Anzaldúa, Gloria, et al. “The Homeland, Aztlan.” Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza, 4th ed., Aunt Lute Books, 2012, pp. 1–13.

In Borderlands, Anzaldúa provides a literary and historical account of the meaning of “border” and opens the assigned chapter with a poem. Interweaving Spanish & English, Anzaldúa uses language to illustrate the duality of being in the borderlands. Using vivid imagery, literary metaphors, and personal anecdotes, Anzaldúa deconstructs the US-Mexico borderland and its history as a precursor to its present state. Anzaldúa describes the U.S.-Mexican border as “es una herida abierta (an open wound) where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds.” The borderlands are conceptualized as a strange place full of strange characters, undoubtedly the result of an artificial and unnatural boundary imposed on a community or group of people. But, more importantly, it’s depicted as a dangerous place. Anzaldúa describes the trek through the borderlands from Mexico to their homeland in the American Southwest as anything, but safe. Migrants must traverse natural barriers like the Rio Grande, escape the constant threat of the Border Patrol, and even avoid falling prey to Mexican robbers. In Borderlands, Anzaldúa conceptualizes the US-Mexico border as a space that is not only geographical in nature, but also a personification of an entire culture and the associated fears and hopes that come along with it.

In the poem that Anzaldúa begins with, I think about the line "1,950-mile open wound dividing a pueblo, a culture" and how it illustrates the terrible impact of borders on people. Growing up in Los Angeles, this dynamic was always present in my own life. Many of my friends would cross the border to visit family, often bringing items like food and clothing. Conversely, their family would visit stateside for special occasions like quincenearás.  The community was (is) continuous despite the border, but because of the respective privileges and opportunities that citizenship, or lack thereof, affords, we have different lives. This review was useful to me in understanding the impacts of Spanish colonialism, US imperialism & and Manifest Destiny on the original inhabitants of the land. While not explicitly cited in my keyword definition of colonialism, it was useful to me in understanding and identifying areas of research.

De Genova, Nicholas. “The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of Movement.” The Deportation Regime, 2010, pp. 33–66.

In The Deportation Regime, De Genova opens with an anecdote about the case of Elvira Arellano to illustrate the cruelty and unforgiving nature of deportation, expanding on the concept of borders by discussing the mechanisms that governments employ to enforce them. While never explicitly defined, the border and the individual privileges that being on the “right” side affords are implied. De Genova then uses research to provide a theoretical overview of sovereignty, space, and freedom of movement. De Genova refrains from specifically defining border or borderlands in his essay but instead illustrates how deportability, state sovereignty, sovereign power, bare life, and freedom of movement all relate to it. He provides a theoretical exploration of these concepts by citing Agamben, Foucault, and Marx.

This reading was an important complement to the Anzaldúa reading above. While Anzaldúa focused primarily on literary metaphors, poetry, and historical accounts for her conceptualization of borders, De Genova’s theoretical exploration was important in helping me understand how borders are foundational to sovereign states’ assigning of illegality to individuals outside their borders and using instruments of governmentality to enforce the consequences of that illegality. Immigration is an important topic in my life and is a subject I’m particularly passionate about. My experience as an immigrant and the experiences of my closest friends and family keeps this topic front of mind.

Haraway, Donna. “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective.” Feminist Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, 1988, p. 575. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.2307/3178066.

In Situated Knowledges, Haraway argues that objectivity, the idea that knowledge is impartial and free of subjectivity, is an illusion. Furthermore, she argues that the pursuit of objectivity, is, in and of itself, not objective. Human beings are multi-dimensional. We come from different political, geographical, cultural, and biological identities. The act of distancing oneself from our various identities and perspectives to formulate an objective point of view on knowledge is an act of power and a privilege that’s afforded to few rather than many. Utilizing our own contexts or “partial perspectives” to produce knowledge is a truly objective act and the sum of our various situated knowledges, each partial, is true objectivity.

This reading stands out as one of the few readings during my time in ISS that truly challenged a personal belief of mine. In my personal experiences, I often seek objectivity when trying to make important decisions or trying to understand current events like politics or other world news. My traditional definition of objectivity is very closely aligned with what Haraway describes in her article as distancing oneself from the inherent points of view of the producer. But her argument that this kind of objectivity is a “god-trick” and an illusion was poignant and refreshing. I experienced an a-ha moment reading parts of this essay and I realize that it’s important to incorporate my various contexts into my perspective.

