Euro centrism and the Asian Diaspora in the Media

A Recap: How do we define colonialism? How odes it differ form cultural imperialism? Other than Britain, name two European colonial empires. What fraction of the world did Britain govern by the 1920s? Name 3 of the cultural consequences of British colonial rule on its colonies. What is decolonisation and what was one of the consequences of it? What did Marxists view colonialism as a form of? In what decade did the first wave of West Indian immigrants come to Britain? What does ‘second generation mean? How would we define post colonial discourse? What did Frantz Fanon and ‘Negritude’ hope to do? What does Hall’s say about colonialism and cultural identity?

Euro-centrism Post colonialism is also linked to the idea of Euro-centrism. The idea that the world is seen through a very European perspective and that other cultures are less important. Euro-centrism at its most basic is the idea that those in ‘third world’ are primitive and need to be culturally educated by more sophisticated European thinkers. Its is also connected with the idea of the ‘White Man’s Burden’. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. Watch this clip from the Australian film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. In colonial Australia as with many other British colonies it was the white man’s burden to ‘help the native’, although not always to this extreme.

Euro-centric vs Afro centric Increasingly post- colonial theorists attempt to look at the world from an Afro-centric or Asia- centric view. Afro –centric questions. What can you say about Naomi’s image on this magazine? Why do so few black or Asian women feature on the front cover of fashion magazines? Why are there separate hairdressers for black women? Why do black women reputedly spend three times as much on hair products than white European women? Why do ‘skin lightening’ products even exist? The Europeanised ideal of what beauty is?

BBC Asian Network Why did it exist? What did its existence say about the BBC views of Asian music and culture? Why do the DJs/presenters all have to speak English? Why has it been scrapped?

The Asian Diaspora A diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common national and/or ethnic identity. One of the largest diasporas is that of the Indian diaspora. The overseas Indian community, estimated at over 25 million, is spread across many regions in the world, on every continent. It constitutes a diverse, heterogeneous and eclectic global community representing different regions, languages, cultures, and faiths. The common thread that binds them together is the idea of India and its intrinsic values. Watch this clip from Canadian-Indian stand up comedian Russell Peters.

‘The Asian diaspora and Islam. Pre 9/11 it could be said that Muslim Asian culture was hugely under-represented in the media. Indeed Islam was seen as a self-effacing, insular faith and those in Muslim communities all over the world were largely ignored by the west. One positive consequence post 9/11 was that increasingly the media began to represent Islam more fully although not always positively. It was perhaps felt that non-Muslims needed to be educated about the faith and have stereotypes dispelled. ‘Eastenders’ has done this for example. Islam is a distinctly religious based diaspora that for Muslims transcends ethnicity and nationality. For many Muslims you are Muslim first; national pride is secondary.

Islam and moral panics A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972), a moral panic occurs when…. "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.“ Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as "moral entrepreneurs", while people who supposedly threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils.