Search Results

The Introduction defines the concept of “ethnoracial boundaries” and introduces the concept of “groupness” to the reader. It discusses how scholars of ethnicity and nationalism have neglected how non-elites negotiate ethnoracial boundaries through non-state social interaction. It also critiques race and ethnicity scholars for essentializing ethnoracial categories and focusing exclusively on the United States. This chapter advocates a “critical constructivist” approach to race and ethnicity that focuses on how non-elite social actors negotiate ethnoracial boundaries and incorporates critical race theory's concept of intersectionality. Following this discussion, the chapter explains the history of race-mixing between blacks and whites in the United States and Brazil. It also outlines: the methodology of the book; the categorization of respondents; the sampling strategy; the meaning of marriage in the two societies; a statement on researcher reflexivity; and an overview of the remaining book chapters. It ends with a summary of the book's conclusion, that race mixture is no replacement for public policy and can coexist with white supremacy.

This chapter considers the influence of ethnomethodology on qualitative research methodology, one of the main areas of mainstream social science where it has had an impact. The reception of Cicourel’s (1964) book Method and Measurement in Sociology is discussed, and also how conversation analysis shaped the work of many discourse analysts and some ethnographers. Cicourel’s argument is outlined: that sociology needs to be re-founded methodologically on an empirical theory that respects the complex and contingent character of human action and communication, along lines suggested by ethnomethodology. His early work encouraged the rise of qualitative research and reflexive attention to the processes by which data are produced; though these developments often tended to go in directions that were at odds with his conception of rigorous analysis. Later, conversation analysis encouraged the use of electronic recordings and transcriptions as data, raised doubts about the traditional uses of interviews, and encouraged the micro-analysis of patterns of social interaction. Furthermore, like Cicourel’s work, it facilitated the spread of social constructionism. It is argued that these effects have been beneficial in many respects but more negative in others.

This chapter outlines the book’s aims to analyse how racism and anti-racism influence Black middle class cultural consumption. It begins by summarising the colourblind literature on the middle class, which I argue limits our overall understanding of how middle class identity and culture are racialised. I then review the literature on the White and Black middle classes, before positioning the book in relation to these streams of research. The triangle of Black middle class identity is then sketched out, where I argue there are three Black middle class identity modes – strategic assimilation, ethnoracial autonomous, and class-minded – each showing a different relationship between racism, anti-racism, and cultural consumption.