1214 - Feeling Race: Solidarity, Affinity and Belonging

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

The sociology of race and ethnicity has paid much attention to the negative effects of processes of racialization on individuals and communities across a range of social, economic and political outcomes. Scholars have also done important work on how racialization, and racism specifically, negatively affects identity, self-esteem, social relations and the possibilities of building inclusive communities across racial divides. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to the ways in which individuals and groups
construct counter-narratives about themselves and their communities, or how they foster racial consciousness and solidarity across groups. Indeed, as they navigate societies based on racial meanings and hierarchies, they also find ways to construct ideas of themselves and build social relationships that are not based exclusively on negation and domination. In this thematic panel we analyze the understudied positive emotions related to race and racial identity. More specifically, we focus on how race has been a source of
solidarity, affinity and belonging for people. In it, we analyze how these positive emotions associated with race play out in various spaces from the politics of neighborhood and space to institutions to social movements. In analyzing these questions, we decenter black-white relations as the primary node for understanding race, identity and emotions. We also pay special attention to the ways in which race intersects with other axes of power and domination, including gender and sexuality, in ways that both create opportunities and challenges for “feeling race” in positive and transformative ways.

Description

The sociology of race and ethnicity has paid much attention to the negative effects of processes of racialization on individuals and communities across a range of social, economic and political outcomes. Scholars have also done important work on how racialization, and racism specifically, negatively affects identity, self-esteem, social relations and the possibilities of building inclusive communities across racial divides. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to the ways in which individuals and groups
construct counter-narratives about themselves and their communities, or how they foster racial consciousness and solidarity across groups. Indeed, as they navigate societies based
on racial meanings and hierarchies, they also find ways to construct ideas of themselves and build social relationships that are not based exclusively on negation and domination. In this thematic panel we analyze the understudied positive emotions related to race and racial identity. More specifically, we focus on how race has been a source of
solidarity, affinity and belonging for people. In it, we analyze how these positive emotions associated with race play out in various spaces from the politics of neighborhood and space to institutions to social movements. In analyzing these questions, we decenter black-white relations as the primary node for understanding race, identity and emotions. We also pay special attention to the ways in which race intersects with other axes of power and domination, including gender and sexuality, in ways that both create opportunities and
challenges for “feeling race” in positive and transformative ways.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Tianna S. Paschel, University of California-Berkeley

Individual Presentations

• From Jim Crow to Juan Crow: Blackness, Latinidad, and Minority Linked Fate - Jennifer A. Jones, University of Notre Dame

• The Pleasures of Race: Racism and Connection in Sexy Communities - Jason Orne, Drexel University

• Feeling Intersectionality: Women of Color and the Emotional Politics of Solidarity - Zakiya T. Luna, University of California-Santa Barbara

Discussant

• G. Cristina Mora, University of California-Berkeley