Cultural Violence: The Invisible Practice of Systemic Oppression and Inequality | The DEN

Posted By: KLTVon: July 15, 2024In: Current Affairs, Education & Training, News, The DEN

Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Yuffie Seymour –

[UPDATE: 30/07/24] An article published by The Guardian, titled ‘Economic violence: Birmingham residents decry plan to raze 1,900 homes’ provided a clear example of the points raised in this article. The article has been updated to include this.

Cultural violence refers to aspects of a culture that can be used to justify or legitimise direct social, institutional or structural violence. It includes the fundamental attitudes, values, beliefs, and symbols that make violence seem acceptable or necessary within a society. Sociologist Johan Galtung introduced the concept to explain how cultural norms and ideologies can perpetuate and normalise oppression, discrimination, and inequality.

How Does Cultural Violence Manifest?

Cultural violence manifests in various forms. One example is language, where derogatory terms or stereotypes are often used to dehumanise certain groups. Cultural violence also manifests in religious doctrines that justify violence or discrimination against non-believers or different sects.

Art and media that show representations that glorify violence or depict certain groups as inferior in education also manifest cultural violence, as well as curriculums that ignore or misrepresent the history and contributions of marginalised groups.

Symbols, flags, and monuments are still used today and often present and preserve historically oppressive regimes and ideologies. Edward Colston, a sixteenth-century enslaver statue, was torn down during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol. The protesters openly stated they felt personally and culturally violated, having to walk past the Colston statue every day.

The Dynamics of Domination Preserving Cultural Violence

Asa G Hillard III, an African American scholar in Educator, Psychologist and Historians, cites the dynamics of domination as a set of processes that Galtung puts to “perpetuate and normalise oppression, discrimination, and inequality.”

Hilliard III shared the six white supremacist ideologies of the dynamics of domination. These are:

Erase African memory – By teaching Eurocentric ideology
Suppress the practice of African culture – Enslavement
Teach White supremacy- Deny African history in schools
Control the institute of socialisation – Community, business and schools marginalised by social class, ethnicity and financial investment
Control wealth – Black and Brown people find it more difficult to obtain bank loans
Physical segregation- From enslavement to placing black people in low socio-economically challenged communities across cities and boroughs.

Gentrification and the Impact of Cultural Violence

The gentrification of poor minority areas for the expansion of the wealth for big business is another form of social, economic and cultural violence. Gentrification is a process in which urban neighbourhoods experience a transformation due to an influx of more affluent residents, leading to rising property values and rents. The process of gentrification often results in the displacement of the original long-term, lower-income residents and significantly changes the area’s cultural and social demographic.

Gentrification can bring positive and negative consequences. While an area may see improved infrastructure and amenities, it also increases economic and social inequality. Over time, the communities’ historical social and cultural intergenerational connectedness is lost forever.

Mindy Thompson Fullilove calls the loss of a community through gentrification urban renewal programs ‘Root Shock’. “The traumatic stress reaction, a deconstruction of all or part of one’s emotional ecosystem”.

There are four types of gentrification: Expansive, Concentrated, Limited and Nascent.

Expansive gentrification spreads in large cities with more minor, underrepresented populations and well-organised street grid systems, making it easier to move through different neighbourhoods.

Concentrated gentrification is when a small area experiences rapid and significant changes due to gentrification while the surrounding areas remain essentially unchanged.

Limited gentrification is when only a few places within a city or neighbourhood experience gentrification while the remaining area remains unchanged.

Nascent Gentrification refers to the early stages of gentrification, where the process has just begun, and the changes are not yet significant or widespread.

Urban renewal programs in Brixton, London, Chapel Town in Leeds, and Ashbrow Ward in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, are undergoing concentrated, limited, and nascent gentrification. This is not sensationalism; go for yourself and look. As Thompson shares, “Urban renewal is Negro removal”.

Shining a Light on Disparity with Critical Race Theory

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic are the pioneering minds behind Critical Race Theory (CRT), a transformative lens that shines a light into the dark shadows and intricate web of race disparities, shedding light on the deceptive practice and impact of cultural violence.

