During this workshop we would like to focus on the way in which racism can be understood as a complex concept. Especially within a multicultural city such as Amsterdam, these identities are continuously reproduced within these different groups. We try to move away from static perceptions of ethnicity and create a space in which we explore how (cultural) identities are layered, multidimensional and changeable, which results in different experiences and practices of everyday racism and, in-/exclusion. We are not aiming to prove that these experiences are equal and that racism is not institutional, but zoom in on the way everyday racism and microaggressions are complex concepts with many effects and experiences. This workshop will include an open dialogue in which we, together with the participants, aim to create an understanding of racism and discrimination in its complexity depended on the context.
Background speakers
As anthropologists Berfin and Dzifa not only have an academic background and interest in racism and discrimination. From our personal experience as two Dutch women of colour, raised in two different locations in the Netherlands, we are aware of the different experiences and the way in which identities are formed depending on the context you are positioned.
Berfin Yurdakul is a Cultural Anthropologist, with a specialty in racism within beauty standards, identity politics in larger inner-city contexts and in-/exclusion. Berfin worked as lecturer and researcher at the UvA, UU and Erasmus Medisch Centrum. Her ambition is to bridge society and academia, mainly on the topic of racialization.
Dzifa Gomashie is trained as Cultural Anthropologist at the UvA, with a special focus on the experience of Europeans with African migrant backgrounds. These experiences were viewed from different perspectives, for example how the popularity of African music genres contributes to the creation of the identity of Europeans with African migrant backgrounds. After her study Cultural Anthropology, Dzifa continued with International Business Management for which she moved to the United Kingdom. During her master’s degree, she focused on (international) corporate cultures and identity creation within organisations.
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