Global Majority Scholarship

Why are we opting for Global Majority in the UK?

It hits different. Reclaiming our authentic power begins with being specific and unambivalent about our identity. 

The term Global Majority begins with inclusion and encourages us to come together as a collective; it’s a rallying call against marginalisation and division by the current status quo. The British term of BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) is becoming increasingly irrelevant due to its inaccuracy within global and many local contexts. People who don’t fit into the perceived norms of Black/Asian/other minority ethnic boxes are often overlooked and underrepresented because of a general category they seem to belong to. 

Rosemary Campbell-Stephens MBE has been an advocate since the early 2000s calling for the use of The Global Majority and remodelling the way we label each other: 

“Historically it has been the white lens, primarily white men, who hold the social, political and economic power to categorise people; this is no longer so. Language should inspire a possibility to live into. Identity is nuanced and defined in a myriad of constantly evolving ways. Acronyms such as ‘BAME’, Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, are not only clumsy and blunt but almost universally reviled by those so described.”

Understanding that singular truth should permanently disrupt the narrative. The term Global Majority opens up the conversation and further encourages individuals to express our identity on our own terms.

A similar movement is in action in America with the use of the umbrella term BIPOC (Black,Indigenous and People Of Colour). While the purpose of using BIPOC and Global Majority is the same; as a UK-based studio, we feel that BIPOC is an America-centric categorisation tied to specific issues faced by the Black and Indigenous people of America. 

In our practice at the studio, we often highlight the importance of language and the impact it can have. The term Global Majority challenges Whiteness as the ‘norm’; it seeks to include and unite the spectrum of ethnic and cultural groups who are deemed not only minorities but are in other ways considered subordinate by established structures around the world – structures that are upheld by a small fraction of our population. 

Global Majority is about the importance of moving wholly away from the eyes of orientalism and colonialism. Avoiding the negative connotations of the old term ‘minority’ is essential to the empowerment of the communities and cultures affected by those ideologies. Applying the term Global Majority brings proportionate focus back to the people on the margins.

Including our rich and diverse ethnic groups within the collective term ‘Global Majority’ does not eradicate specific ethnic and cultural identities. In the effort to keep our studio a creatively nurturing environment, it is crucial to hold space for the way people prefer to self-identify; create the potential for them to come together, share their lived experiences, and express their own unique voices.

For more information:

Rosemary Campbell-Stephens MBE

More information on the term Global Majority here

Continue the conversation. Email us directly at DEI@anthonymeindl.co.uk