Problem of Proximity - Outsiders and Social Change

The work that I am doing now means that I am cast as the outsider. Through the blogs that I read I recently came across an excellent analysis of being an outsider in international work (click here). In the post itself the author briefly mentions the possibility of local knowledge containing biases. Even before I read that post I was writing my own reflections on being an outsider and questioning the impact of outsiders on social change. In some of my meetings in Lesotho I am often confronted with local experience as rationale for supporting or criticizing an initiative – I don’t mean to imply that this is either all good or all bad. Sometimes this local knowledge is relevant and necessary, but at other times it has come across as biased or fatalistic. I have wondered if proximity to a problem develops this bias.

In 2007 I was able to travel to Tibet while I was living in China. I was there for about a month. What confuses me to this day is how issues around Tibetan-Chinese relations are such a popular cause – I suppose the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere had something to do with it. I guess I was expecting some serious repression by the Chinese, but the amount of cultural and religious practices that seemed to be preserved surprised me. I am not sure how the comparison came into my head and it may be completely inappropriate, but while I was in Tibet I started to think about the situation of First Nations people in Canada (Native Canadians/ Americans). To me, it seems that the Tibetans have been able to retain their cultural and religious practices to the same extent or even more so than First Nations in Canada - This judgement may be slightly biased because I was a tourist in Tibet and may have been exposed to more culturally relevant experiences.

I understand that it is asinine to discuss which of two oppressed groups is ‘better off’. I think this would be about as effective as a school yard argument about whose dad would win in a fight or which super hero is stronger. I am just interested in how people perceive social problems that occur within their society and within external societies.

I believe that many Canadians dismiss issues involving the First Nation population as problems that can be attributed to the First Nations themselves. These same Canadians may decry what the Chinese government has done to the Tibetans and take on Tibetan independence as a social cause.

People may be incredibly interested in issues relating to global poverty, but at the same time dismiss the homeless man situated on the street corner outside their apartment as a drug addict, or alcoholic, who is responsible for his own problems. I think I could be included as an example as well. I am currently working internationally, but I haven’t been as interested in working with similar issues in my own community.

Is it easier to join a cause that addresses an external social problem so that it is simpler to rationalize away your responsibility for, or involvement in, that social problem? If I identify local issues as societal problems then I am being critical of the society that I live in, participate in, and contribute to. Unless I am hypocritical or delusional I would need to examine my role in that society and how I may be contributing to those social problems. However, if I take up an external cause I don’t have to waste my time with any of that introspection and reflection.

If people are less likely to identify problems as societal problems then is an outside perspective necessary?I am not trying to justify or rationalize my involvement in international work, but am also referring to outside influences such as media, education, or travel

September 7, 2010

Get Out of my Country!

Yesterday I saw another white person in Mafeteng. I seldom see other white people walking around. It has only been a handful of times in the last couple of months. Usually I’ll see cars zip by with South African plates and white people inside. I know that the Peace Corps has a large contingent of volunteers in Lesotho, so I shouldn’t be that surprised.

This girl that I saw yesterday got me thinking about the way I react to other white people when I am living abroad. Before I get into that I’ll just quickly describe how I met her. I was going into our main supermarket, Shoprite – it is a South African chain. You have to check your bags before you go in, so we bumped into each other at the bag check. I said hello and she sort of looked at me and just walked off. Later that day I was walking down the street and the same girl was walking towards me. I am sure she recognized me as the same white guy that she saw at Shoprite because I am pretty much the only one in Mafeteng. As we approached each other I think I must have appeared like a Basotho person when I am approaching them. I was staring at her waiting for her to make eye contact so that we could greet each other, but as we got closer and closer she would not look up. I must have looked like I was holding my breath, with my face getting redder, and veins popping out of my forehead.

Anyways, her reaction to me reminded me of how I sometimes felt in China as an expat (expatriate) – I don’t think I even knew this term until I started living in China. An expat is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. In China when I would see other white people I would always have this ‘Get Out Of My China’ gut reaction. For some reason, as someone living in the country my immediate reaction was contempt for this person who I assumed was just a tourist. You don’t understand the country, the culture, or the people. Why are you here? It is really a bizarre and embarrassing reaction. It is also selfish because I think when you travel there is this perception that you are having unique experiences and when you see other people possibly having similar experiences it is easy to resent them. I should say that I never acted with resentment or contempt towards people. I am sane enough to recognize my own insane judgments.

I imagine that this girl who brushed me off was having a ‘Get out of my Lesotho’ moment. She is probably a Peace Corps volunteer living in a small village. She came to town to stock up and she saw me. At least this is the story I have made up for her and I have based the rest of my post on this story, so you are just going to have to go with it. It would be a waste of your time to come up with more logical reasons for her behavior. Maybe she is just antisocial. Maybe I scared her because I was staring at her and it looked like I was holding my breath, and getting really stressed out and frustrated. Anyways, back to our Peace Corps volunteer. If it is true that she was having a GOOML moment then I have a couple of problems. The first problem is that the culture we are living in places such an importance on greetings. If she is snubbing me because she thinks I am tourist then I think she has missed something. Most of the Basotho go out of their way to greet visitors. In most other countries I would not get worked up about another person not greeting me, but here it seems heretical.

The other problem I have with her behavior, or at least the behavior I have invented for her, is that I do not feel the same way in Lesotho as I did in China, so there is no reason for her to feel that way. I am living in a community with almost no expats, so I would have thought that I would have even a stronger reaction to seeing other white people, but I don’t. I think it is because I am maturing or more likely it is because I still feel like a tourist in Lesotho. The people in Mafeteng have been very welcoming. Now that I live here, even if only for a short while, they assure me that I am a Makaota. If I were here for one year, two years, or five years, I think I would still feel like a tourist. I am not sure why I feel this way. Maybe in China there was a strong expat community and belonging to a community connected me more to the place. Like I said, the people here are very welcoming and I am not excluded from anything, but I am still isolated because of where I come from and what I have. I feel like a tourist because I have the option to leave if things are too difficult or if I need a break. Maybe for that reason I haven’t developed this weird possessiveness of place and experience.

As an afterthought, I should add that I still get these feelings when I visit Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, so I don’t have to worry about becoming more mature. Maseru is the center for many of the NGOs and foreign organizations and there are many expats. I guess these feelings are not directed at tourists so much as at other expats. Whenever I go to Maseru and see other white people I still get a feeling of contempt - You are just hiding in Maseru, you don’t know the real Lesotho – I should also say that I know how ridiculous these judgments are. What is the real Lesotho? It would be ignorant to try and define this. Maybe I just have some warped sense of competition where I feel superior because I imagine my experience to be more ‘authentic’ or involve more hardship.

May 5, 2010