OSP: Paul Gilroy - Postcolonial theory and diasporic identity

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

Gilroy would argue that race makes the identity of oppressors and the oppressed seem fixed and uniform; that racial categories are caused by human interactions and as such those categories are subject to change. Around the world structures of political and social life have been constructed under race thinking. As Gilroy sees race as a result of racism, the fact that these aspects of society are based upon race thinking is problematic, and as such there is scope to evaluate the equality of representations and identities created in the media.

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

Gilroy is saying that racism isn’t caused by race, racism causes race. Racism is not caused by the clash of two or more races – racism is not a natural phenomenon. Instead, Gilroy states that racial difference and racial identities are the product of racial oppression. Racial identities are caused by historical conflicts that have brought different groups into opposition. That is not to say that there were no human

differences before historical conflict between different groups; different human groups existed but their differences were not defined by ‘race’ lines. After the Renaissance, lines of race were established as a useful way to legitimise oppression (the slave trade reflected the European perspective that their ‘race’ was superior to those whom they enslaved, and as such it was acceptable for less intelligent, less moral races to be taken as slaves for Europeans).

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

Ethnic absolutism is a line of thinking which sees humans are part of different ethnic compartments, with race as the basis of human differentiation. Gilroy is opposed to ethnic absolutism as it is counter to his argument that racism causes race. Compromising your ethnic group would, for an ethnic absolutist, be against natural order and risk the future existence of that ethnic group. Gilroy identifies with a position that is opposite to ethnic absolutist compartments.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

He considers a transatlantic diasporic identity, where groups across the Atlantic share cultural practices – a “single, complex unit” of black cultural practitioners as a result of a shared history of oppression and slavery. Gilroy sees black identities as a product of movement – the African diasporic identity is based on routes taken throughout history, and not the roots of origin. Gilroy sees this as a diaspora that cannot be reversed, unlike the classic position which offers the myth of returning to the place of origin. For Gilroy, the Black Atlantic diaspora is irreversible because the experience of slavery irrevocably changed the diasporic identity. It cannot be ‘rewound’ to a state of cultural purity and cannot return to Africa as the place of origin has changed – the place of origin doesn’t exist as it did before diaspora.

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

At the time, the dominant representation of black Britons was as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation.” As such, to accept the role of slavery into the cultural identities of Britain would be to challenge the negative stereotype of black Britons at the time, and reverse the “external and estranged” relationship with the nation.

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

Diaspora challenges national ideologies, through the commitment and loyalty to the origin nation or place. However, diasporic identities can also become trapped within a national ideology; diasporic cultural ideologies and practices exist within a national ideology based upon its social, economic and cultural integrations and as such there is a cultural difference with the diasporic identities. This difference becomes associated with minority groups and a cultural tension occurs. This tension between the national ideology and the diasporic ideologies helps to create the diasporic identity. Negative experiences of exclusion, exposure to regressive ideologies and marginalisation will also create an identity which is then shared within the diasporic community and perhaps from the origin country.

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

Diasporic communities heavily rely on digital media, especially social media, to stay connected to their cultural identity. For example, people from the South Asian diaspora will use the Internet and social media to stay connected to the community from their home country that they were part of, and to access news sources to stay updated on current events in their home country. 

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

Gilroy also argues the importance of slavery to modernity and capitalism. The modern world was built upon a normalised view of slavery, particularly plantation slavery. Slavery was only rejected when it was revealed as incompatible with enlightened rationality and capitalist production. Gilroy argues that the figure of the black slave provided enlightened thinkers and philosophers an insight into concepts of property rights, consciousness and art.

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

The media will offer a range of representations for various groups. However, these are often limited from some groups more than others. The dominant representations of black males, primarily in the US, is either a rapper, criminal or gang member, or an athlete. These representations then serve to reinforce the double consciousness of the black male, that he is not anything more than what he sees in the media.

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.

The trailer for Hidden Figures successfully subverts common racial stereotypes through its representations of African American women. The trailer begins by establishing the intelligence and mathematical aptitude of the protagonists, a trait which is often overshadowed both in Black characters and women and girls in media, challenging the intersectional prejudice that Black women often face in real life and in their media representations, known as misogynoir. Double consciousness is prevented through the trailer by also portraying the reality of African American women facing discrimination in industries that are part of STEM, due to the nature of their work forces being dominated by white men, especially for the time.