Identity and Society

8/18/2019 Identity and Society

1/10

IDENTITY AND SOCIETY

Overview: Students read and discuss three passages that address the

role of identity in forming our understanding of ourselves and our role

in society, especially in relation to the events of September 11, 2001.

Reading 1: he !ndividual "nd Society: #hoosing o $articipate

includes a profile of %uslim activist "sama &han.

Reading 2: %ultiple !dentities includes writings by economist and

humanitarian "martya Sen.

Reading ': " (ision of the )orld uses an allegory by %oroccan

scholar *atima %ernissi for reflection.


Reading 1: The Individual And Society: Choosing To

Particiate

!n the aftermath of the September 11th attac+s on the nited States there was an outpouring of

support for the families and victims of the atrocities. $eople around the country donated food,

blood and money. Some -ew or+ers found that participating in recovery efforts became a

way to cope with their grief and sorrow. *or %uslims living in -ew or+ there was anadditional burden, in the flash of anger that followed the attac+s, many found their loyalties

/uestioned. "sama &han discovered that the best way for her contribute was by embracing

her multiple identities as a %uslim, a -ew or+er, a lawyer, and someone who cares deeply

about human rights. ess than a wee+ after the attac+s, &han and several friends and

colleagues formed the group %uslims "gainst errorism with the hope that education can

help to prevent future attac+s and an unending cycle of hate.

Reporter Robin *inn wrote a profile of &han that appeared in The New York Times. !n the

article &han tal+s about how the attac+s on September 11th influenced the way she thought

about her identity:

%s. &hans identity was in flu, even before the events of Sept. 11 transformed her from a

citified, -ew "ge %uslim who shopped at !+ea, s+ated in #entral $ar+ and made profitable

use of her law degree as a pro3ect4finance associate at #hadbourne 5 $ar+, to an angrily

articulate advocate intent on disproving any lin+ between !slam and the fugitive who

dominates her nightmares, Osama bin aden.

6! dont want to see this religion used by "l 7aeda and Osama to 3ustify mass murder sprees.

!ts unacceptable,6 she says, agitation evident in her clenched fists. 6!ts li+e our religion was

hi3ac+ed,6 she adds an observation shed li+e to ta+e credit for but attributes to a #alifornia4

based imam, 8am9a usuf.

http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#1http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#2http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#3http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#2http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#3http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#1


2/10

On the morning of the attac+, %s. &han was alone in her brothers apartment, having not yet

preceded her furniture into this one, preparing to hit the gym with a friend from awia, the

informal !slamic study group, whose focus is intellectual, not political, that she 3oined after

being unable to find a mos/ue that fit her needs.

he friend phoned and instructed her to turn on the television; she did, 3ust in time to see thesecond plane hit, and remembered her brothers law firm did occasional business at the )orld

rade #enter.


3/10

6" Faughter of !slam, an Gnemy of error6 by Robin *inn, New York Times, Oct. 2H, 2001,

%etro Section.

Connections

1. ?elow is an identity chart for a 8igh School student from the nited States. *or ideas

on how to use identity charts refer to the *acing 8istory and Ourselves website

www.facinghistory.org.

. !n the wa+e of the September attac+s, hate crimes and bias incidents against %uslims

have spi+ed, at the same time bias incidents against Lews are also on the rise. )hat is the role

of activists, such as "sama &han, in responding to the incidentsC )hat is the role of

politicians and community leadersC )hat is the role of ordinary individuals in respondingC

M. o learn more about how one community responded to a series hate crimes watch the

video Not in Our Town with your class.

E. &han and her colleagues at %uslims "gainst errorism have spo+en to %uslims andnon4%uslims about violence perpetrated by those claiming to spea+ for !slam as well as

http://www.facinghistory.org/http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#_ftn1http://www.facinghistory.org/http://www.hrusa.org/september/activities/identityandsociety.htm#_ftn1


4/10

violence directed at %uslims and people who been identified as "rab or %uslim. )hy is it

important that they address bothC

D. o learn more about %uslims "gainst errorism and their attempts to brea+ the cycle of

violence, visit their web site. http:NNwww.matusa.org.

