New Cultural Geographies

Only rarely does an academic conference thematize by its organization relationship between political theory and cultural praxis. Juxtaposing theoretical discussions with performances by prominent figures in European minority culture, Cornell conference New Ethnic Minorities in European Culture (February 26-28, 1988) staged a debate on political significance of minority culture in post-WWII Europe. Successive presentations revealed conflicting positions and new insights into European minority culture; occasionally such insights struggled under weight of inadequate cultural-political models. Keynote speaker Stephen Castles presented minority culture as a reflection of political and economic reality, identifying this culture as action that is based on very deprivation of political, civil, and human rights. Castles located force necessary to change oppressive conditions that determine minority existence in political arena: The only real support that people within majority culture can give is to get rid of racist immigration laws, to deal with racism on streets, to deal with racist violence. He continued, the key ... in understanding and relating to these cultural practices is not a cultural key, it's a political one. By prioritizing political in this way, Castles placed minority culture in realm of epiphenomena a characterization many at conference opposed. In fact, other conference presentations questioned Castles's categorization by illustrating primary role cultural activity plays in determining subjective and social reception of minorities in Europe. They revealed that battle for minority self-representation hinges not only upon eliminating material supports of discrimination but also upon wresting suppressed cultural history from control of hegemonic interests

Sociology · Anthropology · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Urbanization and City Planning