Salience Of Ethnicity Research Articles

Ethnic Polarization, Ethnic Salience, and Civil War

This article examines how the relationship between ethnic polarization and civil war could be moderated by different degrees of ethnic salience. Using an agent-based computational model, we analyze the polarization—conflict relationship when ethnic salience is ``fixed''—high for every member of two nominally rival ethnic groups— and ``variable''—permitted to vary across individuals as a function of relative income. We find that (1) when salience is fixed, conflict onset is twice as high at low levels of polarization compared to when salience is permitted to vary, with the difference decreasing at high levels of polarization; (2) the relationship between conflict onset and the range over which we calculate variable salience is positive and robust for low and moderate levels of polarization; (3) the relationship between polarization and conflict onset is robust even under minority domination, if one holds salience fixed; and (4) holding ethnic salience fixed effectively amplifies the negative effect of polarization on economic performance.

Ethnicity and Political Pluralism in Kenya

This paper focuses on the salience of ethnicity in Kenya since the return to political pluralism in 1991. It argues that ethnicity as a variable in Kenya's political processes dates back to the colonial period. Successive governments in that country, beginning with the Jomo Kenyatta state in 1963, perfected the aspect of ethnicity that dovetailed with patronage, rent-seeking and prebendalism to the detriment of the nation state. The paper engages with the theoretical underpinnings of ethnicity in an attempt to understand its overwhelming influence on Kenya's politics, especially in the multiparty era. The thrust of the argument is that unless there is the political will to re-engineer Kenya's polity both politically and constitutionally the nationbuilding project will remain convoluted, frustrating and stillborn.

Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture (review)

Reviewed by: Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture Yong Chen Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture. Edited by Sucheng Chan and Madeline Y. Hsu. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 2008. Put together by two leading scholars in the field, Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture represent an important contribution to the study of Chinese American history. Sucheng Chan has authored some of the best monographs on Chinese American history and edited several highly regarded anthologies. Madeline Y. Hsu, author of critically claimed Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home: Transnationalism and Migration Between the United States and South China, 1882-1943 (Stanford University Press, 2000) has emerged as an international visible scholar. Not intended to provide paradigm-shifting theories or comprehensive coverage of Chinese American history, the anthology offers an important framework through the notion "politics of culture," which is articulated in the preface written by Chan. It points to the centrality of culture in American political life and the Chinese struggles for political and socioeconomic justice. Equally important is her terse yet insightful analysis of three other key terms: diaspora, transnationalism, and globalization. The introduction, also by Chan, gives us a most comprehensive historiographical account of Chinese American history. Her discussions in the preface and introduction help us appreciate the intellectual importance and coherence of the book. Covering diverse domestic and translational developments since the late nineteenth century, the following seven chapters demonstrate a remarkable degree of coherency and represent the latest and highly original scholarship. Some of them deal with topics that [End Page 277] have not yet received sufficient attention, while others offer new insights into familiar topics. Concentrating on food, an immensely important but long-ignored aspect of Chinese life, Hsu shows "the continued salience of ethnicity in Chinese American lives even as cold war ideologies proclaimed their increasing acceptance into the American mainstream" (173) in chapter 5. Dealing with immigrants from Changle of Fujian Province in chapter 7, Xiaojian Zhao affords us a valuable opportunity to closely look at the experiences and mentality of a newest group of Chinese Americans, who are reshaping the face of the Chinese community in New York and elsewhere. Andrea Louie's chapter 6 investigates a different kind of Pacific voyage: young Chinese Americans visiting China under the "In Search of Roots Program" (195) and offers sophisticated analysis of its ramifications on identity, class, and gender. Also dealing with transnationalism, chapter 3 by Karen Leong and Judy Tzu-Chun Wu discusses Chinese American activities in support of China during the Sino-Japanese war. In chapter 4, K. Scott Wong draws attention to domestic impacts of transnationalism, showing how international developments changed war-time perceptions of Chinese Americans. So does Josephine Fowler's examination of pre-war left-wing activism in chapter 2. Providing a refreshingly in-depth look at another familiar topic—the Chinese American struggles for civil rights, in chapter 1 Mae M. Ngai reveals the experiences and roles of key players in Tape v. Hurley, an 1885 California Supreme Court case, prohibiting the exclusion of Chinese from public schools. In short, the intellectual insights of this compelling volume will benefit scholars of Chinese America as well as Asian America and immigration and ethnicity. Yong Chen University of California-Irvine Copyright © 2010 Mid-America American Studies Association

