Chapter 4. What culture?
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Antonis Sapountzis
Abstract
Acculturation theory and research has examined the changes in cultural patterns that people undergo when they enter a new cultural milieu. Berry’s (2001, 2005) seminal model has been a very influential theoretical framework but several criticisms have been yielded over the years, one of which argues that the notion of culture within acculturation research is undertheorized. In our chapter, we examine how people who work for an NGO that looks after unescorted refugee children talk about the acculturation of refugee children. Participants often argued that refugee children should not adopt Greek cultural elements but supranational cultural norms and values. It is argued that this may be a form of liquid racism (Weaver 2011a), an ambivalent form of racism which on the one hand denies its racist undertones, while on the other hand may covertly promote assimilation. In our data, participants often argued for the maintenance of children’s culture, while on the other hand they constructed it as deficient, failing to match western European standards or not respecting women rights.
Abstract
Acculturation theory and research has examined the changes in cultural patterns that people undergo when they enter a new cultural milieu. Berry’s (2001, 2005) seminal model has been a very influential theoretical framework but several criticisms have been yielded over the years, one of which argues that the notion of culture within acculturation research is undertheorized. In our chapter, we examine how people who work for an NGO that looks after unescorted refugee children talk about the acculturation of refugee children. Participants often argued that refugee children should not adopt Greek cultural elements but supranational cultural norms and values. It is argued that this may be a form of liquid racism (Weaver 2011a), an ambivalent form of racism which on the one hand denies its racist undertones, while on the other hand may covertly promote assimilation. In our data, participants often argued for the maintenance of children’s culture, while on the other hand they constructed it as deficient, failing to match western European standards or not respecting women rights.
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Table of contents vii
- Chapter 1. Antiracist and racist discourse as antagonistic and overlapping 1
- Chapter 2. Racist discourses of discrimination and assimilation in an antiracist corpus 41
- Chapter 3. Normalizing assimilation in antiracist (con)texts and (re)producing liquid racism 71
- Chapter 4. What culture? 93
- Chapter 5. Liquid racism, metaphor and the visual modality 118
- Chapter 6. Migrant voices in ‘antiracist’ video clips in Greece 143
- Chapter 7. “The EU gave us a new beginning” 181
- Chapter 8. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to earn my own money and pay taxes?” 202
- Chapter 9. A migrant’s public apology as an instance of internalized racism 225
- Chapter 10. Racist and antiracist discourse in Greek migrant/refugee jokes 253
- Chapter 11. Epilogue 277
- Notes on contributors 283
- Name index 289
- Subject index 293
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Table of contents vii
- Chapter 1. Antiracist and racist discourse as antagonistic and overlapping 1
- Chapter 2. Racist discourses of discrimination and assimilation in an antiracist corpus 41
- Chapter 3. Normalizing assimilation in antiracist (con)texts and (re)producing liquid racism 71
- Chapter 4. What culture? 93
- Chapter 5. Liquid racism, metaphor and the visual modality 118
- Chapter 6. Migrant voices in ‘antiracist’ video clips in Greece 143
- Chapter 7. “The EU gave us a new beginning” 181
- Chapter 8. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to earn my own money and pay taxes?” 202
- Chapter 9. A migrant’s public apology as an instance of internalized racism 225
- Chapter 10. Racist and antiracist discourse in Greek migrant/refugee jokes 253
- Chapter 11. Epilogue 277
- Notes on contributors 283
- Name index 289
- Subject index 293
