Caucus for Social Theory in Art Education (CSTAE) Column: Spring 2023

The Self as Other

In CSTAE, we have recently worked on updating our bylaws, which included rewriting our purpose. The Caucus originally emerged in the 1980s as an advocate for considering the social in art education research and teaching, to ensure that art education as a field and as a practice was relevant beyond the field itself and in the lives of young people in public school art classes. To read the exact perspectives that were foundational to our formation, you can access the first volume of the Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, which is achieved thanks to the work of Melanie Buffington.

Since the founding of CSTAE, many other caucuses and interest groups have emerged that focus on specific aspects of the lived social experience and art education. One could say that the initial purpose of CSTAE has been fulfilled. However, I do believe that social theory as a broad pursuit is still necessary—especially in this moment.

I never imagined I would see a time when public education would be under attack and books centering Black, Brown, and Indigenous voices would suffer the threat of being banned. Living in central Arkansas, I follow developments in state legislation, efforts to enact a voucher system for schools (including public money funding private schools), trans bathroom legislation, book banning. I have an increasing sense that even when I use my voice, the powers that be have no interest in hearing an opposing view or considering expert opinions as they craft legislation. Such measures directly affect K–12 art educators, and I wonder, how can theory help in a moment like this?

In my opinion, theory should illuminate our lived experiences. It should open up new opportunities, new considerations, and new pathways. That is why I appreciate the work of Gloria Anzaldúa so much. Autohistoria teoría is her method for making theory from lived experiences, that all people can theorize from our lived experiences. In these difficult political moments, I think specifically about her essay titled “now let us shift… conocimiento… inner work, public acts.” In the face of fascist legislation, I am inclined to hide away—to avoid the truth that is in front of me because it feels unbearable. It is easy to demonize those who are wielding power, to see them as monsters or as enemies. In these moments I challenge myself to remember the humanity of the other, similar to Anzaldúa’s (2015) quote:

We are the other, the other is us—a concept AnaLouise Keating calls “re(con)ceiving the other.” Honoring people’s otherness, las nepantleras advocate a “nos/otras” position—an alliance between “us” and “others.” In nos/otras, the “us” is divided in two, the slash in the middle representing the bridge—the best mutuality we can hope for at the moment. Las nepantleras envision a time when the bridge will no longer be needed—we’ll have shifted to a seamless nosotras. This move requires a different way of thinking and relating to others; it requires that we act on our interconnectivity, a mode of connecting similar to hypertexts’ multiple links—it includes diverse others and does not depend on traditional categories or sameness. (p. 151)

I think this means that we see our differences, and we acknowledge that we are not singular bodies discreet unto ourselves, but rather intimately interconnected. And to demonize the other is to demonize the self. I can vehemently disagree with another person and still regard their humanity and the interconnected nature of our existence. This is true in art learning spaces as well, which are themselves inherently political. The students in our classrooms embody a range and multitude of differences via their lived experiences. Perhaps the art room can serve as the slash between nos and otras?

As we are rethinking our purpose as a caucus, I hope we continually look to the ways in which theory, such as Anzaldúa’s, can be bridged into practice. These are the kinds of ideas that I use to anchor myself and my practice as the world around me seems difficult to confront. Social theory invites me to look beyond commonplace assumptions about who I am and who those around me are, and to consider the complexity of each moment and each interaction.

Reference

Anzaldúa, G. E. (2015). Light in the dark/Luz en lo oscuro: Rewriting identity, spirituality, reality (A. Keating, Ed.). Duke University Press.

Column by:

Emily Jean Hood, CSTAE Coordinator
University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Email: ehood@ualr.edu