Reconfiguration Of Identity Research Articles

Reconfiguración de la identidad de docentes universitarios en el contexto de la pandemia

The current study aims to show the identity reconfiguration dynamics in university teachers based on their life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretically, an intersection is made between the Semiotic Cultural Psychology perspective and the Dialogical Self Theory approach. Methodologically, an idiographic qualitative study was carried out with three participants—university professors—who show the dynamics of change due to the pandemic through an in-depth interview and a visual technique. Although the three cases show individual experiences, it is noteworthy that they created common meanings around the pandemic and the social outbreak as a fundamental part of their lives. The results led to acknowledge how ruptures and transitions allow us to understand the psychological adjustments between a person and their sociocultural environment

Identity, diversity, and rhizomatic complexity

This paper addresses the vexing question of identity in relation to diversity and ‘rhizomatic complexity’ – a phrase that signals its Deleuzo-Guattarian orientation. It is argued that, far from being something that can be comprehended in unitary substantialist fashion (that is, as something unified and forever resistant to change), ‘identity’ can instead be articulated as a function of the constantly shifting relations and interrelations between and among the ‘processes’ comprising the ‘subject’. According to this rhizomatic conception, the subject – if indeed it can be called that – comprises an assemblage-in-becoming, whose contours change as it enters into open-ended processual relations of desiring-production. This simply means that Deleuze and Guattari, complexifying Lacan’s already complex subject (stretched between the ‘real’, the imaginary and the symbolic) even further, have theorised a non-substantialist version of it, which accommodates change as well as intermittent, albeit fleeting, stability. This allows for a subject that may be described as identity-in-flux, which means that identity is not cast in stone, but instead that the rhizomatic, open-ended structure of the assemblage subject accommodates reconfigurations of identity, with the caveat that such reconfigurations cannot instantiate a leap over the abyss of nothingness to a point that is rhizomatically untethered to the hitherto temporally evolved assemblage-subject. This conceptualisation of the subject has far-reaching implications for, among other things, cultural and social reorientation on the part of rhizomatic interrelationality of individual subjects. Moreover, it exposes social and cultural ‘diversity’ as being prey to a certain mode of postmodernism, which exacerbates flux and difference to the point where – unlike the poststructuralist models of Lacan and Deleuze/Guattari – it cannot account for difference while retaining a sense of (admittedly changeable) social ‘identity’ – something that undermines the political function of agency, as demonstrated in the conclusion of the paper.

Migrant Souls

Abstract This article analyses the reconfiguration of religious identity in the Druze community in Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil, which was formed by the arrival of immigrants from Lebanon in the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. The immigrants created ethnic and religious institutions destined to maintain Druze identity and its Islamic character. However, the transmission of religious knowledge to the generations born in Brazil was fragmentary and imperfect. Nevertheless, Druze identity was maintained by many and completely recreated in the religious context of Catholicism and Spiritism, while the connection to Islam faded away. The analysis focuses on how religious authorities and the belief in reincarnation were the main elements that allowed continuity in religious identity together with the transformation of tradition.

Human/Nature Dualism in Khan’s The Geometry of God: An Eco-feminist Study

This research proposes a comparative eco-feminist approach to challenge corporate narratives regarding women's associations with nature. The analysis is centred on Uzma Aslam Khan's (2008) novel, The Geometry of God, aiming to gain insights into Val Plumwood's (2002) contemporary critique of the ‘human/ nature dualism’. This research argues social constructivism and socialist eco-feminism to explore the differences in how language is employed to understand the eco-feminist assumptions concerning women and their relationship with nature. Eco-feminism, a movement that emerged in the 1990s, posits that the domination and degradation of women and the environment are the results of patriarchal and capitalist systems (Molyneux et al., 1995). This research argues the compelling issues concerning corporate representations and misrepresentations of women and their connections to their surrounding environment. The portrayals of the relationship between brown women and nature highlight the discursive reconfiguration of brown women's identity, examining how female novelists in Pakistani patriarchal societies redefine the narratives that deconstruct the eternal images of women imposed by the patriarchal academia (Mehmood, 2019).

