"This is a blonde hair, blue eyes university" : a qualitative research to everyday racism and resistance at the University of Amsterdam

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“This is a blonde hair, blue eyes

university”

A qualitative research to Everyday Racism and Resistance at the

University of Amsterdam

Gözde Nur Akarsu 10811079

BcS Human Geography and Urban Planning Bachelor Thesis Project

University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: dr. Inge van der Welle Second reader: dr. Virginie Mamadouh 17/06/2019

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Foreword

This thesis presents the results of my research to everyday racism and resistance at the University of Amsterdam. The motivation for this research were my own experiences at the university as a student of colour and that of many others I have come to hear about. I wanted to map out not only the barriers students of colour face at the university, but also demonstrate that they resist and empower.

First and foremost, I want to thank the thirteen participants for sharing their stories with me and giving me the trust to do them justice. Secondly I would like to express gratitude towards my supervisor Inge van der Welle for guiding me through this project with her valuable feedback and support. Furthermore, I wish to thank my roommates and best friends Isabel Speelman and Anouk Markus for being my voices of reason and advising me through this research. They have supported me, listened to me complain and cheered me up in every part of this process. I would not have made this happen without them. Lastly, I would also like to thank my family and friends who have believed in me and given me all the moral support.

I hope you enjoy your reading.

Gözde Nur Akarsu

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1. Introduction

“There are some racial stereotypes in this exercise, but please try to look past them”, were the words spoken by the teacher leading the class exercise around the theme mediation. At this point alarm bells already started to go off in my head, but I didn’t want to jump the gun considering that I deemed the teacher as one of the most ‘woke’ I have experienced at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed upon reading the exercise and the role assigned to me. Coincidently I was given the role of ‘Fatima’; a

conservative Turkish woman that was in a conflict with her Dutch liberal neighbour over the construction of a fence between their gardens. Fatima wore a headscarf, was a practicing Muslim with conservative values and two sons, whom she wanted to protect from the daughters of her neighbour that had a tendency to sunbathe in bikinis in their garden. My fellow students seemed to be busy with the exercise, while I tried to control the anger that rose up in me. When the teacher went around to ask how everything went, a whirlwind of words spurted out of me. Looking back at it, I regret the level of harshness. Not because I deemed myself too harsh or too angry, but because I tried to underplay my anger by starting my rant with “this is not a personal attack” and “I know you didn’t mean it like this”. I could hear some laughter from several fellow students upon my lashing out and saying “I refuse to play my own stereotype”, among many other things. At this point I felt that my anger towards the injustice I felt was not being taken seriously, be it unintentional, be it due to the stereotype of the ‘angry bitch’ or to me being ‘that girl’ in class again. I felt the need to make this

explicit by stating “I am not trying to be funny”, having to make it obvious for people to realize it.

This fairly recent example, one of many in my experience as a Turkish woman at a

predominantly white university, confirmed many of my lived realities. The assumption that one could “just try to look away from the racial stereotypes” demonstrates the rate of consideration taken into these hurtful actions caused to others, even if they’re unintended. Furthermore, as being the only student of colour in the classroom, the role of the educator was once again put upon me. However, being the one that has to educate and to feel the need to always speak out on these issues often also gets tiring. Similar conflicts as the previous example have occurred in my years at the University of Amsterdam, ranging from me confronting the teachers to having heated discussions with other students. My attitude has changed from trying to fit in and being like others, to claiming my space and letting my voice

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6 be heard. This has not only been my experience at the UvA but also that of many others. Some examples are white teachers using the N-word, discussions around gender issues and the words allochtoon and autochtoon still being used in academic circles.

Issues around diversity and inclusion have caused quite some commotion at the UvA, having led to multiple protests, including the occupation of the Maagdenhuis in 2015 due to criticism around issues of democracy and diversity at the university. One of the results of this

occupation was the establishment of the Diversity Commission, which had the mission to study the diversity at the university (Huygen, 2016). The results are brought forth in the “Let’s do Diversity” report. This report demonstrates that even though there is a broad support for diversity at the University of Amsterdam, the institute is lacking in a lot of areas of

inclusion and recognition of minorities (Wekker et al., 2016). Furthermore ASVA, the student union of Amsterdam, also published a research regarding the diversity at the UvA. Similar results regarding the diversity and the experiences of minority students were concluded: the university regards their students as equal, completely overlooking the structural disadvantages some of the students experience (ASVA, 2016).

Since the Maagdenhuisbezetting and the two aforementioned reports, several changes have been made at the policy level of the university. One of the most crucial achievements has been the appointment of the Chief Diversity Officer and the Diversity Officers per faculty at the university. This team is supposedly put in place with the goal of making the university a space that is inclusive and socially just, with a focus on equality and intersectionality (UvA, n.d.)2.

All in all, the oppressions of minorities at the UvA are shown through my own experience, the experience of others and two conducted researches (Wekker et al., 2016; ASVA, 2016,

Huygen, 2016). However, lesser known are the ways students from a minority group move around the university. How do they react and which actions do they take when they are faced with certain barriers?

This research is set out to find out ways in which students of colour demonstrate forms of resistance and to provide them with a voice and agency to bring their perspectives to the light. These students have to participate in an institute in which they get excluded and marginalised. They have an ‘outsider within’ status (Collins, 1986), which gives them a unique position and

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7 makes them possessors of exclusive knowledge, that needs to be heard (Collins, 2002). This type of knowledge could not be provided by the dominant group members (Essed, 1991).

The research done by the Diversity Commission and ASVA focusses on the definitions ‘non-western migrant background’. However, upon realising that it is not about the definitions but the constructed realities, this research will focus on students of colour, defined as students who are deemed ‘non-white’ regarding at least one of the following: their skin colour, cultural background or religion. The intersectional approach of this research is not aimed at

generalizing the struggles of minorities. However, this group of students appears to

experience relatively more feelings of exclusion and regarding my own background, the focus will be put on this particular group of students. The goal is here not to reinforce the existing structures of oppression, but to give the silenced voices an opportunity to be heard. A focus is necessary on the everyday actions and performances that keep the power imbalances intact. Furthermore, the College of Social Sciences of the University of Amsterdam will be taken as a focus point. This is due to the assumption that the academic experience of these students are similar regarding the curriculum and the location and the courses they follow often overlap. The research question I propose is as follows:

How do students of colour at the College of Social Sciences of the University of Amsterdam demonstrate resistance to everyday racism?

First the theoretical framework will be presented, followed by the methodological

justification. Three chapters of analysis will follow and the thesis will end with concluding remarks, policy implications and a reflection.

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2. Theoretical Framework

Concepts that are of importance for this research are explained in this section.

2.1. Black feminism

First the concept of black feminism will be discussed, considering the importance of this school of thought for this research and the way it is the overarching framework, evident in the entirety of this research. Black feminism puts a focus on identity, considers the importance of context, social structures and intersecting oppressions. Black feminism also recognizes the importance in experience and tends not to make generalizing assumptions (Collins, 2002; Carby 2007). This school of thought acknowledges the multidimensionality to the experience of black women and the multiple forms of oppressions they face (Crenshaw, 2018). This has been named as intersectionality, introduced for the first time by the great black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 (Crenshaw, 1989; Collins, 1986). Intersectionality entails the idea that people can be facing common challenges, but this does not mean they have common experiences. Recognizing intersectionality means that there is indeed the fact of a ‘common thread’ in racism, which are recognized by the bigger ‘group’. However, they are experienced in different forms, changing from identity person to person (Collins, 2002).

Furthermore, a black feminist view on race perceives this concept as a social construct, something that is never static and constantly changing. It has no inherent meaning and is constructed institutionally through systems of power (Collins, 2004; Taylor, 1998; Carby, 2007). What distinguishes black feminism from other schools of thought, is that the

oppression of race is not seen as an autonomous process, but one that is interconnected with class, gender, race, religion and more (Carby, 2007). Racism then is a system of oppression based on the constructed realities of race, intersecting with gender, class and more identity characteristics that do not fit into the hegemonic norm (Griffin, 2012). Black feminism strives to give the marginalized agency in a dominant culture (Taylor, 1998).

2.2. Race and the Netherlands

For this research the aforementioned thoughts of black feminism will be made contextual. As discussed before, black feminism sees race as a social construct with no inherent meaning

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9 (Collins, 2004; Taylor, 1998; Carby, 2007) However, when looking at the Netherlands,

similar to other European countries, there is a supposed ‘colourblindness’ with no explicit ‘race’ discourse. A discourse of ‘tolerance’ dominates the Netherlands (Yanow & Van der Haar, 2013; Essed, 1996). The Netherlands has a reluctance to acknowledge ‘race’ and even ‘ethnicity’ as formal categories. Essed (1996) states that it may be the case that by not talking about race, or acting like it does not exist anymore in the Netherlands, the Dutch use this argument to prove that racism is not present in the country.

However, according to Wekker (2016) the ordering on the supposed biological difference is still being accomplished in Dutch society. A shift has occurred from biological explicit characteristics, to ethnicity and culture (Wekker, 2016) in which society gets categorized along ethnic lines, such as one’s birthplace or that of the (grand)parents (Yanow & Van der Haar, 2013). Inexplicit statements about race are shunned and replaced with remarks about culture, ethnicity and pre-dominantly in Dutch society, religion. The ‘national identity’ is often discussed in Dutch society, as well as ‘traditional immigrant cultures’ versus ‘modern western cultures’, in which race is never explicitly mentioned but is intertwined with the ideas around ethnicity and culture (Essed, 1996). The divide of who belongs and who does not, who is deemed as white and who is not, are present in the Dutch language. This binary is made evident through the words autochtoon and allochtoon’ explicitly presenting who is the ‘other’ and who fits in the imagined community of the Netherlands (Wekker, 2016). Autochtoon was used to refer to a citizen with both parents born in the Netherlands, regardless of the own place of birth. The term allochtoon then was used concerning a person that had at least one parent born outside of the Netherlands, with a divide between western and non-western (CBS, n.d.). The further distinction with western and non-western allochtoon, pushes the

constructed reality of whiteness. Thus, this binary can be seen as a process of racializing; it is widely known in society who is meant with allochtoon and who is not (Wekker, 2016). The banishment of this binary has happened just recently in policy circles (De Ree, 2016), but the words are still widely used in public and academia.

It is of essence for this thesis that the framings around race are taken into account in the specific Dutch context, in which ‘whiteness’ is understood differently in the Netherlands than it is in the United States, for example (Essed, 1996). As mentioned before, it is not an

inherently meaningful category, but more about the social construction through racial dominance of the ‘Other’ in the Netherlands (Wekker, 2016). Thus race is deemed as a

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10 “socially constructed rather than an inherently meaningful category, one linked to relations of power and processes of struggle, and one whose meaning changes over time. Race, like gender, is:

‘real’ in the sense that it has real, though changing, effects in the world and real, tangible, and complex impacts on individuals’ sense of self and life chances” (Frankenberg, 1993, p.11).

How this manifests itself in reality will be explained in the following section.

2.3. Everyday racism

The social construct of race (Frankenberg, 1993) and the intersectionalities that are at play (Crenshaw, 2018) in the Netherlands is explained through the notion of ‘everyday racism’ by Philomena Essed (1991), a Dutch black feminist scholar. This notion of everyday racism is central to this research and requires a profound understanding.

An essential part of everyday racism is the concept of everyday and the conceptualisation of ‘the everyday life’. Essed (1991) describes the everyday life as the direct reproduction of an individual, embedded in social relations. A world in which the person learns to manoeuvre, that is different from person to person. To manoeuvre in society the person needs knowledge about this world, about its rules, customs, language and norms which differ from person to person depending on the intersections of class, gender, ethnicity, religion and so on. Thus, this everyday experience is linked with the positions of the individual in society and its social relations, which is based on expectations from the person itself and from society about that person. The non-everyday is in this case then the unexpected, the incidents and the unfamiliar events that happen.

