'I Am a Human Being like You': An Identification ...

Paper Human Development 2008;51:349–367 DOI: 10.1159/000170897

‘I Am a Human Being like You’: An Identification Strategy to Maintain Continuity in a Cultural Contact Zone Ria O’Sullivan-Lago Guida de Abreu Mark Burgess Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Key Words Asylum seekers Contact zones Cultural continuity Cultural identity Dialogical self theory Immigrants Nationals

Abstract In this article, we discuss a qualitative study carried out in a cultural contact zone. Irish nationals, immigrants, and asylum seekers in Cork, Ireland, were interviewed about their cultural identities and future trajectories. Cultural Continuity theory was used as a model to offer an insight into the processes and strategies of the Dialogical Self. The results suggest that the development of a cultural contact zone caused a break in cultural continuity which aroused uncertainty. Our analytical focus is on one of the strategies that enabled the individuals to alleviate that uncertainty. The suggestive preliminary results are that each participant, within each group, utilized their dialogical ‘I as a human being’ identity position to maintain continuity. The function of this strategy and the theoretical integration are discussed. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Homo sum. Nihil humani a me alienum puto. I am a man. I count nothing human foreign to me. Terence [163 BC/1993]

The Vital Importance of Continuity

The notion of the vital importance of continuity to the self is a very old one. Aristotle’s idea that a living thing ‘has within it a principle of change and of staying unchanged’ [cited in Wiggins, 1980, pp. 88–89] is fundamental to James’ [1890] notion of self, who stressed that understanding that ‘I am the same self that I was yesterday’ (p. 322) is fundamental to a composition of the self. Without that understand-

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Ria O’Sullivan-Lago Department of Psychology, Oxford Brookes University Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP (UK) Tel. +44 1865 483 958, Fax +44 1865 483 887 E-Mail [email protected]

ing, we would never have any awareness other than that of the present. What concerned philosophers over the ages concerns human beings from conceivably all human cultures [Chandler & Proulx, 2008]. This is because we do not innately understand the paradox inherent in our lives: we change continually yet we remain the same. We must, however, all come to learn and understand this over the course of our development. The understanding of personal continuity is not a given and can be threatened when a person undergoes radical personal change. Ball and Chandler [1989], during their investigations of adolescent suicide, found the issue of continuity to be paramount. Without it, when their identities were undermined, the adolescents risked losing ‘the thread that tethers together their past, present and future, leaving them open to the risk of suicide’ [Chandler, Lalonde, Sokol, & Hallett, 2003, p. 2]. Lacking an appreciation of self-continuity erases connections to the past and breaks one’s psychological connection to the future, without which suicide can become a viable life option. The relationship between suicide and loss of personal continuity is displayed in the results of various studies [Ball & Chandler, 1989; Boyes & Chandler, 1992; Chandler, 1994] which show that over 80% of the actively suicidal adolescents who participated failed to find any grounds to warrant the belief that they were only one person. These findings made it clear that an individual’s decision to end their own life might be made far easier if they were suffering from broken personal continuity because they would lose their personal meaningful connection to who they will become in the future. However, Ball and Chandler [1989] are keen to relate that the loss of one’s sense of personal continuity does not predict or cause suicide; rather it leaves the individual especially vulnerable to it. Chandler and Lalonde [1998] furthered this seminal work to investigate the phenomenon of suicide at the community level of culture. Although the levels of analysis for studying individual and cultural continuity are different, the notion of ‘continuity’ supports a conceptual movement between the individual and cultural [Chandler & Proulx, 2006]. Cultures, like individuals, need to be understood by their members as meaningfully connected to their past and equally connected to a viable future. The relationship between self and cultural continuity is neither entirely clear nor investigated, but the implication made by Chandler and colleagues is that cultural continuity is psychologically important. Culture, at the group level, ‘consists of shared elements which provide the standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, communicating and acting among those who share a language, a history, and a geographic location’ [Ferdman & Horenczyk, 2000, p. 84]. Culture provides the resources one draws upon to create cultural identities, imperceptibly forming a mental framework through which individuals define their ontology, motivate and select their behaviours, and judge and evaluate the behaviours of others [Sussman, 2000], and as such is fundamental to one’s sense of self. Investigating cultures that have been under threat for centuries, Chandler and Lalonde [1998] theorized that exploring a community’s continuity at a cultural level might offer an insight into suicide rates at the community level. Again, it was not suggested that a lack of cultural continuity would cause suicide, but that it might predict vulnerability for individuals within those cultural groups. The main hypothesis of the research was that cultures with more cultural continuity should have fewer suicides than those with less cultural continuity. The results, examining suicide levels across aboriginal bands who did or did not attempt to restore their cul-

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tural continuity, transparently show that a broken continuity at the level of culture had detrimental effects on the culture’s individual members: the bands that made attempts to restore their continuity had, as expected, little or no youth suicides, while the bands that did not attempt to do so had suicide rates of up to 800 times the national average. Examining issues of cultural continuity are essential because cultures are naturally important to their individual members. It should not be assumed that a lack of cultural continuity is indicative only of suicide; indeed, suicide is a relatively rare act. Like self-continuity, a break in cultural continuity may be related to many psychological issues at the individual level. We argue in this paper that the individual-level consequences of broken cultural continuity can be observed through the display of uncertainty. Uncertainty in the Cultural Contact Zone

The First Nations bands studied by Chandler and Lalonde [1998] can easily be understood as cultures whose continuity has been broken. Over the course of history, the First Nations cultures were targeted for assimilation; their cultures were overpowered and outlawed by the prohibition of indigenous cultural practices. These cultural bands could therefore be measured as to whether or not they were attempting to restore their cultural continuity. However, an interesting question remains concerning cultures that are in the process of experiencing dramatic change, such as cultures experiencing the effects of globalization. Exploring the impact of globalization, Hermans and Kempen [1998] have called for a focus on the contact zones of cultures because understanding self and identity development in the context of changing cultures and societies is an essential area of research for today’s world. Although human beings have migrated since the dawn of time, the challenges immigration and its effects pose are important and highly publicized issues in contemporary societies. Hermans and Kempen [1998] maintain that the uncertainty is aroused in contact zones because globalization is contrary to living one’s ‘authentic life … in a homogenous, stable, localised and predictable society’ (p. 1118). Globalization can consequently provoke uncertainty which, although not an inevitably negative experience, can lead to insecurity and anxiety when it is intensified [Hermans, 2001b; Hermans & Dimaggio, 2007; Hermans & Kempen, 1998]. Accordingly, significant questions for research regarding globalization and uncertainty are offered by Hermans [2001a] to explore these issues, with particular emphasis on investigating the circumstances under which people experience uncertainty and how they respond to it, as well as what strategies are available to the individuals who are faced with that uncertainty. In the contact zone, the space where previously unconnected cultures meet, the experiences of the resident individuals are varied. Nationals are confronted with a cultural other in their previously homogeneous culture and immigrants are confronted with the challenge of constructing an identity that is inevitably new [Moghaddam, 2002]. The migrants must also come to terms with the transition from being ‘native’ in their home culture to being a ‘foreigner’ and an ‘immigrant’ in the new culture. Additionally, many migrants, due to their minority status, can become victims of essentialism and social marginalization [Mahalingam, 2007a, b]. Essentialism

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supplies the dominant group with ‘the causal mechanism and the inferential potential to sort humans into social groups believed to have distinct essences’ (p. 302). The process of social essentialism is a strategic deployment of this categorization by a dominant group to oppress the minority. It is noted in research that the methods of marginalizing and essentializing mediate many psychological processes of the minority group, including self-conception. Issues of power are also paramount: essentialism has played a key role in naturalizing existing power relations between social groups such that members of each group may consider themselves to naturally ‘belong’ in their particular hierarchical position in society [Mahalingam, 2007b]. Many of the difficulties with cultural diversity in formerly homogenous cultures stem from the presence of the ‘other:’ individuals become conscious of their own personal cultural identity when a contrast with a cultural other is produced [Gomez-Estern, Sanchez Medina, & García Amián, 2002] and conflicts can result because the recognition can render a person’s cultural identity less secure [Hedegaard & Chaiklin, 1995]. Uncertainty and ambiguity in identity are extremely difficult for human beings to negotiate [Abbey & Valsiner, 2005]. Uncertainty is aversive to individuals because ‘it is ultimately associated with reduced control over one’s life, and thus it motivates behaviour that reduces uncertainty’ [Hogg & Mulin, 1999, p. 253]. Individuals have a basic need for certainty and will often employ strategies to combat the potentially deleterious impact of uncertainty. The strategies available and used by the individuals may be varied and complex, for example, rejecting the other in order to clarify and consolidate the self [Abbey, 2002; Verkuyten, 2001], or developing a multicultural identity [de Abreu & Lambert, 2003; Cline et al., 2002; O’Dell, de Abreu, Cline, & Crafter, 2005]. A New Cultural Contact Zone Considering the impact upon the cultural identity of nationals, immigrants, and asylum seekers at the place of migration is particularly interesting in Ireland, where a social and demographic revolution is taking place [MacÉinrí, 1997]. Traditionally a country synonymous with emigration, Ireland has seen a dramatic population rise since the economic revival named the ‘Celtic Tiger’ in the 1990s, and currently its migration figures are dramatic. From 1990 to 1994, Ireland was the only EU member state with more emigration than immigration. In the 4 years following, Ireland’s average net migration rate became the second highest in the EU [Immigrant Council of Ireland, 2005]. The foreign-born population in Ireland currently stands at 11.4%, which is 3.6% higher than the average for developed countries [OECD, 2007]. This trend of high immigration is also set to continue for years to come [Central Statistics Office, 2007]. Alongside the immigrants, asylum seekers have also begun to arrive to Ireland. Asylum seekers are, according to the UNHCR [1951], individuals outside of the country of their nationality who are unable to avail of their country’s protection due to a ‘well-founded fear of being persecuted’ (p. 16). Asylum seeking is a new phenomenon in Ireland with applications rising from a mere 39 in 1992 to 12,000 in 2002 [ORAC, 2005]. The sudden increase of immigration and the clear visibility of other cultural and ethnic identities in this previously homogeneous culture are causing social change [MacÉinrí, 2007]. Cork, Ireland’s second largest city, receives a considerable number

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of immigrants and began to receive asylum seekers in 1999. Cork city offered an opportunity to examine how individuals who are residing in a new cultural contact zone are affected. Recognizing that uncertainty can be aroused in the immigrants’ identity because of the contrasting and frequently contradictory relationship between different cultures [Abbey, 2002], it is expected that both immigrants and asylum seekers will experience uncertainty in the contact zone. However, it is also likely that hosts will experience uncertainty due to the disruption of their formerly familiar culture. Consequently, the current study sought to engage participants from all three groups in contact: Irish nationals, immigrants and asylum seekers. Cultural Identity in the Cultural Contact Zone

One’s cultural identity is one’s picture of the relationship between one’s group culture and oneself [Ferdman & Horenczyk, 2000] and traditionally, the bases of one’s cultural identity are stable. Cultural identity only becomes an issue when it is challenged, as is the case when cultures are under threat or come into contact with cultural others [Sussman, 2000]. Although not inevitably, immigrants’ and asylum seekers’ cultural identities are challenged because the resources for their identities are no longer available and hosts can experience uncertainty due to the presence of the other, which requires an evaluation of their cultural identity. Uncertainty caused by contact with cultural others can lead to difficulties in maintaining a continuous cultural identity and individuals can develop strategies [Abbey, 2002; Hermans, 2001a] to avoid or reconcile contradictions to protect the continuity of their identity [Onishi & Murphy-Shigematsu, 2003; O’Sullivan-Lago & de Abreu, in press]. Individuals develop these strategies because ‘the human being does not tolerate uncertainty towards the future and searches for stability’ [Duarte, Rosa, & Gonçalves, 2006]. The current study, which is part of a larger ongoing project, sought to investigate if the emergence of a cultural contact zone breaks the individual-level cultural continuity of its residents. This was investigated by examining whether cultural contact zone residents experience uncertainty for their cultural identities in the dialogical self. Dialogical Self Theory Hermans [2001a] has argued that due to the effect that globalization has had on societies, as well as individuals, a new conception of self is required to incorporate the notion that there is a dialogical interaction between self and culture. In opposition to the Cartesian position, the sociocultural psychological perspective of Dialogical Self theory is that identity is constructed in dialogical and narrative terms, and is interdependent with the cultural context. Identity, in these terms, needs to be understood in relation to its sociocultural context: the realm in which the self exists. Hermans argues that identities are temporally situated, created in an ongoing dialogue between the past and present, constantly in the process of change and transformation – that the self is always a work in progress.



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Briefly described, the theory of the Dialogical Self [Hermans, 2003] draws upon James’ [1890] description of the self as consisting of an ‘I’ and ‘Me’ – ‘I’, the self as subject, and ‘Me’, the self as object. The ‘I’ (self as subject) entails three distinct features – continuity, distinctiveness and volition. Continuity creates a sense of personal identity as being the same through time, distinctiveness forms a sense of being individual and separate from others, and volition displays the self as being a processor of experience through the continuous appropriation of thoughts [James, 1890]. The ‘Me’ (self as object) extends to the environment, incorporating things and persons who are relevant and belonging to the self. Furthering James’ [1890] ideas, Hermans and Kempen [1993] incorporate Bakhtin’s [1973] metaphor of the polyphonic novel into their conceptualization of the self. Polyphony occurs when ‘different voices, often of a markedly different character and representing a multiplicity of relatively independent worlds, interact to create a self-narrative’ [Bakhtin, 1973, p. 208]. Integrating the concepts of the ‘I’ and ‘Me’ with polyphony, Hermans’ [2003] notion of self is multiple, continuous and maintaining the discrimination between self and other while blended with the social world [Bhatia & Ram, 2001]. Hermans suggests that the self is composed of an array of ‘I’ positions. Dialogical relations are established when ‘the I fluctuates among different, and even opposed, positions … imaginatively [endowing] each position with a voice’ [Hermans, 1996, pp. 11–12]. New positions can develop, for example ‘I as an immigrant’ and similarly, positions can change in importance and status over time, for instance: ‘I as black person’ may become more significant when in a predominantly white area. Different voices can disagree, argue and relate with one another, but the unity of the self is maintained through the voices being unified through dialogue. Hermans further describes the dialogical self as historically and culturally contextualized. History is particularly important at contact zones of culture. For example, an immigrant’s patriarchal identity positions may enter into dialogue with new egalitarian positions offered by the host country. The old positions are challenged by the new positions, and can be subject to change in power, importance and status. In summary, the dialogical self can be described as self-in-relations [Valsiner, 2004] and ‘half somebody else’s’ [Hermans, 2003, p. 124] because identities do not exist in isolation: one understands self through the other. Due to this, certain identity positions, such as one’s cultural identity, are only realized by contact with ‘the other’ [Hedegaard & Chaiklin, 1995]. The recognition of one’s cultural identity position is a response to contact between cultures and is not, in itself, problematic but the relationship between the identity position and others may be incompatible and conflicting. For example, although not informed by Dialogical Self theory, Verkuyten’s [2001] empirical work examined discourses and representations of immigrant groups by Dutch nationals. The nationals used ‘inarguable human values’ to explain their judgements of minority group behaviour as ‘abnormal.’ The ‘abnormalization’ of the ethnic minorities allowed the nationals to reasonably justify their criticisms. In dialogical terms, contact resulted in the nationals using a strategy of positioning the other as abnormal in order to legitimately reject them, thereby maintaining the ‘normality’ of their own cultural identity position. Psychological research considering immigrant identity development has largely focused on issues of ‘acculturation’ [e.g. Berry, 1990, 1997; Flannery, Reise, & Yu, 2001; Phinney, 1998], but because globalization creates unprecedented amounts of migration and cultural contact, the acculturation of immigrants, alongside asylum seekers and

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nationals, has become progressively complex [Bhatia & Ram, 2001]. The theory of the Dialogical Self is well suited to investigating identity development in immigration contexts because it does not fail to recognize the challenges associated with living between cultures and it shifts the focus from the developmental end states of the acculturation models to ‘a more process oriented notion of acculturation which can account for negotiated and often contested developmental trajectories’ [Hermans, 2003, p. 96]. Connecting Dialogical Self and Cultural Continuity

It has been noted in current research that the theory of the Dialogical Self is restricted by not fully integrating societal-level processes of social constitution into its theoretical formulation [Abbey & Falmagne, 2008]. The Cultural Continuity theory offers an interesting and valuable model to investigate and address the relationship between these processes and the self. Chandler and Lalonde [2008] have stressed that ‘individual and cultural continuity are strongly linked’ (p. 72), emphasizing that psychological impacts are ‘necessarily magnified when the cultural backcloth against which development naturally unfolds is unravelled by social-cultural adversities’ (p. 70). While the cultural continuity studies were analysed at the group level, we can infer from Chandler’s theory that, by virtue of the marked difference in suicide rates between bands that did and did not attempt to restore their broken cultural continuity, cultural continuity has a profound impact at the individual level. Using the theory of Cultural Continuity as a model for investigation, it is logical to predict that a break in the continuity of a culture will have a psychological and developmental impact on the individuals who are resident in that culture. The relationship between societal-level change and the individual was investigated in the present study in a cultural contact zone. It was hypothesized that contact with large numbers of culturally, ethnically, and religiously different others would have the effect of breaking the temporal connections of the Irish culture for Irish nationals at the individual level. In parallel to this, we hypothesized that those who are experiencing cultural displacement because of migration, voluntary or forced, would also face an individual-level break in the continuity of their individual-level cultural continuity because the bases for their individual cultural identities are no longer available. The individuals in the current study do not belong to cultures that are at risk of extinction in the manner of the First Nations cultures of Chandler’s studies, yet the persistence and continuity of their personal cultural identity positions are in jeopardy because of the changing context in which these individuals now reside [MacÉinrí, 2007]. The future of Irish nationals’ culture is at risk due to the destruction of its homogeneity. The culture which was familiar and stable is now undergoing transformation and its future viability is in need of evaluation. For those who have left their countries, cultural identity positions are in similar need of future-oriented evaluation, and the new ascribed identity positions such as ‘immigrant’ or ‘asylum seeker’ must be evaluated. If, as the literature suggests, the individuals experience uncertainty, they will require a strategy to alleviate it and maintain individual-level continuity [O’Sullivan-Lago & de Abreu, in press]. These issues in this ongoing research are not being investigated at the group level but rather at the idiographic individual level of personal identity. We are examining two issues relevant to theoretical frameworks for understanding the development and



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Table 1. Details of participants interviewed

Group

Pseudonym

Age years

Gender

Country of origin

Time in Ireland

Irish Irish Irish Irish Immigrant Immigrant Immigrant Immigrant Asylum seeker Asylum seeker Asylum seeker

Aidan Eve Conor Sinéad Dyzek Giovanni Helén Noémi Basim Janári Sava

23 25 22 21 24 35 40 42 30 32 30

M F M F M M F F M M M

Ireland Ireland Ireland Ireland Poland Italy Spain Algeria Kuwait Albania Kosovo

– – – – 3 months 6 years 23 years 10 years 1 year 2 years 6 months

maintenance of identity in this modern period of globalization. Firstly, we are investigating if the emergence of a cultural contact zone does indeed cause a break in cultural continuity for individuals by investigating whether the individuals experience uncertainty. Second, we examine what, if any, identification strategy individuals employ to reduce uncertainty and maintain cultural continuity at the individual level. Methodology Participants The analysis presented here is part of a larger study investigating cultural identity and continuity maintenance in Ireland. Specifically, the current paper utilizes the data set of the 11 interview transcripts which formed the first study of the project. The participants, of both genders and varying ages, are from diverse cultural backgrounds and have been in Ireland for different lengths of time (table 1). As such, they are illustrative of the variety of individuals that are resident in this specific cultural contact zone. Participants were recruited through educational support centres and a refugee hostel in the city centre of Cork, Ireland. To obtain access, the centres were visited by the first author and the aims of the research, along with recruitment procedures, were explained to the Centre Directors. Due to the interview topic being a sensitive issue, the centres were chosen as recruitment sites because of the support structures in place for their clients. Participants are consistently referred to with pseudonyms in order to maintain anonymity. The research followed the British Psychological Society ethical guidelines and was approved by the University Research Ethics Committee.

Interviews The participants were invited to take part in interviews that explored various areas: the participants’ personal meanings and experiences of their cultural identity, their group perceptions and the impact of their anticipated future on their present identity. An initial narrative

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question was employed so that the participants could narrate their individual story without questions directing their answers [Wengraf, 2001]. The follow-up semi-structured interview schedule consisted of a mix of open and theory-driven episodic questions [Flick, 2006] to gain further insight into the participants’ experiences. Questions were devised to target issues of dialogical self, for example, investigating external identity positions (‘If an Irish person was asked to describe you, what do you think they would say?’) and cultural continuity (‘Do you want to return to your country in the future, or can you see your future in Ireland?’).

Analytical Framework The interviews lasted an average of 1 h and the recordings were transcribed verbatim. Analysis was supported by use of the qualitative analysis computer package NVivo7. The data were analysed by using thematic analysis [Flick, 2006] which is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns within data [Braun & Clarke, 2006]. Thematic analysis was chosen because it seeks to describe patterns and can be used within different theoretical frameworks, providing a rich and detailed account of the data. The first author conducted the analysis and the second and third authors audited the work [Yin, 1989] to establish reliability. Following the steps outlined by Braun and Clarke [2006], the scripts were read multiple times and initial codes were generated by grouping together meaningful psychological expressions. Data relevant to each code were collated into potential themes, for example ‘good experiences’ or ‘language,’ which were systematically checked and reviewed to ensure transparency and plausibility across both the coded extracts and the data set. Clear definitions were generated for each theme and the specifics were refined. The themes were grouped by the relation they held to the theoretical background. Clear and compelling extracts were selected as examples to represent the themes. Secondly, the transcripts were coded for ‘I’ positions by identifying through the participants’ speech how they were positioning themselves at the time of speaking. The codes included self-identifications, for example, ‘I am Irish’ but also included statements that constituted expressions of positions, for example, ‘They weren’t looking at me as coloured’ was coded as ‘I as a human being’ as part of a larger unit of meaning where the participant detailed that colour emphasized difference and ignoring colour emphasized her equality as a human being.

Analysis

The results presented here are suggestive preliminary findings. We propose that the development of the cultural contact zone caused an individual-level break in cultural continuity in each of the participants. Uncertainty for the cultural future was evident in all groups, and in addition to cultural uncertainty, the asylum seeker group experienced high levels of uncertainty for their personal futures. This break in cultural continuity aroused uncertainty for all of the participants in relation to their cultural futures, as illustrated in the extracts below. Experiencing Uncertainty The uncertainty was portrayed in various and different ways, but by each of the participants in each of the groups. For the Irish nationals, the sudden presence and visibility of different cultural and ethnic groups posed a radical break from Ireland’s past and the uncertainty the break caused was displayed with statements such as:



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Eve: Aidan:

[I’m] kind of worried that if we don’t act now it’ll [Irish culture] be lost and it’ll be too late we’ll be blended like a ball of paint. Any links to the past are starting to get cut off slowly … This country has grown up way too fast and it’s going to fall down just as hard.

Eve envisioned a future where the Irish culture will be lost due to it being merged with others until it becomes unrecognizable. Aidan described Ireland as losing its connection to the past which will, in his opinion, cause its demise. Aidan presented a vision of Ireland that he no longer feels attached to. The immigrants displayed uncertainty because living between cultures required a break from their original culture: Giovanni: Dyzek:

I don’t think I belong here. I belong more in Italy. I feel that I don’t know for how long I can be here. For me, life here is not easy, it doesn’t come easy: I am alone here. I haven’t parents, I haven’t my friends. I have nothing here. I know life can be easy here … but I live here alone.

Giovanni displayed both his cultural uncertainty and his future uncertainty by stating that he does not know how long he can stay in Ireland. He is unable to imagine his future in Ireland because he does not feel he belongs there. Dyzek spoke of being alone, apart from his family and friends, isolated and uncertain in a new culture. The asylum seekers, awaiting governmental decisions of deportation or leave to remain, felt strong uncertainty towards their futures: Sava: Janári:

If you don’t know, what can you expect? But you know that you are safe you know, for a certain time. After that, you don’t know what is going to happen. But I don’t know about the future, I can’t forecast. I don’t know. I don’t know, really … In my country they have a saying, they say ‘you can’t build a house on sand; you have to build on rock’. How can we build our house? We are all on sand here.

An indeterminate legal state presents a difficult present situation for the asylum seekers where the future is unknown and unpredictable. Sava displayed a heavy state of uncertainty: his future safety is in question because he does not know if his application for asylum will be successful. Janári also presented a high level of uncertainty by relating a metaphor that he and other asylum seekers are on unstable ground, unable to plan their futures or build a life in Ireland.

Finding a Strategy The above data present individuals who are in a state of uncertainty. The Irish and immigrant participants are experiencing uncertainty in relation to their cultural futures because of a break in cultural continuity caused by immigration. Being resident in a cultural contact zone is psychologically uncomfortable for the Irish participants who are imagining worst-case scenarios of a futureless culture. Residence in the

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Break in cultural continuity

Uncertainty for cultural future

Movement from cultural ‘I’ position

Dialogical identification strategy

Restoration of cultural continuity

Fig. 1. The dialogical identification strategy

process of cultural continuity restoration.

contact zone is less uncomfortable for the immigrants who have chosen to migrate, although similarly uncertain. The asylum seekers experience great uncertainty in relation to their own futures. The break in cultural continuity caused by immigration is severe for this group because they are culturally and politically unstable. These experiences of uncertainty required alleviation and an attempt at restoring the broken continuity. The process involved is illustrated in figure 1. Exploring the model, the development of the cultural contact zone led to an individual-level break in cultural continuity. That break aroused uncertainty for the cultural and personal future which precipitated movement from the cultural ‘I’ position to a dialogical identification strategy with the potential to restore cultural continuity. The participants in the present study went through this process with the aim of finding a future viable identification strategy that would allow them to assuage their uncertainty and repair their broken continuity, even temporarily. The current participants did this by engaging in a strategy of emphasizing their human being identity position. The function of the strategy was twofold: firstly, allowing them to emphasize similarities between self and other and secondly, permitting the rejection of unwanted identities. Both functions of the strategy allowed, albeit in a basic and perhaps temporary manner, an attempt at the restoration of their individual-level cultural continuity. The ‘I as a Human Being’ Strategy The new experience of dealing with a cultural other, often vastly different in terms such as culture, race, and religion, meant that the identity available to the par-



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ticipants was a basic, foundational one: the ‘I as a human being’ identity. The strategy functioned by allowing the individuals to emphasize the basic equality and physical similarity; in short, their very humanity. The ‘I as a human being’ identity was expressed by each of the groups, although in variable ways. Being the dominant group in their own country, the statement of being a human being was never explicitly stated by the Irish group because their humanity had never been threatened. Instead, the Irish nationals expressed the identity implicitly with assertions such as ‘we’re all the same’ or ‘they’re just a person.’ Although a ‘person’ is a culturally constructed entity, the instances were counted as expressions of the human being identity because at the time the participants were resolving the tension of cultural and ethnic differences by discounting and transcending it. The immigrants and asylum seekers expressed the position explicitly with profound statements such as, ‘I am a human being,’ because their humanity and cultural identities had been threatened and devalued. Emphasizing Similarities Utilizing the strategy of emphasizing their ‘I as a human being’ identity position allowed the participants to find a common ground between self and other. The strength of the ‘I as a human being’ position lies in its ability to transcend culture, ethnicity and political status to stress the equality of all human beings. This is displayed in the Irish participants’ use of the identity to highlight their basic equality: Sinéad: Aidan:

But we know they’re just a person. Like years ago they had to give up the seats for white people: that wasn’t fair. They’re still the same. I wouldn’t have done that at all. [They’re] still people. I think they’re just the same as us. You hit them, they hurt. You cut them, they bleed. Same with any other person; it’s not the colour of your skin that makes the person.

The ‘I as a human being’ identity was used by the Irish nationals to deny the importance of ethnicity and nationality and incorporate the other into their cultural future. Sinéad recalled historical racial segregation and used the identity to reject racism and accept black migrants as ‘people’ who are equal to herself. Similarly, Aidan used the physicality of the human being identity to discount any racial differences and maintain that the migrants are ‘just the same.’ The notion of pain is a clear example of the physical realm of the ‘I as a human being’ identity. The identity position was also used by the immigrant group: Noémi:

Dyzek:

That’s what I felt when I came here, I was a human being. I was not a coloured thing, I was just a human being and that is all that people want, you know? That when we hurt you, you bleed, when we kick you, you cry, you know, if we spit at you it hurts you deeply, things like that. You hear a lot of ‘oh he’s Polish.’ It doesn’t matter: I can be Polish; I can be Russian; I can be Brazilian; it doesn’t matter. I am a person: it doesn’t matter if someone is from Ireland or from England.

Highlighting her ‘I as a human being identity,’ Noémi rejected racism on the basis of colour. She emphasized that the identity transcends any differences because it is basic physical fact and is therefore unavoidable. Dyzek rejected exclusion based

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on nationality, also transcended by the ‘I as a human being’ identity. In a similar fashion, Dyzek denies cultural differences and stresses his humanity as the most important element of his identity. The ‘I as a human being’ strategy was heavily relied upon by the asylum seeker group. The asylum seekers experienced the most change and disruption and had also suffered maltreatment and racism from the host group. The ‘I as a human being’ identity strategy allowed them to avoid suffering the consequences of stereotyping and stigmatization due to their political status by stressing their common feature: Basim:

Janári:

We are in the world – there’s this kind of feeling that ‘I am better than you’ that is not good. You don’t know me: you don’t know what’s the value I have. For example, who gives you the right to say you are better than me? … I am a human being, like you. I hope people understand that all the people are from one world, you know? All the people have one God. You might pray like that, I might pray like that, but all of us pray to God, you know? All of us are human beings, if they are black, if they are white, if they are brown, we are all the same and people have to know. They have to know that, they need to understand.

The strategy of emphasizing the ‘I as a human being’ identity stresses that no one has the right to exclude or devalue another. Its transcendent feature levels the playing field and one cannot be stigmatized or excluded on the basis of culture, colour or political status. Basim highlighted this by asserting that he is a human being, no one can say they are better than him and similarly Janári highlighted that everyone inhabits the same world. The strategy of evaluating all as equal due to the possession of the ‘I as a human being’ identity allowed each group to attempt to restore their broken continuity. All are, and always will be, human beings despite divisions such as culture and ethnicity. The connections sought between the groups are basic: their physical possession of a human body allowed them to view the other as the same as self. Rejecting Unwanted Identities The ‘I as a human being’ strategy also allowed the individuals to reject unwanted ascribed identities. When an identity position is rejected, it must be replaced by another viable identity. A major strength of the ‘I as a human being’ identity strategy is that the identity is transcendent. It allows connection with other groups on the basis of sameness, which eases cultural uncertainty. The position allowed the participants to reject identities they perceived as having no future and also identities they did not wish to maintain. The participants of the Irish group sometimes rejected their ‘I as Irish’ identity when they wanted to reject attitudes held by the majority: Conor:

I hear people all the time saying ‘we don’t want you, we don’t want your sort in our country’ and it’d be interesting to see if the shoe was on the other foot … I’ve heard people inside in town shouting obscenities at people, shouting, ‘go away you *******’, ‘go away you *******’, which I think is sad … I think the way some of the asylum seekers and refugees get treated in this country is rotten.



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Conor refused to accept the attitudes of the majority by rejecting the racist remarks made. Chastising the Irish for their treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, Conor identifies himself and the migrants as human beings, calling for the Irish people to empathize with them. The distance between him and his cultural group is bridged by the possession of that basic identity. By emphasizing their ‘I as a human being’ identity, the immigrants were able to reject their own discontinuous cultural identities: Giovanni: I would be meeting Italians in the street and they would say, ‘Oh are you Italian?’ and I was running away … I try to not ever have an identity that people can say ‘he’s Italian.’ I think they should see the person; he can be from wherever he is.

Giovanni utilized the ‘I as a human being’ identity to reject his unwanted cultural identity. Living in Ireland, he wanted to be accepted as a ‘person’ at the human level rather than as an Italian. Uncertain about his future and ambivalent about whether he belongs in Italy or Ireland, Giovanni needed to utilize a strategy that would allow him to be accepted and maintain identity continuity in any country he inhabits. This is a feature of the ‘I as a human being’ identity which allowed him to transcend his cultural identity and permits him to be included anywhere. Lastly, both the immigrant and asylum seeker groups rejected the ascribed labels imposed upon them. The labels of ‘immigrant’ and ‘asylum seeker’ are highly stigmatized and negative identities for the individuals: Noémi: Helén: Basim: Janári:

They were the immigrants, not me. I don’t consider myself an immigrant. I left my country … my country is one of the richest in the world and my reason is politic to come here, not financial reason. I was in the situation of not being able to stay in the country. One of them said, ‘Where are you from?’ and I said, ‘I am from Albania’ and she said, ‘Are you a f ****** refugee?’, and I said ‘I’m not a f ****** refugee!’

Relying on the ‘I as a human being’ identity allowed the migrants to reject any derogatory judgements that are associated with the labels of immigrant and asylum seeker and enforce their human equality. Both Noémi and Helén rejected the immigrant label outright. Basim refuted the stereotype that asylum seekers are economic migrants and Janári opposed the label due to the racism it precipitated. The ‘I as a human being’ identity strategy allowed both groups to regain the power lost by the ascription of these labels. The strategy offered new identification possibilities as it transcends such classifications and allows individuals to construct inclusive futures in the culture in which they now reside.

Discussion

Ireland is clearly undergoing a social change due to globalization and immigration [MacÉinrí, 2007] which poses challenges for nationals and migrants alike. Identity positions are constantly evaluated in relation to the other [Hermans, 2003] and

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when that other is a cultural other, questions of who one is culturally are brought into sharp focus [Hedegaard & Chaiklin, 1995]. We suggest that the individuals residing in the cultural contact zone experienced an individual-level break in cultural continuity. This manifested itself through high levels of uncertainty regarding their cultural futures and the participants attempted to restore their cultural continuity by employing a dialogical identification strategy. Each group utilized the same strategy, emphasizing their ‘I as a human being’ identity. Although the strategy was used in different ways, the fact that each group utilized the strategy would seem to suggest that this particular identity construction, how the individuals presented themselves as human rather than as cultural people, is fundamental to the individual experience in the cultural contact zone. Restoring continuity through the ‘I as a human being’ identity was a complex process. The Irish nationals used the position to engage in a form of (de-)essentialization of themselves and the other. Instead of defining the groups as having distinct ‘essences’ which would permit them to assert power and control over the minority groups through stereotyping [Mahalingam, 2007b], the nationals (de-)essentialized by viewing the other as equal to the self, possessing that distinct defining characteristic of humanity. Rather than being an altruistic act, however, the (de-)essentialization of the groups offered a means of restoring the broken continuity for the Irish. Viewing the other as equal and the same as the self by disregarding any cultural, ethnic or religious differences, facilitated an integration of the other into the Irish cultural future. By this logic, if the other is the same as self, the Irish culture will not disappear and the links between the past and future can be maintained. The immigrant and asylum seeker groups also engaged in the act of (de-)essentialization, presenting themselves as inherently equal to the other, using the unchallengeable position to stabilize themselves in their new surroundings. From this position the immigrants and asylum seekers could reject the negative stigmatized identities of ‘immigrant’ and ‘asylum seeker’ and regain any power lost by their ascription, rejecting the naturalization of the categories of their new social status [Mahalingam, 2007b] and claiming equality. The uncertainty resulting from the break in cultural continuity could be dealt with by stressing bodily similarity with the majority group. Widening their cultural group to the ‘human’ allowed them to maintain their identity in whatever location they were in. As previous research shows [Mahalingam, 2007a, b], the way that immigrants reconstitute identity will depend on a variety of factors, but the results of the current research are intriguing because they suggest that despite considerable differences amongst the participants in areas such as the amount of time each individual had spent in Ireland, their gender and ethnic background, each of the participants, including the majority group, used this ‘I as a human being’ identity position. Finding this common link between the self and the cultural other, recognizing the essential equality of another human being, is a very powerful tool and it allowed the Irish nationals to incorporate the immigrants and asylum seekers into their culture. The threat of cultural dissolution was diminished because the human being identity transcends racial and cultural borders. For the immigrants and asylum seekers, the profound level of equality that is represented by this position allowed them to connect with the host group and reject the ascribed identities they did not want to maintain. As a human being, self and other are profoundly equal, and the



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self cannot be ‘othered’ by the dominant group, because cultural distinctions are removed and continuity is no longer threatened. The data presented are concurrent with Abbey’s [2006] assertion that the ‘I’ moves to maintain continuity with the individual’s imagined future, but we argue that the past demands an additional consideration. Unstable identities, such as cultural identities in the current study, needed to be replaced with another continuous identity. In the current study, the ‘I’ moved to a position that was viable for the future, but it would appear that considerations for the past are also taken into account by the dialogical self. The participants in the current study strategically used their ‘I as a human being’ identity, a continuous position; because the participants have always been human beings and can legitimately predict that they will always be in the future. The ‘I as a human being’ identification strategy allows an insight into the predicament of individuals living in a time of sociocultural change. Maintaining a link with the cultural past is important to preserve continuity, yet the individuals also faced pressures from the imagined future. Residence in another culture, or the disintegration of one’s cultural homogeneity, forced a repositioning from the individuals’ cultural identities. The break in cultural continuity, and resulting uncertainty, limited the possibilities in the imagined future. The participants therefore used the secure and enduring ‘I as a human being’ position to strategically stabilize their identities, despite the position’s lack of cultural ties. Encouragement of this identity position may promote contact between groups and increase acceptance, developing links and bonds between cultural groups, while rejection of it may validate and normalize racism. The developmental task faced by these cultural contact zone residents is how to now shape the future trajectories for their identities. Cultural Continuity theory [Chandler & Lalonde, 1998] has great insights to offer studies of the dialogical self which are endeavouring to investigate the processes involved in negotiating developmental trajectories in the context of drastic sociocultural change. Cultures are naturally important to their members and, because they need to be understood as continuous through time, disruption to that continuity can have serious psychological impacts upon their members. We have shown here that the development of a cultural contact zone caused uncertainty for its residents which rendered the cultural identity positions of the individuals unstable and therefore unavailable. Consequently, the participants engaged in the strategic negotiation of their identity positions to maintain continuity. Recognizing the importance of continuity can contribute greatly to our understanding of the development and negotiation of identity positions and the experiences of migrants and immigration receivers alike. The current research has attempted to contribute to the study of adult identity development and explore the implications of the impact of cultural-historical change on individuals. It has long been noted in developmental psychology [Riegel, 1973] that adult development and the impact of cultural-historical conditions are areas that need special attention to aid the understanding of the processes involved in adult development, particularly in a time of increased globalization. While we know that individuals attempt to resolve psychological conflicts, the developmental implications of the conflict and what the individual does to resolve that conflict are important to explore. In the current study, the developmental implications of sociocul-

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tural change can be clearly seen: cultural continuity was broken at the individual level and cultural identity positions became unstable and unavailable to the individuals. The strategy employed by the individuals to resolve this conflict was to transcend the cultural and emphasize their basic humanity so to offer, and demand, acceptance in the host culture. The ‘I as a human being’ strategy is, of course, a functional and useful strategy but a complex one, and the implications on the identity development of the individual could possibly be detrimental. From a developmental perspective, one must question the desirability of encouraging the acceptance of individuals solely on the level of their humanity and not as cultural persons. If migrants must resort to emphasizing their humanity and disregarding their cultural identities to claim equality, this will have strong implications for their development and integration into the majority culture and could possibly reinforce power relations between the host and minority groups [Mahalingam, 2007b]. The continued foregrounding of this identity could also have deleterious effects on self-esteem and cultural pride: immigrants and asylum seekers may feel that they must disguise their cultural difference and transmitting their cultural identity to future generations may be greatly affected by this cultural marginalization. The future generations may then suffer adverse knock-on effects, because, as Chandler and Lalonde [2008] note, ‘if one’s culture has been marginalised … then the path for those transiting towards maturity becomes much more difficult’ (p. 70). Accordingly, both host and migrant groups must develop a solution for integration which encourages the celebration rather than negation of cultural diversity which will aid healthy identity development which is heavily influenced by society and the development of the society as a whole by sustaining tolerance. The current research and results are, of course, limited. The analysis constitutes preliminary results of a much larger study which will be developed further by analysing the data for other identification strategies used and their respective functions. The current research also poses questions for further future research, such as investigating perceptions of cultural others to understand the processes by which they might be recognized and accepted at a higher level. The ever increasing number of contact zones worldwide offers new and exciting opportunities for identity research to investigate change and development associated with globalization and longitudinal studies would offer an invaluable insight into the processes over time. Studying both majority and minority groups is vital because, as the current research suggests, all groups are subject to a great deal of uncertainty as a result of cultural change. Extending the research to adolescents and children who are resident in these contact zones would offer a broader picture of the processes. Comparisons should also be made between contact zones possessing structures to maintain cultural continuity with those lacking in these structures because this would offer a great insight for developmental psychology, and could be of great use to policy making.



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