“We won't go back home!” Women's Experiences with Deindustrialization and Unemployment at Fiat and LIP, a Comparative Perspective

AbstractThis article stems from a project aiming to investigate women's unemployment in the phase of deindustrialization that affected Western European countries from the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis. Countries such as Italy and France, with both a strong working-class movement and a vibrant feminist movement, have had to face economic crises since the mid-seventies and from the eighties have witnessed how neoliberal capitalism started to heavily reshape the global labor market. The old stereotype of female salary as ‘pin money’ within the household budget was again publicly put forth. How did women experience unemployment? What did it mean in terms of their social status, economic independence, sense of self, relationship to the home? To answer these questions and to understand the reconfiguration of class and gender identities, I focus on two milestone cases of labour struggles that are recognized as turning points in the history of the affirmation of neoliberal dynamics: the crisis of FIAT in Italy and of LIP in France. Despite their being at the center of many academic investigations as fundamental sites of resistance, their outcomes in terms of unemployment and particularly the gender dimension of this phenomenon have been largely overlooked so far. I will delineate a comparison between the two cases by drawing on my past research about trade union feminism in the two countries, on archival sources, published accounts and oral histories of two key activists in these struggles. Key factors that will be analysed are: women's participation in the collective mobilisations in the face of unemployment, their relation to the domestic sphere and to care work, their ability to build female networks within their wounded communities.

Reshaping Gendered Narratives: Reinterpreting Female Art, Identity and Social Change in the Late Nordic Bronze Age

This paper explores the changes to art on artefacts attributed to females in the Late Nordic Bronze Age (ca. 1100–500 BC) from a gender critical, feminist perspective. Traditionally, Scandinavian research has focussed on the art of male artefacts, which is believed to represent a cosmological narrative, whilst female art has been considered devoid of cosmological motifs – concomitantly, it is often assumed that prominent social standing was reserved males. Through analytical discussion, the paper shows how the same motifs as are considered cosmological in male objects can be found on female objects, too, in compositions diverging from the male use, suggesting a gender differentiated use of art and association to cosmology. Through a gender theoretical lens, the paper explores what the social use of the art on these objects may suggest regarding identity and power relations in society, linking up with a reconfiguration of female identity at this time.

Post-Colonialism: An in-Depth Look at its Cultural Effects in Nigeria

Nigeria has since its independence experienced post-colonialism, which has shaped its culture in all forms including identity, language, literature, traditions, and even media representation. This paper therefore explored the effect of post-colonialism on Nigerian cultural values and practices. The theoretical underpinnings from Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak served as the theoretical pillars for analyzing the hybrid identities that emerge from the interaction of these diverse influences of colonial legacy. Nigerian identity is dynamic and complex, with traditions of pre-colonial Nigeria interwoven with colonial customs and values. The dominance of English has influenced Nigerian literature, with authors like Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie using the colonial language to express indigenous themes and challenge colonial narratives. The continuous practice of traditional rites by the Nigerian indigenes, especially in areas like music and festivities shows how Nigerian culture is vibrant and enduring. Thus, the media, especially via Nollywood, have also been seen to provide support in lending a voice to combat stereotyped and negative Western images to construct a more diverse and complex Nigerian society. Drawing from the findings presented in this paper, it can be inferred that post-colonialism in Nigerian culture consists of a constant re-configuration of cultural identity, during which traditional characteristics are maintained, modified and infused with cultural representations from other regions of the globe. This paper further proposed a way forward for future studies to build on the contributions made in this study to explore how globalization and technology has continued to shape the dynamic culture of the post-colonial Nigerian society and other post-colonial African region.

ISOLATED IN THE BIG CITY: (RE)FORMING THE IDENTITY OF THE PROTAGONIST-FLÂNEUR IN TEJU COLE’S OPEN CITY AND SRĐAN VALJAREVIĆ’S PEOPLE AT THE TABLE

The goal of this paper is to establish a connection between the ways identity is formed in the novels Open City by Nigerian-American author Teju Cole and People at the Table by Serbian author Srđan Valjarević. The protagonists of the aforementioned novels are immigrants who have found themselves in the isolated and urban space of the metropolis and are now trying to establish their place within it. We shall explore Charles Baudelaire’s notion of the flȃneur in an urban environment that greatly differs from the narrators’ previous homes. A reconfiguration of identity is necessary and this is accomplished through walking – an unconscious search for identity and its roots. We may ask ourselves: Is the city a constitutive element of the subject, or is the subject a social product of the city? The streets of New York and Amsterdam present the protagonists with opportunities to think about not only their current positions but their pasts. Confused and dissatisfied, they move within the big city searching for ways to accept their fates. A common element of both novels is the continual reflection of the past and social positions. The city forms the protagonists’ identities to the point that it creates a sense of disorientation and helplessness, thus destroying them. Walking is the most significant aspect of both novels, as only in movement can the identity of these flȃneurs come to light.

Identidad Profesional docente en la Educación Física: Una revisión integrativa de literatura

In recent decades, the teaching profession, as a result of changes in the professional space and post-Bologna training processes, has been the target of multiple transformations emerging in the reconfiguration of teachers' professional identities, which is why it is important to provide knowledge about its construction process.The purpose of this review is to understand how the Professional Teacher Identity in Physical Education is built and to identify the elements that contribute to its construction. The review was carried out in the Dialnet databases between 2010 and 2022 using the as keywords: Professional Identity and Physical Education, in Spanish or Portuguese in peer-review academic journals. 18 research papers were selected among 54 identified that where submitted to a thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: i) professional teaching identity construction (9 studies), ii) elements that contributed to teacher professional identity (3 studies), iii) construction and elements related to teacher professional identity (6 studies). The findings suggest that teacher professional identity is building from personal, social and professional interactions within a dynamic and progressive process during initial training and professional practices influenced by previous experiences.

Identity Navigation and Self-Positioning in a Changing Craft World: Creativity and Cultures of Emerging Self-Employed Craft Workers in Jingdezhen

Following four-months of ethnographic fieldwork among the young, self-employed craft workers in Jingdezhen, this article explores the diverse identities and emerging cultures associated with craft that differ from the popular imaginaries of craftspeople, or shouyiren, in the Chinese mainstream media that focus on the older generations. By conducting participant observation, in-depth interviews, and the diary method, I found that while the profiles of “craft workers” or “craftspeople” are favoured by the recent waves of self-employed craft workers in Jingdezhen, these workers do not fully identify as craftspeople, traditionally characterised by their professionalism, perfectionism, enthusiasm, and persistence; nor as artists. Instead, they are positioned in between different identities, such as traditional craftsman, workman, artist-crafts worker, and artist. I argue that the wavering between different identities according to the occasion and targeted audience not only allows self-employed craft workers in Jingdezhen to escape from the monotonous routines and patriarchal norms of the older generations’ craft conventions, but also facilitates a re-configuration of craft identities within a craft industry that is changing. Secondly, I found that creativity is emphasised in their self-positioning and becomes an alternative means of achieving recognition, status and mobility in Jingdezhen’s craft industry. Based on these discussions, the study provides a fuller picture of a new form of craft labour developing in Jingdezhen.

Ethnoracial Utopianism and Speculative Aesthetics after the End of History

Abstract Using a reading of Hari Kunzru’s novel Red Pill to frame our contemporary political moment, this article asks what techniques of cultural critique are available to the Left today when the strategies of imaginary worldbuilding have become so central to the ethnonationalist politics of the Right. It argues that the end of the Cold War prompted a reconfiguration of political identities and public discourse in both the West and the former Soviet territories—through distinct but interrelated logics—that highlighted the failures of liberalism in ways that set the stage for the mainstream return of fascist politics of white supremacy. In this context of alternative histories taken as fact, of conspiracy rhetoric seemingly impervious to reason, this article asks how we can respond in intellectually robust ways that will help us to ground an inclusive culture and build a better future, practices the author situates in the broad field of Marxist-informed utopian studies.

Reimagining Inclusion in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Posthuman Perspective

Despite global and national imperatives to build an inclusive society, incidences of discrimination on the basis of numerous marginalised identity markers are widely reported. The early years are an ideal moment for children to form initial attitudes towards different groups of people. In fact, the early years are regarded as a means for social and economic transformation, according to the South African National Development Plan. This article is a segment of a study on a group of early childhood care and education teachers and teacher trainers who explored inclusion using a participatory action learning and action research design. Eight members formed an action learning set and engaged in mutual and collaborative learning to transform their learning environments to become more inclusive. Data were generated in two iterative cycles using a baseline questionnaire, reflective journals, and purposeful conversations. Underpinned by the posthumanist perspective, the findings highlight that diversity needs to be regarded as a strength to be valued, rather than as an impediment. The findings also suggest the need for collectivism in opposition to individualism, and a reconfiguration of the child's identity as posthuman. The study thus contributes to positive outcomes by identifying ways to transform early learning environments to become more inclusive. This not only leads to a more democratic and socially just learning environment but also contributes to wider positive societal change.

In-between identities and hope in the future: experiences and trajectories of Cigano secondary students

ABSTRACT Increasing numbers of Cigano people in Portuguese schools show that this is the most educated generation to date. However, according to recent data only 2.6% are enrolled in secondary education. Using an intersectional approach examining gender, ethnicity, and family socioeconomic status to explore the youngsters’ academic trajectories, and focusing on tensions of the interplay between structural constraints and individual agency, enables us to explore identity reconfiguration processes (‘in-between’). The data, based on 32 semi-structured interviews, point to three main dimensions regarding the youngsters’ aspirations for social mobility: the school relevance to achieve jobs differing from traditional activities; school perceived as a means to develop important transversal skills, useful in broader citizenship contexts; school as a privileged space for inter-ethnic socialisation, with impact on the youngsters’ school and professional future. Participant heterogeneity explains variations in their aspirations for upward mobility, as well as differentiations in the construction processes of in-between identities.

