OSP: Paul Gilroy diasporic identity and post colonial theory

 Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login.

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

He says they are constructed by colonialism, slavery, nationalist philosophies and consumer capitalism

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

Gilroy says it is not a natural phenomenon, he states that racial difference and racial identities are the product of racial oppression. Therefore racial identities are caused by historical conflicts that have brought different groups into opposition.

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.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

Gilroy does not view diaspora to be limited to national context due to the transatlantic diasporic identity

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 ideology through the through the commitment and loyalty to the origin place or nation. Some negative effects of this are that it can create exclusion, exposure to regressive ideologies and marginalisation- which can also create an identity shared within the diasporic community and perhaps their 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.

For example the film “Hidden figures”, using the concept of double consciousness illustrates how black people are simultaneously inside and outside the modern world. As they were denied freedom and full citizenship; it was ‘proved’

by supposedly rational race scientists that black people were less evolutionally developed than Europeans. While they made many contributions to modern society ie. Science, literature and politics 

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

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 of ‘the Negro’ 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?

Due to the media, representations of black people in the US and UK reinforce the idea of double consciousness due to the dominant presentation of the rapper, criminal, gang member or criminal - in turn forcing the black male to believe he is and can be nothing more than what he is presented as 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 stereotypical representation of the American black woman is dominantly presented as the “hoochie mama” aesthetic, the ghetto girl with nothing going for her but a boyfriend, a “baby mama” etc. However hidden figures challenges the is with the main characters being highly educated black women who work at NASA and fundamentally change science as we know it today. The film provides an identity for smart young black women who may not have felt seen in the media until then. Therefore completely subverting the idea of double consciousness.