James V. Fenelon | |
---|---|
Nationality | American (Native and Euro-ethnic descent) |
Occupation(s) | Sociologist, poet, author, and academic |
Academic background | |
Education | BA in Communication Arts MIA in Intercultural Management MAT in Teaching Languages Certificate of Advanced Studies PhD in Sociology |
Alma mater | Loyola Marymount University School for International Training School for International Training (VT) Harvard Graduate School of Education Northwestern University |
Thesis | "Culturicide, Resistance, Survival: Cultural Domination of Lakota Oyate" (1995) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | California State University,San Bernardino Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania John Carroll University |
James V. Fenelon is an American sociologist,poet,author,and academic. He is Professor of Sociology,Director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University,San Bernardino,and Lang Visiting Professor for Social Change at Swarthmore College. [1] His personal and professional life has revolved around his Native (Dakota/Lakota) heritage from North Dakota. [2]
Fenelon's academic work has revolved around Indigenous Peoples,with other studies centering on disparities related to race/ethnicity,class,social policy,global climate change,and cultural sovereignty of Indigenous communities. His work has analyzed the socio-political attitudes and actions of North Americans toward Native Nations. In addition,he has explored different global issues such as World-systems analysis,globalization change,urban &political affairs,international/intercultural matters,and environmental racism concerns. [3] He has authored the books Culturicide,Resistance and Survival of the Lakota in 1998, [4] Indigenous Peoples and Globalization,Resistance and Revitalization in 2009, [5] Redskins? Sports Mascots,Indian Nations and White Racism in 2017, [6] and Indian,Black and Irish:Indigenous Nations,African Peoples,European Invasions –1492–1790 in 2023.
After serving in the U.S. Navy (1972–76),Fenelon went to Loyola Marymount University,Los Angeles,California,where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts in 1978. Later (1981),he earned a Master of International Administration from the School for International Training in Brattleboro,Vermont with a thesis titled "Towards Social Consciousness". He earned a Master of Arts in teaching,authoring a thesis titled "The Martinique Workshops:In-service Teacher Training" from the same institution in 1983. After working in the Caribbean,East Asian countries,and Indigenous Nations,he continued academic pursuits,switching research interests towards comparative sociology,while doing Advanced Studies at Harvard,earning a PhD from Northwestern University in 1995,with the thesis:"Culturicide,Resistance,Survival:Cultural Domination of Lakota Oyate". [7]
Fenelon began his teaching career as an English as a second language (ESL) Instructor at the Haitian-American Institute,followed by coordination of language workshops in Martinique in 1983. Subsequently,he held teaching and program coordination positions including a Foreign Expert Lecturer at the Shanghai International Studies University in China (1983–84),and Coordinator / Instructor of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at institutions around Tokyo including SONY,Newport University in Japan,SUMITOMO (1984–85),and Lecturer of TESOL program development at the Universiti Teknologi MARA and University of Maryland in Malaysia for one year in 1985 and also at the University of Texas consortium in 1986. In addition,he served as a Project Director at Standing Rock College,ND (1987–88),and as a Trainer/Coordinator at the Midwest Multifunctional Bilingual Education Resource Center,Des Plaines,IL (1988-1992). Upon completing his PhD in 1995,he became assistant professor of sociology at John Carroll University. [8] He joined California State University,San Bernardino as an assistant professor of sociology in 1999,and was promoted to associate professor in 2002. Since 2005,he has been a professor of sociology at California State University,San Bernardino;and held the position of Lang Visiting Professor for Social Change at Swarthmore College,Pennsylvania from 2021 to 2023. [7]
He has been the workshop Director in the Language Office at Chambre de Commerce,Fort-de-France,and briefly served for North Dakota's Indian Education Office and Economic Development Commission in 1988 and Proctor Academy in 1991. [1] He is a founding Committee Member for California Indian Nations College (CINC) and founding Director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University,San Bernardino. [7]
He worked with the Water Resources Policy Institute for the CSU,and on environmental water research in southern California,with research on the ethnohistory of Lenape:hoking in eastern Pennsylvania. [9]
Fenelon's research in and on Indigenous communities has contributed to the understanding of social issues related to the cultural domination of Native Nations and struggles of American Indians over sovereignty,along with global issues of race and racism. He has authored numerous publications:books,book chapters,and more than 40 peer-reviewed articles. [10]
He was Principal Investigator of "Native American/Tribal Water and Land –Listening Sessions," engaging with local and regional California Indian nations and peoples such as the Tongva,Serrano,Cahuilla,and Luiseno. Additionally,he has held the position of Senior Research Fellow for research focused on "Indigenous Perspectives on Water,Land &Traditional Culture" among California Indian nations and Indigenous peoples. [7]
Fenelon's research on the impact of globalization on Indigenous people has highlighted how survivance,resistance,and resurgence developed within these communities. [11] [12] In his book,Indigenous Peoples and Globalization,Resistance,and Revitalization,he explored various challenges faced by indigenous communities as a result of globalization and illustrates how they have been adapting and resisting the influence of states for thousands of years. Reviewers highlighted the book's theoretical framework,noting that "despite their unique cultural and historical origins,all indigenous resistance movements share some common features because they are all formed in reaction to state oppression". [13] In related research,he introduced models for indigenous movements,one focused on indigenous revitalization,and the other on resistance to state domination and the impact of globalization,particularly in the context of neoliberalism. [14] He has worked on indigenous environmental sociology and how it provides an alternative to hegemonic social institutions. [15] Moreover,in the book chapter (with Kari Marie Norgaard),‘’Towards an Indigenous Environmental Sociology’’he described the potential usage of indigenous perspectives towards environmental sociology. [16]
Fenelon has done research in the area of race and structural racism,especially against indigenous communities. [17] [18] In his book titled Culturicide,Resistance and Survival of the Lakota ("Sioux Nation"),he developed theories and methodologies that offer a better understanding of the domination of Native Americans by examining the Lakota,also referred to as the Sioux Nation of Indians. Furthermore,he explored the concept of culturicide alongside theories of cultural domination and genocide,drawing connections between resistance by traditionalists and activists and the cultural survival seen in policies and counter-policies of the United States and Lakota. [19] His book Redskins? Sports Mascots,Indian Nations and White Racism examines how team names have roots in institutional racism,and the tendency of mainstream society to overlook the consequences of four centuries of colonial conquest. It also signifies social issues related to the cultural sovereignty and representation of native nations. [20] In a book chapter titled Immigration as Racial Dominance Since 1492 he analyzed migration across lands and seas,exploring the dehumanizing impact of migration and racism on Indigenous people already present. [21] Moreover,his new book,Indian,Black and Irish:Indigenous Nations,African Peoples,European Invasions,1492–1790 focuses on the origins of supremacy and sovereignty,and sheds light on how these social and political constructs were employed in building colonial and capitalist global domination,which presently endangers their survival through wars and climate change. [22]
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him,at a time when authorities feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement.
Food sovereignty is a food system in which the people who produce,distribute,and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate food regime,in which corporations and market institutions control the global food system. Food sovereignty emphasizes local food economies,sustainable food availability,and centers culturally appropriate foods and practices. Changing climates and disrupted foodways disproportionately impact indigenous populations and their access to traditional food sources while contributing to higher rates of certain diseases;for this reason,food sovereignty centers indigenous peoples. These needs have been addressed in recent years by several international organizations,including the United Nations,with several countries adopting food sovereignty policies into law. Critics of food sovereignty activism believe that the system is founded on inaccurate baseline assumptions;disregards the origins of the targeted problems;and is plagued by a lack of consensus for proposed solutions.
Environmental racism,ecological racism or ecological apartheid is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills,incinerators,and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionately placed in communities of color. Internationally,it is also associated with extractivism,which places the environmental burdens of mining,oil extraction,and industrial agriculture upon indigenous peoples and poorer nations largely inhabited by people of color.
Population figures for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to European colonization have been difficult to establish. By the end of the 20th century,most scholars gravitated toward an estimate of around 50 million,with some historians arguing for an estimate of 100 million or more.
The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada,primarily those of the Plains cultures. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individuals make personal sacrifices on behalf of the community.
Environmental justice or eco-justice,is a social movement to address environmental injustice,which occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste,resource extraction,and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has generated hundreds of studies showing that exposure to environmental harm is inequitably distributed.
Native American studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history,culture,politics,issues,spirituality,sociology and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America,or,taking a hemispheric approach,the Americas. Increasingly,debate has focused on the differences rather than the similarities between other Ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies,Asian American Studies,and Latino/a Studies.