Digital Reconfigurations of Collective Identity on Twitter

Digital technology has prompted philosophers to rethink some of the fundamental categories we use to make sense of the world and ourselves. Particularly, the concept of ‘identity’ and its reconfiguration in the digital age has sparked much debate in this regard. While many studies have addressed the impact of the digital on personal and social identities, the concept of ‘collective identity’ has been remarkably absent in such inquiries. In this article, I take the context of social movements as an entry point to discuss the reconfiguration of collective identity in social media environments. I do so by introducing a narrative approach to collective identity. I argue that Twitter’s affordances invite new ways of constructing collective identities and imply a shifting relationship between the individual and the collective.

Losing Culture: Nostalgia, Heritage, and Our Accelerated Times

Losing Culture: Nostalgia, Heritage, and Our Accelerated Times

Public sector financial management in New Zealand central government: the role of public sector accountants

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the actions of public sector accountants in the New Zealand government departments as they respond to the demands of the Central Treasury.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is developed through an understanding of the secondary literature and practical experience of the first author who worked in the New Zealand public sector as a public sector accountant from 1972 to 1998. Both authors have remained active in the public sector through research and practice. The first author's last three placements were being Director Financial Management in the Ministry of Energy, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Maori Affairs and finally as CFO at the Ministry of Education. The first author has been a close observer of the Budget and was a participant at the departmental level for over 20 years.FindingsThe public sector reforms have posed challenges for public sector accountants. The arrival of accrual output based budgeting shaped a reconfiguration of accountants' identities. The politicians made public sector accountants the central entity of accrual output based budgeting and thus responsible for increasing public sector efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to public sector in New Zealand only.Practical implicationsThis study would be of use to practitioners interested in the pressures and opportunities which arise out of a particular constellation of administrative roles.Social implicationsThe administrative history, in particular, by senior officers is often unwritten for the public sector offices.Originality/valueThis is a descriptive piece on the role of public sector accountants and contributes to the understanding of how financial accountability works within the New Zealand Central Government.

Incorrect Assumption: Transgender Men Do Not Willingly Engage in Vaginal Penetration

ABSTRACT Introduction In Western countries, biological sex is the organizing principle on which gender is constructed. Gender is commonly understood as innate-at birth, and upon genital inspection, a designation of “male” or “female” is given to the child and the presumed gendered characteristics and behaviors, including future sexual behaviors, are expected to follow. Transgendered individuals, who may perform societal normative gender scripts but do not possess the sexual anatomy of their gender identity, subvert the rigid boundaries of sexual dimorphism. For the healthcare community, the sexual behavior of transmen should be assessed, especially as it has pregnancy and STI implications. Objective Because there are still several misconceptions about transgender men regarding preferred sexual practices and gratification, this research explored their sexual preferences, including engagement in vaginal penetration. The study examined the incorrect assumption of transgender men's disdain for a retained vagina and the idealization of masculinity as the ability to sexually “penetrate” their partner. It also analyzed whether the reconfiguration of gender identity by virtue of being a transgender man has any influence on the reconfiguration of sexual practice–more importantly, whether or not transmen engage and derive sexual pleasure from vaginal penetration. Methods A literature review was conducted on sexual function in transgender men with a specific focus on vaginal penetration during sexual activity. PubMed/Medline and Google Scholar were used with keyword combinations that included, "transgender men", "transmen", "sexual function", "vaginal penetration", and "sexual pleasure”. Results The data suggested that subsets of transgender men do partake and derive pleasure from vaginal penetration. Outward perceptions of masculinity and gender validation from sexual partners were determined to be an important indicator of interest in vaginal penetration. For transgender men, there tended to be a reliance on gendered behavior, including sexual behavior, when their biological sex was perceived as being more outwardly ambiguous. An increase in perceived male identity as well as the establishment of secondary male sex characteristics correlated with an increase in the fluidity of sexual behavior, such as the touching of breasts, and vaginal intercourse. Many transgender men use language to recode bodies and sexual acts, such as referring to the clitoris as a penis, and the breast as a chest. By reclassifying the vagina from a female sex organ to a neutral front hole, transmen can engage in vaginal sexual intercourse without destabilizing their masculine embodiment. The literature also noted that for queer, bisexual, and gay transgender men being vaginally penetrated by cis-gendered men may re-affirm their male identity. Conclusions Reframing gender and sexual behavior as dynamic and adaptable opens up a realm of possibilities for trans-identities. In this framework, sexual encounters and practices, which may or may not involve sexual organs misaligned with a transgendered individual's identity, have no bearing on their gender identity. The study findings highlight that transgender men often find pleasure in vaginally penetrative intercourse, and that there is less of a dependence on heteronormative sexual scripts as the female-to-male transition progresses. Disclosure No

