Dualities in International Development a Conversation with Emonie Ayiwe

Can You Hear Us?

“Duality is a useful lens to have for International Development because if we are not aware of these dualities, how can we work on improving the system and eliminating them?” - Emonie

This week on Can You Hear Us, Monica and Madeira discuss dualities in International Development alongside Emonie Ayiwe; a Finnish-Nigerian Luxembourger with a master's degree in Intercultural Encounters! The theme for this week was inspired by Monica and Madeira’s personal experiences, and also the experiences of CYHU’s past guests. As a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices of BIPOC women, we often ask our guests how their identities contribute to their approach to their work. Almost all of them respond with the same phrase, “This is not all I am.”

Duality can be defined as “the quality or state of having two different or opposite parts or elements.” Keeping this definition in mind, the episode begins with Emonie breaking down what it means to be a Finnish-Nigerian Luxembourger. She explains how the term essentially describes “who she is” and “where she comes from” and highlights the importance of accepting her Finnish and Nigerian identities as a whole instead of considering herself a sum of “halves”. Monica and Madeira, who are both mixed, further add to the conversation by reflecting on their own experiences. The three of them discuss the pressures of being put in a box and how owning all aspects of their identity helped them feel more assertive.

The episode proceeds to focus on the role of duality in one’s professional life. Emonie has a keen interest in hip-hop studies and wrote her master's thesis on the expressions of identity in South Korean b-boys. Further, she has also interned in Benin. Currently, she is a research assistant for a Brussels-based NGO called the Democratic Society. She talks about code-switching and how the way she expresses herself varies depending on her surroundings. Monica brings up an interesting study that found that reminding any social group of a stereotype can negatively affect their outcomes and performance. This leads to an interesting discussion about dualities in International Development. An idea that often pushes back against looking at identities as dualities is intersectionality. Emonie discusses the importance of intersectionality but points out that instead of negating the idea of dualities, it works in conjunction with it. The discussion comes full circle as Monica, Madeira, and Emonie reflect on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index with Emonie pointing out how the numbers cannot be studied in isolation as gender is simply one aspect of an individual’s identity.

After a deep and reflective discussion, the episode ends on a light note as Emonie is subjected to the wheel of questions. Perfectly in line with Emonie’s interest in hip-hop, the question for this episode is “Who is your favourite artist?” To find out Emonie’s answer and for some great Nigerian artist recommendations, check out this week’s episode of Can You Hear Us!

Written by: Ragini Puri, assistant producer, CYHU Podcast