10. Research other educational efforts to bring people of diverse bac+grounds together to

prevent terrorism and a violent bac+lash against %uslims. )hat strategies do the groups

employC

#opyright: *acing 8istory and Ourselves, 2002.

IDENTITY AND SOCIETYReading !: "ultile Identities

Gconomist and humanitarian, "martya Sen writes about his multiple

identities. 8e believes 6the main hope of harmony lies not in any imagined uniformity, but in

the plurality of our identities.6 Sen uses his own

identity to illustrate his point, 6! can be at the same time an "sian, an

!ndian citi9en, a .S. resident, a ?ritish academic, a ?engali with

?angladeshi ancestry, a graduate of two colleges in two different countries, an atheist with a

8indu bac+ground, a non4?rahmin, an economist, a researcher and teacher in philosophy, a

Sans+ritist, a married man, a feminist, a defender of gay rights, a non4believer in after4life and

also before4life, and a non4believer also in fre/uent visits by etra4terrestrial aliens in austere

spaceships, but a believer in the view that if such aliens do eist, they ought to ma+e their

spaceships a lot 3ollier and more colorful.6 *rom http:NNwww.bu.eduNpardeeNnewsNlecture.html

"fter September 11th, in an attempt to understand the hatred and violence, many people found

themselves trapped by labels, which Sen believes, reduce comple ideas and identities andthereby often obscuring what is really important.

o tal+ about 6the !slamic world6 or 6the )estern world6 is already to adopt an impoverished

vision of humanity as unalterably divided. !n fact, civili9ations are hard to partition in this

way, given the diversities within each society as well as the lin+ages among different

countries and cultures. *or eample, describing !ndia as a 68indu civili9ation6 misses the fact

that !ndia has more %uslims than any other country ecept !ndonesia and possibly $a+istan. !t

is futile to try to understand !ndian art, literature, music, food or politics without seeing the

etensive interactions across barriers of religious communities. hese include 8indus and

%uslims, ?uddhists, Lains, Si+hs, $arsees, #hristians


5/10

than eists in any other classical language. Spea+ing of !ndia as a 8indu civili9ation may be

comforting to the 8indu fundamentalist, but it is an odd reading of !ndiaC

Fividing the world into discrete civili9ations is not 3ust crude. !t propels us into the absurd

belief that this partitioning is natural and necessary and must overwhelm all other ways of

identifying people. hat imperious view goes not only against the sentiment that 6we human beings are all much the same,6 but also against the more plausible understanding that we are

diversely different. *or eample, ?angladeshs split from $a+istan was not connected with

religion, but with language and politics.

Gach of us has many features in our self4conception. Our religion, important as it may be,

cannot be an all4 engulfing identity. Gven a shared poverty can be a source of solidarity across

the borders. he +ind of division highlighted by, say, the so4called 6antiglobali9ation6

protesters 4 whose movement is, incidentally, one of the most globali9ed in the world 4 tries to

unite the underdogs of the world economy and goes firmly against religious, national or

6civili9ational6 lines of division.

he main hope of harmony lies not in any imagined uniformity, but in the plurality of our

identities, which cut across each other and wor+ against sharp divisions into impenetrable

civili9ational camps. $olitical leaders who thin+ and act in terms of sectioning off humanity

into various 6worlds6 stand to ma+e the world more flammable 4 even when their intentions

are very different. hey also end up, in the case of civili9ations defined by religion, lending

authority to religious leaders seen as spo+esmen for their 6worlds.6 !n the process, other

voices are muffled and other concerns silenced. he robbing of our plural identities not only

reduces us; it impoverishes the world.

Gcerpted from 6" )orld -ot -eatly Fivided6 by "martrya Sen, New York Times, -ovember

2', 2001, op4ed.

Connections

1. 8ow do uneamined ideas about human difference become categories and labels that

define a persons worth to societyC

2. 8ow do Sens comments influence the way you thin+ about groups, nations andindividualsC Fo groups themselves have identitiesC !f so, how do they develop their identityC

8ow does a society decide which differences matterC

'. #reate an identity chart for "martya Sen. )hat groups does he belong toC

@. #reate an identity for yourself. )hat groups do you belong toC #reate an identity chart

for yourself. #ompare and contrast your identity chart with others members of the class so

that you can see the multiple identities and the varieties of ways people epress who they are.

