Welcome to our discussion prompt. This is your teaching team for this course. My name's Catherine. This is Moeain, and I think you've met Aditi and Gideon. What I was thinking of is what would Thornton think about on this notion of identity? And how would he respond to the idea of crossing borders and what then happens to identity? I think that, like Woodward, he'd say identity is constructed. And I think as he says about culture, identity is imagined. It's constructed but the borders are imagined. And like we draw on culture, we draw on aspects of our identity that suits us at a certain time or in certain contexts. So, whilst I'm always a mother or have been since I had kids, I wouldn't necessarily highlight that aspect of my identity in every context I entered into. It would be totally relevant at a parent-teacher meeting, but not at a meeting where we're discussing language policy for the university. So, we become agents or decision makers of the identities we construct. And of course, it works the other way round when you think about how others construct your identity. Yeah, I agree with you Cathy that identities are constructed and that we have a lot of agency and choice in constructing our identity, and that we choose from a set of cultural resources whether it's language or clothes and so on. But there's also structure and systems in place that enable or restrict our access to those cultural resources. I think what Thornton brings to our discussion on identity is the issue around culture as a resource, but also that people have differential access to cultural resources. And I think the way Thornton uses the idea of cultural resources, he starts to highlight how differences are created through differential access to cultural resources. So, if you look at for example in South Africa, people were given differential access to education, and what that did was to create the illusion that people are fundamentally different. You found that in South Africa for example, a few decades ago, you wouldn't find Black doctors in South Africa. It created the impression that Black people are not supposed to be in medicine. It created the illusion of differences. And it's quite interesting because the dynamic here between sort of the social structures and the amount of freedom one has within those structures to actually enact your identity, Thornton would argue whether it revolves around ones access to resources. There's this whole notion of a core identity. And so although, we think very broadly of identities as being bounded, as being contained. The whole notion of having a contained identity means that we know what's on the inside. You know, there are things on the inside which we recognize, we share meanings around particular symbols, and so it creates a sense of cohesion amongst that group. But at the same time, it also makes us aware of what's on the outside, the types of resources we don't have access to. And I think Moeain's issue of differential access to resources comes in it because it's quite empowering to realize that I have access to resources that others do not have access to. At the same time, it can be very disempowering for those who don't have that access. So, I think we need to think very carefully about how the structures in society, how they arrange and organize access to resources. South Africa is a perfect example during apartheid where access to resources was sort of limited to white privilege, you know. So, I think it's quite interesting to think about how borders operate in that context across racial lines, cultural lines, and religious lines. And these are not always physical borders, as you said. There's also a psychological, mental boundaries. I think that makes the Thornton argument quite powerful, because if borders or boundaries are imagined, it means that you can unlearn those boundaries. And I think that's powerful especially if you think of what's happening in our country and globally today, where people are moving across borders and people are competing for the same resources, same culture resources. And under those conditions sometimes, the differences that people bring across borders might seem to be real and permanent. But the fact that these differences are imagined is a powerful way to look at people that we perceive as different, because it gives us an opportunity to change the way in which we are thinking. So who polices these borders? I think Thornton will argue that it's not just insiders, it's also the outsiders who don't want to become part of those people who see themselves differently to them. So, it's the issue around people agreeing what makes them different. And once people agree that the following characteristics make us different, then the boundaries exist between groups of people. So, it's not just about insider's policing, it's also about the outsiders agreeing that those people who perceive themselves as insiders are fundamentally different to them. And it's only when that agreement works both sides that this imagined boundary is created. Yeah, that's interesting. I'm just thinking of border crossing where one moves from a context where there's a lack of resources and you enter a context where there are many more resources than one had at home. And the issue of crossing borders for me always raises this notion of risk, you know. So, for someone on a holiday from the US or from Europe and with the exchange rate, it works quite well to come to South Africa. They're not necessarily perceived as a threat by South Africans because they bring money into the country. And so because of the access to resources, they are not viewed in a threatening manner. But when one looks at the poor