Human-nonhuman home: bioregional cosmopolitan exploration of intersex identity in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

This research explores the reconfiguration of intersex (hijra) home and identity in relation to human-nonhuman interdependence as represented in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017). Anjum, the intersex protagonist of the novel, receives humiliation and experiences homelessness for her biological sex ambiguity and nonconforming gender performances in a society founded upon gendered binaries. This study focuses on the complex ways in which Anjum, as a human Other, resolves her gender ambiguity by adopting a cosmopolitan pluralist awareness of self and place in the age of neoliberal development. Since dualisms, constructed along socio-cultural coordinates, such as man/woman, humans/nonhumans, human/human Others, and nature/culture, among others, are integral to the experiences of vulnerability, alienation and marginalization, the reconceptualization of home and identity as plural, accommodating social relations among different human groups and between humans and nonhumans, acts as a strategy, as the study will argue, to alleviate the sense of Otherness. Moreover, drawing on cultural geographical approach to the spatiality of home, mediated by social echelons of gender and class, and bioregional cosmopolitan epistemology of pluralist community-based identity, grounded in human–nonhuman correlations, the study will explore the way a sense of place can be created in a bioregion that ensures agentic participation of human and nonhuman groups in the neoliberal project of development, negating class, gender, as well as species dualisms.

Najla Said’s Looking for Palestine: Identity at Crossroads

In her memoir, Looking For Palestine: Growing up Confused In An Arab-American Family (2013), Najla Said, the Palestinian-American actress, playwright, author, and activist, has raised more questions than giving answers, negotiating the space between a position of enunciation and the multiple yet diverse cultural legacies and political powers at play. This paper extends arguments on her memoir by focusing on how she portrays Palestine, excavating the memories of her childhood and adolescent years. The remote homeland portrait, Palestine, the abstract space established through her father’s stories and media reports, is exposed to a new consciousness after her visit to Palestine in 1992 with her father, Edward Said, and family.  The paper explores how Najla Said’s journey to Palestine, along with the 9/11 attacks, was a pivotal turning point in her reconfiguration of self and identity while reconstructing the homeland.  The paper also examines the inconsistent images of the homeland and the host land where Najla Said suffers from confusion and disintegration, trying to liberate herself from both prejudices, reidentified not only with the homeland but also with the host land.  The paper analyzes Najla’s narrative, with its chronotopic relationship that shapes her new consciousness of history and the landscape.  It also examines how Najla Said traverses the space and friction between filiation and affiliation to live her life, to find her own voice and space in a more humane universal world that enjoys love, peace, and art.

‘Ex-Pagan Pagans’? Paul, Philo, and Gentile Ethnic Reconfiguration

In Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle (2017), Paula Fredriksen reminds us that gods and their cults were intertwined with ancient ethnic groups so much so that, when Gentiles committed themselves exclusively to Israel’s God, some Jews considered this ‘tantamount to changing ethnicity’. Fredriksen claims, however, that Paul’s Gentile addressees – whom she terms ‘ex-pagan pagans’ – remain separate ethnically from Jews despite forsaking their ancestral gods for Israel’s. Given that gods and ethnicity were intertwined, this article examines if it is reasonable to conclude that Paul thinks Gentile Christ-followers remain strictly Gentiles after they have abandoned their ethnic gods and entered into a relationship with Israel and its God. I argue that, similar to Philo’s proselyte inclusion strategy, Paul incorporates Gentiles-in-Christ into ethnic Israel. As Abraham’s ‘offspring’, Paul suggests that his addressees not only gain membership in Israel’s covenant on account of Israel’s messiah, but that they also acquire a new ethnic identity despite that their prior identities as ‘the Gentiles’ are not erased. This study, then, seeks to destabilize the binary that Fredriksen posits between ethnic Israel and Paul’s Gentiles-in-Christ as ethnic ‘other’. In the end, I demonstrate that Paul’s ethnic reconfiguration of Gentile identities resembles Philo’s proselyte discourse and is more disruptive ethnically than Fredriksen’s phrase ‘ex-pagan pagans’ would suggest.