The Cleavage Model, Ethnicity and Voter Alignment in Africa: Conceptual and Methodological Problems Revisited

Recent research on political parties and ethnicity has challenged the conventional wisdom about ethnicity as the major factor that explains voter alignment in Africa. The paper maintains that the cleavage model, although modified to include ethnicity, still provides heuristically the best foundation for the explanation of party formation and voting behaviour in Africa. It points out that inconclusive and contradicting research results about the salience of ethnicity can be attributed to a variety of unresolved methodological and conceptual problems linked to the ‘fluidity’ of the concept of ethnicity. To overcome these problems refined research designs and more sophisticated analytical tools are required. Finally, it is safe to assume that the relevance of ethnicity for the formation of party systems and voter alignment is not a uniform pattern across Africa, but will differ from one country to the other. Jungere Forschungsergebnisse stellen Ethnizitat als Erklarungsfaktor fur das Wahlverhalten in Afrika (sudlich der Sahara) in Frage. Der Beitrag bestatigt die These, dass der soziale Konfliktlinienansatz in heuristischer Weise und im Hinblick auf Ethnizitat modifiziert auf Afrika anwendbar ist und eine masgebliche Erklarung fur die Formation von Parteiensystemen in Afrika liefern kann. Die widerspruchlichen und wenig aufschlussreichen Forschungsergebnisse zum Zusammenhang von Ethnizitat und Wahlerverhalten konnen mit einer Reihe ungeloster methodischer und konzeptioneller Schwierigkeiten erklart werden, die mit der Fluiditat des Ethnizitatsbegriffes verbunden sind. Um diese Probleme zu uberwinden, sind spezifische Forschungsdesigns und ausgefeiltere Analyseinstrumente notwendig. Grundsatzlich lasst sich mit einiger Sicherheit festhalten, dass Ethnizitat fur die Parteienformation und das Wahlerverhalten nicht uberall in Afrika gleichermasen relevant ist, sondern sich ihre Bedeutung von Land zu Land erheblich unterscheiden kann.

Sources of Situational Variation in Ethnic Identity and Psychological Well-Being: A Palm Pilot Study of Chinese American Students

Experience sampling reports collected randomly six times a day for 1 week examined the association between context, ethnic salience, psychological well-being, and stable ethnic centrality and ethnic private regard among Chinese American university students (N = 62). At the level of the situation, ethnic composition, family, and language were associated with higher ethnic salience. Stable ethnic centrality moderated the association between ethnic salience and family where higher centrality was related to stronger ethnic salience when students were with family. At the situation level, ethnic salience was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and increased positive mood. Stable ethnic private regard moderated this association where higher private regard was related to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of positive mood when ethnicity was salient.

Ethnic Conflicts in South Asia

This article is an attempt to employ the constructivism of Alexander Wendt to understand ethnic conflicts in South Asia. The article surveys the theoretical literature on constructivism to create a set of propositions regarding ethnic conflicts and attempts to test these propositions for several of South Asia's ethnic conflicts. The article argues that ethnic conflicts are essentially identity conflicts in which the definition or construction of threats, enemies and friends plays a pivotal role. Ethnic conflicts evolve according to how identities are defined, the definitions being predicated on the material condition facing the communities themselves in relation to the manifest practices of the state. In contrast to realist discourses that see only endless conflicts and an invariable security dilemma for groups, and liberalism that defines ethnic peace (or conflict) in terms of transaction costs and utility calculations, the constructivist reading of ethnicity enables International Relations to interrogate ethnicity in cultural-ideational terms. By using constructivist propositions to a select set of ethnic conflicts in South Asia, the article attempts to explain the salience of ethnicity as a pervasive mode of conflict in the subcontinent.

Resistance, essentialism, and empowerment in black nationalist discourse in the African Diaspora: A comparison of the back to Africa, black power, and rastafari movements

The mobilization of ethnicity entails the production of culture—a process involving the interweaving of culture, history and identity, and the manipulation of cultural symbols to reconstruct and reshape conceptions of self and community. The shifting character and salience of ethnicity as demonstrated in the Back to Africa, Black Power, and Rastafari movements point to the flexibility of culture and identity. In demonstrating the interrelationships among activism, identity and culture and their impact on the creation of new and revitalized ethno-racial identities in the African-Caribbean Diaspora, all three movements allowed their socially dispossessed and culturally displaced adherents to be active social actors and knowledgeable agents capable of making their own history. This paper takes issue with the black cultural nationalists’ deployment of a “race-culture” essentialist discourse to: (i) frame notions of difference vis-a-vis the Other; and (ii) “imagine” and homogenize blackness so as to produce ethno-racial solidarity in the minds of the disenfranchised.