"fter sharing your identity charts, are there other categories you would now want to add to

your chartC )hich labels do others use to categori9e youC 8ow does group membershipinfluence your individual identityC


6/10

)hen do you choose to emphasi9e one facet of your identity over anotherC )hat influences

those choicesC )hat are the conse/uences of those decisionsC

#an you create an identity chart for a communityC #ultureC #ivili9ationC

H. "ccording "martya Sen the 6main hope of harmony lies not in any imagined uniformity, but in the plurality of our identities, which cut across each other and wor+ against sharp

divisions into impenetrable civili9ational camps.6 Sen suggests that we need to wor+ to avoid

sharp divisions and wor+ towards accepting multiple interpretations and perspectives of

identity. )hy is that hardC !s it a +ind of toleranceC )hat happens if we failC

>. Revisit your definition for the words culture and civilization. 8ow has Sens article

influenced your thin+ingC "re there values and roles shared by cultures all over the worldC

M. $sychologist Feborah annen writes, 6)e all +now we are uni/ue individuals, but we

tend to see others as representatives of groups. !ts a natural tendency, since we must see the

world in patterns in order to ma+e sense of it; we wouldnt be able to deal with the dailyonslaught of people and ob3ects if we couldnt predict a lot about them and feel that we +now

who and what they are. ?ut this natural and useful ability to see patterns of similarity has

unfortunate conse/uences. !t is offensive to reduce and identity to a category, and its also

misleading.6

Aive eamples of the ways that generali9ing can be useful. Aive eamples

of its 6unfortunate conse/uences.6 8ow do Sens comments support annens observationC

E. 8istory teaches us to ta+e seriously the dangers of using stereotypes to define others. "t

what point do physical and social differences become social and political divisions that effect

what we believe is possible for ourselves and othersC

D. %any scholars believe that national borders mean less and less as the world becomes

increasingly interconnected. Foes that mean nationality is a less important mar+er of

identityC Foes it mean the oppositeC

10. $rofessor 8enry ouis Aates argues that rigorous multiculturalism and encouraging

diversity can help steer a society away from the dangers of 6ethnic absolution6C Fo you

agreeC )hat does he mean by rigorous multiculturalismC )hat is toleranceC )hat is

intoleranceC

o the eacher: his reading may be used with 6ittle ?oes6 in #hapter 1 of Facing History

and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior .

*or further eploration of difference and how it effects membership in society refer Facing

History and Ourselves: Race and Memershi! in "merican History: he Gugenics %ovement.



7/10


Reading #: A $ision o% the &orld

!n the aftermath of the September 11th atrocities many scholars have commented that states

and nations have become less important. )hat do we need to live in a world where, as

$olitical Scientist ?en3amin ?arber notes, 6it could hardly escape even casual observers that

global warming recogni9es no sovereign territory, that "!FS carries no passport, that

technology renders national borders meaningless, that the internet defies regulation, that oil

and cocaine addiction circle the planet li+e twin plagues.6 !n 1DED, aware of increasing

interdependence, $rofessors &wame "nthony "ppiah and 8enry ouis Aates, Lr. began a

pro3ect that would eventually become he Fictionary of Alobal #ulture. hrough their wor+,

they hoped to e/uip students of the world with the necessary vocabulary to help people from

diverse traditions understand, respect and wor+ with each other. hey dubbed their pro3ect

6the global citi9ens guide to culture6.

hey write:

)hat we are suggesting in effect is that we all participate, albeit from different cultural

positions, in a global system of culture. hat culture is increasingly less dominated by the

)est, less Gurocentric, if you li+e. "nd so there must be more of many of the 6other6

traditions and we want to +now more, in part because we thin+ that in preparing the new

generations for a culture that is more global, it is essential for them to learn about )illiam

Sha+espeare as they learn about )ole Soyin+a from -igeria, %urasa+i Shi+ibu from Lapan,

Rabindranath agore from !ndia. "s we in the )est develop more global culture, we do so in

the contet of )estern traditions: we do so because an understanding of other culturesenriches, without displacing, our own.

