#homogeniser machines

[laboratory-equipment-supplier]

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[shamblz]

I think I'll be a miner actually

[aroanthy]

trying to write something about how much i hate the ‘misandry in utena/the utena fandom’ crowd but it feels kind of redundant to me. i think i just don’t consider people who use the word ‘misandry’ serious people. i do however feel an obligation to occasionally make my position clear on that front, because im aware i tougapost and some people love to bring that guy up as the misandry in the utena fandom poster boy. which is so fucking stupid because touga is not victimised by ‘misandry’, touga is victimised by homophobic violence which is wrapped up in misogynistic violence, both of which are the cogs in the machine we call patriarchy. touga is not affected by misogyny in the same way that anthy is, that’s one of the key takeaways you can get from their being foils, and i don’t really like the whole ‘oh patriarchy hurts men too’ stuff because it neglects the fact that men reap so many material benefits from what some people deem ‘harm’ to them (emotional repression being the big one. it’s not great but when you’re the privileged party and gain power from it, who cares? it’s like the inverse of kozue trying to use sexuality to gain power: she can’t do that). but touga is a shitty dysfunctional person who has been shaped by violence and in turn perpetuated violence, and his character excels, imho, at examining how patriarchy functions and attempts to homogenise life’s many complexities. same deal as nanami really. they just play different roles in this gender essentialist nightmare that crunches out any grit. and you can extend that idea to all rgu characters but i am who i am and that is a kiryuu siblings enjoyer

[underbootsociety]

Just watched Spirited away, got some obsevations below:

(Spoliers under the cut)

Spirited Away seems to be about the effects of greed (or capitalism? Or industrialisation?) Idk I'm just grasping at the surface level symbolism

First remark by Chihiro's mum is "this place is so small, I'll have to shop in the town over"

Chihiro's parents wolfing down food not meant for them, turning them into pigs

Yubaba, the boss of the bath house abusing her workers, stealing the names of her employees and, controlling Haku with magic.

Haku used to be a river that was drained and developed over (the river forgetting his identity because of industrialisation)

The river spirit that was mistaken for a stink spirit- they pulled junk- human junk, bicycles and washing machines and fishing nets out of him.

Yubaba states that No Face came because of the employees' greed, and No Face is a spirit that eats and consumes without abandon

And Yubaba focuses so hard on her bath house that she fails to notice that her baby has been replaced (her baby being the only person she shows love towards)

Also beyond that there are themes of working in a capitalist society

Chihiro being expected to learn her job quickly, and learn by doing

Idk sonething about worker solidarity too where Haku, Lina and Kamaji all try to help out Chihiro, but have to hide the fact that they're helping?

And forgetting your name seems to be like a homogenising thing, how work treats your personhood/ identity is unimportant.

Can deffo see why this was seen as a scary movie. Chihiro's parents are taken away from her, and she is thrust into a world she barely understands. Guh.

Anyways. Another great Ghibli film.

[c-40]

A-T-4 096 Euro-Rap Pt.2: France

Beside & Bernard Fowler - Odeon Beside debuted on the female version of Fab Five Freddy's Une Sale Histoire/Change The Beat. Beside & Bernard Fowler's first release was as Tribe 2 and a track called What I Like, Beside also raps on Wild Style by Timezone. Beside (Ann Boyle) doesn't get the props she deserves. Credits for the records she's on go to the men, men who are revered for their role in the creation of hip hop on wax. Besides Bernard Fowler who is probably best known for being the voice of NYC Peech Boys (but also so many other acts) this record is blessed by alleged sex trafficker and pedophile, father of the elements of hip hop and leader of the Zulu nation, Africa Bambaataa. Odeon is legit New York hip hop

The above version is a disco dub mix the other mixes are rap records like the video mix below

Dee Nasty - Metro Scratch now this is legit French hip hop, funnily but not surprisingly it samples Beside's side of Une Sale Histoire. Dee Nasty was DMC Champion of France from 1986 to 1988 and European DMC Champion in 1990. The track Infernal Scratch Machine on the same album Paname City Rappin is dope

