Collective Singularity of Institutionalized and Non-Institutionalized Anti-Racist Action. Case Study of the Czech Republic.
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The paper aimed at critics of collective anti-racist action from the perspective of collective singularity of Jorge Luis Borges on the case study of the marginalized Roma minority in the Czech Republic. Collective singularity is a concept in which the values and norms of group constituting its practices make impossible to exceed own group’s definition but denial of constitutive elements. "Dissolution" of collective singularity leads to the deconstruction of the collective and its rules and characteristics. Actors of anti-racist collective action comes from the majority society who replicating its standards of actions, goals and demands of the majority. The concept of anti-racism contains the message of definition of "the Others”. “The Others” perceive not only as the object of protection, integration, assistance, interest, but also as the object pressured to find their own (anti-)concept. Object requirement is based on integration in norms and rules of the dominant culture/society, or on creation of "favorable" conditions for object. The presence of minorities standing completely outside the norms creates a mirror image of the dominant society, because their existence challenges the meaningfulness of values and "order" of the dominant society. Collective singularity operates mutually and includes both discriminated minority, and paradoxically anti-racist actors, for which it is impossible to recognize that their action is based on the dominant culture/system, although from the opposite positions. The anti-racist actors refuse to accept that their action is conditioned by inherent collective singularity. From their collective singularity are willing to manipulate by collective singularity of "the Others"."Anti-racism" in that form is unable to follow radical pluralism, which could undermine the basis of the dominant culture/system. |
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