Strengthening what lin+s humanity across cultures does not mean eradicating local differences

or wea+ening national bonds. !n her boo+, #slam and $emocracy, %oroccan scholar *atima

%ernissi tells the story of a poet named "ttar and his vision of a world where differences were

understood as a strength and enriching instead of a source for division, fear and conflict.

She writes:

!t happened in -ishapur in !ran in the spring of ".F. 11MH. " man dreamed of a world

without fear, without boundaries, where you could travel very far and find yourself incompany of strangers who you +new yourself, strangers who were neither hostile nor

aggressive. !t was the land of the Simorgh.

!n his long meditations in -ishapur, all by himself "ttar imagined that land where strangeness

only enriched what we are to the ultimate degree. 8e committed his dream to paper, a long

poem that he called %anti/ al4tayr


8/10

told he could be found. *or years and years they crossed rivers and oceans to find the

Simorgh, that fabulous creature, radiant and da99ling. %any birds died along the way and

never finished the 3ourney. *atigue and the rigors of the climate decimated most of the

see+ers. Only thirty succeeded in arriving at the gates of the fortress of the legendary

Simorgh. ?ut when they were finally received, a surprise awaited them, which we will

understand better if we +now that in $ersian si means thirty and morgh means birds:

here in the Simorghs radiant face they saw

hemselves, the Simorgh of the world4with awe

hey ga9ed, and dared at last to comprehend

hey were the Simorgh and the 3ourneys end.

hey see the Simorgh standing there;

hey loo+ at both and see the two are one,

hat this is that, that this, the goal is won.

hey as+


9/10

the forestC 8ow can we have uncertainty as our countryC !t is

surely the poets who will be our guides among these new galaies.

*atima %ernissi, #slam and $emocracy: Fear o% the Modern &orld ,

translated by %ary Lo a+eland, $erseus ?oo+s, 1DD2, pp. 1M241M@.

Connections

1. !f $rofessors Aates and "ppiah were to as+ to you, as they did to scholars across the

world, for ten things that people from all over the world should +now about your culture, what

would listC )hat would you use a criteria for selectionC )hat culture would your list

representC

ou may choose to share your lists with you classmates. 8ow are your lists similarC 8ow are

they differentC 8ow do you account for both the similarities and differencesC

2. *atima %ernissi recounts the allegory of the Simorgh. )hat does the word allegory

mean to youC 8ow do you understand its lessons for the world todayC

'. )hy do you thin+ many people are frightened at the idea of creating a 6global mirror in

which all cultures can shine in their uni/ueness6C )hat do you thin+ people would seeC

@. )hat does %ernissi mean by her /uestions, 68ow are we to learn to stride into the abyss

and be li+e the windC 8ow are we to be defenseless li+e the forestC 8ow can we have

uncertainty as our countryC6

8ow would you attempt to answer %ernissis /uestionsC )hat do you see as other /uestions

we must answer in order to negotiate our shrin+ing worldC

H. *atima %ernissi has great hope in the ability of democracy to help prevent conflict and

respect difference. "t its best, how does democracy respond to conflict and differenceC

>. !ndividually or in small groups, create allegories that you thin+ might serve as useful

stories to guide people as they encounter difference and conflict. )hat lessons do you thin+

people need to embraceC

M. Research poets, musicians, writers, artists, and architects that have imagined a better

world. )hat are their visionsC 8ow would you imagine such a worldC

E. Out of the movement to over turn South "fricas apartheid system have emerged leaders

who are including the diverse voices of the South "frican nation to help create the new

democracy. his is being done not only through the wor+ of the South "frican ruth and

Reconciliation #ommission but artists are also imagining it. "lbie Sachs, a constitutional

court 3ustice, has described the physical structure of the new South "frican court as a symbol

of the reconciliation of the nation with aspirations to build a society based on respect for

human rights. )hat do such pro3ects accomplishC


10/10

*or more information on South "fricas ruth and Reconciliation #ommission see

www.facinghistory.org and download the study guide for the ?ill %oyers documentary

Facing the Truth.


I1J 8elen *ein, "ccounting for Aenocide,

Documents

Identity and Society