Counter-hegemonic Practice Research Articles

Pigeons at the Bedside: Lucumí Negotiations around Ritual Space in the Hospital

ABSTRACT: In the latter half of the twentieth century, south Florida became a hub of Afro-Cuban religious practice. The influx of Cuban immigrants has influenced healthcare institutions in the area. This article explores how devotees of one Afro-Cuban religion, Lucumí, popularly known as Santería, create space within hospitals to conduct religious rituals that facilitate the healing of patients. It argues that the creation of space for hospital rituals is a counter-hegemonic practice that can be mapped onto the relationship that Lucumí historically had to the Catholic Church, one of being both seen and unseen within this hegemonic institution. Through an analysis of the "symbolic power" embedded in language usage to create unsanctioned ritual space in the hospital, I build on Pierre Bourdieu's work by that title. In examining three types of space—secret space, talking space, and familiarity space—this article highlights the counter-hegemonic practices used to heal Lucumí patients in south Florida.

For conjunctural geography: From method to counter-hegemonic practice

Conjunctural analysis makes an important addition to the conceptual toolbox for understanding the contours of China's (capitalist) regional economies. In this commentary, we concur with Peck's suggestion that the conjunctural approach can animate economic geography's engagement with ‘thick’ theorization without foregoing context-rich inquiry. However, we also emphasize Stuart Hall's commitment to counter-hegemonic politics and his use of the conjunctural approach to explore – and ultimately facilitate – historical breaks in social structures of dominance. Through a brief exploration of ways of engaging the region in China area studies and Chinese geography, we discuss how the conjunctural approach can be mobilized to (re)politicize geographies of regional development.

Pomiędzy Sherlockiem Holmesem a Eberhardem Mockiem: Hotel „Wielkie Prusy” Bohdana Kołomijczuka

The subject of the analysis in this paper is the novel by Bohdan Kolomiichuk entitled The Great Prussia Hotel. From the genre point of view, the piece fits seamlessly into the so-called retro detective story with elements of the noir novel. The author’s variant of the retro detective story is clearly inspired by the classics of the genre, such as Artur Conan Doyle or Agata Christie (also contemporary ones, already containing further original modifications, such as Marek Krajewski or Konrad Lewandowski). This translates, for example, into the construction of the main character. Thus, a hybrid character is created, which appears to be a conglomerate of the features of Sherlock Holmes and Eberhard Mock. One should also pay attention to the construction of the novel space. Mapping activates various cultural and historical codes, it is not only an element accompanying the development of the plot but an expression of counter-hegemonic practice - the opposition to superficial top-down unification, anonymization and denationalization. Kolomiichuk’s novel can therefore be considered a borderland work in some places due to its multi-address character and a certain historical verve. In this context, at times drifting somewhat towards postmodernism, the Hotel smoothly fits into the trend of opening up popular literature to hybridity, borderline and multi-genre, visible since the turn of the 20th and 21st century, while taking into account national archetypes, images and motifs, and correlating them with the global (also contemporary) classics of the genre.

The power of Buddhist homelands: secularism, space and sovereignty

ABSTRACT This Afterword draws the essays in this special collection together by highlighting how the ‘Buddhist Homeland’ imaginary can be mobilized to advance the agendas of marginalized communities in non-Buddhist state and diasporic spaces. Buddhist practices and identities may be seen as acceptable forms of counter-hegemonic practice, which are not perceived to challenge sovereignty itself in the way that other forms of mobilization from below may. This is in part due to the often deterritorialized nature of Buddhist networks themselves, making it possible to separate claims of belonging to Buddhist places from political claims to sovereignty over specific territorial spaces.

Towards Refusing as a Critical Technical Practice: Struggling With Hegemonic Computer Vision

Computer Vision (CV) algorithms are overwhelmingly presented as efficient, impartial, and desirable further developments of datafication and automation. In reality, hegemonic CV is a particular way of seeing that operates under the goal of identifying and naming, classifying and quantifying, and generally organizing the visual world to support surveillance, be it military or commercial. This paradigm of Computer Vision forms a ‘common sense’ that is difficult to break from, and thus requires radical forms of antagonism. The goal of this article is to sketch how refusing CV can be part of a counter-hegemonic practice – be it the refusal to work or other, more creative, responses. The article begins by defining hegemonic CV, the ‘common sense’ that frames machine seeing as neutral and impartial, while ignoring its wide application for surveillance. Then, it discusses the emergent notion of refusal, and why critical technical practice can be a useful framework for questioning hegemonic sociotechnical systems. Finally, several potential paths for refusing hegemonic CV are outlined by engaging with different layers of the systems’ 'stack.'