The persistence of white ethnicity in New England politics

There was a consensus among earlier students of New England politics that the political influence of European ancestry was fading by the latter half of the 20th century. We examine this proposition in recent times by exploring the role of ethnic ancestry in explaining the political divide in the region’s presidential voting in over 1500 New England towns. Contrary to earlier predictions, ethnic origin does retain some explanatory power in models of recent voting behavior, and ethnic cleavages have not been entirely replaced by economic divisions in the electorate. Although the settlement patterns of the more established and numerous nationality groups (i.e. Irish and Italians) are less associated with partisanship than they were 50 years ago, the political salience of white ethnicity persists, suggesting that ethnic groups do not simply dealign or politically ‘‘assimilate’’ over time. Some groups maintain a strong identity in spite of upward mobility because movement from city to suburbs is selected not just on housing, income or school characteristics, as is usually the case, but on ethnicity too. Towns with significant concentrations of specific European ancestry groups lean Republican, even after we have accounted for the presence of other sources of political leaning and past voting tendencies, while Democratic attachments are undeniably strong in towns where the newer immigrant groups have settled. The ‘‘new ethnicity’’ (i.e. racial minorities) and the ‘‘old ethnicity’’ (i.e. white ethnics) clearly carry distinct political implications for this region’s presidential politics. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Insight into ethnic flux: marriage patterns among Jews of mixed ancestry in Israel.

Increases in ethnic and racial intermarriage in immigrant countries have led to growing proportions of persons of mixed ancestry and backgrounds. The marriage patterns of these persons both reflect and affect the salience and meaning of current forms of ethnicity and race in these societies. This article analyzes the marriage behavior of children of ethnically mixed unions in the Jewish population of Israel. Among persons of mixed ancestry, educational attainment plays a large role in whether they marry Ashkenazim or less economically advantaged Mizrahim. Such patterns suggest that intermarriage in Israel does not necessarily reduce ethnic differences in socioeconomic status or the salience of ethnicity among disadvantaged groups.

‘They are more like us’: The salience of ethnicity in the global workplace of Korean transnational ­corporations

This article examines how ethnicity becomes salient in the new global workplace and the ways in which co-ethnic ties can have contradictory consequences in the context of global capitalism. Specifically, I look at the workplace relationships between Korean immigrant, white-collar employees and their Korean national managers in Korean transnational corporations [TNCs] in the United States. My findings indicate that, while globalization unites Koreans and Korean Americans and promotes solidarity between them, it also fosters a workplace environment where distinctions between the two groups are more sharply drawn than in other settings. In workplaces where the hierarchy is built on ethnicity and managers and workers share the same ethnic culture, ethnicity is used to interpret work practices, including biased organizational practices. I describe aspects of the corporate structure that lead to a focus on ethnicity rather than on other qualities. I demonstrate how ethnicity becomes not only the basis for the construction of difference in this context but also the rationale for biased organizational practices and limited opportunities for advancement.

From Caliphate To Protectorate: Ethnicity And The Colonial Sabon Gari System In Northern Nigeria

