From Contradiction to Liberation: An Activity Theory Analysis of Double Consciousness in Education Settings

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Race Through Cultural Historical Theory in School Settings and Beyond (Table 2)

Abstract

In the U.S. school system, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students experience multiple marginalization at the intersection of racism, ableism, and other forms of subjugation. BIPOC students are often in the position of having to contend with conceptions of themselves that arise from these notions of racialization in the context of white supremacy and settler colonialism. W. E. B. Du Bois refers to this phenomenon, in which Black people’s consciousness of themselves is unavoidably mediated by White people’s perceptions of them, as double consciousness. In this paper, we draw on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as our theoretical framework to situate the concept of double consciousness as a contradiction and consider the potential for transformative change.

Authors

• Paige A. Sechrest, University of Washington

• Boris Krichevsky, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire