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Pop Video: Michael Jackson's ‘Thriller’ and ‘Race’: Approach: ‘Race’ Studies

Peter Childs

in Texts: Contemporary Cultural Texts and Critical Approaches

One of Michael Jackson’s hit singles has the consistent line in its chorus, ‘It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White’: the statement of an ideal rather than a social fact. In Western society, white ... More

One of Michael Jackson’s hit singles has the consistent line in its chorus, ‘It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White’: the statement of an ideal rather than a social fact. In Western society, white has been generally portrayed as a norm against which blackness is positioned as aberrant – threatening and perhaps even monstrous. As well as telling a mini-story familiar from teen horror, Michael Jackson’s music video for his song ‘Thriller’ invokes a number of discourses about ‘race’ and race relations in the US. Riffing on 1950s horror movies, it divides small-town America between respectable cinemagoers, fascinated and appalled by celluloid monsters, and unseen street zombies who re-colonise the night. By drawing on the xenophobia of cold war America and its continuing segregationist racial policies, ‘Thriller’, like many 1950s sci-fi movies, preaches both a fear and acceptance of ‘the Other’ outside and within society. Jackson’s own troubled relationship with chromatism forms a further context for readings of the video, as does his position in both black and white popular music.Less

Rereading Race and Commodity Form in Erica Hunt’s Piece Logic

Chris Chen

in Reading Experimental Writing

Centered on the work of contemporary experimental poet and critic Erica Hunt, this chapter argues that the author’s chapbook Piece Logic (2002) offers an implicit critique of postwar liberal ... More

Centered on the work of contemporary experimental poet and critic Erica Hunt, this chapter argues that the author’s chapbook Piece Logic (2002) offers an implicit critique of postwar liberal antiracist ideals of racial progress understood primarily in terms of desegregated national inclusion within what Roland Marchand has called a “democracy of goods.” In this chapbook, Hunt explores how relations between subjects within and beyond the boundaries of the United States have been reshaped by an increasingly comprehensive system of differential economic valuation that redefines the meaning of racial difference, citizenship, family, and the material limits of formal equality. Hunt’s collection draws attention to how postwar processes of racial group formation are shaped by what Karl Marx calls “the fetishism of the commodity”, in which the life cycle of disposable objects mirrors the fate of racialized disposable or “surplus” populations. The devaluation and destruction of commodities, the chapter maintains, reflect a postwar racial order in which blackness comes to signify a limit case of relative expendability and the “broken” underside of postwar dreams of limitless consumer abundance.Less

Crime, the Negation of Right, and the Problem of European Colonial Consciousness

Wes Furlotte

in The Problem of Nature in Hegel's Final System

This chapter develops an acute sense of the contingency that necessarily unfolds in the wake of Hegel’s account of personhood, specifically in terms of the structure of contract. In the pursuit of ... More

This chapter develops an acute sense of the contingency that necessarily unfolds in the wake of Hegel’s account of personhood, specifically in terms of the structure of contract. In the pursuit of one’s own interests in terms of property, Hegel’s analysis leads to the inevitability of exchange amongst persons (contract). The chapter aims to demonstrate that because contracts are contingent upon persons’ self-interests they are prone to violation: one may just as well respect their contract as violate it. Right, framed in terms of contract, dialectically mutates into wrong and crime. The chapter that the natural dimension of the individual, understood as immediate drive etc., is crucial to criminal violations of right. Subsequently, the chapter develops a sustained critical reading of Hegel on this speculative rendering of the structure of crime. Drawing from key theorists in postcolonial and critical race studies, the chapter accentuates the problematic colonial impulse permeating Hegel’s position, exposes the ways in which it grounds criminality in the ‘natural’, ‘metaphysical’ depth of the juridical subject.Less

Racism, Anti-Racism and the Western State

Alana Lentin

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

This chapter, written by Alana Lentin, is the first discussion in the second section of the text, titled ‘Institutional Forms of Discrimination’. It assesses the implications of the adoption of ... More

This chapter, written by Alana Lentin, is the first discussion in the second section of the text, titled ‘Institutional Forms of Discrimination’. It assesses the implications of the adoption of various anti-racist stances by European states in the post World War II context; drawing out a range of issues associated with the paradox of anti-racist states that are maintained and legitimated by nationalist discourse.Less

On Institutional and Agentic Discrimination: Migrants and National Labour Markets

Helena Flam

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

‘On Institutional and Agentic Discrimination: Migrants and National Labour Markets’, written by Helena Flam, focuses on the discriminatory processes operative in European labour markets.

