Examining Racial and Class Violence in the Field: The Experiences of an Upwardly Mobile Black Woman

• In Event: 4154 - Qualitative Methodology

Abstract

Utilizing the theoretical frameworks of Du Bois and Bourdieu this paper examines my time in the field as an upwardly mobile Black woman studying inequality. Specifically, I use Du Bois’ double consciousness coupled with Bourdieu hysteresis effect to explain how my experiences in the field were instances of racial and class violence. As an upwardly mobile Black woman I am constantly navigating a number of social spaces and identities, the impact of this navigation had unexpected consequences, as I begin to collect data on the change in the magnet school enrolment process within the city of Cincinnati. The narratives parents, particularly white parents, created around what the change in the enrollment policy meant created a clear mismatch between my current habitus and field and my prior habitus and field (the hysteresis effect). This mismatch combined with my double consciousness exposed me to racial and class-based violence. This work adds to the methodological literature by broadening how we understand the experiences of marginalized scholars in the field and how those experiences impact the work we do and how we do work.

Author

• Littisha Antoinette Bates, Univeristy of Cincinnati