Identity, health and health capital : the case of Macedonians in Australia

Abstract

A significant volume of academic literature explores the relations between overt ethnic violence and health; however, the relations between symbolic ethno-violence and health appear to have been overlooked by the research community. Symbolic ethno-violence, that is, the covert violence directed at a people exerted by the means of '[imposing] meanings ... as legitimate by concealing the power relations which are the basis of its force' (Bourdieu and Passeron 2000 [1977]: 4), can seriously impact upon ethnocultural health attitudes amongst victim ethno-cultural communities and their ethno-specific health capital accumulation practices. The symbolic ethno-violence perpetrated against Macedonians in Australia, i.e., the non-recognition of their ethno and civic identity, has the potential to affect community health attitudes and the people's ethno-specific health accumulation practices. More specifically, it affects them in a non-uniform manner: some have doxic experiences of health; others, who may be more reflexive, persevere with their traditional healing practices in conventional or complementary ways. While symbolic ethno-violence affects the social environment for health, Macedonians utilise their ethno-cultural capital (spiritual healing, traditional medicine, familial security, and belief in 'God's foreknowledge') to maximise their health capital accumulation, rendering them proponents of a 'people centred' approach to health. Five focus group sessions (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Port Kembla, and Queanbeyan), Australia-wide survey of ethno-Macedonians (N=817), and document analysis were performed to arrive at these findings. Pierre Bourdieu's theory of fields and capital was employed: the absence of any general theoretical approach to accounting for the multiplex developments in the field of health viv-a-vis symbolic ethnoviolence against a people was noted. Bourdieu's contribution proved useful for interpreting the tensions within the field of health (neo-liberal undertones of commercialisation of the field) and the dynamics within the ethnocultural field (the Macedonian people's quest for showcasing Macedonian ethno and civic culture as 'modern', in a bid to overcome the stigmatisation of 'primitive'). Further development in the realm of health capital (objectified, embodied and equity), which accounts for the individual ethno-cultural capital informed agency within an ethnocultural field, will also inform ethno-specific health capital accumulation practices.

Date of Award	2010
Original language	English