history: July 2008 Archives

Heavy talk with friends, lately - about the ethos of the age being caught up in urgency and crisis, possibly such that we fail to recognize the sweep of history and our complicity with trends we would ethically not choose if we were aware of the relation between our immediate, daily lives and how the simple things we do, moment-by-moment, actually compose larger historical trends.

The NYTimes published a piece on the infamous Milgram Experiments (social psychology) earlier this month, posing the question: would you pull that switch? The article details some new findings that help to understand both the context (why were - and are :-/ - so many people willing to cause pain to others?) and the range of individual reasons for responding to the context as they actually did.

Contextually, subjects were disoriented by the unfamiliarity of the situation, and they were rushed - put under time pressure. The combination of uncertainty and urgency resulted in disorientation - with its obvious (if undetermined) influence on decision-making. This may be a stretch, but it brings to mind some audience reactions to "The Dark Knight" last night, in which people laughed at moments that seemed produced to disturb, while missing designed moments of humor. It struck me as a delayed reaction caused (possibly) by the frenetic pace of volatile action. Similar dynamics occur in interpersonal interactions too, for instance, when people laugh upon hearing awful news - a miscued reaction because of the awkwardness of the situation.

So, there is the matter of complicity - a rather unconscious going-along-with the zeitgeist (or, for some, a conscious embrace of the spirit of the times - for all kinds of reasons), and then there is the matter of compliance. Expressions of pain, per se, were not usually conclusive in convincing switch-pullers to stop. This is what is used to illustrate that the obedience factor is such a deep component of human behavior, and - more subtly - "demonstrate[s] individual differences in perceptions of accountability." (In my imagination, it is not hard to extend this to all the ways in which we - the relatively privileged - turn away from the cries of the relatively un/underprivileged. Pain - especially that of others - is insufficient as a motivator.)

However, "the demand by the subject to stop [is now identified] as the turning point." People who disregarded this were going to continue, no matter what - their conception of authority/authorization/responsibility/accountability simply ended at the "fact" of the social scientific structure. Those who did stop - whether sooner or later - exercised some personal judgment, "decid[ing] that the learner's right to stop trumped the experimenter's right to continue."

The phrasing of this interests me, particularly in my professional role as teacher, and even more specifically as a teacher interested in cultivating critical thinking skills, using non-standard pedagogies and experimenting with the boundaries of student expectations concerning what a college class is supposed to be. There is power in this position, and I use it - intentionally, deliberately, yet - I hope - with compassion for how challenging it is to have the common or usual disrupted in service of a goal that can only be presented in amorphous and ambiguous terms.

Related information at "Psychologists find a way to replicate Milgram's classic obedience experiment."

I will be interested to know how things unfold for Professor/Interpreter Eric Camayd-Freixas, "Immigrant of the Day", for whistle-blowing on an oppressive criminal prosecution against agricultural migrant workers. My curiosity regards him as an individual, interpreting as a profession, and the complicated ways institutional meanings are made among persons interacting with each other through various languages.

"The questions they asked showed they did not understand what was going on," Professor Camayd-Freixas said in an interview for the NYTimes. The video accompanying the printed text details some of the evidence by which the defendants (read, human beings) were denied voice.

The detailed disclosure by Professor Camayd-Freixis struck a chord with Helly, who describes "working within the Hong Kong legal system to achieve justice for domestic workers. Although there are legal processes in place that should protect migrants as well as citizens, in reality, the protection of the law is far weaker when applied to migrant populations." This is also the case for the American Deaf Community (who are domestic citizens). Interviews (unpublished, 2005) with Turkish immigrants in Germany attest to a similar phenomenon, there. I am also reminded of the Ukrainian interpreter who broke role during a television newscast to inform the deaf public about a political coup.

"Interpreters, just like judges and attorneys, have an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the process," [Isabel Framer, a certified legal interpreter from Ohio who is chairwoman of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators] said (NY Times article). "But they don't check their ethical standards at the door." Indeed, we do not, however, pressure to conform to the dictates of established professional conduct is both subtle and overt: interpreters (at their/our respective level of labor) are also subjected to institutional "injustices against those simply trying to work and survive." Notice the language used to position Professor Camayd-Freixas' actions: An interpreter crosses a line and sheds light, he takes "a brave stand" - positioned in the face of or against an incredible legal onslaught, he "has taken a risk."

