Ellen Lee is a Canadian born designer of Chinese

Nahile est une jeune professionnelle d'origine française et marocaine qui, selon elle, ne peut être quantifiée en tant qu'identité unique, mais plutôt en tant que pluralité et ensemble. Pour elle, être français est un ensemble de sentiments, d'émotions, de souvenirs et d'attachement aux valeurs françaises de liberté, d'égalité, de fraternité et de laïcité qu'elle espère voir s'appliquer à tous les Français en dépit de leurs différentes origines. Elle dit cependant que cet espoir n'a pas été complètement réalisé étant donné l'hypocrisie qui existe dans la société française. Contrairement à des pays comme les États-Unis où l'ethnicité et la race sont reconnues, ce n'est pas le cas en France. Il en résulte que les inégalités sont cachées. Selon Nahile, la peur de l'autre en France n'est pas basée sur la réalité mais sur une peur hypothétique de l'inconnu et du changement brutal. Les Français d'origine différente ont vécu dans la peur réelle de la violence émotionnelle et physique de la part de la société, des médias et de la police. Cela crée une véritable tristesse pour ces personnes qui considèrent la France comme leur patrie. Le changement, dit-elle, fait naturellement partie de l'évolution d'une société, tout comme l'identité française, et il est possible d'en discuter réellement avec tout le monde.

Marc, étudiant en histoire de l'art à Paris, parle de l'évolution de sa compréhension de son identité en tant qu'homosexuel issu d'une famille bourgeoise conservatrice française. Alors que la famille bourgeoise conservatrice insiste sur certains codes qui peuvent être associés aux privilèges et à l'intolérance, l'identité de Marc a tiré le meilleur parti de l'amour et de l'acceptation de la famille dans ce contexte. Il explique également qu'il est réducteur de considérer l'homosexualité comme une identité en soi, car l'identité d'une personne est bien plus vaste que ce seul identifiant, et avertit que cela conduit à mettre tous les homosexuels dans une boîte, alors que leurs identités sont aussi variées et complexes qu'il y a de personnes. Marc suggère que le fait d'assumer son identité dans toute sa complexité permet de ne pas exclure les autres dans leur parcours.

Alexander is a Russian, Israeli, Italian national who identifies above all as a human among all humans having the privilege to be a father. He is also Jewish and an atheist which for him is not a contradiction. He explores how speaking and living in the script of various languages allows him to assume various aspects of those identities enabling him to not be afraid of the other. He tells us how coming from two countries that are at war is a painful experience as all human life be it friend or enemy is unique. He posits that populism, post-truth, and polarization have created extremes where people’s identities have become entrenched creating conflict which has been exacerbated by the media. He believes that it is not necessarily because of one’s identity that the other must be a foe. In fact, he believes he has a greater understanding of people coming from the middle east because it is a part of him. Through his involvement in the peace movement, he discovered that identity tags often create false perceptions of people and the only way to get over differences is to dialogue to understand the other fully as another human.

Lamia is a professional woman living in the UK, born in the UAE carrying a Jordanian passport with roots in Palestine and Syria. She tells us about her rich heritage coming from Levantine as a woman but also the complicated nature of borders, passports and identity. She tells us what it means to be Palestinian and the story of what she has been told of where she is from and her ability to live amongst everyone in peace.

Winnie and Manisha are young professionals who discuss their journey of exploring gender concluding that living in the absence of gender and a non-binary world gives them freedom and a safe space to live their authentic selves where the queer community has given them an anchor to express themselves and a feeling of belonging. They explore definitions and the role of language in understanding how gender binaries create biases that exclude people in everyday life, research, and access to

Dr. Susan Perry, a Professor at the American University of Paris and Director of Graduate Studies in International Affairs and Human Rights, discusses the role identity plays in global conflict drawing examples from global conflicts and the Ukrainian conflict in particular. She speaks about how the NATO alliance identity plays a role in the conflict and how a dynamic definition of identity can contribute to resolving conflict while providing us with some tools to work with.

Dr. Shukti Chaudhuri -Brill is a linguistic anthropologist who has worked extensively with the Roma and immigrant communities in Europe. She provides us with an understanding of identity from an anthropological perspective drawing on the notions of ascribed and versus achieved identities. Identity she says is at one

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Flora Kakanou is a French young professional of Cameroonian descent who studied science and is currently a business consultant in pharma. She believes that taking control of your identity is a mindset that gives the opportunity to others to learn from your experience and how that lets one not be defined by skin colour but as a whole person who can surpass any obstacles.

Anaelle grew up in France and studied Postcolonial theory in the United Kindgom. She devoted her time to researching her family's Jewish heritage and memories from the Middle East. She aimed for these memories to be integrated into the wider and local post-colonial imaginaries. She hopes to better understand herself in relation to her own perspectives through this research. In this podcast, she takes you through the geopolitics of the Middle East, Western Politics and the role of Colonialism in the history of Sephardi Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal until the 15th century upon which they were expelled during the Spanish Inquisition and fled to North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and Turkey and now can be found all over the world.