From Caliphate To Protectorate: Ethnicity And The Colonial Sabon Gari System In Northern Nigeria Lamont King Even with the conceptual shift from tribe to ethnic group by Africanists in the post-independence period, pre-colonial African polities have seldom been offered as models of political and economic integration. The territorially defined state, that assimilates members of different ethnic groups who acknowledge the legitimacy of its sovereignty, is a concept usually reserved for the modern nation-state. This state is said to have emerged in Europe during the nineteenth century, as a result of some combination of the development of capitalism, increased state surveillance, and the ideology of citizenship derived from the experiences of the French Revolution.1 This paper is a first step in challenging this perspective. It shows that the Hausa states of pre-colonial northern Nigeria were multi-ethnic polities in which ethnic identity was secondary to territorial identity. Ethnic diversity, within clearly demarcated state boundaries, was not a disruptive factor in the development of the Hausa states, either before or after their incorporation into the Sokoto Caliphate. The salience of ethnicity in northern Nigeria was, however, affected by British colonization. Consequently, the primary focus of this essay is on Indirect Rule and the attendant development of a colonial urban administration that separated southerners from northerners, privileging those with western education and, as a corollary, contributing to Hausa ethnic identification. Kasar Hausa The territory from the Ahir mountains in the north to the Jos plateau in the south, and from the border of the ancient Bornu Kingdom in the East to the Niger Valley in the west, was simply called Kasar Hausa — the country of the Hausa language. The term Hausa referred only to the mother tongue of the inhabitants of the territory; it appeared as the ethnic name for the people of this territory in the written Arabic sources only in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Until that time, these peoples were known by the names of their particular cities or kingdom.2 The cities of the Kasar Hausa were religious, administrative, and commercial centers distinct from, if closely dependent on, the rural areas around them. The city, with its walls, moat, market, and mosque for Friday prayers, was a corporate unit with a pronounced identity above that of its component lineage and occupational groups. A hierarchy of age-grades enhanced this urban cohesion. The town heads consulted the elders on major matters affecting the town. The adults and youth were the labor and defense forces; they were also mobilized for the maintenance of walls, the building of the market, mosques, and other communal facilities. The youth also came together for circumcision, games, harvests, and religious festivals.3 Consequently, we can obtain an accurate, if somewhat complex, picture of Kasar Hausa prior to the Sokoto Jihad only if we acknowledge that there were other categories, such as age grade, land, and occupation that intersected and often transcended ethnic and religious identification. It is also important to remember that as early as the fifteenth century centralized states emerged around the walled cities that had become important commercial centers in Kasar Hausa. The most prominent of these were Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Gobir. Because of this urban orientation scholars have often characterized these polities as city-states.4 However, the Hausa states contained numerous urban centers that assimilated immigrants of diverse origin to become Katsinawa, Kanawa, etc. (people of Katsina, Kano etc.). The pastoralist Fulbe (Fulani in the Hausa language), who had spread from Futa Toro across much of the West African savanna, were among the most significant of these groups. Immigrants from Ahir in the north and Bornu in the east had also been moving into the area for centuries. However, the great ethnically diverse cities, like Katsina, Kano, and Zaria that resulted from this immigration, did not dominate the economies of their polities. They were, quite simply, the capitals and the largest cities in the kingdoms. There were cities and towns that were older than these capitals; cities that had their own civic consciousness and that had established strong economic and cultural relations with other settlements outside of their respective kingdoms.5 Moreover, these kingdoms...

Guess who's coming to therapy? Getting comfortable with conversations about race and ethnicity in psychotherapy.

The ability to conduct psychotherapy effectively with racially and ethnically diverse populations is becoming increasingly important given the changing demographics of this country. Recent estimates of population trends suggest that by the year 2050, non-Hispanic Caucasian Americans will constitute approximately 50% of the United States population, as compared with the current 72% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). The American Psychological Association (APA) has recognized the critical nature of integrating issues of race and ethnicity into the field of psychology by encouraging attention to these issues in clinical training programs (APA, Committee on Accreditation, 2002), creating therapist competency guidelines for working with racial and ethnic minority populations (APA, 1993), and sponsoring professional meetings to identify strategies to promote sensitivity to diversity in psychology (McGuire, 1999). It is likely that most clinical psychologists have acquired an intellectual appreciation of the salience of race and ethnicity in the

They are more like us: The salience of ethnicity in the global workplace of Korean transnational corporations

They are more like us: The salience of ethnicity in the global workplace of Korean transnational corporations

A Comparative Analysis of Political Parties in Kenya, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo

This article compares the characteristics and development of the main political parties of Kenya, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, starting from their independence in the 1960s up to the late 1990s. It offers an exploratory analysis of the differences and similarities that might have led to the, more or less, successful establishment of political parties and democratic regimes in these countries. The parties are compared along four dimensions: colonial heritage, the saliency of ethnicity, political communication between the party elite and the periphery, and their link to civil society. The study shows that the development of national parties at the time of independence was severely hindered by the colonizers. The inherited political structures encouraged the exploitation of both ethnic and regional links and further strengthened patronage networks. But also in more recent years, political leaders have used ethnicity as a strategic tool to strengthen their position in power. The comparative analysis shows that in those countries in which ethnicity was most salient, political parties were less democratic and less favourable for democratization. The analysis also highlights that the country with the least active political communication had the most difficult path towards a multiparty system. Finally, the article suggests that a civil society that is truly independent from the government, and incorporates powerful players in urban areas, is most likely to contribute to the development of a competitive party system.

