Other-ness defined

What does the other stand for? I often find myself oscillating between meanings for the word. Other refers to a distinct self, often carries a derogative meaning, and often becoming a referent to the distanced subject. Who is other? That other car would easily be taken to define a car that is different than the one I am referring to. That other girl could be deemed to allude to another girl; however, historically the epistemological construct of the word is far more complex than the word itself. Meanings are constructed and developed over time, and the historical context plays a crucial role in the epistemological (socially constructed meaning) creation of the word.

What is otherness to hybridity and cultural communication? Otherness stands for the other excluded or excluding; the one who is different than the us group. The term gives more meaning and relevance to the idea of us and them, which further fuels disagreement and discordance among the various nations and cultures. Traditionally, the otherness was born out of the colonization of various nations and was perpetuated by the racial discrimination that dominated the historical context of almost all nations. Winston Churchill stated that “history is written by the winners, and I [he] intend to write it”. The more developed nations have systematically taken over the world and established a strong notion of otherness, to block the others (or people deemed to be less developed) from attaining more unity and power in their fight for liberation.

To me otherness is the process of objectifying an equally capable individual in order to cut their ardour to succeed, to rise up and fly: it’s a process of cutting off the wings of a bird ready to fly freely and on its own. Being placed in both us and them situations through international programs, I became more aware of the need to shift such thinking. It is, sometimes, a lack of awareness of the “other” and a fear of an unknown group that lead to a labelling, which is deemed to counteract these fears. However, in the neoliberal discourses we see more of a move towards a masked other and an overly promoted togetherness, “us”. Is this truly the all encompassing revolutionary move, or merely a symptom of the empire at work?