Social Identity and Social Location Analysis Education Essay

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Running head: SOCIAL IDENTITY & SOCIAL LOCATION

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Social Identity & Social Location: A Narrative
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SOCIAL IDENTITY & SOCIAL LOCATION

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Social Identity & Social Location: A Narrative


1. Introduction
The questions of identity and location are easier answered for a distant, researchable subject. To be a subject of identity and location self-inquiry is at best hard and at worst biased. Blinded by a string of biases – more so if belonging to a privileged class, race, gender, and/or sexual orientation – I find my current story of my social identity and social location is only an initial attempt of understanding – of self and society. This story, embedded in identity politics and social research, is rooted in a complex web of social interactions in a given local community I have grown up in and, broadly, in Canada at large. The experience of a new, non-white, non-English speaking, immigrant is, perhaps, an experience I connect to yet I do not practically share. Moreover, changing gender, sexual orientation and/or experiencing a growing inequality arising from an income gap and/or social marginalization are still experiences I connect to yet I do not practically share, either.
In Canada, just as immigrant-receiving countries, social identity and social location are inseparable from an original heritage, distant or fresh, defining an individual’s, a community’s and/or a social group’s experience not once yet for generations to come. To grow up white in an all white province in Canada is, historically, a privilege, white privilege. In earlier decades, white privilege – my white privilege – used to be accepted for granted and even more so flashed as a badge of honor. Today, identity and location are issues of intense review. The growing demands to restore rights – to land, language, lifestyle and more – to native and immigrant populations usher in an irreversible pattern of social identity and social location entitlements. Privileged, white and female, I find myself – just as all similarly privileged souls in Canada – experiencing a
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new sense of identity and location reorientation as new claims on different identities and locations continue to inform old, established ones. To put matters into perspective, a hard look at, or perhaps forward to, Canada’s response to and understanding of identity, power, privilege and meritocracy, race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation is required. This story, my story, of social identity and social location is, accordingly, a personal narrative embedded in a grand Canadian narrative of identity, power, privilege and meritocracy, race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
Identity is paradoxical. I identify as white and female (or white female?). In Canada, just as in immigrant receiving countries, identity is instantly recognizable by color, race, accent, social segment and, perhaps, zip code. To live in a sea of whiteness (I do) could blind one into different seas of browns, blacks, and yellows (or, as in more “progressive” socially mixed communities, a combination of all). For centuries, immigrants in Canada have grappled with mutiple identities at home, school, work and public social space. Predictably enough, first generation immigrants report more conflicted, monocultural and alternating identities compared to more complementary and hybrid identities of second generation immigrants (Comănaru, Noels
* Dewaele, 2018). That is, moving into a new society is not equal to being born into a new one. The identity fresh immigrants have developed elsewhere is, should a wide cultural gap exists, problematic in a new society accepting as “full members” only “native” citizens. Unsurprisingly, a multiplicity of identities is shown to develop psychological well-being among immigrants in Canada (Berry & Hou, 2019). Moreover, a positive perception of social identity, particularly among younger populations, is shown to a greater appreciation of self-worth, development of a
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sense of commitment and a readiness to contribute more effort (Martin et al., 2018). To grow up white and female in all white province might not, accordingly, be a great internal motivation to do more, much less to act under a constant pressure of and in response to an “alien” social space. Thinking of social identity, I can barely remember to have experienced a sense of stigma, not to mention a need to develop mutiple identities, to cope, integrate and fit in. Perhaps protected by a white privilege, I have to accept – uncritically – my given social identity for years only to open up to new public experiences of identity change and management in a Canada gradually replacing white by a new social identity mix. The social and psychological stressors immigrants have long experienced due to cultural adaptation processes appear to shift grounds to a once privileged social identity I am (used to be?) part of.
3. Power
Typically, power evokes a Foucauldian discussion of power relations. That is, relationships among a given community are, in a substantial body of literature, are informed by Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of power and power relations. Instead, I do not aim just as high yet only scan current power relations, in so far as my experience and extant literature allows, in order to situate myself at some point of Canada’s political, economic and social power structures.
Politically, Canada is still governed by an established white culture. True, political representations appear to cater for different political needs expressed by Canada’s diverse political segments. However, minorities – including, yet not limited to, non-white immigrants, indigenous peoples and vulnerable populations – are largely under radar and underrepresented in any practical sense of genuine democratic representation. The emergence of coalition magnets,
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i.e. centers of power offering underrepresented social segments more opportunities for political representation, is, accordingly, one response to Canada’s current establishment-centered political system (Béland & Cox, 2016). Female and white, I find myself largely addressed by Canada’s political establishment's discourse. Despite not necessarily having all my political needs met, I am at a power relations position, politically, far superior to a vast majority of native and immigrant communities struggling to find a representative political voice.
Economically, Canada is a resource-rich country. The abundance of Canada’s resource might presume equitable distribution. Unfortunately, Canada – just as all resource-rich, developed countries – experiences a distribution and access inequality challenges. Most primarily, access to Canada’s natural ecosystems is governed less by historical claims to lands (such as in case of indigenous populations) and more by striking power imbalances making access exclusive to certain political/economic/social segments (Berbés-Blázquez, González & Pascual, 2016). Despite having no direct involvement, I enjoy Canada’s privileged distribution of resources being a member of a white social segment addressed by country’s most powerful, political and economically, establishment.
Socially, Canada’s decades-long multiculturalism polices have presumed equitable and fair share for all in country’s social and economic welfare. The cross-fertilization of Canada’s government, economic institutions and social organizations appears to emphasize a public policy catering for genuine cross-cultural management at individual, organizational and social levels. In practice, however, Canada’s cross-cultural management efforts are deeply rooted in power relations informed by existing political, economic and social structures (Primecz, Mahadevan & Romani, 2016). This is, perhaps, most evident among more vulnerable social segments exposed to several
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institutionalized risks exacerbated by Canada's cross-cultural management policies defined more by underlying power relations and less by actual and, necessarily different, needs of more marginalized social segments. The social violence and evictions among women who use drugs in Vancouver is a case in point (Collins et al., 2018). This is perhaps, put more succinctly, as follows:
Findings underscore how gendered violence and forms of socia...