Black anarchism is a term applied to a group of people of African descent who identify with the principles of anarchism. These people include,but are not limited to,Ashanti Alston,Kuwasi Balagoon,Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin,Greg Jackson,and Martin Sostre. Critics of the term suggest that it broadly eclipses important political differences between these multi-varied thinkers and incorrectly presents them as having a shared theory or movement. Black anarchism has had a major influence on the anarchist movement,black anarchists have a 100-year history in black-led anti-fascist and anti-racist history.
Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States of America include many ethnic stereotypes found worldwide which include historical misrepresentations and the oversimplification of hundreds of Indigenous cultures. Negative stereotypes are associated with prejudice and discrimination that continue to affect the lives of Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous decolonization describes ongoing theoretical and political processes whose goal is to contest and reframe narratives about indigenous community histories and the effects of colonial expansion,cultural assimilation,exploitative Western research,and often though not inherent,genocide. Indigenous people engaged in decolonization work adopt a critical stance towards western-centric research practices and discourse and seek to reposition knowledge within Indigenous cultural practices.
Since the 1960s,the issue of Native American and First Nations names and images being used by sports teams as mascots has been the subject of increasing public controversy in the United States and Canada. This has been a period of rising Indigenous civil rights movements,and Native Americans and their supporters object to the use of images and names in a manner and context they consider derogatory. They have conducted numerous protests and tried to educate the public on this issue.
The following events related to sociology occurred in the 1990s.
Historical trauma (HT),as used by psychotherapists,social workers,historians,and psychologists,refers to the cumulative emotional harm of an individual or generation caused by a traumatic experience or event. Historical Trauma Response (HTR) refers to the manifestation of emotions and actions that stem from this perceived trauma.
Beatrice Medicine was a scholar,anthropologist,and educator known for her work in the fields of Indigenous languages,cultures,and history. Medicine spent much of her life researching,teaching,and serving Native communities,primarily in the fields of bilingual education,addiction and recovery,mental health,tribal identity,and women's,children's,and LGBT community issues.
Russell Thornton is a Cherokee-American anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles,who is known for his studies of the population history of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Racial capitalism is a concept reframing the history of capitalism as grounded in the extraction of social and economic value from people of marginalized racial identities,typically from Black people. It was described by Cedric J. Robinson in his book Black Marxism:The Making of the Black Radical Tradition,published in 1983,which,in contrast to both his predecessors and successors,theorized that all capitalism is inherently racial capitalism,and racialism is present in all layers of capitalism's socioeconomic stratification. Jodi Melamed has summarized the concept,explaining that capitalism "can only accumulate by producing and moving through relations of severe inequality among human groups",and therefore,for capitalism to survive,it must exploit and prey upon the "unequal differentiation of human value."
Land Back,also referred to with hashtag activist #LandBack,is a decentralised campaign by Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada and allies alike,that seeks to reestablish Indigenous sovereignty,with political and economic control of their ancestral lands. Activists have also used the Land Back framework in Mexico,and scholars have applied it in New Zealand and Fiji. Land Back is part of a broader Indigenous struggle for decolonisation.
The sociology of absences is a sociological theory developed by Boaventura De Sousa Santos which,he says,"aims to show that what does not exist is in fact actively produced as non-existent,that is to say as an unbelievable alternative to what is supposed to exist”.
Indigenous responses to colonization vary widely depending on the specific group of people,the historical period,the territory,and the colonial state(s) they were interacting with. Indigenous peoples have had agency and some degree of choice in the course of the colonial history. Some employed armed resistance,while others used diplomatic means to negotiate positive outcomes,some used the legal system,and some fled to remote inhospitable or remote territories to try to avoid conflict. Nevertheless,some Indigenous peoples were forced to move to reservations or reductions,others were massacred,others were forced to work in mines,plantations,construction,and domestic work,to name a few. Finally,others were manipulated to detribalize and culturally assimilate into Western-dominated societies. Indigenous peoples have formed alliances with one or more Indigenous or non-Indigenous nations. Overall,the responses of Indigenous peoples to colonialism during this period have been diverse and varied in their effectiveness. Indigenous resistance has a history that is long,complex,and still under development and being written.
Indigenous resurgence is a transformative movement of resistance and decolonization. The practice of Indigenous resurgence is a form of regenerative nation-building and reconnection with all their relations. It constitutes kin-centric relationships among BIPOC peoples and with the natural world.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)