Alfio Scandurra - Qu'est ce qui ne va pas? (Version Instrumentale) The French seemed to have gone for The Smurf more than anybody else. Recorded in Belgium, Argyris Koulouris of Aphodite's Child was the arranger and plays the rock guitar on it. This is the instrumental but the vocal is a rap track and yes it does sound a little like Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

François Feldman - Wally Boule Noire another Smurf track for the b-boys. François Feldman had been releasing disco and boogie tracks since 1980, in 1984 he turns out a rap record, a few years later when disco and synth-pop become the homogenised pop sound of the eighties he had a hit with Rien que pour toi and became a celebrity in France

Scott Allen - Romantic Flirt the next two tracks are arranged and co-produced by Jean-Pierre Massiera who you might know from the Finders Keepers compilation Midnight Massiera or the two Canadian compilations Psychoses Freakoïd (1963-1978) and Psychoses Discoïd (1976-1981) put out by Mucho Gusto Records. Romantic Flirt is influenced by Herbie Hancock's Rockit, it's different to the other tracks on the list as it's in English rather than French

Midigrow - Kesakokon another from Jean-Pierre Massiera with Scott Allen using a loop of Roxy Music's The Real Thing and this time in French

Casino - Pâté Impérial one off record about egg rolls

Attaché-Case - Les Crabes (Mix Club) this one is more like yesterday's Italo rap tracks, it comes from Sylvain Pauchard of Martin Circus

Gilbert Montagné - Fous De Musique this reminds me of Falco. It's arranged by Italo-disco stars Stefano Pulga and Luciano Ninzatti and produced by another Italian legend Dario Farina

So a bit of a different sound from Italy for the most part (that last track is essentially Italian) the biggest difference is they rap in French rather than English

[hedwyn-here]

Lots of disrespect being thrown at artists today because of some dickhead streamer.

Lots of apathy, from people who have adopted a lack of care as a core tennant of their personality.

But, people do care. People learn the names of their favourite directors, actors, illustrators, authors, musicians...

You see a beautiful illustration and look up the artist becuase you want to see more.

You enjoy a book and look up the authors other work because you crave more of their voice.

You find favourite people out there in the world who gift you with their creations.

And people complain, when misguided corporate interest and studio interferance churns out unimaginative slop. How often are we exposed to complaints that there's "nothing original anymore" and that mass produced blockbuster media has homogenised to the point of no longer holding our interest?

When the AI has taken over, will they have their favourite algorithm? Will they pick their favourite slop machine, that churns out the slop they like?

Or will they start to lament the lack of the artists they thought didn't matter and praise the good old days where we knew their names.

[laboratory-equipment-supplier]

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[tipcoengineer]

Comprehensive Guide: Components Essential in Mixing Machines

Sustaining the suspension of the combined ingredients is one of the industrial mixing machines‘ auxiliary functions. These devices mix wet and dry components using a shaft, screw, blades, ribbons, impellers, or propellers. Large, industrial-scale mixers are available as well as tiny, lab-style mixers. Among the various materials that can be mixed are adhesives, chemicals, minerals, paints, coatings, and construction materials. They are used for batch and continuous processing in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and water treatment industries. Shearing motion can be produced in a mixer by the product passing through the blades or the blades moving through the product. We’ll talk about the parts of a mixing machine in this article.

Industrial Mixing Machine Parts

Mixer Blades

All industrial mixers are powered by impellers and mixer blades. Manufacturers provide a variety of blade designs for mixing operations. Propellers, anchors, paddles, and turbines are examples of common blades. The design of a blade should consider viscosity, agitation, and mixing speed. Paddle blades mix viscous materials more effectively than turbine blades, which encourage radial flow.

Vessels for Mixing

Tank or vessel type has a big impact on mixing. Due to the stringent hygiene regulations in the food processing and pharmaceutical industries, these corrosion-resistant vessels can tolerate high temperatures. Due to its strength and ability to withstand corrosion, stainless steel is widely used. maximising fluid dynamics and mixing efficiency by material property matching in vessel size, shape, and form.

