certain point too much of it will kill you...

Also I think all cultures change. To go back to our previous conversation, China and Japan have changed an incredible amount in the last 50 years, but so has Australian Aboriginal culture, the various African cultures etc, and not just in passive response to external changes beyond their control. They are creating new cultures for themselves out of what colonialism etc left behind, the same way that England did after the Romans left.

[big-n-happy.livejournal.com]

I have a rather conflicted view of individuality, and always have, and I think this conflict is fairly core to my sort of counterculture left-wing WASP(ish) background. On the one hand (my upbringing says), we all need to pull together and form a cooperative collective, and should bond with the Everyday Little Guy etc. On the other, since most people aren't counterculture and left-wing, the Everyday Little Guy is wrong and we need to stick to our internal sense of right and not be sucked into the beliefs of the culture around us.

There's a book on this I've been meaning to read, Deer Hunting with Jesus. It's about the disconnect between leftist ideals and the "redneck" US working class. Author himself identifies as a "commie redneck."

I think it's particularly glaring in some (not all) anarchist circles, which are sort of the apex of elitist holier-than-thou lifestyles, coupled with rhetoric about mass struggle. When all the options at a meeting are vegan, organic and funny looking, it's kinda hard to build a mass movement.

But yeah, I go with the "keep on trucking" approach where conflict between false individuality and false community is concerned. It's the sort of thing that never gets resolved, at least not permanently. Best to listen, read, and work from whatever seems to make sense at the time.

[alias_sqbr]

It's the sort of thing that never gets resolved, at least not permanently. Best to listen, read, and work from whatever seems to make sense at the time.

Absolutely.

[big-n-happy.livejournal.com]

Oh, one more socialist resource you might not hate (I know, I'm sad) Kasama (http://mikeely.wordpress.com/).

Surprisingly open-minded for a Maoist blog, and it's got quite a range of content, some of which is downright fun; hip hop videos, a piece on Marxist noir writers during McCarthy era, the interview with the insane academic at the top of the page. Said interview (http://mikeely.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/bill-martin-interview-whats-the-opposite-of-bullshit/) is a bit teal deer, but it's got some interesting stuff on the role of intellectuals and why that's complicated territory but not some quaint modernist notion we need to bin now we've reached the end of history.