Everyday racism then is explained by Essed as “the integration of racism into everyday situations through practices (cognitive and behavioural) that activate underlying power relations” (p.23). An important aspect of this is that racism becomes integrated in the everyday life in the sense that it becomes part of the unquestionable, the expected and is transformed into the norm by the dominant group. It counters the idea that the problem of racism lies with the individual. Instead it argues for the entanglement of the ‘everyday life’

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11 with the production and reproduction of ‘racist norms’, translating itself into everyday racism. The integration of racist practices into the everyday then also makes it unidentifiable, as it is not meant as intentional and explicit. Everyday racism is difficult to recognise for the dominant group and often also for the oppressed, because it has become the norm, the standard way of life. It is a norm in which the needs, interest and values of people of colour are not represented equally. This in turn leads to people of colour getting excluded, isolated and marginalized without it being obvious or visible (Essed, 1991).

Exclusion and marginalization happens in various spaces. Universities often claim to be inclusive and multicultural spaces that value diversity in their students. Although a vast diversity can generally be perceived at a university, even here a norm of the student is created (Harwood et al., 2018). This results in an imagined community: a socially constructed idea of what the university and its students should look like (Anderson, 2006). When one does not fit into this imagined community, this norm, they become invisible and hyper visible at the same time. They stand out due to their differences, but their experiences also get shunned (Harwood et al., 2018). In the macro dimension, consequences of these imagined communities in

combination with structural racism are severe. They range from segregated schools in the Netherlands to people of colour getting lower school advices (Gramberg, 1998).

Everyday racism manifests itself in heterogenous ways, through the relational constructions of gender, class and religion, among others (Essed, 1991). In her book, Essed (1991) also gives an example of ‘passive racism’ as an experience of everyday racism. She explains that sometimes doing nothing also means doing something. This is particularly the case in Dutch society, in which white people try to maintain the self-concept of tolerance and

non-discrimination. “The underlying though is that, if one does not “do” anything, one cannot be accused of having “done” anything discriminatory” (p. 128). An example at the university is when students or teachers notice that somebody is being subjected to abusive language, but they decide not to intervene in the situation. Even though every person is unique and has different intersections and comes from different contexts, Essed (1991) states that the experiences of everyday racism are shared and repetitive rather than unique.

Another feature of everyday racism that can be recognized in most societies and especially at spaces such as the university is eurocentrism. Essed (1991) describes eurocentrism as

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12 “The ideal and practice whereby interests and perspectives of the White group are used as the norm […]. Eurocentrism is interwoven in social relationships, in the language, in habits of thinking, in institutional regulations, and more generally in the conditions under which individuals or groups gain access to resources” (p.190).

At the university this translates itself into a Eurocentric curriculum, which becomes the default. It does not get questioned, it is assumed to be objective and superior (Fals-Borda & Mora-Osejo, 2003). For this research the part about gaining access to resources is especially important.

Everyday racism then does not manifest itself in direct and physical ways such as physical molestation or threats made at people of colour. It is not about people shouting the n-word in someone’s face. Everyday racism is more about the underlying structures that keep the hierarchy between people of colour and whites in the Netherlands and at the University of Amsterdam intact. It is about the invisibility of oppression, about exclusion and rejection, about underestimation, about the supposed ‘good intentions’, about being silent in times of oppression. These created dominating conceptions of space, ideas of what this space should look like (Valentine, 1996).

Furthermore, Essed (1991) also mentions how the experience of everyday racism is a

cumulative process. As these practices are made familiar and repetitive, it is often difficult to realize the racist nature of it. These normalized routines are not questioned, since they are entrenched in the ideologies of the society. She states

“knowledge of racism is a process of constant intake, testing, and interpretation of new information and remodelling of precious representation. […] Through prolonged practices in dealing with racism, people become experts” (Essed, 1991, p.72-72).

Essed (1991) explains how it must be recognized that there are two dimensions to racism: macro- and micro dimensions. These are interdependent dimensions, as the macro enforces the micro and vice versa. The macro point of view sees racism as a system that enforces structural inequalities which has developed over time. This points to a system that reproduces social relations between groups and individuals. A micro dimension on the other hand argues for specific practices that are experienced by an individual, whether it be intentional or

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13 unintentional. These practices can then only be racist when they are in line with the macro structures of racial inequality. Thus, structures of racism are formed by the practices of the individuals in society, but these practices are only racist due to the racial inequalities in the system of society. Everyday racism links those micro, individual experiences to the

ideological and structural context they are developed in (Essed, 1991). This research will focus on the micro dimension. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that this micro dimension is linked to the macro dimension of racism.

Oppression is then constructed through situated practices. The perpetuation of racial inequality happens through dominant micro structures of repression. Oppression and repression are constructed and coordinated through ideological constructions in society and these dominant forces are hard to escape. The individual is confined by the forces of the system, but tries to work out strategies and forms or resistance to oppose racism (Essed, 1991). Essed (1991) offers a more elaborate definition of everyday racism as

“a process in which (a) socialized racist notions are integrated into meanings that make practices immediately definable and manageable, (b) practices with racist implications become in themselves familiar and repetitive, and (c) underlying racial and ethnic relations are actualized and reinforced through these routine or familiar practices in everyday situations” (p.52-53).

As Essed (1991) mentions, these forms of oppressions are not just present, they are also getting challenged. Thus, the next part will focus on resistance in the context of everyday racism. This is also the main focus of the research, with the idea in mind that students of colour do not only face barriers themselves, they also challenge the dominant group. However, keeping in mind that forms of oppression are not only formed by race, but also class, gender, religion, culture, sexuality, age and disability, an eye will be kept on forms of resistance to other forms of oppression. However, for the sake of this research, a focus will be put on everyday racism within the University of Amsterdam.

2.4. Resistance

As elaborately explained in the sections before, people of colour face different kinds of oppression in the Netherlands. This also translates into the lives of students of colour. These

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14 students continuously face barriers at the UvA which they try to challenge. As Essed (1991) states, the individual is locked in the system of oppression, one cannot escape this system. But what the individual can do, and thus also does, is find ways to cope with everyday racism through strategies of resistance (Essed, 1991). Whether it be on an individual or on a more structural level, heterogeneous forms of explicit or inexplicit resistance are shown to the negative impacts of everyday racism.

Most of the forms of resistance have been defined in the physical sense, through the idea of social movements, physical violence, marches and organizations. However, resistance has also been recognized through discourse and symbolic behaviour. Furthermore, inaction or ‘breaking silence’ can also be seen as a form of resistance, intentional or unintentional.

Resistance can differ in targets, goals, scale and much more. The way resistance is understood is also often in a political sense, but it could also be identity-based, or even both (Hollander & Einwohner, 2004). James C. Scott (1989) claims that a realm of political action has been overlooked for a while. He calls this ‘everyday forms of resistance’, which according to him most of the politics of oppressed groups fall into. These are not explicit forms of resistance, but rather implicit forms that are not openly political and perceived as non-collective action. However, Scott claims that these are the most vital means in which oppressed groups stand up for themselves and are crucial in understanding political relationships (Scott, 1989). An example of these everyday forms of resistance are ‘hidden transcripts’. These are subtle ways of resistance, which are not explicitly seen. Examples are gossip, grumbling, giving looks to others or the use of certain words. With these hidden discourses, social spaces are claimed and carved by the oppressed group in a struggle of ideology and culture (Gaventa & Scott, 1992).

Furthermore, a black feminist perspective reminds us that intersecting forms of oppression are experienced and thus also complex forms of resistance are demonstrated. Collins (2002, p.201-209) makes a binary distinction in the dimension of black women’s everyday activism to challenge the oppressions they face: struggles for group survival and struggles for

institutional transformation. This approach will be used in this thesis to analyse the resistance that is performed by the students of colour from the College of Social Sciences at the

University of Amsterdam. Even though Collins (2002) defines resistance from the perspective of black women, this approach will be most useful in getting a sense of resistance against racial oppression. Collins (2002) states how examining the way black women have become empowered, demonstrated resistance and reached institutional change, is a useful way to look

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15 at larger questions of inequality and change in society, also for different groups that face oppressions. Thus, the framework of Collins (2002) will be most fitting to examine the ways in which students of colour have demonstrated resistance at the university of Amsterdam. The black feminist approach of Collins also fits into the phenomenological assumptions made in this thesis in which the experience of the individual is made central. It provides space to fill in the two dimensions through the variety of actions that are taken by the students of colour at the UvA.

2.4.1. Struggles for group survival

Collins (2002, p.209-216) describes the first dimension as consisting of actions that are taken to create spheres of influence for black women in existing social structures. These actions do not have to be directly challenging actions or direct confrontations. These direct actions are often not even possible or desirable. However, in this dimension actions are taken to

undermine the oppressive structures and institutions (Collins, 2002). Collins sees these as everyday forms of resistance, in which one does not per se participate in direct organized political activities. The hidden transcripts of Scott (1990) can be seen as fitting in this dimension, as he also describes them as actions that can be found in the hidden, covert expressions of resistance (ibid.). Thus, in this sense it can be stated that ‘not all oppositional behaviour has ‘‘radical significance’’, nor is all oppositional behaviour a clear cut response to domination” (Giroux, 1983, p.285).

An important aspect of this dimension is identity politics. Crenshaw (1990) explains how “identity-based politics has been a source of strength, community and intellectual

development” (p.1242) for different marginalized groups such as people of colour and the LGBTQI+ community. Resistance through struggle for group survival is exercised in the creation of self-valuations and self-definitions. For example, safe spaces are created with other students of colour of similar identity, or actions are undertaken to undermine the oppressive and often stigmatizing identity that is put upon them by the racist structures in society. They define their own identities and try to create safe spaces to act to their liking without wanting to feel the constraints by the structures in society (Collins, 2002; Chou, Lee & Ho, 2015).

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16 Another main aspect of the struggle for group survival is empowerment. Empowerment helps the group to gain power and confidence (Collins, 2002, p.213-215). These can be conscious actions, for example a student speaking up in class against what he or she perceives as harmful racist comments or a sister giving her younger siblings advice about strategies to move in society as a person of colour. A variety of strategies of resistance are used in this dimension by oppressed groups in society, ranging from individual to collective actions. Getting educated for example to gain power and challenge the oppressing structures in society is one of the main strategies proposed by Collins (2002). Furthermore, resistance in this dimension can be seen as conforming to the rules set by the society. But this can actually be a safe way for the person to resist the barriers they face.

2.4.2. Struggles for institutional transformation

The second dimension consists of actions that are aimed at changing discriminatory

procedures and policies of social institutions such as schools, workplaces, governments and more. These individual or organized actions are to directly challenge the institutionalized rules and norms. They are aimed at changing the rules, how small or big they may be. This dimension also incorporates broader social agendas and structures that are intertwined with the struggles of people of colour and these actions also often go hand in hand with broader social issues. Resistance in this dimension for example could entail boycotts and participation in civil rights organizations. However, this type of resistance does not always have to be going ‘against’ the rules. One can also try to change the rules by working within the formal organizations and trying to change it by becoming part of the process (Collins, 2002, p.216-221). In the space of the university this can mean becoming part of the institution, for example getting a job as a student-assistant at the university and trying to change the system from within. It means trying to ‘invade’ the spaces that are predominantly white and create structural change. However, most places appear to be inclusive, especially at a university that claims to value diversity such as the UvA. Students of colour will perform resistance in the sense that they will try to diminish the imbalance in power relations in this place (Harwood et al., 2018).

Education is described by Collins (2002) as one of the main tools that lead to institutional transformation, which is linked to struggles for group survival. Education creates social awareness, empowerment and makes the students of colour self-reliant. It gives tools to

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17 people to make a change and develop the leaders that are needed in this dimension of

resistance. This is also linked to the idea of everyday racism being a cumulative process, something that takes time to get aware of and get empowered enough to fight against (Essed, 1991; Collins, 2002). Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that the target of this

resistance is interconnected and intersectional. (Collins, 2002).Thus, one can be trying to fight racism, but at the same time gets faced with barriers of sexism or homophobia.

2.4.3. Interdependence

However, it is also stated that the above mentioned are not two separate dimensions, but that they are interdependent (Collins, 2002). An individual can be drawing on both dimensions for example, while consciously thinking of doing neither. The resistance against the broader system can be done through inexplicit actions of resistance, but still be prevailing to the rules of the system and appear to be acquiescence. An important aspect of consciousness comes into play here. According to Collins’ framework, one does not have to be consciously fighting against the oppressive structures, but could still be demonstrating forms of resisting it. These dimensions are not only interdependent, it is also necessary that they are linked. Both

dimensions enforce each other to be able to create real changes in the oppressive structures of society (Collins, 2002, p.206-224).