Control Panel and Automation

Advanced automation and control panels are seen on a lot of industrial mixers. During mixing, these components control temperature and time. Automation is safer than manual operations since it minimises errors. Real-time process monitoring and adjustment for mixing is made possible by PLCs and HMIs.

Heating and Cooling Systems

Certain industrial mixing procedures call for exact temperature regulation. Temperature control for mixing vessels is aided by external heat exchangers and jacketed vessels. In the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, temperature control is essential for high-quality manufacturing and raw material preservation. Before making a purchase, you should look into the pricing of the mixing machine.

Seals and Bearings

Industrial mixer life is extended and leaks are avoided by bearings and seals. Fluid leakage in vessels is prevented by lip shaft and mechanical seals. Bearings increase machine efficiency by preventing the shaft from slipping. For long-lasting operation, mixing equipment requires routine maintenance and lubrication.

Materials

Materials The mixed media should be considered while selecting a mixer. According to manufacturer standards, the following materials are often mixed:

Solutions, emulsions, and other liquids

The solute and the solvent are the parts of a solution. Emulsions are combinations of two liquids that are incompatible to mix individually, such water and oil.

In summary

Industrial mixing machines are essential to modern manufacturing because of their accuracy and efficiency. By thoroughly mixing, homogenising, and processing raw ingredients, this state-of-the-art equipment raises the quality of the final product. The adaptability of industrial mixing machines is beneficial to various industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and chemical. One of the top producers offering real mixing machine prices in India is Tipco Engineering.

[ellery-james-roberts]

Afterwards part 2.

It is clear the call to “Go Tell Fire” remains as potent today as it did 10 years ago.

The Dark Mountain still looms all around us, an all consuming machine. 

Though the culture of the time did not understand what it was we were striving to communicate, and the music press quickly made us into a caricature of ourselves, in truth I did not really understand either.

It was an impulse towards something unformed, so we became defined more often by what we did not want to be rather than the simple joy of what we loved.

A cult of non-joiners outside the homogenised conformity of the mainstream and yet not a niche clique, every one’s invited, tell your brothers, tell your sisters. 

Often I would rely on the rhetoric of the child whose earnest sincerity wholly opposed the postmodern irony of our defeated culture. I romanticised that Noble Savage who saw the world holistically before the culture programmed its appropriate insanity upon us.

Innocently unguarded it is easy to forget yourself and enter into the constructs of others. 

Now, after a decade or so spent widening my comprehension, I see what I wanted to create with the LYF as sat somewhere between the Magickal survival tactics of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and the Grateful Dead's community of Deadheads; Chanting anthems of hard won Gnosis, Thrashing a way towards Transcendence.

I can also see that much of the achievements of the LYF remained unrealised in the noosphere, that is, In my Imagination.

It didn't really exist.

It didn't need to.

There are already a people who follow the religion with no name, the immanent and intimate truth of their own experience.

Alas, WU LYF was best kept simple; a powerful rock and roll band. There are very few true ones still kicking out the jams today, and I can no longer deny I mourn its absence. 

purchase LYF Archives book

Read / Listen in full on Substack

...............................................

[tradeindia001]

Colloid mill is a machine used in the pharmaceutical, food processing, and chemical industries to reduce the particle size of solids suspended in a liquid. It is a type of rotor-stator mixer and operates on the principle of shear and attrition to achieve particle size reduction and homogenization.

The main components of a colloid mill include a conical or disk-shaped rotor that rotates at high speeds (typically between 3,000 and 20,000 revolutions per minute) within a stationary conical stator. The gap between the rotor and the stator can be adjusted to control the fineness of the product. The product to be processed is fed into the mill through a hopper, and as it passes through the rotor-stator assembly, intense shear forces and high-speed impacts are applied to the particles.

The process creates a stable suspension or colloidal mixture of small particles in the liquid medium. Colloid mills are particularly effective in reducing the particle size of solids such as emulsifying, dispersing, homogenising, and creating stable suspensions of various materials. 

They are commonly used for processing substances like food products (e.g., mayonnaise, peanut butter), pharmaceuticals (e.g., ointments, creams), chemicals (e.g., pigments, lubricants), and many other materials where fine particle size reduction and homogenization are required.

[mitchelindustri]

Key Components of Injection Moulding Machines and Their Functions

Injection moulding machines are crucial tools in modern manufacturing, enabling producing a wide range of plastic products. These machines consist of several key components that work in tandem to transform raw materials into high-quality finished products. Understanding the functions of these components is essential for optimising machine performance and ensuring efficient and reliable production processes. In this blog post, we will explore the key components of injection moulding machines and delve into their respective functions.

Injection Unit

The injection unit is responsible for melting and injecting plastic into the mould. It consists of the following components:

a) Hopper

The hopper is where the plastic resin is stored and fed into the machine. It ensures a consistent and controlled supply of raw materials to the injection unit.

b) Barrel and Screw Assembly

The barrel houses the screw, which plays a crucial role in the injection process. The screw rotates and moves forward, drawing the plastic resin from the hopper. As the resin travels along the barrel, it is heated, melted, and homogenised by the heat generated from the heaters and the frictional force exerted by the rotating screw. The screw also provides pressure to push the molten plastic towards the mould.

c) Nozzle

The nozzle connects the barrel to the mould, allowing the molten plastic to be injected into the mould cavity. It ensures a controlled flow of material and prevents leakage. The nozzle typically has a shut-off valve to prevent drooling or excessive material flow when the injection process is not progressing.

Clamping Unit

The clamping unit holds the mould in place and provides the necessary force to keep it closed during injection. It consists of the following components:

a) Mould Clamping System

This system comprises platens, tie bars, and a hydraulic or mechanical mechanism. The platens hold the two halves of the mould, ensuring precise alignment and preventing movement or shifting during the injection. The tie bars provide structural support and maintain the clamping unit’s rigidity. The hydraulic or mechanical mechanism exerts force to keep the mould closed securely during the injection process.

b) Ejector System

Once the plastic part has cooled and solidified, the ejector system helps remove the finished product from the mould. It typically consists of ejector pins or plates that push the part out of the mould cavity. The ejector system ensures proper ejection without causing damage to the part of the mould.

Heating and Cooling Systems

Injection moulding requires precise temperature control for optimal material flow and part quality. The heating and cooling systems are crucial in achieving and maintaining the desired temperature conditions. Key components include:

a) Heaters

Electric heaters heat the barrel, maintaining the required temperature for melting the plastic resin. The heaters are strategically placed along the barrel to ensure even heating and consistent melt quality. Temperature sensors are also incorporated to monitor and regulate the temperature accurately.

b) Cooling Channels

Cooling channels or water passages are integrated into the mould to cool the molten plastic and solidify the part rapidly. Proper cooling is essential to achieve dimensional accuracy, minimise cycle time, and prevent warpage. The cooling channels allow the circulation of cooled water or other cooling mediums to extract heat from the mould, ensuring efficient cooling and solidification of the part.

Control System

The control system of an injection moulding machine enables operators to monitor and adjust various parameters throughout the production process. It includes:

a) Human-Machine Interface (HMI)

The HMI provides a user-friendly interface for operators to control and monitor the machine’s operation. It typically consists of a touchscreen display that presents real-time data such as temperature, pressure, cycle time, and alarm notifications. Operators can input settings, monitor process variables, and make adjustments as necessary.

b) Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)

The PLC acts as the machine’s brain, executing pre-programmed commands and controlling various machine functions. It ensures precise control over timing, temperature, pressure, and other critical parameters. The PLC coordinates the actions of different components, such as the injection unit, clamping unit, heating and cooling systems, and safety features, to maintain smooth and efficient operation.

Safety Features

Injection moulding machines have various safety features to protect operators, prevent accidents, and ensure a safe working environment. These safety features include:

a) Safety Gates and Interlocks

Injection moulding machines are typically equipped with safety gates that prevent access to the mould area during operation. Interlocks ensure the gates are securely closed before the machine can be activated. It helps to prevent accidental contact with moving parts and hot surfaces.

b) Emergency Stop (E-stop) System

An emergency stop button is located in a prominent and easily accessible position on the machine. Pressing the E-stop halts all machine operations, shutting off power to the various components. It serves as a quick and effective means to stop the machine in emergencies or unexpected situations.

c) Safety Sensors and Guards

Sensors are placed in critical areas of the machine to detect any abnormal conditions or movements. For example, pressure sensors can monitor hydraulic pressure to prevent excessive force or overloading. Machine guards are physical barriers that protect operators from potential hazards, such as hot surfaces, rotating parts, or flying debris.

d) Mould Safety Systems

Some injection moulding machines have different safety systems specifically designed for mould protection. These systems can include sensors to detect mould closure, preventing the machine from operating if the mould is not securely closed. They also monitor the pressure and temperature inside the mould to ensure safe operating conditions.

Conclusion

Understanding the key components and their functions in injection moulding machines is vital for manufacturers to optimise machine performance, ensure high-quality products, and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. By comprehending the interplay between these components, manufacturers can enhance efficiency, improve product quality with inspection machines, and meet the demands of a competitive market. A well-maintained and properly operated injection moulding machine with optimised components leads to consistent and reliable manufacturing processes.

[jackethen12]

[fatehbaz]

Unlike the sublime, with its axiomatic relationship with nature and its place in a history of “the outdoors,” the uncanny is more readily associated with anti-natural concerns - degrees of deadness; animated corpses, ghosts, and artificial beings; dolls, automatons, and doubles.

Where ecology is ostensibly a bio-scientific and mathematical model, the practice of which takes place in an open, communally-constitutive territory, the uncanny is archetypally psychoanalytical, individually experienced by humans, and played out behind the “closed doors” of the unconscious.

Where it operates within a contemporary public setting, the uncanny would seem to be [...] distinctly […] related to acts of electronic intercession. […] In this context, the uncanny might even be considered to be a lagging category that is better encapsulated by the repetitious, dehumanising mechanisations of the early industrial era – not only in the production of manufactured goods, but also in the production of manufactured spaces that conform to certain facsimile conventions.

-------

Modern shopping malls that replicate identical layouts, and retirement communities wherein every residential unit is built in the mirror-image of the unit opposite – right down to the pearly patina of the laminex on the bench-tops.

The placelessness of trading zones is particularly insidious because of the recurrent, mindless acts of consumption such spaces are styled to bring about. Generica: a neologism adapted to describe the urbanity of middle America, structured by the uniform architecture and visual  parroting of Wal-Marts, Applebees, Best Buys, Starbucks and Borders; although recreational and educational areas might also be duly reiterative, and such homogenisation  extends well beyond the purview of the United States.  

This doubling of place not only arouses the unnerving suspicions –  “I’ve  been here before,” and “am I here, or am I in fact  elsewhere?” – but additionally reaffirms the underlying unnaturalness of all place-based experience. The local is eerie on account of it being familiar. In other words, it is precisely because the local is “homely” that it is capable of being shot-through with the “unhomely.” The uncanny exists because there is an environment.

Many of us may be struck by the uncanny compulsion to repeat in these self-same environments – to return in search of the small dissimilarity, the idiosyncrasy that distinguishes the “here” from the “there.” But then we discover that worse, the template is not a template – that all of these places are variably cracked or strayed from convention, and therefore, are the same in their slightly off-kilter replication of a non-existent norm. Standing in the aisles of Ikea, frozen to the spot, you are seized by an alarming vision; you are split prismatically, and somewhere else another you is holding another flat-packed Engan storage box in walnut, and contemplating the identical possibility  of their double. [...]

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As multinational corporations seek to comfort and disarm through their “commonplace” design, they also run the risk that such places become indirectly disturbing in their duplication. To paraphrase Julia Kristeva, “might not our universality, be our own foreigness”? Things are ambiguous where there is too much multivalent, ambient information coming in from all angles.

Human-animal-machine. Everywhere-anywhere-nowhere. Alive-dead-simulant. Evolve-devolve-mutate.

