Critically interrogating the white supremacist uses of Equality: Interrogating communicative inversions

Communicative inversions, the turning of materiality on its head through rhetorical devices, form the propaganda infrastructure of the far right globally, shaping its communicative practices.ⁱ This communicative infrastructure, replete with disinformation that is strategically manufactured and reproduced by powerful political and economic interests, catalyses the global proliferation of the far-right, mainstreaming the far-right into political spaces and policy-making.ⁱⁱ Communication in other words lies at the core of the political imagination that is seeded and circulated by the far-right, shaping the processes through which a disenfranchising politics attacking the marginalised is turned into public policies targeting communities at the margins.ⁱⁱⁱ

Online Warfare: Definition, Drivers, and Solutions

As witnessed globally with the rise of hateⁱ, authoritarian populismⁱⁱ, racism, fascist movements, and calls to the genocide of minorities, online infrastructures exist at the core of campaigns threatening democracies and are directly linked to the violence experienced by communities at the intersectional margins. In this white paper, we outline the nature of online warfare, the mechanics underlying it, and its underlying drivers. Building on our analysis of the existing infrastructure that drives online warfare and the existing frameworks for responding to online warfare, we propose a community-led culture-centered approach to responding to online warfare, arguing that the empowerment of communities at the “margins of the margins,”ⁱⁱⁱ combined with the development of infrastructures for critical literacy, are critical to addressing the local-national-global threat posed by online warfare. We argue that a culture-centered framework for data justice that empowers historically marginalised communities to participate in platforms, organise to challenge hate, and drive policies for regulating hate on platforms is critical to promoting and sustaining sustainable development goal (SDG) 16: peace, justice, and strong institutions. We foreground a culture-centered framework for digital data literacy that is rooted in community voice and ownership of storytelling processes.

Māori-Migrant solidarities in Resisting White Supremacy

White supremacy is the belief that the white race is naturally and inherently superior, and therefore should dominate other races. This belief underlies colonialism in Aotearoa New Zealand. White supremacy originates from whiteness, the idea that the values of white culture are universally desirable. In this paper, we argue that the racist violence of white supremacy targeting tangata whenua in Aotearoa is a part of the violence of the colonial project and forms the basis of the hate directed toward ethnic migrant communities here. We suggest that recognising the driving force of white supremacy as colonialism forms the bedrock of connection between tangata whenua and ethnic migrant communities, offering solidarity as the basis for building resistance to white supremacy.

Replacing Colonial theft and capitalism by lunchtime

The climate and environmental crises we are in the midst of are symptoms of the failed extractive economic system based on colonial theft. The disproportionate burdens of climate change borne by Indigenous and local communities across the Global South foreground the importance of locating justice as the anchor to climate change organising. In this white paper, we argue that climate change cannot be addressed without the recognition of the racial capitalist processes that drive it. Based on the recognition that both colonialism and capitalism shape climate change, we offer the argument that addressing climate change calls for centering a justice-based framework that is both anti-colonial and anti-capitalist, and that looks to Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Global South to learn to rebuild relationships with the earth and with each other.

Experiences with COVID-19 Among Gig Workers

Gig work refers to forms of labour that are mediated by online platforms, which are contingent, piecemeal and individualised, offering little in the way of employment rights, protections or capacity for collective organising. It represents long-term trends towards the neoliberalisation of work, which until recently, have been disproportionately experienced by exploited, precarious workers in the global South. In the context of global North nations such as Aotearoa New Zealand, evidence has linked the growth of gig work with poor health outcomes for workers, particularly for ethnic minorities and women, outcomes which have been
exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A culture-centered approach to community-led social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand

The Christchurch terrorist attack urgently necessitates the development of strategies for addressing racism and hate[1]. The challenge of social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand is one of addressing the networks of disinformation that propel hate[2], specifically addressing the growth in anti-Māori propaganda, anti-migrant attitudes, and Islamophobia[3]. In addition to threatening social cohesion, disinformation and hate deplete human health and wellbeing of communities at the margins, multiplying manifold their experiences of marginalisation[4]. The threats to social cohesion are funded by powerful political and economic interests, and circulated through digital media infrastructures and shadow organisations[5].

Experiences of Muslims in India on digital platforms with anti-Muslim hate

In India, the largest global democracy, the propaganda infrastructures of Hindutva[iv], the political ideology that has shaped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are driven by hate, seeded, circulated, and reproduced through digital platforms[v]. Since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and subsequent electoral victory in 2019, the hate on digital platforms in India and in the Indian diaspora has proliferated exponentially. Of particular significance are the extreme forms of hate that have been directed at Muslims, including calls for genocide issued by Hindutva ideologues.

A number of published studies and reports by civil society document the scope and volume of the hate content on digital platforms. However, the literature so far has not really explored the experiences of the exposure to the anti-Muslim digital hate among Muslims in India. In this white paper, drawing on a survey conducted with n = 1056 Muslims in India, I examine the exposure to digital hate among Muslims. The findings offer a descriptive framework for understanding the experiences of digital hate among Muslims in India, exploring the implications of the exposure to digital hate, and suggesting strategies for countering the hate.

A culture-centered approach to hate speech regulation

We begin this response by noting that laws against incitement of hate are necessary in extreme situations. However, a culture-centered analysis suggests that laws against incitement are not effective in transforming cultures of intolerance and hate that are held up by powerful political and economic interests[1]. Those in places of power deploy hate to serve their political and economic gains. Simultaneously, we note that powerful political and economic interests use hate speech laws to silence dissent and erase articulations from the margins. As anti-racist academics and activists, collaborating with social justice activists, we have experienced and witnessed the silencing processes through manipulation of legal frameworks around hate speech. Our activist collaborators have been harassed and persecuted by authoritarian states under the guise of promoting racial and/or religious harmony[2]. It is vital to critically interrogate the individualization of hate in laws against incitement. We propose a culture-centered policy framework to addressing hate speech that tackles the political economy of hate and builds communicative infrastructures for the voices of communities at the “margins of the margins.”[4]

Cultural Hindutva and Islamophobia

Cultural Hindutva is a key resource of the Hindutva ideology, asserting the supremacy of Hindu nationalism through cultural forms, artefacts, and performances(i). Hindu nationalism organizes around the political conceptualization of India as a Hindu nation, working simultaneously through the erasure of Christians and Muslims that are portrayed as invaders. Of particular salience to Hindutva is the portrayal of the Muslim invader(ii), re-structuring India as a nation on the principles of Islamophobia, through the disenfranchisement of the Muslim other(iii).

Connecting across cultures: A framework for anti-racist strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand rooted in Te Tiriti

In this white paper [1], we outline the vitality of connecting across cultures, anchored in Māori leadership in shaping and guiding anti-racist interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand, connected to anti-colonial struggles by Māori. Noting that the entrenched settler colonialism in New Zealand is based on a history of Whiteness[2], we argue that witnessing this Whiteness in the colonial configuration of New Zealand is the first step to dismantling it[3]. Māori have historically experienced, negotiated and resisted the racist structures of Whiteness that form the architectures of settler colonialism in New Zealand through their everyday organizing across whanau and hapū. We center Whiteness to the colonial structures of racism in New Zealand because of the centering of White norms as the basis for perpetuating oppression, expulsion, genocide, rape, and murder of indigenous communities (Māori in New Zealand) and the simultaneous marginalisation of communities of colour, many of whom have experienced similar histories of expulsion, genocide, and violence.

Digital Hate and the infrastructures of communicative capital

Communicative capital, the consolidation of communicative infrastructures to drive profiteering, forms the face of twenty-first century neoliberalism. From Facebook to Amazon, digital communication is one of the most profitable sites of capitalist expansion. Communicative capital is intertwined with financial and technological capital, drawing on the global networks of finance and simultaneously creating new sites and spaces for financialization.

Communicative capital works through the commercialization of human participation on digital platforms, turning likes, shares, and comments into profitable resources. Of the wide array of human emotions on digital platforms that drive profiteering, hate is a powerful resource that draws in viewers, propels shares, and creates networks of flow. Hate has the potential of generating large profits because of its virality.

Relocating the Health of Transgender Sex Workers in Singapore from the Margins: A Culture-Centered Approach

While there is high visibility of LGBT advocacy in Singapore, transgender[1] persons comprise a small, marginalized portion of the community, an even smaller proportion of which tend to go into sex work at a young age for various economic, social and cultural factors. Transgender sex workers (TSW) in Singapore comprise a marginalized community that has been identified by health authorities as one that is high risk of HIV/AIDS and other STIs, as with cisgender[2] female sex workers. They are further marginalized for their status as sex workers in an Asian society where sex outside of marriage is considered deviant behavior (Banerjee, 2000; Allard K Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic, 2015). Neoliberal state laws and policies in Singapore acknowledge that while sex work cannot be eradicated as this may force the activities underground and encourage organized crime, sex trafficking and public health risks (Singapore Parliament Reports), these laws do not deem sex work itself as illegal, but criminalize sex work-related activities such as soliciting, pimping, and owning brothels (Misc. Offences Act Art 19; Women’s Charter Art 146; Women’s Charter Art 148).

Structural constraints, voice infrastructures, and mental health among low-wage migrant workers in Singapore: Solutions for addressing COVID19

Responding to the continued rise in COVID19 clusters in migrant worker dormitories in Singapore, and building on earlier research (See CARE White paper Issue 6), this White Paper reports on the findings of a survey conducted with low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. Drawing on the key tenets of the culture-centered approach, the research highlights the powerful role of structural factors such as arrangements of dormitories, the absence of hygienic conditions because of the structures, the lack of clean toilets, pressure on limited toilets, and scarcity of water. The findings highlight the challenges to mental health and wellbeing experienced by the workers.

Infrastructures of housing and food for low-wage migrant workers in Singapore

The high incidence of COVID-19 cases in dormitories housing low-wage migrant workers in Singapore makes visible the structural challenges of poor housing and food. Building on CARE’s ongoing work with low-wage migrant workers in Singapore, this white paper presents imaginaries for healthy housing and food voiced by low-wage migrant workers.

Challenges To Seeking Health Information And Healthcare Among Low Income Communities Amid COVID19

The findings reported here are drawn from our advisory group of community members that represent the community in Highbury. The advisory group has been built on the basis of purposive sampling, ensuring that the voices of the “margins of the margins” are represented. The advisory group meets face-to-face as well as on a digital platform. The group is facilitated by two community researchers, recruited from within the advisory group and trained in the fundamentals of interview-based research.

Covid-19 wage subsidy package

We are writing about the government’s covid-19 wage subsidy package, in particular:

• the sick leave payment due to be folded into the modified covid-19 wage subsidy package; and
• the online publication outlining the names of all employers who have received the covid-19 wage subsidy package.

The limits of the “Singapore Model” in Covid-19 response

A wide range of models have been proposed as frameworks for responding to Covid-19. These models highlight the significance of health communication in preventing the spread of COVID19 as well as in effectively responding to it. The positioning of specific models as solutions to COVID-19 is tied to the creation of actual strategies of response globally. One such model that has been rapidly disseminated in policy discourse and circulated in articulations of COVID response is the “Singapore Model.” Drawing on the key tenets of the CCA, this paper will examine the premise of the “Singapore Model” as a framework for global health.

A culture-centered approach to pandemic response: Voice, Universal Infrastructure, and Equality

The global nodes of the spread of Covid-19 highlight the significance of health communication in preventing the spread as well as in effectively responding to it. Noting the aggressive movement of the virus across countries, with eight countries reporting more than 1000 cases of COVID-19, the WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. Drawing on critical analyses of the pandemic and crises response literatures as well as building on the experiences of CARE in developing culture-centered community grounded interventions, this white paper outlines the culture-centered approach to pandemic response, specifically directed at offering culture-centered guidelines for effective communication.

Strengthening Refugee Voices in New Zealand

The state helps the refugee speak: dialogue, ventriloquism or something else? – on the funding of refugee voice organisations was prepared between November 2018 and April 2019. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on two Mosques in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 the need to address the issue of refugee support organisations becomes acute as they a significant role in the representation of many Muslim citizens in New Zealand. Specifically, the lack of funding for organisations that are tasked with connecting with refugee communities and representing those voices to government, media and the public undermined the ability of these organisations to respond after the attacks. We particularly note the absence of “democratic communication infrastructures” owned by refugees for representing their voices in New Zealand. (Stephens and J Dutta, 2019)