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3. Methodological justification

3.1. Ontology, Epistemology and Research Strategy

A feminist approach is central to this research, which can take on different shapes and forms. The approach in this research is based on a feminist standpoint theory which states that “seeking the voices of marginalised because they will have a better understanding of their marginalisation than an ‘outsider’ would” (Couper, 2015, p. 122). This feminist ontological perspective then acknowledges ‘the self’ as a production of social construction and interaction, seeing it as something that is tied to its specific context, history, culture and spatial practices (Stanley & Wise, 2002; Couper, 2015). As stated before, the concepts used in this research such as race and ethnicity are also deemed to be socially constructed (Couper, 2015, p.110). However, lived experiences are also a fundamental criterion of meaning and knowledge in a feminist approach (Collins, 2002; Stanley & Wise, 2002; Couper, 2015). Thus, next to the social constructivist assumptions, this thesis also takes on an ontological assumption of phenomenology, which defines realities and meanings through the way we live and experience the world (Couper, 2015). Experience is a central concept in this study. As stated by Essed (1991), experiences are a suitable source of information for the study of everyday racism because they include personal experiences as well as vicarious experiences of racism. In addition, the notion of experience includes general knowledge of racism, which is an important source of information to qualify whether specific events can be generalized. The experience of others or stories of others also play an important role in shaping the experience of the students of colour. Friends, family and the media for example vicariously shape the experience of everyday racism. The expressions of general knowledge or the experience of others by the students of colour in this research demonstrates the broader relations between the individual and the social structure. Thus, even though the emphasis will be put on the individual experience of the students that have participated in this research, it must be kept in mind that these experiences of everyday racism are integrated into the everyday life throughout the system in society (Essed, 1991).

This research assumes a social constructivist view on racism and enriches this by adding the phenomenological point of view of the participants. By researching the everyday life and the experiences of people affected by everyday racism, this research tries to demonstrate the real lived everyday consequences of racism that is entangled in all structures of Dutch society.

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19 Because of the multidimensionality and contextuality of racism, the everyday experiences demonstrate the reproductions of the social construct of racism. These experiences are deemed as real fact and knowledge, they are acknowledged as they are and not questioned as these are I believe these to be the most tangible and measurable results of racism. This also means that the experiences of this group of students of colour are taken seriously and are not asked to be justified (Essed, 1991; Couper, 2015).

Furthermore, a feminist epistemological point of view will be taken, which relies on the intersecting oppressions in creating knowledge and experiences. The term intersectionality has a long history of black feminism (Carastathis, 2014) but was first widely introduced in 1989 by black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw (Carbado et al., 2013.). She states that oppression is not a singular process of only gender or race alone. Different systems of oppressions are at work, which are relational to each other and construct our identities, power and privilege (Carastathis, 2014). This approach focuses on the identity and the lived experience of a person and goes beyond binaries (Crenshaw, 1991). This is of importance in the way this research is being conducted, considering the complexities of everyday racism in Dutch society. While there will not be an explicit intersectional method of analysis, the intersecting structures of oppression cannot be overlooked and will also gain attention in the analysis of the data (Shield, 2008).

Moreover, the epistemological assumption is made which claims that knowledge is never created in separation or is objective, but that connectedness and context are crucial components of the process (Collins, 2002; Stanley & Wise, 2002). As Couper (2015) states: “knowledge is developed from a particular position and within a particular context, in society” (p.121). Other important components of the knowledge process are the personal emotions, empathy and expressiveness. Each individual is deemed to offer great and unique knowledge (Collins, 2002; Stanley & Wise, 2002). The feminist assumptions made in this thesis will thus put emphasis on the individual and their identity and give particular value to their experiences and emotions, both in the knowledge themselves and in the dialogue that is used to acquire this knowledge.

Furthermore a qualitative research strategy will be conducted and the research will be done in an explorative way, with the intention of finding a deepened understanding of the experiences of everyday racism and the forms resistance that is shown by students of colour at the university. The intent is not to generalize, but to arrive at a deeper understanding of this context-specific case.

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3.2. Research question and case description

3.2.1. Research question

The central research question is as follows:

How do students of colour at the College of Social Sciences of the University of Amsterdam demonstrate resistance to everyday racism?

The following sub questions will be answered in the following chapters:

1. In what ways do students of colour from the College of Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam experience everyday racism?

This sub question will analyse the experiences of everyday racism of the students of colour at the university and the barriers they face regarding their constructed identity.

2. How do students of colour demonstrate struggles for group survival at the College of Social Sciences of the University of Amsterdam?

Using the framework of Collins (2002) regarding black female activism, this sub question will try to understand the resistance that is shown in the first dimension which Collins (2002) calls struggles for group survival.

3. How do students of colour demonstrate struggles for institutional transformation at the College of Social Sciences of the University of Amsterdam?

Building on the previous sub questions, the last sub question will then look at the second dimension that Collins (2002) proposed, which she calls struggles for institutional transformation. It will be kept in mind that these are not two separate dimensions, but the division will help us gain a better understanding of the resistance that is demonstrated.

3.2.2. Case description

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21 For a description of the status of diversity of the University of Amsterdam the ‘let’s do

diversity’ report of the University of Amsterdam Diversity Commission of 2016 and the ASVA report called ‘Diversiteitsbeleid: een overbodig kwaad of een noodzakelijke stap vooruit?’ will be used. The first report states that in 2016, of all the students at the University of Amsterdam, only 13% has a non-Western background, excluding international students, and for the employees that was only 4%. Non-western means that at least one of the parents of the student is born in a ‘non-Western’ country, with the majority from Surinamese, Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds. Looking at the context and the city of Amsterdam, which is rich in diversity, the unequal division at the university becomes more striking. Students belonging into this minority group have stated that they feel affected by this, for example that they feel unrepresented and lack role models. Of the student respondents in the research, 33% have stated to have observed exclusionary practices and 8% has stated to have experienced discrimination, of which a high percentage is based on skin colour or race. It was also stated that students affiliated with Hinduism or Islam face more discrimination than those affiliated with Christianity or no religion, laeding to feelings of exclusion. Being set apart from the norm, being excluded and ‘othered’, puts these students in an oppressed position. Micro-aggressions occur and can negatively affect the experience and capabilities of the student (Wekker et al., 2016). Examples of the consequences of racism are psychological stress, which can seriously impact the physical and mental wellbeing. Participants of the research also have stated that they feel as if they are not taken seriously when bringing up issues of racism and discrimination (Franklin, Boyd-Franklin & Kelly, 2006; Wekker et al., 2016). There are further structural disadvantages, such as that students with a non-western background are proven to achieve lower study results. Furthermore, it is also evident that diversity is not reflected in curricula, which was also stated in the research done by ASVA. The curriculum presents an Eurocentric view and is deemed to be neutral, while alternative and critical voices from people of colour get ignored (ASVA, 2016; Wekker et al., 2016). The curricula tend to not address themes they can identify with. Another point that the research makes is that ‘diversity-informed’ language is missing or there is even a fear of addressing these issues in the university, as well as a lack of consciousness about certain oppressions at the University of Amsterdam. There is a meritocratic view and that ‘everybody is the same’ at the university, thus the structural oppression that students of colour face is not recognized (Wekker et al., 2016; ASVA, 2016).

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22 3.2.2.2. Students of colour

For the purpose of this project the term ‘student of colour’ is being employed. With a feminist approach in mind, I have decided upon this term through the conversations with the students this research is based on. This approach has allowed me to give the participants the

opportunity to shape the research (Couper, 2015). This is not to say that being white does not make you of a colour, or that this is only applicable to how one looks. As stated before, race will be deemed as a social construct, which is about much more than only skin colour in the Dutch context. Aspects such as religion, culture and class are of similar importance here (Essed, 1996).A student of colour is understood in this thesis as a social construct, someone that does not fit in ‘the norm’ of what a ‘white’ student at the UvA should be like. For my participants the deciding factors have been religion, a non-white cultural background, their non-white appearance and their names. I do not want to enforce stereotypes and stigmas upon groups of student that experience exclusion, however for the sake of this research a divide will be made between ‘white’ students and students of colour.

3.2.2.3. College of Social Sciences

The College of Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam consists of five Bachelor programs: Political Science, Human Geography and Planning, Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. These five programs have their own separate programs, but students often can be seen following courses from the other bachelor programs. Furthermore, the curriculum offered, the professors and teachers also often overlap in the different departments (UvA, n.d.)1. It can thus be concluded that the experience of the students at these five programs can be broadly generalized into one case.

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3.3. Conceptual Framework

This conceptual framework roughly demonstrates the relations between the different concepts that will be analysed in this research. The arrows point to possible influence between concepts.

3.4. Operationalization

Two of the main concepts will be operationalized in this section: everyday racism and resistance. These are both developed through the data that my participants gave me and their understanding of everyday racism and resistance as these are both concepts that take form in various ways.

3.4.1. Everyday Racism

Everyday racism is deemed as a multidimensional phenomenon, a process that is reproduced through numerous situations and relations. Essed (1991) makes a divide between a macro and micro dimension of everyday racism. A macro point of view argues for racism as a system of

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24 structural inequalities, that is created through a historical process through routine practices. A system is then defined as “reproduced social relations between individuals and groups organized as regular social practices” (Essed, 1991, p. 34). A micro point of view encompasses the specific practices that are consistent with racial inequalities in the macro structures of the system (Essed, 1991). The research and interviews will try to make the concept of everyday racism, which can be very implicit, explicit. The data offered by the interviewees are thus seen as explanations of everyday racism (Essed, 1991).

Concept Dimensions Variables

Everyday Racism Macro: General statements about racism in the Netherlands

Inclusivity Netherlands

Representation People of colour in the Netherlands

Micro: Specific events regarding their own experiences of racism and that of others

The norm of the UvA student

Offered education

Space division at the UvA

Feeling at home at the UvA

Table 1: operationalization everyday racism

3.4.1. Resistance

Collins (2002) distinguishes two dimensions of resistance: Struggle for Group Survival and Struggle for Institutional Transformation. As she does not define precise categories or themes which can be categorizes as variables, the section of variables have been defined through the data from my interviews.

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Concept Dimensions Variable

Resistance Struggle for Group Survival: actions taken to create students of colour spheres of influence within existing social structures (Collins, 2002)

Identity based resistance: creating self-valuations and self-definitions

Activism

Everyday resistance

Struggle for Institutional

Transformation: “those efforts to change discriminatory

policies and procedures […] of social institutions” (Collins, 2002, p.204)

Joining the institutional system

Political activism: joining the Dutch political

landscape

Table 2: operationalization resistance

3.5. Data Gathering, Participants and Research Methods

3.5.1. Data Gathering

The data for this research has been gathered through semi-structured interviews with thirteen students of colour from the College of Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, which lasted for about one hour. The interviews were loosely based on the technique of narrative interviewing. This technique of doing qualitative interviews encouraged them to take me through their academic career at the UvA and helped me to find the ways in which they have

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26 experienced it, the barriers they have faced and how they have handled this (Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000). This translated itself in my item list by starting the interview with the request for them to start with their first encounter with the University of Amsterdam. I tried to follow a chronological order through their academic years at the UvA by steering the interview.

Considering that everyday racism is assumed to be embedded in everyday life and made the ‘norm’, it is difficult to define explicit situations (Essed, 1991). However, this approach of interviewing has tried to identify crucial moments that shape the resistance of the student of colour. Usually the interesting stories the students told me were special in a way, something that they had not forgotten about. It was something that disrupted their everyday experience, of which I tried to get an as detailed description as possible. To get knowledge about their resistance strategies I then asked how they reacted in this situation. Furthermore, considering the fact that everyday racism is a cumulative process, an aspect that can also be seen in resistance to everyday racism, the technique of narrative interviews also gave me insight to the cumulativeness of these concepts.

I tried to give the participants time and space to elaborate on their experiences. Furthermore, general themes have been defined in the item list prior to the interviews, but I aimed at giving the participants enough free space to steer the interview in their direction and to verbalize their experiences, feelings and opinions in a detailed way. This also fits in with the feminist approach that is central in this research, which has assumes that stories should be told by the marginalized group and not for them. The amount of interviews conducted depended on theoretical saturation; until new data seems to not give any more useful and insightful information (Bryman, 2012). However, the available time also played an important role in the amount of interviews. The aim was to have an equal amount of participants from the five programs. Furthermore, with the intersectional approach in mind, an equal balance between gender, race, religion and class has been tried to be made regarding the interviewees.

