Vilas Network of Intercultural Relations - Book Report/Review Example

Vila’s network of intercultural relations In his book, Vila offers the proposition that border areas tend to be characterized by shifting identities. He quotes Wilson and Donnan in describing this phenomenon as follows: “because of their liminal and frequently contested nature, borders tend to be characterized by identities which are shifting and multiple, in ways which are framed by specific state configurations which encompass them and within which people must attribute meaning to their experience of border life….” (Wilson and Donnan, 1998:13; cited in Vila, 2000). Vila portrays such shifting identities that develop as a result of conflicting value systems existing across border areas, by detailing the experience of Mexican immigrant women. While in Mexico, they are taught that their rights need to be subordinated to those of men; as a result, women are forced to bear infidelity in their men without complaint. But on the American side of the border, women are as liberated as the men and are placed on par with them, with equal rights and liberties as the men have; as a result, women are not forced to put up with injustice and can leave their unfaithful husbands in the interest of their own happiness and the happiness of their own children.(Vila viii). In making the shift from the Mexican identity of women to their American identity as women, these immigrants are thus changing two aspects of their identity (a) the gender identity, which elevates them from the submissive female identity to one on par with men and (b) the religious identity, whereby they reject the proverbial cross they are forced to bear as subordinate citizens to a new identity where they are not obliged to bear the cross of a spouse’s infidelity (Vila, ix). As Vila points out, the residents of border areas such as El Paso and Ciudad-Juarez area go through a complex process of identify formation, where they are torn between the conflict of their native racial/ethnic identity as Mexicans with their new American identities. Thus, being a Mexican American women for example, involves a complex juxtaposition of cultural, ethnic and racial identity which produces an identity that can neither be categorized as Mexican neither can it be classed as American; it’s an identity that contains certain elements of both. On the one hand, a Mexican American woman is likely to reject the national reference point that links her with her subordinate female identity in Mexico and/or with the poverty that is rife on the Mexican side of the border. She is likely to embrace the American values of liberation and equality, as well as the American dream of material wealth and prosperity. The net construction of her identity represents an overlapping between her gender, religion and nationality; her identity is comprised of certain elements from her past nationality as a Mexican national, with comparative elements of her present gender and ethnicity, as well as the potential for her to develop the American aspects of her future identity; thus it has a narrative component. Women in the border areas of Cuidad Juarez and El Paso may be more free and independent as compared to the traditional Mexican woman stereotype, who is submissive and dependent upon her man. The construction of such an identity is narrative and Vila distinguishes it from Foucault’s discursive identity. In the process of developing of the social identity of residents of border areas, there is an overlapping of both the narrative as well as categorical elements but in understanding the relational and sequential nature of identity development, it is necessary to develop an understanding within the framework of narratives (Vila, 2000). On this basis, Vila explains that the formulation of social identities will be dependent upon the connotation of the narratives that are used to describe the realities surrounding these residents of the border areas, especially when such narratives are used to categorize others within a context where there may be a symbolic struggle taking place for attribution of meaning. On this basis, the real “other” may never be known, he or she may only be experienced through the descriptions or narrative meanings associated within a particular social context (Vila, 2000). For example, the perception of Mexicans as afflicted with poverty may condition their perception as a race or group of people who are more prone to crime or becoming a burden on the welfare system (Vila, 2000:129). Such a perception and social identity is attributed to this group of people on the Mexican side of the border, not only by the Northerners, Americans and Anglos but also the Juarenses, the Fronterizos, Chilangos, Mexican immigrants, Mexican Americans, Pochos and Chicanos. (Vila, 2000:ix). For example, Chicanos may use nationality as a dividing factor to classify Mexican nationals as the “other, while Anglos may tend to lump both Chicanos and Mexicans into the inferior category of the other based on race and ethnicity (Villa, 2000:4). Similarly, on the Mexican side of the border, the social narratives may condition identities where all Americans are attributed to be “slaves of a consumer attitude” and such negative perceptions may also extend to Mexican Americans who are perceived as groups that brag about their economic success and want to humiliate Mexican nationals.(Vila, 2000:x). Vila points out that where border areas are concerned, the geographical horizons may expand but barriers to identity, trade and migration may persist. As a result those who cross the border and those who reinforce the border and protect it from infiltrators may both work in tandem. “Operation Blockade” which has the objective of deterring the influx of undocumented aliens has the support of both Anglos as well as Mexican Americans (Vila, 2000:167). The program enjoys a support rate of 80 to 90% from the community, including 70% of support arising from the Hispanic population in the city of El Paso. (Vila, 2000:1). The basis of Vila’s argument is that there is no such thing as an “ethnic interest” that determines a particular ideology, for instance the hegemonic discourse that “all poverty is Mexican” (Vila, 2000:96). Such a discourse might exist across all ethnic groups in the border areas. Therefore, the author argues that since there is no structural interest that is linked to a particular ethnic group over and beyond that which is articulated within a particular narrative, it naturally follows that certain narrative discourse may be common across all ethnic groups, including Anglos, Mexican Americans as well as Mexican immigrants. Basic thematic plots are thus likely to condition identity of all border area residents and Mexican immigrants may experience a different identity from Mexican Americans on the basis of the narrative association between Mexicans and their manipulation of the welfare system, which is perceived to be immoral (Vila, 2000:131-2). In conclusion it may be noted that Vila(2000) presents an argument for the construction of identities in border regions where there is a conflict between the ethnic identity which is tied up with prevailing thematic plots and narrative discourse related to a particular group of people, and the potential to develop a future identity that contains more components of the racial/ethnic identity associations of the “other” race. Mexican immigrants for example, must struggle to disassociate themselves from the prevailing narrative discourse that all Mexicans are poor, in order to fit into a different value system, i.e, that of the Anglos. In the struggle to disassociate themselves from their national/ethnic identities as Mexican, they may need to conform to the group thematic discourse and separate themselves from their ethnic identity by condemning other Mexican immigrants, even as they fail to completely disassociate themselves from their Mexican heritage because Anglos lump both Chicanos and Mexicans into one group. This may produce a complex interlinking of identities, wherein different ethnic groups in the border areas may all base their perception of identities on existing thematic plots communicated through all of society, such as that all Mexicans exploit the welfare system or that all African Americans can turn out to be criminal elements. It is the narrative discourse existing in society that shapes individual identity, so that national/ethnic identity is eschewed to differing levels in different individuals, with varying levels of interconnectivity between individuals of various cultural/ethnic groups. Reference: * Vila, Pablo, 2000. “Crossing borders, reinforcing borders: Social categories, Metaphors and narrative identities on the U.S.-Mexico frontier”, University of Texas Press Read More