The uncanny concerns a dislocation of time -- not a breakage, but a shift in the oscillations of the now and the resurfacing of intuitive misgivings into a space where there is no longer a clear language or psychological register within which they can be articulated. Hence the uncanny does not disappear, but becomes more condensed and potent in societies where there is little room apportioned for the public acceptance of the pre-logical strangeness of experience. Where uncanny dubiety persists, it can no longer be assimilated into the hinterlands of the sacred or the mythic.

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Text by: Rebecca A. Giggs. The Rise of the Edge: New Thresholds of the Ecological Uncanny. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Social and Cultural Studies, University of Western Australia. 2010.

[the-desolated-quill]

Khaji-Da is an alien war machine created by a race called the Reach that developed a personality of its own after being buried for centuries in Egypt and became infused with magical energies. Its first instinct is to kill because that is what its programmed to do, and Jaime Reyes has to control the Scarab and reign it in. So broadly speaking, yes, Blue Beetle is similar conceptually to Venom, except Jaime and the Scarab don’t really have the same relationship as Eddie and Venom. Khaji-Da doesn’t really have any wants or needs of its own beyond its primary function, whereas Venom is very much his own distinct character separate from Eddie. To me, Blue Beetle is more like Ben 10 crossed with Robocop.

I think what upsets me about this movie adaptation is that they clearly have no original ideas of their own. When watching the trailer, you can literally pinpoint which movies they stole their ideas from. Venom. Iron Man. The Amazing Spider-Man. Shang-Chi. Green Lantern. It’s so depressing to watch because I was actually looking forward to this film. The Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle is a great character with a great story, and this film just looks so corporate and homogenised and uninspired.

Plus the biggest kick in the bollocks was finding out his best friends Paco and Brenda aren’t in the movie, which is insanely stupid. You can’t have Blue Beetle without Paco and Brenda. Instead we get a new love interest named Jenny. Boring. 🙄

am I the only one who feels like the blue beetle movie is just venom 2018 again...?

but straight?

It feels like Venom, but the beetle voice is feminine sounding.

Random man gets bonded with an alien... thing, there's an evil ceo who wants the alien thing for themselves, the alien thing talks to its host, there's goofy banter, the host and alien learning their powers together... but they're not tiptoeing around being in a relationship like Eddie and his symbiote. I'm not sure of the comic canon for the blue beetle, so I don't know if they're like Symbrock in the comics, but the movie feels very much like the 2018 Venom film.

[southeastasianists]

As the battle against COVID-19 rages in Malaysia, a new population has become collateral damage: Rohingya refugees. A terrified public, instigated by political opportunists, has endorsed numerous anti-refugee online petitions that have gained well-distributed support across Malaysia’s ethnic spectrum. Although Malaysia once embraced these survivors of Myanmar’s genocidal regime, Rohingya refugees are now being called ungrateful, uncivilised and backward leeches. This public outcry has led to mass support for Malaysia turning away boats carrying Rohingya asylum seekers. Given that many Malaysians assume that all refugees from Myanmar are Rohingya, the petitions have supported Malaysia’s detention of thousands of undocumented migrants—even those holding UNHCR registration cards—whose fates are unclear.

Perceptions of Rohingya refugees as indolent and, more recently, as virus carriers emerge from simplistic discursive representations that materialise from and circulate far beyond Malaysia. A number of entities unwittingly mutually reinforce reductive depictions of Rohingya. Myanmar nationalists vehemently deny that Rohingya belong to the polity, since the latter are perceived to be different—Rohingya “look South Asian” and are Muslims in a Buddhist country. International media have incentives to tell (and sell) simple stories, while humanitarian agencies achieve efficiencies in aid delivery when they can treat every Rohingya as a replicable token of a common type. Rohingya elites themselves have reason to present a common and distinct Rohingya identity, as this contests the Myanmar state’s assertion that the Rohingya are simply interlopers from Bangladesh (“Bengalis”).

In the academic world, fieldwork with Rohingya documents significant internal differentiation. But this reality has been obscured by the lack of sustained study of the group, particularly because northern Rakhine (Arakan) state, the area to which Rohingya are indigenous, has been largely inaccessible to researchers. Academics have mostly only considered elite debates or recapitulated stories of misery in Burma.