The interviewees were gathered through my own network, with a snowball sampling technique that has also been applied. My own network largely consisted of students that were already involved in activism in some way. This is due to the fact that I am part of the student association Amsterdam United, which stands for empowering marginalized voices and providing an intersectional platform to UvA students. Some of the students I have talked with provided me with new contacts that also were interested in contributing to this research. However, using my own network had its benefits and disadvantages. It meant that I did not have difficulty gathering students of colour from the College of Social Sciences, but that these

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27 respondents were be from my social ‘bubble’. This could have led to a biased and unrepresentative data and analysis. Therefore, it is import to keep in mind that this research is not meant to be representative for all students of colour at the UvA.

However, it is important to point out that for the sake of transparency and to have my interpretations lead the analysis as little as possible, I tried to use direct analysis of the students themselves about the described situations. If they explained a situation to me, I tried to not define the racist elements myself, but asked them for example why they felt uncomfortable in the situation and if it was due to them being a student of colour. Oftentimes students found it hard to explain, but said they had a ‘feeling’. As I do not question the feelings these students had in certain situations, I accept their experiences of everyday racism as valid and see it as valuable knowledge. Often these students had enough experience with racism that they could point out where these feelings were coming from.

Important identity details will be revealed in the analysis, in case the interviewee has agreed to this, considering the importance of intersectionality and the self in this research. However, the students of colour will remain as anonymous as possible in the presentation of the data. To ensure this I used different names for the students. With the feminist approach in mind, I asked the students if they would like to pick a name for themselves. Some of them did this and some I made up myself. This also gives the feeling that I indeed did not see the students as mere objects of data, but I value their input dearly and they have the ability to shape this research. The interviews have be recorded, if the interviewee contested to this, and transcribed to get as accurate as possible data. Furthermore, several quotes form the interviews have been used in this research to demonstrate the points I have wanted to make. These quotes I have translated and grammatically corrected myself. For full transparency, the quotes have been numbered and the original Dutch translation can be found in the appendix.

3.5.2. Participants

All students come from varying backgrounds and there is unfortunately not enough space in this thesis to examine their historical context to the racism they face in the Netherlands. I have talked with thirteen students in total with varying ethnicities (see table 3). To ensure their anonymity their names have been replaced. However, the other characteristics have been revealed to make sense of their context.

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Name Sex Age Ethnicity

1.Nala Female 29

Surinamese-Hindu

2.Layla Female 24 Dutch-Egyptian

3.Rami Male 23 Dutch-Tunisian

4.Noëlle Nao Female 20 Surinamese

5.Syd Male 21 Curaçaoan

6.Aliya Female 30 Iranian

7.Dana Male 23

Dutch/Indonesian-Iranian

8.Erkan Male 25 Turkish

9.Fatiha Female 24 Moroccan

10.Hiba Female 22 Half Tunisian half

Dutch

11.Gare Male 26 Kurdish

12.Nadim Male 24 Nepali

13.Marwa Female 21 Moroccan

Table 3: participants

3.5.3. Research Methods

Through an interpretative analysis and the use of computer program Atlas.ti, the data has been analysed. The conducted interviews have provided me with rich and deep data, which has led to certain overarching themes, for a structural way of analysis. The data received from the narrative interviews have provided me with information regarding the cumulative nature of everyday racism (Bryman, 2012). The way of coding has been led by the interviewees and the data provided by them, but was guided by the theories that have been described before. Essed (1991) does provide ‘structures’ or themes of everyday racism in her book, however these have not been applied to analyse the data. Rather an explorative process has taken place in which the themes of everyday racism have been grounded in the shared experiences provided by the thirteen students of colour. Collins (2002) on the other hand provides only brief examples of resistance from black women, next to the two dimensions. Thus, the themes of resistance that have come out of the data can be seen as additions to the theory provided by Collins (2002) about resistance. This process of data analysis could be described as a ‘research snake’: there was a constant movement between the data and the analysis method. The analysis was influenced and shaped by the data that is acquired throughout the research. In this method of analysis, coding is central and will help in attaining essential findings (Boeije, 2014). In addition, intersectionality is applied as a way of understanding and

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29 analysing the experiences of the thirteen participants, as their daily life cannot be understood as being shaped by one factor of their identity.

Since this research is about everyday racism, a process that is so infused with the normal life that it becomes invisible, it is important to acknowledge that often in these described situations describing racism is difficult. Students have told stories which often cannot be ‘proven’ to be coming from racist intentions. However, through phenomenological assumptions, I will try to explain as clearly as possible why these situations provided by the experiences of the student can be regarded as everyday racism and resistance. Participants of this research are regarded to be experienced and knowledgeable enough about everyday racism.

3.6. Positionality, limitations and ethical considerations

As Couper (2015) states:

“Feminism rejects the notion that knowledge can ever be objective, value-free, independent of the ‘knower’. Recognition that knowledge is not only cognitive, but embodies, has its own implications for methods. A rigorous and critical approach to research involves acknowledgement of the researcher’s positionality, a reflexive awareness of their multiple identities and the ways in which this may impact on the research” (p.126-127).

Thus, it is of importance to reflect on my own positionality in this research, since one cannot be neutral in this particular research. Being a student of colour myself, I understand that my own experience and interpretations will heavily influence this research. As an ‘insider’ this gives me a valuable position. Firstly, I have personal experience with the research topic which gives me an advantage in the sense that I can relate to the participants and provide them with a safe space. This also has given me the ability able to receive much more information than a researcher from the ‘outside’ and an easier access to the group I am studying (Berger, 2015). Feminist researchers have argued that this is an ‘ideal’ condition in research, since it creates a non-hierarchical relationship between the researcher and the interviewee (Mies, 1983). The interviewees could feel more comfortable to share certain experiences with me than with a researcher from the ‘outside’, assuming that there could be more understanding between students of colour. However, my said position can also have blinded me to experiences and

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30 forms of resistance to everyday racism, that I do not experience. This could have led to gaps in the analysis. Furthermore, I was familiar with most of my participants. This has in some instances made me assume their experience and this made me overlook the opportunity to ask critical questions.