Molina-Guzman, Isabel. “#OscarsSoWhite: How Stuart Hall Explains Why Nothing Changes in Hollywood and Everything is Changing.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 33, no. 5, 2016, pp. 438-454.

In this article, the author explores the question of Hollywood's diversity paradox - that while on-screen diversity is increasing and sought-after, the structural barriers in place that prevent diversity within the behind-the-scenes production remain unchallenged and unchanged. Molina-Guzman uses a 3-fold method of exploring this question. First, she contextualizes the article by describing the current state of diversity in Hollywood, changing demographics within the US, and finally, recent academic and industry studies into the issue. Secondly, she analyzes news articles from 2014-2016 regarding "diversity and television" and identifies three specific frames used to discuss the topic - Hollywood exceptionalism, Economic Imperative, and Institutionalized Racism & Sexism. Lastly, Molina-Guzman discusses how the diversity paradox is being challenged by changing viewer demographics and the advent of new technologies by using a case study of Hulu's East Los High.

This article resonated with me for two reasons. First, as a Los Angeleno myself, I'm very familiar with the lack of representation in Hollywood. My sister worked for a casting agency, and some of my friends still work in the industry. The exclusivity and nepotism cited in the article are consistent with the numerous stories I've heard over the years. Secondly, because of this personal resonance, the author's application of framing theory was helpful for me in understanding how encoding/decoding works in the real world. Molina-Guzman's section on the Hollywood Exceptionalism frame was particularly resonant. Often diversity articles focus on the exceptional to indicate that progress is being made. She states, "the visibility of the exceptional few allows the exclusion of the many." I gasped upon the first read of that line. And it allowed me to understand how that frame perpetuates the continued unchallenging of the systematic barriers that keep diversity from making its way off-screen and to the places where true Hollywood power lies. If Edward Said’s Theory of Orientalism is the why behind the creation of The Other and an “us vs them”, Framing Theory is a modern example of how institutions of power accomplish this. Understanding how media tells us how to interpret an idea or concept through priming and cultivation is an important theme throughout my studies in ISS.

Rapanyane, Makhura. B. “China’s Involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Resource Curse Mineral Driven Conflict: An Afrocentric Review.” Contemporary Social Science, vol. 17, no. 2, 2021, pp. 117–28. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2021.1919749.

Rapanyane’s article is a comprehensive exploration of the Resource Curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Most notably, Rapanyane’s analysis is informed by Afrocentric theory – that is, that African studies should be conducted from the perspectives of Africans and be informed by the African way of knowing. The article provides a thematic content analysis of journal articles, books, websites, and official and policy documents to explain the ongoing mineral conflict and resource curse in the DRC. It offers a theoretical definition of the resource curse, observations of the resource curse in Africa, an analysis of the key actors in the DRC’s political instability, and finally an analysis of China’s involvement in the ongoing mineral-driven conflict in the DRC.

Rapanyane’s analysis was the key source of information for a case study I wrote on mineral resource conflict in the DRC. I wanted to understand why the richest country in Africa in terms of natural and mineral resource wealth was also one of the poorest economically, ranking in the bottom decile of countries worldwide in GDP. The analysis helped me understand how natural resource rents paid by foreign actors and multinational corporations so often benefit the few rather than the many. Income that is unaccounted for and unregulated can breed corruption, political instability, and violence. The key victims are the very people who live in such places. Promises of developed infrastructure and expansion of social programs never materialize as authoritarian leaders and the elite spread the wealth amongst themselves. Yet another example of power exercised through economic institutions and governmentality.

Reese, Stephen D., and Pamela J. Shoemaker. “A Media Sociology for the Networked Public Sphere: The Hierarchy of Influences Model.” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 19, no. 4, 2016, pp. 389–410. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2016.1174268.

Shoemaker and Reese are credited with a levels-of-analysis theoretical framework around media content. They posit that there is a hierarchy of influences on media content and agenda that span across micro and macro levels – Social Systems, Social Institutions, Organizational, and Individual Routines. In this article, they revisit their 1996 theory and update its application to the modern media framework – a connected world where lines between producer and consumer are blurred. Their theory was created when journalists created the news and ordinary people were consumers and only consumers. But in a world where social media is a key source of information and the advent of the smartphone effectively empowered the common person to be a journalist, what then, are the influences?