The creation of a homogenous image of Rohingya obscures the ethnic community’s striking diversity: Rohingya do not share an identical dialect, do not all look the same, nor are even all Muslim. Such diversity is unsurprising—homogenous groups tend to be maintained only through coercion and control. Given the Myanmar state’s claims that Rohingya do not exist, counter-narratives claiming a unified identity also make perfect sense. What is noteworthy are the effects of these claims and counterclaims amid mass violence and dispossession. Those who do not conform to the narrow characteristics which allegedly distinguish the Rohingya are not only excluded from making identity claims, but also the protection afforded to recognised asylum seekers and refugees.

This post draws upon fieldwork in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Yangon, Myanmar between 2017 and 2020 to describe processes of Rohingya identity (re)formation amid ethnic cleansing and attempted extermination. We focus on Rohingya elite discourses and the criteria used by humanitarian organisations to grant protections to refugees, to show how both co-produce a reified image of the Rohingya that is then represented in media and academic treatments. The disciplining of ethnic diversity in turn becomes internalised by Rohingya refugees, who self-reinforce the homogenisation of Rohingya identity.

In Myanmar, the ratification of an ethnic group as indigenous is the only method for securing recognition of substantive citizenship. The claim to citizenship rests in turn on the claim to an essential identity uniting the Rohingya. Self-appointed Rohingya leaders reject expressions of internal difference that might potentially undercut their identity’s supposed authenticity. Rohingya elites have identified particular religious, linguistic, territorial and cultural indicators to demarcate an ‘authentic’ Rohingya-ness that fits the racial ideology of the Myanmar state: Rohingya are Muslims, speak Rohingya, have their homeland in Rakhine state, and share both agrarian subsistence patterns (fishing and farming) and a village culture defined by segmentary clan-based kinship systems.

There are several problems with this description. The Rohingya have faced a half-century of systematic oppression by the Myanmar state, one that has precipitated waves of violent expulsions complemented by legal and symbolic erasure. It is arguably no longer possible to embody the narrow characteristics listed above. The growing displacement of Rohingya has disrupted clan systems and opportunities to learn language dialects, while severing intimate relationships between subsistence patterns and lands. For instance, the absence of vernacular print or radio hinders the standardisation of a dialect, facilitating evolutions in the Rohingya language (which was already subjected to significant regional variation). Moreover, as the putatively originary elements of Rohingya-ness intermix with host cultures across greater Asia (Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, in particular), new variations of identity are produced. An essentialised “Rohingya-ness” can no longer be adequately performed.

Even if the mass uprooting of Rohingya had not transpired, such essentialism would still exclude some who identify as Rohingya. For instance, while Rohingya historian Ba Tha asserts that, “All Rohingya profess Islam,” Hindu Rohingya and the tiny but vocal Christian Rohingya community put paid to such blanket assertions. While these are arguably miniscule exceptions, they throw into relief a larger schism between a growing conservative strain of Islam and those Rohingya who espouse a syncretic Islam that blends animism and Hinduism. Some accounts attribute this expanding rift to Saudi Arabian influence, while others describe the increase in conservatism as a self-protective response to growing vulnerability.

As humanitarian and state apparatuses internalise essentialist definitions of Rohingya-ness, they become sieving machines separating ‘true’ Rohingya from ‘false’. Rejecting deviant Rohingya experiences, cultural practices and identities is problematic because it denies protection to those with legitimate claims to membership. Humanitarian regulatory processes and state discourses pressure Rohingya to perform and take up the traits that signify an “authentic” Rohingya. State elites such as Malaysia’s Najib and Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina have emphasised how Muslim countries must help Rohingya as they are fellow “Muslim brothers and sisters”. Rohingya consequently have an incentive to foreground a Muslim identity to qualify for the support of such states.

Meanwhile the UNHCR compels Rohingya to conform to narrow definitions of Rohingya-ness in order to access the identification documents that provide a modicum of protection in Malaysia. In interviews, Rohingya applicants for refugee status, translators and civil society leaders revealed some non-Rohingya applicants (Bangladeshis or Myanmar Muslims) have attained cards by paying bribes to translators or colluding with Rohingya applicants by “learning things about [Rohingya] areas in Rakhine state and paying to ‘join’ their family,” as one translator told us.