CRT unveils how systemic racism is deeply entrenched within societal structures and norms, emphasising how policies, laws, and practices continue racial inequality. By framing “whiteness” as a form of property that bestows advantages, CRT challenges us to confront the privileges that uphold racial hierarchies in institutional cultures, structures and society.

It introduces the concept of interest convergence, explaining that progress often materialises when the needs of marginalised groups align with those in power. Moreover, CRT meticulously examines micro-aggressions, those subtle yet powerful daily interactions that maintain racial stereotypes and foster hostile environments for marginalised communities.

Mitigating Cultural Violence

The dynamics of domination, gentrification, and critical race theory all provide a look into how Black and poor White communities are manipulated, marginalised, institutionalised, and, in some cases, demonised by the institutions and structures when they choose to wield their power and influence.

How do we mitigate this invisible cultural violation of people and their communities? How do we stop and eradicate cultural violence and challenge the institutions and structures? What is the responsibility of community leaders, activists, community interest companies, social enterprises, and the voluntary sector who tirelessly provide their communities with hope, inspiration and self-determination?

Mitigating cultural violence requires a multi-faceted approach encompassing various social and cultural literacy skills. To stem the tide of cultural violence is a collective effort to achieve systemic change.

Leaders must establish networks within their communities. Too often, community leaders focus on transactional relationships to the detriment of their community. Leaders must promote solidarity across cultural, racial, and ethnic lines to build a more robust, sustainable, and inclusive network. They must educate themselves and their communities on how public sector governance functions as a local authority. Leaders must ensure they represent their communities where local democratic decisions are negotiated and made.

They must create community leadership and entrepreneurship programs. Leaders should open channels of dialogue with their local councillor and community to advocate for legal reforms, help decide how funding decisions are made and administered, how empty buildings are used in the local area, and how communities can share resources of a local authority that empowers their community.

Digital media literacy is fundamental for success, and celebrating the community’s arts, culture, and heritage is vital. Utilising multiple social media platforms that promote essential knowledge and skills is critical and effective for communities in the digital age. Collecting and celebrating community testimonies that share positive and inclusive narratives of grassroots activism, communities, and leaders working together is essential.

Through ethical journalism, cultural exchange, self-reflection, allyship, and coalition building, communities can imagine better futures, collectively challenge stereotypes, combat discrimination, and cultivate a culture of respect, understanding, and unity.

Modern Cultural Violence: Redevelopment Plans in Birmingham

Examples of modern cultural violence can be found up and down the country. A recent article from the Guardian highlighted this.

The article describes how residents of Birmingham’s Ladywood estate are concerned about being displaced by a £2.2 billion redevelopment project that plans to demolish 1,900 homes. The project, one of Europe’s largest estate regenerations, aims to build 7,500 new homes on a 150-acre site, with only 1,000 designated as affordable council-owned homes. A campaign called Ladywood Unite has been formed to argue against demolishing good-quality homes and suggests using vacant land instead.

Despite the council’s assurances of compensation and a “build-first approach,” residents remain sceptical and frustrated by the lack of clear communication and engagement. The scheme, intended to address Birmingham’s housing crisis, raises fears of increased displacement and psychological distress among the community, particularly given Ladywood’s high levels of poverty and minority population.

Thankfully, the council has yet to finalise their plans, promising further community consultation and the development of a resident charter. Cases like these represent the dynamics of domination and how Black and poor White communities are manipulated, marginalized, institutionalised, and sometimes even demonised by institutions and structures when those entities choose to exert their power and influence.

Conclusion

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will”

Frederick Douglass, West India Emancipation Speech, August 3, 1857

Through a greater understanding of cultural violence, how it manifests, and how it continues, communities can begin to stem the flow and positively enable themselves. However, change is not to be placed squarely on the shoulders of individuals. The institutions, and structures of power must be willing to open themselves up to systemic and cultural socio-economic change that will benefit communities first.

Conversely, the leaders of those communities must have further educated themselves and upgrade their social, cultural, digital and political literacy to navigate the challenges of public sector governance. Through education and understanding, we can all work together to provide a greater future for us all.