Towards Subaltern Modernity: Geo-politics in the Life-narrative of C.K. Janu

The paper attempts to contribute to the debate on modernity from the perspective of resisting subaltern subjects, generating transformative effects of universal relevance. Choosing one’s life for narrative elaboration has often been seen as a distinctive marker of modernity. This is empirically informed by the narrative of C.K. Janu. The rallying cry of resistance as reflected through her life narrative Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of C.K. Janu has shaped the notion of knowledge as emancipation in a regional context, but with a universal relevance. Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of C. K. Janu is a brave project to revive a border culture. It can also be read as a counter-hegemonic practice, a resistance and a unique struggle against social exclusion. The narrative of C K Janu figures out as a resistance against social exclusion foisted on the sidelined subjects, interpreting subalternity in context. This life-narrative expresses a new subaltern modernity unraveling the duplicity of our institutionalized economy and polity. It provides a critique of the essentialist underpinnings of subalternity foregrounding the heterogeneity of the subaltern subjects in the process.

Revisiting hegemony: A Gramscian analysis for contemporary social work

This paper presents theoretically informed commentary on the concept of hegemony. This is achieved through recourse to the work of hegemony’s originator, the Sardinian social theorist Antonio Gramsci. There is renewed interest in Gramsci’s work within social theory. To date, existing social work literature makes the case for a more direct engagement with Gramscian theorisation. In this paper, the proposition is that Gramsci’s work holds the potential to progress contemporary practice. In seeking to realise this, however, at least one obstacle is encountered. It is argued that a degree of dialectical opposition exists between two themes prevailing in social work practice and pedagogy. This can be problematic for practitioners who are seeking to create civil society change. In the first instance, critical postmodern epistemologies support practitioners to uncover embedded hegemonic assumptions. In the second instance, more conservative managerial–technicist epistemologies also vie for space in wider social work pedagogy and practice. In this context, it is argued that better ideological and theoretical integration of these competing themes would be beneficial for social workers seeking counterhegemonic practice. Overall critical commentary in this paper rearticulates the importance of Gramsci’s hegemony for social workers in the present time.

Nem tudo que reluz é ouro: discutindo prevenção quaternária a partir de ditados populares

A Medicina tem convocado as pessoas a realizarem cada vez mais ações preventivas, desde medidas de pressão arterial até a aplicação de novas vacinas; entretanto, médicas e médicos de família e comunidade têm identificado riscos e limitações das ações preventivas, mostrando que nem todas elas são ética ou cientificamente justificáveis. Esse é o escopo da prevenção quaternária, que visa poupar as pessoas de sobremedicalização e procedimentos desnecessários. Vivendo em uma sociedade que prima pela alta tecnologia, onde o terror virou negócio e o autocuidado, uma obsessão, pode ser muito difícil desaconselhar a realização de algum exame ou desprescrever alguma medicação; porém, é exatamente nesse contexto que a prevenção quaternária é profundamente necessária, e a dificuldade de sua prática exige articular outros saberes e recursos além do nível de evidência ou do grau de recomendação de uma ou outra ação. As crenças em saúde são objeto de um cuidado centrado na pessoa, e muitas delas são inspiradas ou traduzidas por ditados populares. Nesse ensaio, discuto o excesso de intervenções e a prevenção quaternária a partir de alguns deles. Analisando frases como “é melhor prevenir do que remediar”, apresento os aforismos como ferramentas de compreensão da prevenção quaternária, podendo ser usados por profissionais e docentes para discutir essa prática contra-hegemônica com pacientes e estudantes. Ao articular os saberes popular e profissional, o texto contribui à competência cultural da Atenção Primária à Saúde e ajuda a produzir encontros clínicos mais harmoniosos e a promover um cuidado menos invasivo, medicalizador e danoso.

Rule-of-Law Ethnography

This review outlines an emerging agenda for ethnographic interpretation of the rule of law. From a survey of studies done on the rule of law in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the review identifies four general characteristics of this mode of inquiry, namely, that it is located, relational, and comparative and has extrinsic value. It offers three nonexhaustive reasons for interpreting the rule of law ethnographically, which are as a counterhegemonic practice, in response to counterintuitive observations, and as a means to do constitutive theorizing. Contending that ethnographic work on the rule of law involves some kind of stance toward both research subjects and object of inquiry, the review advocates for the exercise of passionate humility: a conviction about the rule of law tempered by willingness to be proven wrong through inquiries in critical proximity with socially and politically mediated facts. Rule-of-law ethnography's possibility lies in its attending to the relationship between what is claimed in the rule of law's name and what is realized, not to make the idea look foolish, but to show how it emerges and why it persists through struggle.