It is important to state that, as briefly touched upon in the introduction, I have experienced everyday racism first hand at the University of Amsterdam. This has shaped me through the years in a sense that I have started to express my own resistance in various ways. Not only do I start discussions in class with teachers and students regarding issues of racism, I have also joined the student organization Amsterdam United. In this organization we try to provide an intersectional platform for the unheard voices at the UvA. I see this as a result of my own experience with everyday racism, leading to my own form of resistance.

After every interview I reflected briefly on the findings and points that stood out the most. A careful reflection is done in this process, which has influenced the further interviews with the participants. This did not only enlighten my own viewpoint on the research, but also gave me new interesting points to ask my participants, making my blind spots less and less throughout this process.

An ethics of care has been applied throughout this research, fitting into feminism (Edwards & Mauthner, 2002). This means that I was very careful in not making this a process in which the participants were merely a source of information, but I tried to include them in the research as much as possible and as much as they themselves wanted. I tried to make clear that they were doing me a favour and that all the answers they gave were perfect and that they should not feel obliged to say anything, but that I am grateful for all the information they give me. Furthermore, I tried to make clear that it was a safe space and that I would judge them as little as possible by giving them that disclaimer before starting the interviews. My aim was to be as transparent as possible about the research by explaining to them my motivation for doing this specific research and keeping in contact with them throughout the process. Furthermore, I suggested to the students that I would send them the transcript once it was all typed out to ensure full transparency. Some of the students answered that this was unnecessary, and others appreciated this effort. The students that did not consider it necessary to read the full transcript all stated that they trusted me to ethically handle the data provided by them. The students whom I did send the transcript to made some remarks afterwards, but none of them stated that they wanted something left out.

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31 Furthermore, it was quite easy to reach these students and make appointments with them which demonstrated to me their eagerness to discuss this subject with me. Any insecurities I had regarding my research, I also tried to discuss with them, considering that they are a very important part of this. An example is that I had difficulties with the right way to name these groups of students. However, while doing the interviews I discussed the participants with what they would deem as the right term to use. Some proposed examples are ‘students with a non-western migrant background’, ‘ethnic minorities’, ‘bi-cultural students’ and ‘visible minorities’. Almost all of them stated to prefer students of colour. They explained how, even though it is a term that comes from the US where the matter of skin colour plays a more significant role in the experiences regarding everyday racism, they still considered it as the most fitting term. Students of colour was seen as a term that had the least negative connotations, a term that the students used proudly to describe themselves. Furthermore, I asked the students if they had any anonymous names they wanted for themselves, or if I should make one up for them. Some of them really liked this and got very creative with their names, while for others I was left to make a decision.

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4. Students of colour and everyday racism at the University of

Amsterdam

This first chapter of the analysis will disclose the experience of the thirteen students of colour regarding everyday racism.

4.1. The norm

One of the main findings from my conversations with the thirteen students of colour is that the students have ideas about the image that the UvA student should have, what is regarded to be the ‘norm’ of the UvA student. Added to this are the ideas they have about the norm of education at the university.

4.1.1. The image of the UvA student

The majority of the participants mention an ‘unspoken’ image of the UvA student. Rami for example says:

“I thought it was all very white and elite. […] There was also forming of groups of people that were all sort of sporty and with wealthy parents and I just did not feel part of that club”

– Rami, 23, Dutch-Tunisian (1)

Here different intersections of an identity are mentioned by Rami. He makes the implication that to fit in with the other students at the UvA he feels as if one needs to be white, elite, sporty and come from wealthy parents. The same experience can be found with what Hiba meant with “I have the feeling that it is an elite university”. Noëlle Nao also mentions this and adds on a consequence of this norm:

“At the university I feel as if only one reality gets the spotlight. But there are more, like we are not all happy white students with rich ass parents. We are not all hipsters. You have more identities at the UvA and especially among students with a migrant background I often have the feeling that we unconsciously adapted to the white spaces

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33 we step into. Because you try to live by the norm, but this norm is not inclusive. For me personally this has led to self-doubting thoughts”

– Noëlle Nao, 20, Surinamese (2)

Just as Rami and Hiba, Noëlle Nao mentions the norm of students of the UvA being white with wealthy parents. This also brings forth an intersectional aspect in this norm. Not only do these students have the idea that there is a white norm, but there is also an intersecting norm of class. The image of the UvA students is that they are white and from a wealthy

background. But this norm is not the reality for the students of colour in this research, their experiences and perspectives are not acknowledged at the university. This has consequences for students of colour and/or students of low income, such as self-doubt and academic hindrances. Noëlle Nao furthermore explains how this norm also influences the space at the university. As can be seen from her excerpt and the stories that other students have told me, the spaces at the UvA have become white dominated spaces. Next to the mention of

classrooms being predominantly white spaces, ‘borrels’1 and the study associations have also been mentioned to fall into the category of white spaces.

Moreover, not only is this norm present among the students, according to my conversations the teachers themselves also have ideas about this norm. These ideas consist of students coming from a white and wealthy background which fits in the norm and thus is recognizable. When this expected image of the student does not fit with the reality of a student of colour, their differences get overemphasized. Erkan for example has mentioned that one time when he went to get feedback on an exam, the teacher asked him upon seeing his name ‘oh but that is not a Dutch name right?’. The intentions of this teacher could be argued about. He could be genuinely interested in Erkans name or just curious about his background. However, what it still does is that these types of questions enforce ideas who is and is not ‘Dutch’ and who does and does not fit into the idea of the UvA student.

Another case is of what Marwa provided me with in our conversation. Marwa told me of an occasion in which she went to a teacher for feedback. She states how she had a feeling that her fellow students underestimated her. This came from the fact that she was one of the few students of colour, but also because she came from the HBO2_{. Upon not wanting to seek the}

1_{A ‘borrel’ is known in Dutch society as having an informal gathering with drinks and snacks}

2_{An HBO education could be compared to a college education, which falls under a lower type of education than}

"This is a blonde hair, blue eyes university" : a qualitative research to everyday racism and resistance at the University of Amsterdam