Systemic Thinking
Our positionality demands constant translation.
The episodes · 10
The episodes.
Introduction
Introducing Translatability
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Translatability Discussed
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Introduction to Dichotomies: Binary Thinking
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East versus West Dichotomy: Orientalism
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Sex/Gender Dichotomy: aka The Patriarchy
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White/Black Dichotomy: Racism
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Religion/Culture Dichotomy
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Dichotomies Discussed
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Global North vs Global South
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Power, Intersectionality, and Hegemony
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About this series
Caught in between.
My sisters and I are part of The Sandwich Generation
As Elder Millenials we are caught in between our parents, the Baby Boomers, and Gen Z, my students and the generation we are supposed to be training.
Our positionality demands constant translation.
How we talk to one another inter-generationally has become the invisible labor of not only our family but also our professional arenas.
The questions
Bridging these gaps begs the question of why do these gaps exist and occur to begin with.
Why do our communities and societies require us to turn parts of ourselves on and off?
And what toll does this take on those of us caught in this constant code-switching that holds our intergenerational communities and lives together?
The framework
Code-switching is the modern term for what famed African American Sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois termed double consciousness: The internalized effect on the mind by cultivating a version of yourself for outsiders, for the oppressor, and then another self, sometimes thought of as a more authentic self, for those you call your own.
Code-switching that results in this bifurcation, or splitting of the mind and the self, is the unspoken cost of trying to bridge the gaps, and is ultimately a manifestation of the divide and conquer colonial strategies responsible for the divisions that define our world.