The contested concept of culture: encounters in policy and practice on violence and abuse (original) (raw)

2019, The contested concept of culture: encounters in policy and practice on violence and abuse

As our research was part of a programme on “cultural encounters” the concept of culture has been central to our work, explored through both the histories of, and variations in, in- tervention cultures across our four countries but crucially through re ecting on the expe- riences of women and children from minoritised communities. Our study took place at a par- ticular time, within speci c historical and national contexts, so it re ects the intersections and contradictions that exist in the four countries in the early 21st century. Our research was carried out before the sustained in ow of refugees and migrants over the years 2015 and 2016 met a political response framing migration as an issue of national security, and thus does not re ect the impact of this securitisation process. We, the authors of this chapter, use “minoritised” intentionally here, to highlight that this is a social process, within which there is a default “majority” which invariably has greater access to resources, including the power to de ne what is normative. Differences are, therefore, not simply variations in practices – such as language, dress, food – but car- ry hierarchical worth, value and recognition. It is these processes which, in the white majority countries of Europe, mean that “culture” is frequently attributed to others or used to “instruct” those who are not the normative majority how the “culture” of the particular country supposedly is. Awareness of this process was part of our deliberations as a group of white researchers, finding ourselves within this framing, whilst seeking to question and challenge it.