a sly but genuine love of just how much music can shape a human being’s identity.

Addressing implicit and explicit cultural biases in data is going to be a huge challenge for everyone who is trying to build a system dependent on data classified by or about humans.

The American and the girl with him

Because it is so important to be seen as competent and productive members of society, people naturally attempt to present themselves to others in a positive light. We attempt to convince others that we are good and worthy people by appearing attractive, strong, intelligent, and likable and by saying positive things to others (Jones & Pittman, 1982; Schlenker, 2003). The tendency to present a positive self-image to others, with the goal of increasing our social status, is known as self-presentation, and it is a basic and natural part of everyday life.

It’s just not how I expected my life would be,'" he says.

In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally

LetterPile»Writing»Creative Writing Very Short Stories for High School & Middle SchoolUpdated on May 12, 2017 <img src="https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/8625837_100.jpg" alt="Howard Allen profile image" title="Howard Allen profile image"/>Howard Allen more <img src="https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/8703622_f496.jpg" data-ratio="1.4555808656036" alt=""/> If your students are

Short Stories About Identity a

ndbreaking work on identity and psychosocial development in the 1960s, Canadian deve

The aim of this five-wave

Koromanti was a term commonly used to describe enslaved people from the Akan ethnic group from West Africa, one of the largest group among the enslaved in Jamaica at the time.

CINNA. I am not Cinna the conspirator. FOURTH CITIZEN. It is no matter, his name’s Cinna; pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him going.

Similarly, the collective of internet users acting as digital environmentalists advocate for the health of the digital environment.

This voluntary (yet forced) alienation makes for psychological conflict, a kind of dual identity

 Because that I am more than common tall, FTLN 0583 That I did suit me all points like a man?

Scene 1 Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, and two or three Lords, like foresters.

 I think he be transformed into a beast, FTLN 0960 For I can nowhere find him like a man

orego one identity for a startling new one

I was loving teaching as never before. I was experiencing less and less frustration doing what I loved.

Meeting new colleagues with whom I could have fun teaching was high up on my 'would love to' list.

I am an outsider who thought that perhaps I could lay a set of parallel sidetracks next to the well-worn ones of System B, an underground railway designed to lift up, carry forward, and sustain those fleeing the plight of System B.

the crank and the zealot. Whatever. I am an iconoclast in a job that values lockstep

Outsiders in Academe

a gadfly

My idea of the consummate outsider is architect

Pulling here, pulling there and giving a broad grin to a band of fellow urchins.

"We shall miss Simon's way of... er making his position...er his disagreement...clear."

Artful...as in Dodger

I responded to the invitation with confusion and then refound the voice which comes from somewhere. A blog post wrote itself, a familiar voice helped me find my feet. Dodger, my alter-ego helped me through the crisis of trust.

What does this say about our desire to connect, to search for meaning?

Today as a teacher I am working with the UK, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the USA, Brazil, Cameroun. 5 years ago, I was only concerned with a room of twenty five students at one moment, today I am concerned with perhaps something over a 1000 or more students and teachers who are all over the place.

I am now perhaps half French.

a writer...(now, I come to think of it, I could say that now, I had never assumed that costume before)

The Spaceman Episode

Suddenly people in my institution appeared to be taking what I had to say seriously..to almost trust me.

I met with my friend Marcin Kleban. After a twenty minute discussion we started a project of 40 language teachers and learners, he trusted me.. I met with my friend Blaise Ngandeu, I was able to learn about Nexus Analysis from my friend Maritta Riekki.

I met Catherine Cronin, I think first in London and then again in Plymouth, I met Mary Anne Reilly, we spoke over dinner about Nomads, about Rhizomatic Learning. I felt connected. I felt that I could communicate, I felt nurtured. I was not al

Without her, nothing would have happened. I would have remained isolated probably, unhappily in a disconnected classroom.

Digital Identity

16, he killed a man who had raped his younger sister. Little record exists of the next four or five years of his life, during which time he changed his name to Francisco

occurred to him to claim a Latino identity

this is not just a tussle over identity, it is a political battle, too.

By treating particular identities as “subject matter”instead of facets of personhood – by claiming that queer characters can “distract” from a central story, as though queerness is only ever a focus, and not a fact – you’re acting as though the actual living people with those identities have no value, presence or personhood beyond them.

Identity is the micro level: the intimacy of self-expression coupled with the immediacy of belonging.

the response is always, "What is the LGBT community going to do about this?" But the LGBT community doesn't run the schools where queer kids are being bullied, raped, and abused. The LGBT community can't shut down those "houses of worship" where LGBT kids are abused spiritually and their straight peers are given license to abuse them physically. The LGBT community doesn't parent the vast majority of LGBT kids. So the question shouldn't be, "What is the LGBT community going to do about this?", but rather, "What is the straight community going to do about this?"

corporate-breathing purpose manifest through social and tech

and the significance of choices among language uses.

THE IMPERSONAL LIFEJoseph S. BennerI AMTo you who read, I speak.To you, who, through long years and much running to and fro, have been eagerly seeking, inbooks and teachings, in philosophy and religion, for you know not what ---Truth, Happiness,Freedom, God;To you whose Soul is weary and discouraged and almost destitute of hope;To you, who many times have obtained a glimpse of that "Truth" only to find, when youfollowed and tried to reach it, that it disappeared in the beyond, and was but the mirage of thedesert;To you, who thought you had found it in some great teacher, who was perhaps the acknowledgedhead of some Society, Fraternity or Religion, and who appeared to you to be a "Master", somarvelous was the wisdom he taught and the works he performed; -- only to awaken later to therealization that that "Master" was but a human personality, with faults and weaknesses, andsecret sins, the same as you, even though that personality may have been a channel throughwhich were voiced many beautiful teachings, which seemed to you the highest "Truth;"And here you are, Soul aweary and enhungered, and not knowing where to turn ---To you, I AM come.Likewise to you, who have begun to feel the presence of that "Truth" within your Soul, and seekthe confirmation of that which of late has been vaguely struggling for living expression within;Yes, to all you who hunger for the true "Bread of Life," I AM come.Are you ready to partake?If so, then arouse yourself. Sit up. Still your human mind and follow closely My Word hereinspoken. Or you will turn away disappointed once more, with the aching hunger still in yourheart

Can I run my own identity server? Yes - the reference implementation is sydent and you can run your own ID server cluster that tracks 3rd party to Matrix ID mappings. This won’t be very useful right now, though, and we don’t recommend it. If you want your server to participate in the global replicated Matrix ID service then please get in touch with us. Meanwhile, we are looking at ways of decentralising the ‘official’ Matrix identity service so that identity servers are 100% decentralised and can openly federate with each other. N.B. that you can use Matrix without ever using the identity service - it exists only to map 3rd party IDs (e.g. email addresses) to matrix IDs to aid user discovery.

Because even if you don’t have a conscious one, you’ve been living one.”

Let’s not mitigate our censure with cutesy fraternal nicknames.

ShowTix4U.com.

It is not pleasant to sacrifice your illusions. And again, this is why it is imperative for you to connect with me frequently, if not absolutely constantly, so as to have the opportunity to stand in the presence of your Sanity, your unflawed experience of what is Really going on, because you will be able to catch the feel of Joy which will further illuminate You to you as Who You truly Are, and thus promote greater willingness to release, without reason or thought, the fantasy you.

The thinking which the fantasy partner or false sense of self has engaged in will be replaced with the Knowing which has been constituted of the direct experience of your Self. When it has seemed as though you were talking with me and drawing upon the infinite Knowing, you have been connected to You, and it has constituted the substance of You, even though as long as you were identifying with the fantasy sense of yourself it has seemed as though you were not connected with yourself and who you were was becoming less and less significant.

Now, it is important for you and I to speak regularly, as we are doing, because just as meditating reminds you of the experience of centeredness, our conversing reminds you of the nature of the experience of Knowing, which provides you with the clear perspective of the pleasure of It, the Integrity of It, the naturalness of It, and the fact that in the experience of It there is no loss of any experience of Self, including, as I said, identity and identification—what might be called mind and body. The experience of It does not convey or substantiate the sidekick, the sidekick’s judgments, or the sidekick’s sense of separation. You must be reminded of this because it helps to substantiate to you the desirability of not being fragmented, the desirability of not experiencing fear, the desirability of not being “bumbling,” the desirability of not experiencing incompetence, the desirability of releasing the sidekick.

Absolutely everything, all form, is simply the expression of the movement of Knowing, the movement of Self. Abide with the Knowing, and be from the Knowing, and all form will identify Being, because there will be no misidentification of Self to cause a preoccupation with form. I mention this because you must be very clear that in shifting from thinking to Knowing, you will not become unconscious of Self, and you will not become unconscious of body. It is just that Self and Body will not be identified with body! Again, it is just that Self and Body will not be identified with body. The simple fact is that self-consciousness and body-consciousness become secondary, and ultimately nonexistent in the Act of Knowing. And yet, consciousness, with full identity and identification will be experienced—another key point!

The experience of personality is, indeed, the effective block to the experience of Individuality, of Identity. Again—and this is imperative now—if you are not “channeling” me, then be in touch with me constantly. I will not be imposed upon by your constantly dialoguing with me, even in the midst of your relating to others and engaging in daily activities.

What is significant here, and what has been significant about the past nine years is that you have engaged in Listening. You have not engaged in as much dialoguing as would have been helpful, but by virtue of your willingness to allow me to address others, you have put yourself in the position of relating to “the Real world,” to Reality. You are now able to consider looking at the fact that Reality is where you Are, and that you are different from the perceptions you have held so dear about yourself called the ego, the sidekick, “bumbling Paul,”—a personal, private sense of self that has very little to do with Reality. You are able to embrace that concept, which is actually the Fact, without significant fear—reluctance maybe, resistance, yes, but with little fear, and now with some active curiosity.