COUNTER-HEGEMONY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BAWOMATALUO TOURIST DESTINATION, NIAS SELATAN, SUMATERA UTARA

Bawomataluo which is located in South Nias, North Sumatra, has unique cultural and natural tourism. The area is referred to as “Bukit Matahari” (Hill of the Sun) as it is the area where tourists can enjoy the sunrise and sunset. However, the hegemonic practice performed by the government through its policies and the counter-hegemonic practice performed by the local people as the owner of the tourist destination have caused the area to be less developed. The problem of the study is how the counter-hegemonic practice is performed to develop the Bawomataluo tourist destination. This study is intended to understand and describe the form of the counter-hegemonic practice so it can widen the concepts of the related studies. The study used the qualitative method with the perspective of cultural studies. The theory of hegemony, the theory of power/knowledge, and the theory of social practice were used to analyze the data.
 The result of the study showed that the counter-hegemonic practice performed by the Bawomataluo people included the counter-hegemony towards the government’s policy, the counter-hegemony towards change and functional change of cultural heritage, and the counter-hegemony towards the tourism-related activities. They are all the accumulation of the local people’s disappointment with the government’s policy (hegemonic practice) which has been performed so far. As a result, the development of the tourist destination and infrastructure has not achieved the target yet. This present study offers a strategic political policy so the development of the tourist destination in Bawomataluo in particular and in Indonesia in general can be avoided from the hegemonic practice and counter-hegemonic practice. To this end, the tourist destination should be sustainably developed in order to improve the local people’s economy and increase the government’s income. The development should be the community-based one as well.

Resistance and reality: exploring symbolic fracturing, reality construction, and democratic dialogue within the community radio form

ABSTRACTGovernment and the private sector persistently prioritise the need to assess the impact of social and political processes against criteria based on capital production and economic efficiency. How valuable is this within media ecologies that seek to prioritise democratic contributions or counter-hegemonic practice? Community radio globally was established to promote participation and increase democratic communication. This study adopts a citizens’ media approach within a critical political economy of communication epistemology to investigate social change impacts related to symbolic fracturing, reality construction, and democratic dialogue within community radio practice. Based on a case study of 3CR Community Radio in Melbourne, Australia, this study identifies social discourse rupture, recoding, and critical participation as key themes that emerge through qualitative interviews with station founders, current practitioners, and listeners. While numerous studies have documented the Australian community radio sector’s contribution to media participation and diversity, this paper considers the counter-hegemonic outcomes of a station that seeks to resist and subvert social injustices and to deepen the democratisation of the media. Results reveal that listeners and practitioners engage in counter-hegemonic media practice through the community radio form.

State–peasant movement relations and the politics of food sovereignty in Mexico and Ecuador

This contribution argues that the articulation between the state and peasant organizations’ internal structures – the class characteristics of their mass bases, their leaderships and the modes of interaction between the two – is critical for determining the nature of contemporary struggles guided by the discourse of food sovereignty. It will show that that counter-hegemonic demands are not synonymous with counter-hegemonic practice; rather than struggling to replace the neoliberal food regime, many peasant organizations employ the food sovereignty discourse as a political tool in their negotiations with the state in order to access resources from within the prevailing neoliberal model, not to transform it.

The Ideal Immanent Within the Real: On Peter Hudis' Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism

A discussion of Hudis' <em>Marx's Concept of an Alternative to Capitalism.</em>

Legitimising critical pedagogy in the face of timorous, mechanistic pedagogy

The literature on critical pedagogy is awash, on the one hand, with notions of emancipatory pedagogy that liberate students and teachers from the snares of capitalist ideological hegemony. On the other hand, claims abound about the declining fortunes of critical pedagogy, as it has struggled to find credibility, coherence and legibility. This article delves into critical pedagogy and its implications for education in a state of advanced capitalism, as well as its attendant functionalist thinking. Practically, this means that, via theoretical analysis, critical pedagogy is scrutinised in relation to student/teacher agency and resistance; whether critical pedagogy stands in defence of 'strong democracy'; the historical relevance of the theoretical genesis of critical pedagogy; whether critical pedagogy is effective as ideology critique; whether critical pedagogy is muscular enough as a counter-hegemonic practice; how critical pedagogy parades itself in practical situations; and whether critical pedagogy is able to conscientise students to asymmetrical power relations.

Carrying the Message of Counter-Hegemonic Practice: Teacher Candidates as Agents of Change

In an effort to support future teachers in their work toward enacting (and not just espousing) counter-hegemonic, social justice concepts, this research describes a course assignment that required teacher candidates (N = 134) to identify an issue related to power and/or privilege with which they personally grapple, and to then construct a professional workshop intended to work toward deepening their own understandings and the understandings of the participants in the workshop. With an emphasis on risk-taking and decentering their own authority, the teacher candidates in this study created critical workshops intended to reduce oppression (at the personal or institutional level), addressing topics across a broad spectrum of inequities. The findings from this research suggest that, given a supportive and collaborative forum, teacher candidates may be equipped to challenge hegemonic ideas and emerge as leaders in a new era of social justice.

