Transcultural capital: challenging the deficit model

Get into groups of five Proponent: list the points you agreed with and state why Critic: list the points you disagreed with or found unhelpful and state why Example-giver: Give examples of key concepts presented Summariser: prepare a summary of the most important points Questioner: prepare a list of questions about the lecture Assign your roles!

In the Reader... Meinhof, UH (2009) ‘Transnational flows, networks and ‘transcultural capital’: Reflections on researching migrant networks through linguistic ethnography’ In Collins et al (eds) Globalisation and language in contact: scale, migration and communications practices London: Continuum 148-169

If you are studying anything about... Migration or immigration Speaking a range of languages Challenging the deficit model ...this article may be useful

Clarifying terms Diaspora Diasporic communities To Transnationalism Transnational networks

Clarifying terms Neoliberalism: Meritocracy Transnational networks Intersectionality Postmodernism

Interviews and ethnographic field work ...with Madagascan musicians in Paris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXnSwEcvQM Discourse analysis: look at the details/mise-en-scene/gaze

Researching city spaces A space of negotiation and encounter A space of risk and alienation ‘We hoped to rethink contemporary migration away from bounded communities and essentialising ethnicities towards a more open agenda which allow us to capture the dynamics and challenges of multiple identities and multi- directional flows’ p.149 Intersectionality; Erikson’s ‘boundaries between people’

The research avoided: Essentialising identity and imposing nostalgia as audiences to their performances might A facile explanation of ‘celebratory cosmopolitanism’ missing musician’s genuine nostalgia and sense of belonging Tokenism: samosas, saris and steel drums

Transcultural capital (from Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992) Social capital- ‘it’s who you know’ Ethnically and non-ethnically-defined personal and professional links in Madagascar, Europe, and Paris- including diaspora and civil society organisations Cultural capital- ‘it’s what you know’ (including linguistic capital) Musical diversity; multilingualism- Afrikan Boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=158UvnHJxns Economic capital- ‘it’s what you have’ Community and network-based music industry; promoters and community media- websites, email lists, radio shows, shops, word-of-mouth- Mumzy Stranger: successful career https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MlxJtTBFH4

From the countryside to the city ‘I am foremost a musician of sacred music, because that’s how the whole family learned to play, and apart from that we did little concerts in the village, for weddings, school parties, and that kind of thing...but in Tana, in the city I’m not at all known, not at all, except that I was a valiha merchant, like all my brothers. But it was at Tana that I met a good concert tour manager, who tried to set up a folklore group for a concert tour in France. So we took part in a competition, a selection, and I got chosen out of all the other valiha players, we were four altogether and...well, that’s where the adventure starts’. Justin Vali: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keYvwZdS1zg Meritocracy and neoliberalism; transnational networks

Active transnational hubs, networks and transcultural capital ...international musicians (Kate Bush) Collaborating with other well known musicians from other parts of Africa Making music with other Malagasy musicians in Europe

Questions: What is transcultural capital? Give some examples from another context

In your groups Proponent: list the points you agreed with and state why Critic: list the points you disagreed with or found unhelpful and state why Example-giver: Give examples of key concepts presented Summariser: prepare a summary of the most important points Questioner: prepare a list of questions about the lecture Write up your ideas on paper