Shoemaker and Reese’s theory was an important input into my understanding of media and ultimately, my keyword definition for it. The theory provides a useful lens into how the formation and distribution of knowledge through the media is mediated in many ways. Unless the individual consumer is the discoverer of new knowledge or the active participant in the event itself, all knowledges are situated within the perspective and interpretation of the producer. Because of this, consumption of media – whether in traditional news or modern social media – requires an investigative vigilance toward understanding the influences (and subsequently the agenda and intent) toward what is being shared.    

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. 25th anniversary ed., Vintage Books, 1979. pp. 31-49

Edward Said’s Orientalism is an important work that introduces the theory of Orientalism. Said introduces Orientalism as an explanation of how the Western world (us) defines the non-Western world or the Orient (them) through “taken-for-granted” knowledge. He begins by discussing 18th & 19th-century desires to translate texts that were acquired from the Middle East & Asia. This act of translation essentially granted “expertise” about The Orient to individuals and through this, stereotypes were formed and perpetuated. He uses the example of Britain and Egypt to explain how the knowledge of Egypt from the perspective of Britain came to define their overall identity.

This reading is one of the first readings I encountered in ISS and resonated with me because how it explains how an “us vs them” mentality is formed as a result of trying to understand a group of people from the supposed “innocent” view of objectivity. Objectivity, as described by Haraway, of course, is an exercise in privilege and power. Growing up as an immigrant, I’ve been personally on the receiving end of such examinations – why do you talk like that, what are you eating, you’re weird, etc. – and it always bothered me without fully understanding why. Said’s theory of Orientalism is a gateway of sorts into understanding how ideas, prejudices, and stereotypes can be perpetuated through seemingly harmless interpretations of The Other and how these evolve into full-fledged “imagined geographies”.

Stanley, Peter. “The American Soldier and the Conquest of the Philippines.” Reappraising an Empire: New Perspectives on Philippine-American History (Harvard Studies in American-East Asian Relations, 10), 1st ed., Harvard University Asia Center, 1985, pp. 13–34.

In this chapter from Reappraising an Empire, the author Peter Stanley vividly describes the American occupation of Manila during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century. Through primary source material – journal entries, military archives, etc – he explains how American troops treated the Filipinos. Native women and children were “accidentally shot.” Civilian passersby were struck in the face by the butts of Springfield rifles simply for seeming “surly.” Filipinos were treated as animals and livestock and were murdered in cold blood even as American troops came to the islands to “liberate” the people from “savage rebels.”

Colonialism is one of my keywords and this reading really spoke to the psychology of the American soldier as agents of chaos and war. As a Filipino-American, I’d never come across any academic literature about the Philippine-American War. It was not a part of my social studies curriculum in high school, nor is it referenced heavily in pop culture (think American Civil War.) I cried reading this chapter. The accounts described malicious acts of violence and hate inflicted upon the native peoples of the Philippines. Scenes of child murder and sexual assault. Scenes of humiliation. All simply because of the United States’ participation in early 20th-century colonialism. Though a harrowing read, it was an important read that served as a lens into a perspective of colonialism that is situated within my own purview.

Tilly, Charles. “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime.” Bringing the State Back In, 1985, pp. 169–91. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511628283.008.

In this essay by sociologist Charles Tilly, he compares the state to an organized crime organization – a mob. The foundation of his theory is based on Max Weber’s famous theory of state-making which claims that a state is an entity in a civil society that “successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force.” Tilly’s essay is an explanation (and provocation) of European state-making at which the core vector is war. In short, he explains that war-making is an expensive endeavor and requires the extraction of resources. Extraction of resources means that certain individuals in the population become dedicated to that task creating centralized institutions. Inevitably, this resulted in the creation and defending of national spaces – physical geographies, us versus them. The state’s role in the instability of the environment through war created extraction industries and created the need to defend the people from the very instability that was created – like a racketeer charging for protection from the violence and crime that their very business has created.

Tilly’s comparison of the state to an organized crime ring is a useful addition to other theories on the state like those that come from Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Foucault. But unlike, unlike those three, his theory is centered on historical observation rather than philosophical what-ifs. The theory was an interesting (at times playful) look at how power is expressed and wielded within a polity and provides a useful lens on modern political apparatuses.