Power Dispersion

For my Anthropology of Development class, we have been reading development books by Nolan and Escobar. Although I enjoy Nolan's because of its practical advice and simple outlining of concepts behind development, I enjoy Escobar a lot more. He is somewhat cynical with his view of development, but he brings up facts that cannot just be ignored by Western students going into development.

The chapters that I read for Wednesday were about power dispersion. Escobar argues that the power Western countries gained and continue to hold after colonialism has affected development in detrimental ways. When development projects occur, or even the framing for these projects, they evolve out of a Western-dictated context. Since international power is unequally dictated, the countries in need of "development" do not get a significant say in what happens to them, while powerful Western countries get almost all of the say. Escobar states that this does not lead to sustainable change or sound judgement about these countries, but instead can aggregate third world issues in some instances.

Additionally, the way the West conceptualizes developing countries can be damaging to the way development is enacted. For example, Escobar points out that development rhetoric can be dehumanizing and objectifying towards third world inhabitants. A mother, who is a human being with thoughts and emotion, is reduced to an illiterate starving body, with way too many children, and an unseemly dependency on men. Or Western developers will point out the apparent flaws of the developing world, but because of the power dispersion that allows them ultimate say, they are saved from having their own similar issues pointed out. Such as when Western developers state that the problem in third world countries is there population growth, which must be curved. However, they fail to point out that some of these countries have larger human populations than some in the "developed" world, but actually consume less. So what does that say about the developed world?

I think this whole issue of the dispersion of power relates to my project because it might give me more insight into how I might mentally conceive of or envision countries in Africa, and Ghana specifically. I have been consuming the Western rhetoric we are all fed throughout our lives through school and the media. How has this affected the way I view inhabitants of the "third world?" Have I objectified the African people, or dehumanized them through some sort of "social imagination" about the way they exist? Have I thought about them as some intangible glob of people needing assistance or reform and failed to recognize them as individual human beings with the same capacity for thought, feeling, and action as myself and my American counterparts? I probably have been guilty of all of these things. However, as I increase my understanding of anthropology and development I am working towards erasing these negative habits, and attempting to view humans in the humanistic way they all deserve.

Kony Captivation

This last week I was extremely interested in the phenomenon of the Kony 2012 viral video that popped up on my Facebook and Pinterest repeatedly. I do not think an NGO has ever created quite a stir with a video campaign, and the wild spread and success of the video definitely creates new implications for development and the advertisement of social causes. For me this event showed highly positive and highly negative illuminations about contemporary social projects.

The Positive:

I think the Invisible Children organization is brilliant in its advertising. It realizes the power behind trending media in today's culture, especially among the younger generation. The video played right to America's current young adult mainstream of indie pop culture along with the empowering sense that we have the power to change the world. Heart wrenching scenes of Ugandan youth were slapped right next to scenes of hundreds of Toms-clad college students running around and yelling for change, led by the ultimate hipster/Non-profit manager himself, Jason Russel, which are overlayed with emotional alternative music form the likes of The Naked and Famous and Mumford and Sons.

Basically, the guys of IC knew how to capture the attention of America's youth and celebrities, and they did it with high success. And Facebook friends of mine who had never posted about an official social cause, probably in their life, were now a little bit more educated about one of the horrendous problems facing people in another part of the world, and felt excited to be apart of stopping these problems. So that right there is a plus - in a self-gratifying, ungrateful American culture, it is a plus to get kids excited about aiding other people's problems, especially other people not in their direct vicinity.

The Negative:

Some of the positives about the campaign video could also be looked at as negative. I have read several critiques of Russel's documentary being overly catered towards American youth and lacking a central focus on the actual Ugandan youth, as well as critiques of its seemingly Westernized, savior-like depiction of changing the world. However, that is subjective, and though I partially agree, there is a lot of gray area.

However, one scary thing this viral vid did make evident was the power behind a trending topic. I am almost positive most of the kids who shared that video did so as a knee-jerk reaction right after viewing it, and did not take the time to research IC, research the actual history of Joseph Kony, the LRA, and the US interference that has already occured, nor any other relevant information. No matter how innocent a cause or organization looks, this is vital. Because sharing a viral video like that, or contributing money, or whatever is not like donating to your local community service project. People who do this for Kony 2012 are now backing one viewpoint about Uganda, and one method of solving the problem in Uganda. Do those who shared the video realize that they are supporting Ugandan military intervention when they support IC, which has controversial implications? Do they realize that past attempts to stop or kill Kony have resulted in violent retaliation that has caused the death of hundreds of more people? Do they know that in the past year, IC used only about a third of their incoming funds on direct help to Africa, and that their financial accountability rating is presently a 2/4? I would guess a lot of American youth who shared this video on impulse do not.

Fundamentally, the loudest message that came across to me during the few days of viral spreading and media received by Kony 2012 is that if one has the means of producing a glossy, professional documentary/campaign video, complete with American pop culture tie-ins, they could probably get millions of hits and thousands of people to share there video, even if their organization in actuality was doing some pretty questionable things outside of the spotlight.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I felt this issue related somewhat to my project just because it is a contemporary event in social development - the field I am aiming to head into. It is interesting to see some of the Western views or limited global perspectives of Americans highlighted in a viral video - things I learn about everyday in class.

Here are a few of the links I found interesting while researching Kony 2012

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/taking-kony-2012-down-a-notch/

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/kony-2012-the-invisible-children-advocacy-campaign-to-catch-kony/#more-2862

http://demandnothing.org/making-the-invisible-visible/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=making-the-invisible-visible

http://9gag.com/gag/3212157

The last one is just for laughs.