Who is Really in Charge of Contemporary Education? People and technologies in, against and beyond the neoliberal university

This article reflects on the position of people in, against and beyond information and communication technologies. Firstly, using Jandric and Kuzmanic’s work on digital postcolonialism, Raymond Williams's work on residual and emergent cultures, and Deleuze and Guattari's insights into the dynamics between territorialization, de-territorialization and re-territorialization, it develops a theoretical framework for inquiry into the hybrid identity of the contemporary university. Then, through critical discourse analysis (CDA), the article moves on to analyse the ways in which technology discourse resides in the dominating ideology of technological determinism and co-opts with neoliberal agendas by omitting humans from explicit mention in UK policy documents. It shows that true counter-hegemonic practice against dominating social practices is possible only through reinvigorating the central position of human beings in regards to information and communication technologies. Within the developed theoretical framework, it seeks openings to intervene subversively into current relationships between technologies, people, and (higher) education, and to identify opportunities for building a non-determinist identity of the contemporary university that reaches beyond the single-minded logic of techno-scientific development. In the process, it situates Paulo Freire's insights into critical pedagogy in the context of the network society, and places the relationships between human beings, language and information and communication technologies amongst central questions of today's (higher) education and society at large.

Translation at the checkpoint

This article provides an overview of the contemporary theoretical and artistic landscape related to the material borders of state sovereignty. It opens by exploring Palestinian multimedia artist Khaled Jarrar’s At the Checkpoint (2007, 2009), an exhibition of photographs physically installed at the Howarra and Qalandia checkpoints in the West Bank. With reference to the aesthetic refunctioning in Jarrar’s work of such sites of control, the article draws a distinction between the “harder borders” that literary cartography often ignores in favour of the “soft, hospitable border” of flows, migrations and hybridity. Assessing Antoni Muntadas’s conceptual art projects On Translation: Warning (1999) and On Translation: Die Stadt (1999–2004), Claire Denis’s films Nenette et Boni (1996), Beau Travail (1999) and L’Intrus (2004), and various Palestinian cultural texts, I argue that by foregrounding the laws of linguistic circulation and mobility, such works also inscribe the possibility of a multilingual, translational community beyond borders and checkpoints. I conclude, very much in the spirit of my book, Against World Literature: On the Politics of Untranslatability (2013), that translation theory must pay closer attention to the linguistic checkpoints erected by states to maintain their sovereignty, and rethink translation as a counter-hegemonic practice.

Representing the "good German" in literature and culture after 1945: altruism and moral ambiguity

In the aftermath of the Second World War, both the allied occupying powers and the nascent authorities sought whose record during the war and the Nazi period could serve as a counterpoint to the notion of as evil. That search has never really stopped. In the past few years, we have witnessed a burgeoning of cultural representations of this other kind of Third Reich citizen - the good German - as opposed to the committed Nazi or genocidal maniac. Such representations have highlighted individuals' choices in favor of dissenting behavior, moral truth, or at the very least civil disobedience. The good German's counterhegemonic practice cannot negate or contradict the barbaric reality of Hitler's Germany, but reflects a value system based on humanity and an other ideal community.This volume of new essays explores postwar and recent representations of good Germans during the Third Reich, analyzing the logic of moral behavior, cultural and moral relativism, and social conformity found in them. It thus draws together discussions of the function and reception of Good Germans in Germany and abroad.Contributors: Eoin Bourke, Manuel Braganca, Maeve Cooke, Kevin De Ornellas, Sabine Egger, Joachim Fischer, Coman Hamilton, Jon Hughes, Karina Lindeiner-Strasky, Alexandra Ludewig, Pol O Dochartaigh, Christiane Schonfeld, Matthias Uecker.Pol O Dochartaigh is Professor of and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. Christiane Schonfeld is Senior Lecturer in and Head of the Department of Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick.

Canoeing as a Counter-Hegemonic Practice: I Can, Can You?

This essay analyzes a silent short film portraying an urban canoeist. The film suggests that it is possible to make conscious choices about one’s means of conveyance through the city. Using a critical theoretical framework to unpack the implications of the film, this paper argues for the need to imagine unconventional modes of transportation and examine the power structures of automotive hegemony.

Mutating Toward the Future: The Convergence of Utopianism, Postcolonial SF, and the Postcontemporary Longing for Form in Amitav Ghosh’s the Calcutta Chromosome

This article examines the way that secrecy and silence are raised from the level of colonial imposition to postcolonial methodology in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome. Drawing on Ghosh’s claim that any attempt at forming a counter-modernity to the experience of imperial modernization would necessarily have had to operate without record, it argues that silence and secrecy form a counter-hegemonic practice to the instrumentalizing form of Western rationality. As such, the novel performs a postcolonial decentering of futuricity from Western capitalist epistemology, eschewing a mastery of the past to reopen the possibility of a future beyond imperial logic.