Daily variation in ethnic identity, ethnic behaviors, and psychological well-being among American adolescents of Chinese descent.

This study examined the links among Chinese American adolescents' (N = 96) global ethnic identity and their ethnic behaviors, ethnic identity salience, and psychological well-being based on daily diaries collected over a 2-week period. The daily association between engagement in ethnic behaviors and ethnic salience was positive regardless of overall ethnic identity. The daily-level association between ethnic identity salience and well-being, however, was dependent on adolescents' global ethnic identity. Among adolescents who were moderate or high in global ethnic identity, ethnic identity salience was consistently associated with positive well-being at the daily level. In contrast, the daily association between ethnic identity salience and well-being was less strong for youths who were low in ethnic identity. Additionally, a higher level of salience and a weaker association between salience and negative symptoms was found for girls than for boys, and older youths reported a weaker association between salience and positive symptoms than did younger youths.

From Politics to Economics at the Thai–Cambodian Border: Plus Ça Change...

This paper looks at border relations between Thais and Cambodians over the last thirty years, in the context of the developing Thai polity and economy. It considers the salience of both ethnicity and nationality in shaping Thai interactions with Khmers. It suggests that as the threat of violent regional conflict diminished, the shared border came to represent important economic opportunities for both Thais and Cambodians. However, rhetorics of “national interest” and “regional development” notwithstanding, the beneficiaries of this transnational trade are neither nation nor state, but specific interest groups working through the structures of government and military on both sides of the border.

Ethnicity, assimilation and nation in plural Suriname

Suriname is a developing nation with a colonial legacy of ethnic division and cultural dependence. The post-1945 urbanization of the Surinamese population ushered in new dynamics in ethnicity and assimilation. In the urban context, ethnicity emerged as a pre-eminent organizer of society. However, in this context, assimilation to the unique, evolving Surinamese-Dutch culture is on the rise, signalling a shift from a linguistically and culturally fragmented polity to a linguistically and culturally integrated nation. This article examines the role of ethnicity and assimilation, with particular attention paid to reactive ethnicity and segmented assimilation, on the formation of Suriname as a culturally integrated national entity. The mode of incorporation of each ethnic group into Surinamese society, as well as the economic and demographic strength of each group condition both the salience of group ethnicity and the patterns of group assimilation. The different ethnic groups of Suriname, by subscribing to a common, ethnically neutral lingua franca, have partially overcome traditional cultural and linguistic divisions to form a multi-ethnic national culture. However, historically grounded and persistent ethnic divisions embedded in the nation's institutions continue to preclude ethnic harmony and equitable national development.

Forever foreigners or honorary whites?: the Asian ethnic experience today

book is a major contribution to Asian American studies because she lets her respondents speak...Her thesis is clear: that no matter where Asian Americans go they cannot hide from their race and ethnicity. In addition, Tuan provides a picture to how a pan-ethnic Asian American cultural experience emerges not from a common cultural tradition, but through a common experience of racialization. Tuan's book is essential reading for those that conduct research and teach on the experiences of American born Asians.-Journal of Asian American Studies Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites? informs the reader of the racialized ethnic experiences as felt and lived by third-plus-generation Chinese and Japanese Americans and California. To question the plethora of 'ethnic options' for Asian Americans, Tuan opens the book with one of the most alarming examples-the Ito D'Amato incident-that blatantly denigrates Americans of Asian descent as 'foreigners.'...the analytical contrast between modernizers and traditionalists provides a consistent integrating theme that enhances the book's usefulness in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses. -Social Forces Tuan investigates the role of ethnicity in the lives of later-generation Asian Americans. As the title suggests, the study engages the debate over the applicability of the white ethnic assimilation paradigm in addressing the experiences of racialized ethnic minorities. Tuan concludes that Asian Americans can choose the cultural practices and values they wish to maintain in their private lives but cannot escape identification in ethnic and racial terms when in public...Tuan's study allows later-generation Asian Americans to convey their experiences. Their stories and opinions provide an understanding of the changes occurring in one segment of contemporary Asian America.-Journal of American Ethnic History A compelling account of the ongoing acculturation of West Coast Asian Americans and their continuing experience of racism. Mia Tuan uses her sociological skills to paint a disturbing portrait of the hidden and not-so-hidden injuries of race suffered by Californians who have been here form many generations, as well as an early warning of what the future might hold for some of our newest immigrants. -Herbert Gans, Roberts S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, Columbia University This well-written book advances our understanding of the changing and situational construction of American and ethnic identities by exploring the ways in which multigenerational Asian Americans constitute, express, and transform their identities. -Yen Le Espiritu, author of Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love What does it mean to be an Asian American in the United States today? Are Asian Americans considered honorary whites or forever thought of as foreigners? Mia Tuan examines the salience and meaning of ethnicity for later generation Chinese and Japanese Americans, and asks how their concepts of ethnicity differ from that of white ethnic Americans. She interviewed 95 middle-class Chinese and Japanese Californians and analyzes the importance of ethnic identities and the concept of becoming a real American for both Asian and white ethnics. She asks her subjects about their . early memories and experiences with Chinese/Japanese culture; . current lifestyle and emerging cultural practices; . experiences with racism and discrimination; and their . attitudes toward current Asian immigration. Mia Tuan is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oregon.

