But this does happen. Not necessarily that all the relatives or friends of the original group DIE, but that the language, or cultural norms, or what have you, don't get passed on.
Yes, I know it happens. And do you know the context it usually happens in? And do you think the descendants are all clamoring for a savior to come (from the people that caused this to happen in the first place; from the people that are quite often still oppressing them) to lift them out of their ignorance?
Knowing the past can prevent terrible mistakes from re-occuring (though it rarely does); it can give people the sense that they're not the first to do this, and that they're not alone. So my opinion is, in situations where one is not part of a minority group being observed, one should do everything in one's power to help the group feel able to share their experiences/traditions/etc. Sometimes it just won't be safe for them to. But if attention is paid to *why* a group doesn't want to be interviewed or observed, then perhaps the obstacles can be removed.
Why is it still a big mystery to you why a group wouldn't want to be interviewed or observed, especially after reading this post? As to the obstacles that need to be removed, lets start with a majority culture that believes that only it has the right to set boundaries and enforce them.
Quite honestly, I find it hard to read your comments as anything other than an example of how it does not matter how many data points some people accumulate, it will do nothing at all to change things. Because Oyceter has put herself out there in explaining how people in academia sometimes seem to be using the hunt for knowledge as a further tool to Other those that they are studying/observing, has talked about how the quest for it oftentimes serves to reinforce hierarchies, and yet you are still here talking about the tragedy of minority people and cultures not being willing to be open books for everyone.
And I do not understand this mentality at all, this belief that knowledge is the cure for everything, because what I see happening is not people lacking access to knowledge but people filtering it to suit their worldviews, what I think is lacking is not information but empathy and respect for what is deemed Other. And until this cultures develops that, the real tragedy, to me, is not when the knowledge of a minority culture fails to be shared but when it is, when people from the majority culture steamroll in, with no respect for other's boundaries, and take knowledge they have no right to and use it and trivialize it and ultimately discard it as worthless, with a thousand and one justifications of why it was for the progress of all mankind.
So, yeah, my opinion is, in situations where one is not part of a minority group being observed, and one knows that said group isn't comfortable being observed, then one should not try to find ways to convince said minority group that it really, really wants to be observed, and doing so would be for the good of all mankind. The best thing to do is realize that the real obstacle might be oneself and stop intruding where one might not be wanted or welcome.
no subject
Yes, I know it happens. And do you know the context it usually happens in? And do you think the descendants are all clamoring for a savior to come (from the people that caused this to happen in the first place; from the people that are quite often still oppressing them) to lift them out of their ignorance?
Knowing the past can prevent terrible mistakes from re-occuring (though it rarely does); it can give people the sense that they're not the first to do this, and that they're not alone. So my opinion is, in situations where one is not part of a minority group being observed, one should do everything in one's power to help the group feel able to share their experiences/traditions/etc. Sometimes it just won't be safe for them to. But if attention is paid to *why* a group doesn't want to be interviewed or observed, then perhaps the obstacles can be removed.
Why is it still a big mystery to you why a group wouldn't want to be interviewed or observed, especially after reading this post? As to the obstacles that need to be removed, lets start with a majority culture that believes that only it has the right to set boundaries and enforce them.
Quite honestly, I find it hard to read your comments as anything other than an example of how it does not matter how many data points some people accumulate, it will do nothing at all to change things. Because Oyceter has put herself out there in explaining how people in academia sometimes seem to be using the hunt for knowledge as a further tool to Other those that they are studying/observing, has talked about how the quest for it oftentimes serves to reinforce hierarchies, and yet you are still here talking about the tragedy of minority people and cultures not being willing to be open books for everyone.
And I do not understand this mentality at all, this belief that knowledge is the cure for everything, because what I see happening is not people lacking access to knowledge but people filtering it to suit their worldviews, what I think is lacking is not information but empathy and respect for what is deemed Other. And until this cultures develops that, the real tragedy, to me, is not when the knowledge of a minority culture fails to be shared but when it is, when people from the majority culture steamroll in, with no respect for other's boundaries, and take knowledge they have no right to and use it and trivialize it and ultimately discard it as worthless, with a thousand and one justifications of why it was for the progress of all mankind.
So, yeah, my opinion is, in situations where one is not part of a minority group being observed, and one knows that said group isn't comfortable being observed, then one should not try to find ways to convince said minority group that it really, really wants to be observed, and doing so would be for the good of all mankind. The best thing to do is realize that the real obstacle might be oneself and stop intruding where one might not be wanted or welcome.