"Apprehending people who are in the country illegally is one thing but to corner these same people to force them into criminalizing themselves so that it can be publicized that these people are a threat to national security is beneath the integrity of this country." Latina Lista

Voices from a Raid is a video featuring first-hand accounts (in Spanish, with English subtitling) from a different raid earlier this year. The video opens with an excerpt from a speech by Barack Obama about the necessity for all Americans to participate in creative solutions to the dilemma of illegal immigrants. "It's a difficult task to be an Interpreter, to have to bite your tongue and not speak out, to attempt to right a wrong, especially when it involves the civil or human rights," writes Tony Herrera, predicting that an argument will be developed that the proper, ethical choice would have been for Professor Camayd-Freixas to recuse himself. The first blogpost about this story is titled, Sign Here or Starve: The Truth About Postville, Iowa - a direct comment on the coercive tactic of gaining guilty pleas in this case, but also reminiscent of the professional line interpreters are demanded to tread: witness only, reveal naught! "What, asks Evelyn of the Hispanic Business Forum, and I agree we need to explore deeply, "is the purpose of laws?"

I am intrigued that the text of the NY Times story by Julia Preston has been posted to a Marxist listserv: "Translator: Guatemalan meat-packers were railroaded into prison." Not only academics, also law professors are following the unfolding. This matter of making a decision on the basis of non/un-understanding is serious - especially at the level of law - whether one is creating policy or implementing it.

Another first-person account was posted at la vida:

• Immigration Raid - 390 People Detained in Postville, Iowa (May 17)


• Day One: The Day of the Raid (May 18)


• Day Two - At the National Cattle Congress (May 20)


• An overview of the rest... (June 20)

Several sources seem to be post the text of Professor Camayd-Freixis full account, without adding analysis or commentary, such as ALIPAC.net.

Yesterday will be remembered fondly by many. I received the wonderful news from Maria Claudia:

Today there are photos on Facebook. Joy in the morning! I would say Alf does not appear any worse for the wear, but no doubt changes have been etched into his character after nearly five months in captivity. Although I do not know him personally, choosing to care has constituted some of my own always-in-process character, too.

The kidnapping of Alf and his girlfriend, Ana, occurred just two weeks before the beginning of the spring semester. I wrote:

"Violence creeps closer, no matter how hard we try to keep it at bay, no matter how thickly we deny that it could happen to us or those we love." (the bubble thins)

At the time, just two months back from visiting Israel and the West Bank, I imagined some parallels between FARC and Palestine, between the Colombian government and Israel. This view was refuted or met with silence: uncontinued. (Perhaps I could have remained more involved in the conversations that I did have access to?) I was not (and am still not) invested in proving such a claim, only in thinking through how violence gets perpetuated by unyielding stances on both/all sides. Uribe (for instance) is not without fault (no government is); and the people born into life with FARC are not essentially evil.

"...in the end it's the Colombian political will -- one, to make these steps, and two, pay for them -- that has made this happen," said ... a [US] deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere."

That's from a story in today's NYTimes about the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages yesterday - a coincidence of timing reminiscent of Alf and Ana's capture at nearly the same time as a massive global protest against FARC was being organized on Facebook. I spent some days working through a range of thoughts and emotions: grim realities & the force of spirit , weird twist of synchrony , and hyperempathy. Somewhere in the course of all that I decided to invite students to consider involvement.

They were (understandably) confused (!), however they rose to the occasion with a series of blog entries about deciding not to attend. Meanwhile, I read Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (News of Kidnapping), considering the long trip home,

"trying to imagine a way out for the millions of Colombians who only want to go about their daily lives, rather than being pawns in someone else's brutal "game" for wealth and power."

Perhaps it is apparent (but maybe not) that I consider average Colombians to be representative of average human beings - the great grand masses of us subject to the machinations of gargantuan social institutions and historical habit. What befalls them could confound us, too, and certainly is representative of occurrences and happenings to normal, typical folk in most countries around the globe. And there are, indeed, more organized and increasingly large protests developing: persistence will win the prize!

Ana was freed the first week of March. I mused then about coincidences of timing in-and-at the swirling center . In this situation - the random/chaotic juxtaposition of my friends, my passions, my ambitions - synchronicity abounds! I name (by choice, for the purposes of design) such events as centripetal dialogic force.

Yesterday's headline, which I saw mere moments after reading Maria's glorious announcement, read: Colombia Plucks Hostages From Rebels' Grasp. I only know a few Colombians, but they have enhanced my life in a million ways. I agree with today's NYTimes' featured journalists, Simon Romero and Damien Cave,