Treating the dominated as homogeneous fuels forced tribal congregation and cultural destruction

Evidence

More than polarisation is needed if a relationship is to be an appropriate one for domination. The dominated class must appear suitably homogeneous if it is to be able to conform to and confirm its ‘nature’. In homogenisation, differences among the inferiorised group are disregarded (Hartsock 1990:160–1). I well remember homogenisation as an Australian teenager of English-speaking background in the post-war years. It was part of the contempt with which non-English ‘foreign’ immigrants were treated. Their differences denied, they were all dismissed as ‘aliens’, ‘wogs’, or ‘reffos’ (refugees); the multiplicity and dignity of their cultures and languages ignored, they were seen as ‘just jabbering away’, much like animals. Why couldn’t they speak English, a proper language, like us? And white Australians, like colonists everywhere, continue to ignore the multiplicity and diversity of indigenous culture and social organisation. This disregard for or denial of the diversity of Aboriginal nations inspired the forced congregation of Aboriginal people from different tribes, which has been a major mechanism of oppression, loss of identity and disruption of Aboriginal culture. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 219

Categorization

• XREF: Homogenisation as an enabler of settler-colonial cultural destruction directly serves the Eco-Justice colonial critique thread — land/place and indigenous erasure. — connects to: Oppressive cultures face destruction by their own suppressed groups — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 570; Cultures built on subjugation provoke destruction from the suppressed.; Multiculturalism allocated resources by ethnicity, deepening tribal divisions — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 157 (+3 more)
• SEED: The chain from ‘they’re all alike’ to forced resettlement of different tribes is a clean causal argument for an essay on how misrecognition precedes physical dispossession.

Broader Connections

• Oppressive cultures face destruction by their own suppressed groups #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 570
• Cultures built on subjugation provoke destruction from the suppressed. #corroborates (0.80)
• Cultural homogeneity is purchased through severe repression and invites its own resistance #expands (0.80)
• Divide-and-rule government bred tribal nationalism by teaching that nationhood requires oppressing others #corroborates (0.78)
• Traditional societies and structures can collapse under external pressures #expands (0.75)
• Multiculturalism allocated resources by ethnicity, deepening tribal divisions #expands (0.72) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 157