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Lorenz [Member] in response to: Anthropologists and stereotypes about Libya and Japan

Lorenz [Member] — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:06:28 +0000

Hi Robin, totally agree with you. I haven't called it racism. I wrote that these stories often trigger racist discourses in the comment fields. But you inspired me and made me think of the concept of banal nationalism. Banal stuff like flags or national news and weather remind us "where we belong". So we might call these kind of representations "banal racism"? Stories like these remind us of the way humanity is categorized?

PS: Time to start blogging again?

Robin Öberg [Visitor] in response to: Anthropologists and stereotypes about Libya and Japan

Robin Öberg [Visitor] — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:49:59 +0000

Looks like a problem with generalizing. I mean, it is not untrue that atleast some Japanese are stoic and spiritual. The problem is that people think that all Japanese are like that. It is basically essentialism. But to go so far as to call it racism, I don't know. More like ethnocentrism maybe. Us/them and all that. I believe social psychologists have a term for it. Over-determinating typification or something like that.

Lorenz [Member] in response to: Anthropologists and stereotypes about Libya and Japan

Lorenz [Member] — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:37:32 +0000

Thanks. Corrected

Robert O'Connor [Visitor] in response to: Anthropologists and stereotypes about Libya and Japan

Robert O'Connor [Visitor] — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:08:00 +0000

One quick correction: Johann Hari is a he.