It is the experience of being Who you Are that I am promoting, and not an “intellectual knowledge.” Indeed, to quote Susan, if I were to sit here and say “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” and you did not miss one moment of the “blahs,” but were attentive to them, the essential dynamics of Awakening would be present, because you could not hear the “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” from within your defenses. Thus the experience of being in your right Mind, even though it would not be complete, would be Actual, and that is the way the weight gets shifted from the unreal sidekick that seems real to the real Friend that seems unreal, and the real You that has seemed nonexistent.

Remember—and this is the key of our conversation today—it is the act of being in dialogue, it is the event of being connected, and not what happens during the connection, which constitutes the bridge that allows you to move from the ego sense of self to the Conscious experience of Who You Are. Indeed, you can ask me to simply say, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” when you are afraid of the content of what you might hear, because it isn’t the content but the connection that constitutes the bridge.

You see, as long as you think “Bumbling Paul,” the sidekick, is the real you, your divine Self-hood will seem to be your sidekick, the fantasy partner, the intangible, insubstantial essence—the ethereal you. This displacement is being healed, requiring you to invest yourself in the “unreal” 2 and abandon the “real.” 3 That is how you let go of the ego. This is how you become Sane. You see, I am not riding around in your hip pocket. The “you” that thinks I am is riding around in the hip pocket of You. And You and I are brothers. You hear me instead of your Self because your sidekick cannot acknowledge You. Indeed, this is an Awakening, or healing of mental illness—confused identity—and will affect and consume every perception of your existence. One is never selectively insane. Misperception colors all of one’s experience.

If you are interested in this conversation, join us Friday, January 8 at Noon Eastern.

No. Your Being is intent on being Itself and knows how to be Itself perfectly. When you have experienced this, you will be able to trust your Self implicitly.

Among Hollywood writers, Disney has the reputation

If “form follows function,” then it is imperative that your attention be on the function and not the form. What is the Function which you see as the unfolding of daily activities? It is the unfolding of Your Being, identifying and fulfilling Itself as Itself. Activity, money and profit are all aspects of that identification. Money—income—is not the end goal of it all. Every aspect of your day identifies your Being, and not any one is more important or less important than another. Work does not generate income. Being generates work and income and leisure and growth. Yet, not any one of these things exist for their own independent purpose or identity. They identify Being, and Being is the Alpha and Omega—that which is and is identifying Itself completely and successfully. It is the flow of Being which is the Function. It is identified by the forms which constitute your daily activities. Your need is to identify yourself as Being and not as form.

Stay with the Fact that your Being is totally present. THAT’S FACT. Your Being is totally functioning. THAT’S FACT. Your Being is being totally successful in fully identifying Itself. THAT’S FACT. You are not a small part of the totality of God’s Universe. THAT’S FACT. And you are not part of God’s Universe, because God is the only Identity you have. Therefore, your Being is infinite and cannot be contained. Do not let yourself be coerced into accepting the pea-sized concept of Identity called three-dimensional man. You must stay with the Infinity of your Being, together with Its Omnipresence and Omnipotence. You are all of It. It is all of You. God is the only thing going on. it is the Happening. Do not buy the hypnotic suggestions being put forth by “ego.“

notion that your identity comes from within you and not from someone else

Your focal point must remain at that within Point wherein you are constantly aware of being as Conscious Being, not as the operator of a business, or the promoter of a service. You must let the business and the service be what they will, as the ever-fluid manifestation of that living Being which You Are. Do not let what “occurs” become the repository of yourself. This is because Your Self, being infinite, cannot be confined to any manifestation or visibility which It evolves for Its identification. Yes, in your terms, it would mean a dispassionate, uninvolved experience of what is appearing. You must learn to get your satisfaction from being What You Are as Conscious Being, rather than what you appear to be by virtue of what is done three-dimensionally.

On the other hand, Identity, when It is perceived to be the expression of the Universal, omnipresent divine Mind or Intelligence, is capable of expressing Itself on a sustained basis—so sustained that the word “eternal” is the only word that describes It. It is so substantial by virtue of Its Nature as Intelligence, that It is called Omnipotent.

There is only one infinite Life/Principle, one infinite Identity, infinitely expressed and seen as all that exists. It is what constitutes the center and circumference of Being—Your Self as you experience It, Susan’s Self as she experiences It, and my Self as I experience It. Its omnipotence or strength is constituted of Its absolute omnipresent Integrity, which is Its Intelligent Nature. it is not thrilling or exciting when contemplated from an egotistical standpoint. But It is satisfying in ways that are so meaningful that they cannot compare to the “thrills” of the ego. It also has this benefit: The satisfaction is eternal and unchanging.

On the other hand, Identity, when It is perceived to be the expression of the Universal, omnipresent divine Mind or Intelligence, is capable of expressing Itself on a sustained basis—so sustained that the word “eternal” is the only word that describes It. It is so substantial by virtue of Its Nature as Intelligence, that It is called Omnipotent.

It is very important to realize that Identity is something far different from ego. Identity is what exists before ego can seem to be formed. Yet, once ego develops, Identity becomes practically invisible. This is because ego supplies one with a “high,” a thrill, an excitement which Identity does not.

There is only one infinite Life/Principle, one infinite Identity, infinitely expressed and seen as all that exists. It is what constitutes the center and circumference of Being—Your Self as you experience It, Susan’s Self as she experiences It, and my Self as I experience It. Its omnipotence or strength is constituted of Its absolute omnipresent Integrity, which is Its Intelligent Nature. it is not thrilling or exciting when contemplated from an egotistical standpoint. But It is satisfying in ways that are so meaningful that they cannot compare to the “thrills” of the ego. It also has this benefit: The satisfaction is eternal and unchanging.

It is very important to realize that Identity is something far different from ego. Identity is what exists before ego can seem to be formed. Yet, once ego develops, Identity becomes practically invisible. This is because ego supplies one with a “high,” a thrill, an excitement which Identity does not.

April 29, 1982 Thursday

It is always us that is holding onto some comfortable sense of limitation with which we feel some sense of familiarity. The active agent which holds us back is actually our own refusal to let go of the known for the Unknown. This reluctance is entirely due to an adopted belief that we are what we appear to be—finite, separate, an independent “intelligence” that exists “inside” this finite object called a body, a potential victim of an unpredictable environment. Yet, the finiteness, separateness, independence, and unpredictability are entirely inherent in the partial view of the Actual conscious experience of Being which is going on. If it weren’t going on, there couldn’t be a misinterpretation or misidentification!

She does, indeed, have a Guide. Her apparent earth age has nothing to do with it. She is a total and complete individualization of God.

Do not misunderstand me. To know Who You Are, What You Are, and that You Are Where It’s All Happening is, indeed, Divine Fulfillment of Purpose. It is to be One with God. It is to flow with the Divine Energies. It is to be One and in Harmony with the Great Works of Divine Intelligence. BUT, IT IS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL!

Such a sanctuary is in some ways a satisfying experience, but you can’t pull a sanctuary behind your car with you everywhere you go, or pull it into a building on a wagon just so your place of living as Conscious Being can always be with you. If that is the only means one has, then one must work with what one has, but it is most certainly limited. I am glad to see that you are discovering that you can function intuitively out from Mind as Conscious Being. This indicates a rapid integration of being consciously aware of Who You Are, What You Are, and that You Are Where It’s All Happening.

The Divine Purpose is the DNA code of your Being. You can’t get outside of it except in your imagination.

By “understanding” I mean real, actual felt, experiential awareness of the Physiology of that Body. You will never control your environment if you think the environment is the Image which you call the three-dimensional world. The three-dimensional world is Pure Image. The distortions you see in it are not in it. They are caused by your ignorance of the workings of the Source, of which the Image is just an image.

Not having realized that what you call “body” is Image, and not Body, and not having realized that Body is Consciousness, You, you have ignored the lesson about the Reality (Source) of the Image that can only be learned by understanding the True Body.

The inner strength gained by the specific awareness of Who You Are, What You Are, and that You Are Where It’s All Happening, is the only way for you to move forward at the new level that you are entering into.

I want you to continue to rely on the inherent Intelligence of Your Being to reveal Itself in clearer and clearer evidence; AND I WANT YOU TO BE AWARE THAT IT IS YOUR BEING “DOING ITS OWN THING” that you are observing.

It is time to become aware of the “physiology” or anatomy of your mentality. Be attentive to the process of what you call inspiration, intuition, psychic awareness, enlightenment. It is not something happening to you at all. Rather, it is You happening as You.

PAUL: Okay. I know that all of me has to be present and functioning… RAJ: Don’t add that “but.” Stay with the simple Fact you have just stated. The “but” is the hooker! “All is infinite Mind and Its infinite manifestation.“1 There aren’t any “buts” about it! Being is “neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it. It is at that point and must be understand therefrom.“2 It will never be understood from the standpoint of the three-dimensional frame of awareness (ego). You must stop looking for clues, helpful hints, or reassurances objectively. Being doesn’t need them, and “ego” only needs them in order to hook you. Remember, as you “do battle,” that there is no battle going on at all. It is a process by which you are becoming less slipshod in your self-identification. It seems as though it is an attempt to influence you in the direction of misidentification, but you are at a point where the thrust truly cannot reach you because you are hidden in the Secret Place of the Most High. You have experienced It.