working class guys from North Africa who cross the South African borders coming to look for work here, and very often, they end up in the Black townships, that becomes quite risky because the guys in the townships have limited resources at their disposal. There's high unemployment rates. And here, they have a group of people coming into the space and then trying to lay claim to the resources which they are struggling to get a hold of themselves. Although you're all Black, you're viewed as a different type of Black person in that you wanting to come and take over resources that we fought very hard to get. And so, how do we react to that threat? We react violently. And so, I think xenophobia is a very good example of the dangers involved when one crosses borders. What are the effects of borders on identity? I think borders can be interpreted very broadly in terms of psychological boundaries, psychosocial boundaries, and physical boundaries. I think that a border when it contains a particular identity, doesn't just contain the physical, it also contains a very particular way of thinking and viewing the world. And so, the meaning we construct out of reality is contained within a particular space and it's related to the resources that we have access to. One of the effects of borders is to make those on the inside realize - these are your resources, this is what we have access to, and this is what it will allow you to do. When one crosses that border to go to the outside, you then become either become aware of your privilege, because you've had access to those resources, or you become aware of your extreme lack of privilege because you realize that there are other people have access to resources that I could never have imagined. And so, I think what borders does in this case that makes us consciously aware of social justice issues, inequalities in society, and it's all geared around access to resources. You've had experience in some of the students you've worked with and moving across countries and institutions? Yeah, for example when we take our South African students to the US, the South African students and among those South African students are coloured students, Indian students, and Black African students. And when these students go to the US and they're confronted by US students about what it means to be black in South Africa, when the stories are diverse, so the whole notion of blackness comes to the fore. How one begins to construct one's Black identity in terms of resources and lack of access to resources. For coloured students, it's a racial thing because Americans would argue we've moved away from this notion of colouredness, why are you still holding on to it? And so, the colored students in the US would say, South African colored students would say, "Wow, although I view myself as being Black, other Black students wouldn't necessarily recognize me as being Black." So, although I wanted to cross that border, I'm not allowed to cross that border. There are restrictions in place from those on the outside who want to keep me inside that border. I think the relationship is a dynamic one in that border crossing also provides an opportunity for one to make sense of who one is and where you actually want to be. It gives you a sense of location and it also provides you with a distinct sense of dislocation. You know, when you're not feeling secure in who and what you are. This comes back to your differential access, your favourite term. Yeah, but I think when the issue around students going to the US for example, when people are allowed to cross borders or cross boundaries and given access to education for example in your case, those opportunities offer a space for people to reimagine themselves or to remake themselves. So, it shows that identities are not stable. They are constantly changing, they're constantly shifting and they're fluid. And I think that for me, makes the Thornton argument quite powerful. We see with students when they come to university initially especially if they're moving across national borders, there's a sense of independence because they don't have to be accountable to a certain script that they have been following back home. Of course, being in this new space also requires them to follow a new script. But until they know what the expectations are here, I think it is quite liberating to be in a new space and to explore other aspects of one's identity that one might not have explored or been able to explore in the confines of a familiar space. Exactly. And it's about renegotiating those boundaries so when one crosses the boundary, one of the effects on crossing that boundary will be: how do I renegotiate my backpack of resources? How do I make that comfortable for me? How do I get people to accept this is- The agency they're creating? Yeah, the agency. And I may be at a point where I realize that what I have in my resource pack may not be as valued here as it is back home. And so, on my part, it's an active decision making process to use what I have, to leave some of it behind or hidden, and then to expose others which I do have. And so, in that process one reassimilates, you redefine yourself. I think one of you just mentioned that Thornton would argue in realizing newness, you can unmake those boundaries, you can unlearn it, which is powerful. Yeah. And then, realizing what you have in common with someone from an unfamiliar space. That can allow us also to realize that after all we are more similar than different. Exactly. So, diffidence is not only something that is viewed as a threat. Difference can actually be something that enriches my sense of who I am. Borders play a crucial role in all of that.
