Social Theory Forum Addresses OrientalismBY JOE BUCKLEY
A group of noted scholars met this week to share their ideas and opinions on a controversial author and political activist. The UMass Sociology Department hosted a two day social theory forum, Theories and Praxes of Difference: Revisiting Edward Said in the Age of New Globalizations, in the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The topics for Wednesday’s event were the politics of Orientalism, the psychoanalysis of difference, and the clash of Orientalism. Bruce Mazlish, a Professor Emeritus of History at M.I.T. delivered the afternoon’s keynote lecture, “Edward Said: The Colonial Spirit in a Globalizing World.” The topics for Thursday’s panels were intellectuals and politics of difference, political economy of Orientalism, identity and difference, and Orientalism and mass culture.
The forum centered on the work of Said the noted thinker, proponent of Palestinian rights, and author. His most notable work was Orientalism, which argues that overly romantic intellectuals created a distorted view of the Middle East and Islamic world that led to a great deal of misunderstanding and trouble. Mr. Said was once a member of the Palestinian National Council and a leader of the Palestinian cause. He was an activist who worked to dispel stereotypes of Arabs and to find a peaceful resolution to the Middle East.
Said was a highly respected figure and above all a man of integrity. As Assistant Professor Jorge Capetillo Ponce commented at the forum, “Said didn’t sell out his principals to status in academia.” His political acumen and the sincerity of his positions earned him a special place in the worlds of academia and politics. All of the forum participants were more than willing to express their deep respect for Said and his accomplishments. Professor Rajani Srikanth said, “He was a pragmatist who realized you can not ignore the details of history. He realized that extreme positions don’t get you anywhere; however, he didn’t compromise his values for short term gains.”
The forum consisted of a series of seven panels, which explored various facets of Said’s thought and its influence on various disciplines. The panel’s 38 participants provided the large, attentive audience with a wealth of first-rate academic work. For example, Leila Farsakh, an assistant professor of Political Science at UMass Boston presented her thought provoking work, “What Future for Palestine: Independence, Binationalism, or Bantustans.” This paper offered a comparison on the similarities and differences of Apartheid in South Africa and the present-day conflict between Israel and Palestine. Farsakh noted the different approaches that the South African government and the Israeli government followed. The South African economy depended on the Black majority while the Zionists avoided dependence on the indigenous population. The paper noted the diverging paths that both countries followed in their dealings with the original populations. She noted that while the world refused to accept the situation in South Africa the world seems to countenance the Israeli policy of building settlements.
There were a number of universities represented, both American and international, with speakers from Brazil, Canada, Germany, and Israel. Two speakers who planned to attend the forum were absent because their visas were denied. While introducing the first panel, Associate Professor Glenn Jacobs commented on the fact that the speakers’ visas being denied and their plans to attend the forum were most likely not a coincident.
By using the work of Edward Said as a springboard, the social theory forum explored a variety of vital issues. Tamdgidi defined Orientalism as “the representation (or more accurately and often, misrepresentation) of the East through the eyes of the West serving the interests of imperial and colonial control.” He went on to say, however, that although Orientalism originated from particular geographies of East-West difference, the imperial attitude need not be any longer associated with particular geographies. The Orientalist attitude is practiced globally everywhere and one can even orientalize oneself in carceral society. You don’t need to be from Iran or Palestine to be oppressed. The strong contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines showed the validity of Tamdgidi’s statement.
The event was the second in a series of conference-workshops organized jointly by the Sociology department and other interested faculty members and students at UMB to develop, promote, and publish cross-disciplinary social theory in a practical and liberating context. The social theory forum offers the students and faculty of UMass Boston and the local educational community a medium to discuss ways that theoretical concepts can be relevant to everyday life.
The forum was co-sponsored by: The Dean of Liberal Arts, The Graduate Program for Applied Linguistics, The William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture, The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, The Africana Studies Department, and the Department of Anthropology.
The forum was well received by its attendees. Professor Rajani Srikanth said, “I feel like it is one of the spaces on the campus where faculty members can debate ideas. I love it!” Other attendees expressed similar opinions. “I think the presenters are hitting on much of what needs to be discussed about the man and what he stood for. Unlike a lot of conferences I attend, they understand what he was about. They get it right,” said Gary Hicks, who was a UMB American Studies Grad School student in 1996. Chris Gauthier, a Grad Student in Sociology said, “It’s important! This is academic discourse at its best.”