Do not indulge in the mistaken belief that it is going to be anything less than hard work, Paul. Accept that right now! Do not look at this “stage” of your growth as being peaches and cream. Do not indulge in self-pity or indignation at it not being easier since you “know the Truth” and are “having these conversations with me.“ Realize right now that indignation and self-pity are ego, ego, ego right down the line. You’ve got to not give a damn about whether it’s easy, hard, pleasant, unpleasant, quick or slow. These are all three-dimensional, “ego-bound” concepts. Even if they seem to parade as your feelings or thinking, do not “connect” up with them. I reiterate, Paul: Plan on it being hard work! Fight the fight! Follow through to the end wherein “ego’s” claims become the nonsense that they are, just as when HAL began reciting nursery rhymes and singing children’s songs. Do not misunderstand. I am not saying there is a real fight. I’m not saying there is a real antagonist. I am saying that if you don’t behave as though there were one—if you don’t tend to follow through “come hell or high water”—then you will be lazy and slipshod in your approach. One way or another, ego will insinuate itself into and as your self-awareness, because it is a habit through long years of apparent Self-ignorance.

Stay with the Fact that your Being is totally present. THAT’S FACT. Your Being is totally functioning. THAT’S FACT. Your Being is being totally successful in fully identifying Itself. THAT’S FACT. You are not a small part of the totality of God’s Universe. THAT’S FACT. And you are not part of God’s Universe, because God is the only Identity you have. Therefore, your Being is infinite and cannot be contained. Do not let yourself be coerced into accepting the pea-sized concept of Identity called three-dimensional man. You must stay with the Infinity of your Being, together with Its Omnipresence and Omnipotence. You are all of It. It is all of You. God is the only thing going on. it is the Happening. Do not buy the hypnotic suggestions being put forth by “ego.“

Form does not supply Being with anything, whereas Being supplies Itself with all form. It is the initial misidentification of form as function that fouls everything up. Our limited viewpoint, taking itself as the center and circumference, is the flaw.

Every aspect of your day identifies your Being, and not any one is more important or less important than another. Work does not generate income. Being generates work and income and leisure and growth. Yet, not any one of these things exist for their own independent purpose or identity. They identify Being, and Being is the Alpha and Omega—that which is and is identifying Itself completely and successfully. It is the flow of Being which is the Function. It is identified by the forms which constitute your daily activities. Your need is to identify yourself as Being and not as form.

You have not made the distinction between you as Fourth-dimensional Man, and you as three-dimensional conglomeration of thoughts, concepts, physical reactions, emotional reactions, et cetera. You are going to have to be very alert now, because more often than not, the mythical structure called “ego” is going to be in the process of dissolving. Much like HAL, the computer in the film, “2001”, there will be subtle, insistent, plaintive pleas. There will be an even seemingly human capacity to imply that it is capable of truly fearing its own demise. You must realize that ego is a fraud from the beginning, and you must learn to properly identify your Self as Being, Itself, and not as “ego.“ So that there is no confusion, whatsoever, about this process, it had better be clear to you that you will have to listen to, and even seemingly experience, whatever charade is attempted by this false sense of individuality as it gives up the ghost. You will have to remain unmoved and steadfast in the proper identification of your Being. Ego is what Jesus referred to as “the devil,” being a liar and the father of it. It is imperative that you understand that there is no other evil. The only sin there is is the misidentification of one’s Self as “ego” rather than Being, as Conscious Being.

Designing, selling, and buying face parts are not simply leisure activ-ities; they are core activities driven by Whyvillians’ interest in their online represen-tation of who they are and who they possibly could become

identity formation

our view, her emphasison control meant that she sought out the learning resource that allowed her the greatestcontrol over the learning experience. In this case, the learning resource was her brother

heseparate worlds viewholds, in different waysfor different writers, that game play is a world apart of people’s other activities in everydaylife.

Why

public-by-default, private-through-effort mentality.Because of this public-by-default framework, most teens won’t bother to limit the audience who can see what they consider to be mundane conversations on Facebook.

You are very fortunate that your concepts of right and wrong, good and bad, goal or purpose, are not coming to fruition because, when they do, they continue to support the false sense of ego, thus keeping hidden your true Identity.

Now, youth .were drawn to dance, drama, and other forms of art as a means to form strong, safe group affiliations

We were walking along Washington Avenue, the main street that runs through the town, past the Town Hall that looks like a castle, and the duck pond. I don’t remember what we were talking about or if we were even talking, but I remember his face, bloated and red and angry. He stuck that face out of the truck that slowed down as it passed, then he threw a lit cigarette at us, two teenage girls – her 16, me 13 – and said, “Go home, n*ggers.” We jumped away to avoid getting burnt and stared at the truck as it sped off. She started crying, a quiet, blubbering cry that shook her shoulders. I stayed quiet the rest of the walk home. The following year, a black girl who was all of a shade darker than me told me I didn’t know prejudice – “because you’re not black.” She pursed her lips and shook her head. I thought back to that lit cigarette and that bloated, red face.

