Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity
Permanent link for this collection
Browse
Browsing Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity by Title
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemEpisode 1: Context of hate in Alberta(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan University; Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, ImanIn an age of increasing political and social polarization, how do we understand the diverse and divisive viewpoints that are fueling the rhetoric of hate in Alberta? This episode outlines recent examples of hate in Alberta, and also speaks to groups involved on “all sides” of the debate to help us answer: What is the current context of hate in Alberta? Hosted by Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari.
- ItemEpisode 2: All walks of life: from hate to healing(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan UniversityAlberta is located on Treaty land. An acknowledgment of the historical legacy of hateful treatment towards the Indigenous community in Canada culminated with the federal government’s Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action in 2015. In this episode, we outline what, if anything, has changed in Alberta and how Indigenous knowledge can help us heal from historical and current narratives of hate. Hosted by Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari.
- ItemEpisode 3: “Welcome to Canada. Now fit in, or fuck off”: immigration and the fear of the “other”(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan University; Bukhari, ImanIn recent years, strong and polarizing views regarding immigration, refugees, and resettlement have shaped many narratives in Alberta and Canada. These narratives have fueled hatred and misunderstanding about immigration - both online and offline. This episode explores the voices of anti-immigration in order to understand how this impacts newcomers and newcomer serving agencies in Alberta. Hosted by Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari.
- ItemEpisode 4: The next generation: youth perspectives on hate in Alberta(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan UniversityWhat do young Albertans think about what is going on in the province? Do they see any hope in looking past the hateful noise that appears to be dividing the country? This episode will explore youth perspectives on hate, and what this demographic thinks can be done to address the issue. Hosted by Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari.
- ItemEpisode 5: Can we find a common ground?(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan UniversityThe final episode of this podcast will take a look at this question, drawing from the responses of all the interviewees from the series. Based on their collective response, do we have any hope of finding common ground in the face of increasing political and social polarization? Hosted by Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari.
- Item#Hashtagging hate: using Twitter to track racism online(2015) Chaudhry, IrfanUnder our current social context, discussing issues related to race are often very difficult and perceived as impolite. As Malinda Smith notes, “there is a belief that to talk openly about race matters is an affront to good manners.” [1]. As a result, there is strong sentiment from people to feel that race (and consequently racism) is a thing of the past. While it is important to acknowledge this may be a byproduct of living in a multicultural and pluralistic society such as Canada, not being able to talk openly about issues related to race makes it difficult for Canada to become a place that is diverse and inclusive of all people, as both overt and covert forms of racism are able to persist. Although overt forms of racism in a public setting are less frequent than in the past (for the most part), one can shift focus to the online world, where overt forms of racism are rampant on social media sites, such as Twitter. A recent report released by Demos (a U.K.-based think tank), for example, found that on average, there are roughly 10,000 uses (per day) of racist and ethnic slurs in English being used on Twitter (Bartlett, et al., 2014). While this appears to be a high number, it is important to note there are no comparative figures which this finding can be contrasted with. For example, is this figure any higher or lower than what one might find on sites such as Facebook or Instagram? Although we currently do not have the information to make this comparison, it is important to remember that “new modes of communication mean it is easier than ever to find and capture this type of language” [2]. In light of new communication technology, social media sites like Twitter allow us to view and track racist language like we have never been able to do before. In recent years, racist graffiti sprawled on the sides of businesses or homes would have been the most overt text-based form of seeing racist language in a public area, however, with the rise and growth of communication technology (and social media specifically), the online realm has turned into a space where racist language is used openly. As Manuel Castells points out, “the fundamental change in the realm of communication has been the rise of self communication — the use of Internet and wireless networks as platforms of digital communication” [3]. The rise of digital communication tools (like Twitter) has given anyone with something to say a ‘digital soapbox’, where they can tweet their thoughts, values, and opinions on a variety of issues. While most Twitter users will tweet about news stories (Tao, et al., 2014), some users may take to Twitter to espouse hateful sentiment. The older Twitter gets, the more its service (like the rest of the Web) becomes a vehicle for trolls [4] to challenge the social contract in a way that they might not be able to on the street (Greenhouse, 2013). Although the use of racist language online is not a new phenomenon (see Foxman and Wolf, 2013), what is new is the ability for users to strategically track and monitor racism online. Due to Twitter’s “free speech” ideal (Greenhouse, 2013), it does not filter out terms or threads that are racist in nature. As a result, users can easily track and monitor racist language. The ability to track racist language on Twitter provides researchers interested in examining race and racism with a unique way to collect research data. While there are a number of paid services that can provide Twitter data for users (such as Gnip or Datasift), these services are often costly, focus on large sets of data, and require added expertise with different data formats for users to utilize. As a result, researchers have been hesitant to utilize Twitter as a data gathering source. Due to the structure of Twitter, however, users can still collect data in an efficient and strategic manner, without the need to rely on costly data providers or learning a new data format. In this paper, I will consider three different projects that have used Twitter to track racist language: 1) Racist Tweets in Canada (the author’s original work); 2) Anti-social media (a 2014 study by DEMOS); and, 3) The Geography of Hate Map (created by researchers at Humboldt University) in order to showcase the ability to track racism online using Twitter. As each of these projects collected racist language on Twitter using very different methods, I will provide a discussion of each data collection method used as well as the strengths and challenges of each method. More importantly, however, I will highlight why Twitter is an important data collection tool for researchers interested in studying race and racism. Before discussing these projects, however, I will provide a brief genealogy of Twitter and how it is transforming from a social media platform to a useful space for researchers.
- Item#Hashtags for change: can Twitter promote social progress in Saudi Arabia(2014) Chaudhry, IrfanSince the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, Twitter has proven to be a useful mobilization tool for citizens. The power of Twitter to mobilize citizens (as seen in the Arab Spring) worries some governments. In response, a number of countries have begun to censor access to Internet technology. The Saudi monarchy, for example, issued a decree banning the reporting of news that contradicts sharia (Islamic) law, undermines national security, promotes foreign interests, or slanders religious leaders. A key question requiring further examination is why the Saudi government issued this decree. Are these controls in place to manage the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s political image on a global level, or are they in place to regulate the morality of its citizens at the local level? Drawing upon the work of Manuel Castells and his discussion of network power, this article asks: Can Twitter usage promote social progress in Saudi Arabia?
- ItemMaking hate visible: online hate incident reporting tools(2021) Chaudhry, IrfanGiven the recent number of hate-related incidents that have come to public attention, there is a significant need to collect and track these incidents in order to capture and share trends with the wider public. Outside of official hate crime data (such as annual government reports), incidents fueled by hate (but that are not crimes) often go undocumented. To address this gap, the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee – a Canadian coalition of law enforcement, government, and non-governmental organizations – developed the StopHateAB.ca website. The purpose of the StopHateAb.ca website is to fill this gap by creating a space to capture hate incidents to document and make accessible information related to hate incidents. This article will describe the development of the online hate incident reporting tool StopHateAB.ca. Through a discussion of the strengths and challenges of creating an online hate incident reporting platform, this paper will highlight the importance of innovative responses to counter hate and bias by making hate visible. As this article highlights, making hate visible forces communities to engage in joint conversations about hate and bias to support strategies that foster a public social environment of justice, equity, and human rights.
- ItemThe common ground teaser(2019) Chaudhry, Irfan; Bukhari, Iman; MacEwan UniversityWelcome to The Common Ground, a new podcast from MacEwan University that explores the narratives of hate and counter-hate in Alberta. Each episode your hosts, Irfan Chaudry and Iman Bukhari, will speak to guests and tackle challenging and polarizing issues in the province.