The Structure of Ethnic Identity of Young Adolescents from Diverse Ethnocultural Groups

The purpose for this study was to examine the structure and construct validity of a measure of ethnic identity among young adolescents from diverse ethnic groups. Students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (N = 5,423) from diverse ethnic groups completed the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), measures of psychological well-being and a measure of salience of ethnicity. Factor analyses of data for the three largest ethnic groups (European American, African American, Mexican American) yielded a two-factor structure that corresponded to two theoretical approaches to ethnic identity, as hypothesized. Similar patterns in magnitude of loadings were observed across groups, indicating that the MEIM could be used as a global composite index of ethnic identity. Ethnic identity was related positively to measures of psychological well-being such as coping ability, mastery, self-esteem and optimism, and negatively to measures of loneliness and depression. MEIM scores also were moderately strong and positive with salience (the importance of a person’s own ethnic background in his or her life), across ethnic groups.

Abba, Father

The use of “inclusive language” in Christian discourse poses the question of whether gender is theologically salient in the sense of either revealing theologically significant differences between men and women or prescribing different roles for them. Donald Hook and Alvin Kimel claim to “demonstrate that the divine title “‘Father’...possesses privileged and foundational status within Christian discourse” and that alternative nomenclature, specifically the use of “Mother,” is illegitimate. They argue that this result follows from the fact that Jesus authoritatively invoked God as “Abba” or Father together with a causal account of reference according to which current attempts to invoke or refer to God do so to the extent that they figure on a causal chain which originates in Jesus’ authoritative act of dubbing. Their arguments however presuppose an untenable version of the causal theory of reference as well as questionable assumptions about Jesus’ intention in invoking God as “Abba” which imply that gender is theologically salient. Arguably both conservative views about the significance of gender and allegedly progressive doctrines about the theological salience of gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation are contrary to the radical, countercultural teaching of the Gospel that in Christ there is no male or female, Greek or Jew, slave or free man. I Hook and Kimel argue that “we name God ‘Father’ because, and only because, we are instructed to do by the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.”2 On their account, Jesus decisively fixes the privileged mode of nomenclature by invoking God as “Father” and this mode of address passes down a causal denoting chain maintained by the Church so that “if we wish to invoke God or refer to him successfully, we rightly return to the ecclesial d-chain. It is the historical community of the Church that equips us to name God truly...for reference to be successful there really must be a path leading back to the object.”3 Hook and Kimel claim that their thesis does not presuppose any additional controversial views about the nature of gender but comes solely from the authoritative utterance of Jesus as mediated through Scripture and the Tradition of the Church: When God is identified as Father, the model of fatherhood is proposed as a paradigm by which deity is to be interpreted. Because the mode of presentation is metaphorical, such usage commits one to saying that God both is like and is not like a human father in specific ways....By this metaphorical presentation biological sex and cultural stereotyping may be excluded from our understanding of deity.4 Hook and Kimel suggest that Jesus’ invocation of God as “Father” is revelatory as well as authoritative: “kinship terms of address...spoken within the familial relationship” are especially apt in revealing the nature of our relationship to God in Christ.5 “Father,” they argue, enjoys a privileged status that other kinship terms, including “Mother,” do not in light of the following considerations: