User:Mxrwho/The Final Project/The ReProposal

The web version of the project is online.

Please refer to it for the current state of the project.

The general Re-idea

The work inquires stereotypes, biases and labels, points to the malleability of identity, encourages critical reflection for an ongoing negotiation of the limits of meaning, facilitates discourse, gives agency and empowers the participants.

The project aims at resisting simple classifications, as well as singular, fixed definitions of identity, by exposing them and by prioritizing the importance of community: The evolving and intersecting representation of narratives that resist closure, faithful to the Butlerian multiplicity, highlights the interconnectedness of experiences, emphasizing that identity is not only multifaceted but also dynamic and ever-changing.

Confrontation

The project strategically incorporates confrontation to prompt critical reflection. However, the same elements that can be perceived as confrontational also give agency and empower the participants to make choices and to negotiate the terms in which this confrontation happens. At the same time, the surrounding narrative and supportive elements open up the subject and provide further opportunities for participants to process these confrontations constructively.

Extra steps

In the web version, the meta-elements (general description of the project, descriptions of the individual elements) help navigate through the work.

In the physical version, the flow becomes freer: There is no suggested order in experiencing the work, leaving the elements even more open to interpretation. The space is still mediated but more carefully, with the addition of a designated space (eg. a lounge area) for discussion, to "officially" host the discourse that is so central to the project.

Empathy

Empathy in the project is framed as an active, mutual process rather than a passive feeling: It is expression, and understanding, in the way Derrida perceived it. Simply eliciting empathetic feeling is not enough – shared reflections should be transformed into collective actions that reshape the shared narrative space.

Extra steps

The addition of a generative visual piece that evolves from participant input will amplify the sense of intersubjectivity. By visualizing the shared contributions of the community, the project transforms empathy from an individual experience into a collective force.

Multiplicity

Multiplicity is central to the project, reflecting its commitment to resisting fixed and singular definitions of identity. By starting with personal experiences and gradually opening up to shared narratives, the project builds a mosaic of perspectives that illustrate the diversity of lived experiences.

Extra steps

The Repository demonstrates how different and yet how similar our experiences are and it becomes a platform for resisting stereotyping through community building and exchange of support.

Systematization

The project, beyond being a critique of systemic performativity, offers a model for counter-performativity: It makes processes conscious and thus diminishes their power, and reverses their results through collective participation. It doesn't seek to escape language but to reclaim and re-utilize it.

The processes surrounding biases, labels and stereotypes are shown and deconstructed through the iterative and performative character of the individual elements. Each element reflects real-life processes of identifying, discussing, and transforming narratives.

Extra steps

The work transgresses the limits of personal sphere and verbal language, as well as that of time. Possibilities for negotiation are added and the tools of oppression become the tools for change. Nudging and bypassing are also used as methods of reinforcing constructive dialogue.

Re-bliography

Agosta, L. (2011), 'A Heideggerian Approach to Empathy'. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, 6(2). Available at: https://www.existenz.us/volumes/Vol.6-2Agosta.html (Accessed: 19 January 2025).

Granados Samayoa, J.A. and Albarracín, D. (2024) ‘Bypassing as a non-confrontational influence strategy’, Current Opinion in Psychology, 59, p. 101855. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101855. (Accessed: 14 January 2025)

Counter-stereotyping as an effective method in battling bias.

Kawakami, K. et al. (2000) ‘Just say no (to stereotyping): effects of training in the negation of stereotypic associations on stereotype activation’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5), pp. 871–888. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.78.5.871. (Accessed: 14 January 2025)

How training helps resist stereotypic association.

Kunda, Z. and Spencer, S.J. (2003) ‘When do stereotypes come to mind and when do they color judgment? A goal-based theoretical framework for stereotype activation and application’, Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), pp. 522–544. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.522. (Accessed: 14 January 2025)

Shows how stereotype activation and application during interaction depend on the strength of comprehension and self-enhancement goals and on the strength of one's motivation to avoid prejudice.

Polychroniou, A. (2022) ‘Towards a Radical Feminist Resignification of Vulnerability: A Critical Juxtaposition of Judith Butler’s Post-Structuralist Philosophy and Martha Fineman’s Legal Theory’, Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory, 25(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.33134/rds.379. (Accessed: 14 January 2025)

Vulnerability defined as interconnectedness with Otherness (Butler), and its function as a positive force and empowering political device.

Rees, H.R., Ma, D.S. and Sherman, J.W. (2020) ‘Examining the Relationships Among Categorization, Stereotype Activation, and Stereotype Application’, Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(4), pp. 499–513. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219861431. (Accessed: 14 January 2025)

Demonstrates how stereotype activation and application increases through category salience.

Tornborg, E. (2020) ‘Repetition in Transmediation: From Painting to Poem and GIF’, AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 45(1), pp. 29–44. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26974192?read-now=1&seq=1 (Accessed: 22 November 2024).

Repetition in different media and how it enriches the message.