The purpose of the fieldwork reported in this study was to describe the ideals that surrounded learning within team life and to capture—primarily through detailing the language of activities—manifestations of the environment of learning that the specialized domain

youngsters who play Little League baseball know that is not the way "real" baseball players talk to each other.

preferenceemerging in Mitchell’s narrative regarded hisdevelopingidentityin amateur astronomy

During this same practice, Octavia and anotherstudent took responsibility for leading the practice of the elementary school "club"team that practiced with them.

and many others have conceived people's actions and their individual development within the larger frame of a historically assembled, socially and culturally constructed activity.

Was that person's intent gaze a sign of witchcraft directed at me, a mark of interest in the color of my dress, or simply an accidental glance, looking through me to the thought beyond? Was she (at this time, in this place) acting as a witch, an admirer or critic, or an uninterested bystander?

ormer lives and their current temptations, are revalued because they signify experience and place in a world that differs from that of the non-alcoholic

but that this was sometimes unproductive because youth need supportto develop certain skills necessary for political action

Youth were those who were of high school age. Adults were those whowere older than 18 and worked as staff members for the organization. With the ex-ception of executive directors, most adults were younger than 24.

One of the first decisions about processhad to do with group ground rules about behavior. Youth defined unexcusedabsences, spelled out how many warnings students should receive for absences,specified the consequences of disrespecting others, and differentiated acceptablecurses (directed toward oneself) from unacceptable curses (directed toward oth-ers).

Also, they view their role as temporary, “fad-ing” over time to enable youth to take progressively more responsibility for activi-ties

Monique’s comments reflect a strong sense of identification with the work

Although some adult sup-port may be necessary for youth to achieve political goals, too much involvementmight undermine their initiative or lead to a slippery slope where adults end upco-opting youths’ roles

It emphasizes how adults help to structure children’s developmental tra-jectories and also the active participation by children in these processes.

The data were compiled in apublished report that had professional features—it had a glossy cover, it had beenedited for grammar and punctuation, it presented evidence in support of the resolu-tion, and each section included policy recommendations. For example, one pagediscussing student leadership included pie charts showing student support forgreater leadership and also included specific recommendations, such as trainingstudents to be able to sit on school decision-making bodies.

Alonzo,the Youth Rising coordinator, told me that he wanted organizing to be an attitudethat youth brought to their peer interactions outside of the program and not justsomething they did when they were at Youth Rising.

But because so much of the workwas performed collaboratively with adults, youth had fewer opportunities to prac-tice and master skills on their own, which makes it challenging to draw inferencesabout their learning. This does not, however, mean that they did not learn. Rogoffet al.’s (2003) description of “intent participation,” for example, suggests that theprocess of attentively observing an activity is a central part of the learning process.Opportunities to observe, listen to conversations, and engage in shared endeavorswith adults may be meaningful even if they do not lead to independent perfor-mance.

Second, unlike either facilitation or apprenticeship, joint work rarely includedelements of a youth-centered environment, such as skill-building workshops or ef-forts to foster group belonging. Aside from periodic check-ins at the beginning ofmeetings, there were no team-building activities. The TRUE project resembledwhat one might expect a planning process to look like in a workplace or commu-nity group, in which the primary goal is to complete the project successfully ratherthan to teach, mentor, or counsel certain members.

The facilitation ap-proachcreated opportunities for youth to participate in a variety of leadershiptasks. Youth participants routinely initiated the meetings, explained the agenda,and helped keep the group on task.

Differences between facilitation, apprenticeship, and joint work.

Unlike in YELL or Youth Rising, in TRUE adultsand youth treated me as a regular participant in the conference planning process—Iwas expected to offer opinions, vote on decisions, and implement necessary tasks

One unique aspect of youth activism groups, however, has to do with an em-powerment discourse that assigns political significance to the distinction betweenyouth and adults.

I define jointwork as a form of collaboration whereby adults participate alongside youth, likeapprenticeship. But, unlike apprenticeship or facilitation, in joint work the envi-ronment is not youth-centered. During this phase of the project there appeared tobe little effort to position youth as leaders of the project, distance adults from theproject, or operate as if one group or another were supposed to be in charge.

adults sought to hand over progressively more re-sponsibilities to youth organizers. Although adults did not fade from active moni-toring to the same extent as those in YELL, they did invite youth to help shape thedirection of the campaign and play a variety of leadership roles.

Instead,adults shared political views with youth, pitched in to complete campaign tasks atkey points, and participated in most decisions. I describe this form of guidance asapprenticeship: Adults were veteran activists who participated in the same en-deavor as novices, while nevertheless structuring activities in ways that were sensi-tive to youths’ skill levels.

As one adult said, to a chorus ofagreement from others, in a debrief meeting, “I’d prefer for us to be like referees,help youth come to their own beliefs, rather than prod them towards ours.

Youth-centered activities include team-builders designed to foster group belonging;workshops designed to improve youths’ skills or understanding; and participantstructures, such as small-group activities, designed to foster participation from allmembers. Activities in facilitation and apprenticeship were typically youth-cen-tered, unlike those in joint work.

Michelle, the program director, ex-plained that she saw her role as supporting youth in making decisions but not mak-ing decisions for them.

Adults across the groups expressed their desire for youth to take ownership ofthe campaigns, in the sense that youth would care about the campaign goals andtake initiative to carry them out, rather than just follow the leadership and guidanceof adults.

In a youth empowerment context, adults are frequently viewed as obstacles toaccess rather than exemplars to emulate, for example by making decisions withoutthe input of youth (Hogan, 2002), creating only token opportunities for youth par-ticipation (O’Donoghue, Kirshner, & McLaughlin, 2002), or promoting punitivepolicies toward minors

Through interaction with public officials and community members, such groupschallenge social constructions of youth of color as apathetic or uninvolved

They are also venues where people forge collective identitiesand extend their solidarities beyond their immediate familiar circles toinclude also the unknown, the strangers.

It is notjust an accumulation of skills and information, but a process of becoming-to become a certainperson or, conversely, to avoid becoming a certain person"

The resources were made available to athletes by virtue oftheir presence in the physical space and through one-on-one interactions with CoachJ. Additionally, ideational resources were often conveyed as students were explicitlypositioned into particular roles with respect to the events at which they wouldcompete in meet

Specifically, it makesthe case for a treatment of learning and identity that considers them to be intimatelyrelated to one another but also to be distinct processes. Thinking about learning andidentities in schools in this way might support a clearer conceptual understanding ofthe relation between learning and identity that does not conflate them or view themas unrelated.

He does not figure his life in AP!s terms. He views AA as a measure to take when things get really bad. He does not share the set of values and distinctions that unites other AA members. The identity of "alcoholic" does not affect his actions, or his perceptions of self, beyond his drinking behavior. Andrew has never stayed in AA for more than one year, although he has been in treatment for alcoholism four times and in and out of AA at least three times

Apparently the story was consciously developed from the beginning as a vehicle for presenting an experience or person with whom the prospect could identify

We conceive this step as devaluation, rather than diffusion, as Schwartz and Merten call it

It is a transformation of their identities, from drinkil1KJ1on-alcoholics to rion-drmldng alcofiO!ics·, a_�n:::d:_,:lt:.:a::l�le::;c:.:-ts::__. ���-�"--·--�·-'-" ·-----��.�-=---�----���·�� . --how they view and act in the world.

Telling AA personal stories also helps members identify with one an­other in ways that are harder to document. As a public event, one that is not only observable but material and co-participatory, the telling encom­passes body practices, including vocalization, that realize structures of affect and disposition. Not only social theorists, from Durkheim and Mauss to Bourdieu, but any participant in such performances would tell you that the fellow-feeling born in these ceremonies is a powerful means of identification.

In the formation of." ne� identity an individual comes, with the social -eiicaiiiagemeni··-�u.d:i�sist�n��-.-�L2r.����,--.. r<itmemrei: the�l.v�ild.. in new ways·, an:d··rcql'osifioii:' llerself and emotionally invest herself in that world. Indlviduals-UoThis through particiPating in -group activities, learning to· produce and enact cultural forms particular to that world, and taking up these forms as devices for mediating their own conception of self and world.

I personal storie , oldtimers in AA tell their own life stories or partcll them-=Their drinking histories-and how they came to be involved in I AA. These stories contribute to cultural production and reproduction in three ways. First, they objectify many cultural elements-the beliefs, propositions, and interpretations-that new or potential AA members learn through listening. Second, by virtue of their" narrative forms, the stories realize a model of what alcoholism is and what it means to be an alcoholic. This model, in the absence of a well-defined, well-elaborated model shared by the wider culture, provides a basis for potential mem­bers to identify themselves as alcoholics, through comparing their lives to those in the stories. The storyline also provides a basis for labeling others, as others compare the lives of suspected alcoholics to the AA lives. Third, the AA story is a tool of subjectivity, a �p.ediat:ing-.de¥-iG€ for s�standing: As the AA member learns the AA story model, by listening to and telling stories, and comes to place the events and experi­ences of his own··· life into the model, he learns to understand his own�l.ife1 as an AA life, and himself as an AA alcoholic. The .l'ersonal_st"l}'_!s_a cultural vehicle for identity formation.

his transformation takes place througl:l rei11_terpret�ion, as_.'!'<:"lber_u<>_m� to 11nders�nd thatthdrpasts have b�en a progr�ssion ofalcoholi£ d,:lllk!!lg_;md_alco­holic -behj.vfor.

identity reconstitu��Q11- i!l AA. takes place through reinterpreta-tion ()(self and of one'slif�, and that the major ve!ITCTefonhi:Sremferpretation_IS-illeAA persg11�1 story

This is why, as members often say, "AA is for those who want it, not for those who need it." AA members must agree to become tellers, as well as listeners, of AA stories.

There are therefore two aspects important to membership in AA: qualification as an alcoholic, based on ones past, and continued non-drinking behavior, or effort at not drinking, which is a . ne ation of the behavior that first qualified one for membership.J

1_3tiid�ll�!.tz" Jn<::��ll:'_"'.ay a E::��."�.�'.'i<:rst� himself, an� is often viewed by others, at leasUru;main situatigps-a ��Q_Q:[§eTt. ih�i�<in�be:taidy���;;;;;:,tly-aehie,ve�

Alcoholics are a labeled group of people who behave inappropriately after drinking alcohol.

No distinct line runs between "so­cial" or "normal" drinker and "problem drinker" or "alcoholic," and different sectors of U.S. society do not agree on what these terms mean.

S�the defi!lition of an alcoholic is not agreed upon in the wider society, arriving at this i�t�;:pretatlon -�revent�-is-a process negotiated between the drinker and fhose arouncrller-:1\A stories provide a set of_c:riteria by which the al�o­lioliccailbeTclentified.

�

but his self as an alcoholic.

He does not figure his life in AP!s terms. He views AA as a measure to take when things get really bad. He does not share the set of values and distinctions that unites other AA members. The identity of "alcoholic" does not affect his actions, or his perceptions of self, beyond his drinking behavior.

The stories are used in what is simultaneously a social and a cognitive and affec­tive, personal process. In the process of identity formation, the AA mem­ber undergoes a kind of reorientation in her self-understandings, a de­tachment from identities subsisting in other figured worlds, followed by the reconstitution-a process not only of learning but also of valu­ation, indeed elevation-of an identity predicated within A& world. She accomplishes this transition primarily by reinterpreting her life as an AA story.

This context of flux is the ground for identity development. It sets the conditions for what we called in Chapter 2 the authoring self-what in Chapter 8 we will expand to call the "space of authoring."

Figured worlds are evinced in practice through the artifacts employed by people in their performances.

These socially generated, culturally figured worlds, many linguists believe, are necessary for understanding the meaning of words.

nipnll!ted JQ__p..Q)nt to other social feelings

continual participation

lt. Discourse (or discursive) theory emphasizes many of the aspects of cultural resources that we discu

the as-if character of possibility that marks fields (and figured worlds) is not an indifferent, "mental" abstrac-tion1 an "imaginary" in its usual sense, but a social rea"!!ty that lives within by relations of power.

There is, Goodenough con-no uniform, conslstf.nt, or coherent set of meanings-no "cul-ture"-that applies equally in every activity.

Identities

They remain multiple, as people's trajectories through figured worlds neither take one path nor remain in the ambit of one cultural space, one figured world

of social positions defined only against one an-other

Cultural schemas or cultural models are stereotypical distillates, gen-eralizations from past experience that people make. They are akin to what Crapanzano (1990), speaking about the processes that maintain the self in continual change, calls "arrests"-representations of self at a particular time that people try to reassert, even under new conditions.•

The conceptual importance of figured worlds has been emphasized in anthropology for some time. Hallowell (1955a) argued that individuals live in worlds that are culturally defined and understand themselves in relation to these worlds. In a classic article, :'The Self and Its Behavioral Environment," he n

It is certainly not divorced from these happen-ings, but neither is it identical to the particulars of any one event. l!.1§Jm_ abstraction, an extractio

It is this compe-tence that makes possible culturally coustituted or figure-d consequently, the range of human (1985) points out the cleilnue lmk between Play worlds-and institutional life. Fantasy an game play serve as precursors to participation in an institutional life, where individuals are treated as scholars, bosses, or at-risk children and events such as the granting of tenure, a corporate raid, and the self-es-teem of at-risk children are taken in all seriousness. But to see imagina-tion extended so is simply to recognize that it pervades cultural life.

We believe this key transition that occurs in both schemes is best recast as identification-the formation of a concept of self as an actor in the system.

nli.e less expert women tended to repeat the words and follow the direc-ons of others. They had less of an overview of romantic relationships; hey had to work harder to come up with responses to romantic situ-1 ations. Not surprisingly, those who were less identified with the world of romance, and for whom it was less salient, also were less expert in / JP.anaging relationships.

Her feelings about socialites--and her distaste when she thought about herself as one-made ·identification with the world of romance at SU difficult for her.

For the women we studied, the cultural interpretation of romance became salient and compelling as their expertise with romantic relation-ships increased and as they came to form an engaging interpretation of themselves in the world of romance

This suggests that involvement-the salience of and identification with the cultural system of romance-codeveloped with expertise.

Those who ap-peared to be less knowledgeable or less expert closely copied and took direction from others, attended to relatively circumscribed aspects of relationships, and had difficulty generating possible responses to roman-tic situations.

;, our neo-Vygotskian developmental approach, thoughts and feel-ings, will and motivation are formed as the individual develops. The individual comes, in the recurrent contexts of social interaction, to per-sonalize cultural resources, such as figured worlds, languages, and sym-bols, as means to organize and modify thoughts and emotions.

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