More importantly, Rohingya have reportedly been denied cards by not satisfying the agency’s expectations of ‘authentic’ Rohingya-ness. Cards have been allegedly refused to applicants who were deemed too educated, could not adequately relay geographical knowledge of Rakhine state or describe details about political events (pogroms against Rohingya, for example), or could not speak in the same Rohingya dialect as the UNHCR translator. Insistence on these qualities would particularly disadvantage Rohingya who spent most or all of their lives outside of Rakhine state.

Rohingya applicants rehearse the narratives of those who have successfully attained refugee status to prepare for the UNHCR interview. Kamal, a Rohingya who came to Malaysia through Bangladesh and Thailand in 2016, shared that: “My relative told me the questions the UNHCR asked. I practiced how to answer them with my relative, and I learnt some of the answers he gave so that I could be guaranteed success in getting the UN card.” The perceived need to “tell the same story” for fear of being denied refugee status reinforces the homogeneity of Rohingya-ness as an ethnic category, putting in doubt all narratives that stray from the dominant one.

Many who now see themselves as Rohingya only came to do so after the violence of the last decade, or from interacting with humanitarian agencies or host states—some had not even heard the name before. Hasinah, an older woman who fled Rakhine after the 2015 conflict, shared that she had only thought of herself as a Myanmar Muslim back in Sittwe. The discovery of her Rohingya identity took place when the UNHCR officer told her that she was Rohingya: “I only [learned] in Malaysia that because we are Rohingya, that’s why Myanmar wanted to kill us. Before this [back in Myanmar], I only thought it was because we are Muslims, and Buddhists hate Muslims.”

These experiences demonstrate how some Rohingya have begun to understand themselves through the parameters they encounter during state registration processes. They also show how the Rohingya category is enlarged by the incorporation of those who had not seen themselves as Rohingya before. Hasinah’s testimony reflects a shift in her identity, and how she relates to her world. In explaining the violence in Myanmar, her Rohingya identity becomes foregrounded over her general Muslim one. Hasinah’s experiences do not imply that all Rohingya were unaware of their ethnic identity or the basis of their persecution. Instead, narratives such as Hasinah’s reveal the diversity in Rohingya’s perspectives. They also point to the growing solidification of Rohingya-ness—to be Rohingya is also to be Muslim, thereby excluding the marginal voices of non-Muslim Rohingya.

“Those are Myanmar Muslims and Bangladeshis. Not Rohingya,” so declared a Malaysia-based Rohingya refugee in a May 2020 Facebook post, at pains to distinguish the Rohingya community from other refugee groups in Malaysia. If Rohingya were not already compelled to differentiate themselves, the COVID-19 pandemic has both produced and made more pronounced distinctions between Rohingya and other migrant communities. Adding to the pressure from humanitarian and state apparatuses, societal acceptance—and rejection—of Rohingya in Malaysia have led to the growing need among Rohingya refugees to present themselves as a docile subjects deserving of protection.

Allowing for alternative performances of Rohingya-ness not only allows for a broader and more complex understanding of Rohingya to emerge—a good in its own right. It accomplishes two additional goals. First, embracing Rohingya diversity forms a stronger basis for the articulation of collective political aspirations. The tactic of strategic essentialism has not worked due to the Myanmar state’s persistent denial of Rohingya as “inauthentic.” Embracing Rohingya diversity, by contrast, recognises their various complex historical and cultural entanglements with Rakhine state and Myanmar in general.

Second—and arguably more importantly for a stateless group of people who have been denied belonging and a homeland—flattening Rohingya-ness inevitably prevents many “deviant Rohingya” from claiming a name that has been denied by the Myanmar state. For some, the Rohingya identity is the only thing they have left. The Rohingya identity is a crucial aspect of their existence. A more fluid understanding of Rohingya—one that both allows more people to enter and more people to exit, but also permits people to inhabit both positions at once—would better reflect the immense challenges of living as Rohingya today.