Building Bridges

For my Anthropology of Development class we are reading "Three Cups of Tea," a book about Greg Mortenson's development projects building schools in the Middle East. So far we have only had to read the first 70 pages or so, and already Mortenson's experiences have given me insight into dealings in developing countries. When Mortenson returns to Pakistan after promising one village a school, he is almost immediately pressured by men who try to manipulate him to build schools for their own villages. However, at this point in his story he has only enough funding for one school. Then, when he gets to Korphe, the village he wants to build the school for, he is told that as grateful as the people are, they first need a bridge. Mortensen is astonished at this, as he had expected that receiving the funding would be the difficult part, and the building would be relatively straight forward once he was in Pakistan and had supplies.

This series of events reminded me of a few days ago in class, where we discussed a variety of scenarios that could occur in Ghana that may be confusing, regarding whether specific decisions would be ethical or socially appropriate. In class we talked about situations involving money, hospitality, or etiquette that might at surface seem right, but that could be problematic (for example, being asked to eat a nice dinner at a very poor family's home). Basically "Three Cups of Tea" and that class period made me recognize that things are not going to be as straight forward as I hope - ever. Various situations will cause me to have to think on my feet. Partially because of circumstances I may deem ethical or unethical, and also because of my limited understanding of the Ghanaian culture. Greg Mortenson went to Korphe with the supplies to build a school, and was first asked to build a bridge. I may go to Wiamose or Asamung with the supplies or preparation for my current project, and realize that their culture caters much better to some other topic that is more timely or appropriate. Maybe children and cocoa farming wont be as significant a topic as husband and wife relationships related to cocoa farming, or something even more different.

Basically, I need to be flexible, and realize that anthropological research is anything but straight forward. I may go with my tools to build a school and be asked to build a bridge (metaphorically of course - at least for now).

Myths of Modernity

In my development classes, we have been learning about the history behind what has caused such unequal wealth distribution and living quality across the world. It is really incredible how a minority of the world's population can alter history and shift events. I wonder where Ghana, and other countries labeled as "underdeveloped," would be had African inhabitants not been coerced into colonialism. With the slave trade, ignorance and disregard for native inhabitant's traditions and identity, and the international labor distribution the Western world imposed on other nations, countries like Ghana inevitably lost much of the cultural fiber that held their societies together. And even when Ghana and other African countries started to gain independence from their British colonizers in the mid-1900s, they were at a disadvantage to quickly start up a successful nation and government because of this loss of social continuity. Even with their independence, the affects of colonialism are still very much present. Ghanaians are still dependent on farming cocoa, and selling it to the West, where companies like Cadbury become wealthier and Ghanaians remain poor.

One of the biggest lessons I have taken so far from learning about the history behind colonialism and development is that Western mentality has often been sucked down the narrow-minded drain of modernity. We gauge success and advancement based on how much technology a society has. Intelligence and competence are represented by computers and gadgets. However, with the post-modernism movement, it is finally starting to be somewhat understood that technological advancement and the Western version of being "modern" may not be what is best for the rest of the world. I want to remember this as I prepare for Ghana. I need to change my thinking, because technology and the constant flow of information that comes with it, literally shapes my consciousness. This could be very limiting to the ways I allow myself to attempt to understand Ghanaian culture, and the things the people value. Therefore, I will try to open my mind to see the other elements that make a people competent, skilled, and happy - ways that may be extremely different from the lifestyle in America.

GurlGoestoAfrica

It is interesting preparing for my field study and project in Ghana while simultaneously taking my first development classes. While my project will be conducted under the main intentions of accumulating research and data for a written paper, it is still a preparatory process for my potential future in development. Therefore, it is helpful to notice the obvious similarities between classes, and how attempting to understand culture is inextricably connected to effective developmental changes and improvement in "third-world" societies.

On Tuesday, my Intro to Development teacher displayed a picture of three African children playing in water, unclothed. They all had large smiles, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. My class was asked if we could tell whether these children were in poverty, or qualified for "first-world" assistance. This question was impossible to answer from the cursory glance we were given into these children's existence. This scenario reminded me of the iceberg analogy. Anthropology, sociology, development, and related fields of study are complex. Surface observations do not provide the data needed to make judgements on a society, whether they be moral judgements or judgments about whether or not one should provide "assistance" or "opportunity" to another group of people. With each class I am being further impacted by the complexities intrinsic to ethnographic studies, and more convinced of the necessity of being careful to not be overly confident in my ability to extract accurate meaning from a foreign culture.

However, this does not trivialize anthropology or sociology in the least bit. I have experienced the scary mental break when one realizes that cultural relativism, and the inevitability of personal bias based on upbringing, means that certain conclusions are virtually impossible to find. Nevertheless, I also understand that ethnography, development, and other anthropological studies are more about the process than the product. Geertz tells us that we do not have to know everything to understand something. Those somethings are the reasons it is important to continue studying culture. To even get a feel for what lies beneath the surface on the submerged part of the iceberg is important, because it brings humanity closer, and provides the understanding that causes humane behavior.

(Random throw-in: I found this interesting satirical tumblr that seemed to reflect at least some of the sentiments from the "What Students Don't Learn Abroad" article. I do not necessarily agree with much of the harsh judgement displayed on this tumblr, but it definitely got me thinking and made me make a double-take on my intentions for going abroad to Ghana. http://gurlgoestoafrica.tumblr.com/ )