Introduction: Migration, Discrimination and Belonging in Europe

Gerard Delanty, Paul Jones, and Ruth Wodak

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

This introductory chapter foregrounds the topics of discussion to follow, including studies on societal discourse and racism, the institutional logic of racial discrimination, liberal traditions and ... More

This introductory chapter foregrounds the topics of discussion to follow, including studies on societal discourse and racism, the institutional logic of racial discrimination, liberal traditions and the legacy of the liberal idea of ‘tolerance’, the ways in which fear can be constructed, and varying perspectives on racism.Less

Towards a Theory of Structural Discrimination: Cultural, Institutional and Interactional Mechanisms of the ‘European Dilemma’

Tom R. Burns

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Tom R. Burns’ ‘Towards a Theory of Structural Discrimination: Cultural, Institutional and Interactional Mechanisms of the ‘European Dilemma’’ draws on a wide range of material in order to interrogate ... More

Tom R. Burns’ ‘Towards a Theory of Structural Discrimination: Cultural, Institutional and Interactional Mechanisms of the ‘European Dilemma’’ draws on a wide range of material in order to interrogate the concepts of structural and institutional discrimination, which the author argues are particularly pertinent concepts when attempting to understand the nature of the discrimination faced by many migrants.Less

Conclusion: Discrimination as a Modern European Legacy

Masoud Kamali

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

The conclusion of Identity, Belonging and Migration, written by Masoud Kamali, situates discussions of discrimination, belonging and migration in the context of the structural discrimination that the ... More

The conclusion of Identity, Belonging and Migration, written by Masoud Kamali, situates discussions of discrimination, belonging and migration in the context of the structural discrimination that the author suggests is inherent in ostensibly ‘post-colonial’ European nation-states.Less

Voices of Migrants: Solidarity and Resistance

Lena Sawyer and Paul Jones

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Chapter twelve, written by Lena Sawyer with Paul R. Jones, looks at the various forms of resistance mobilized by migrants experiencing prejudice, discrimination and racism. The chapter places ... More

Chapter twelve, written by Lena Sawyer with Paul R. Jones, looks at the various forms of resistance mobilized by migrants experiencing prejudice, discrimination and racism. The chapter places particular focus on the multiple and complex relationships between illegitimate power and resistance.Less

‘Us’ and ‘Them’: Inclusion and Exclusion – Discrimination via Discourse

Ruth Wodak

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Chapter three, written by Ruth Wodak, applies a critical analysis to right-wing political discourse in order to reveal some of the more general discursive techniques that construct and maintain ... More

Chapter three, written by Ruth Wodak, applies a critical analysis to right-wing political discourse in order to reveal some of the more general discursive techniques that construct and maintain distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them’.Less

What Space for Migrant Voices in European Anti-Racism?

Çağla E. Aykaç

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Çaǧla E. Aykaç’s ‘What Space for Migrant Voices in European Anti-Racism?’ investigates the development of a critical policy analysis of the European Union.

Minding Previous Steps Taken

Brook Thomas

in New Directions in Law and Literature

The chapter looks at new directions in law and literature from James Boyd White’s 1973 publication of The Legal Imagination to Julie Stone Peters’s 2005 announcement of the end of a movement. It ... More

The chapter looks at new directions in law and literature from James Boyd White’s 1973 publication of The Legal Imagination to Julie Stone Peters’s 2005 announcement of the end of a movement. It focuses on different institutional spaces in which interdisciplinary work took place, including spaces outside the United States. This period saw developments in questions of politics, ethics, and aesthetics; drama, narrative, and interpretation; equity, sovereignty, and jurisdiction; race, class, and gender; copyright and censorship; torts and contracts; economics, marriage, inheritance, and crime. Thomas compares the rise of various organizations and journals devoted to law, literature, and the humanities with ones devoted to law and society. He stresses the continued need for scholars to engage work done in different spaces and times.Less

Non-Place Identity: Britain’s Response to Migration in the Age of Supermodernity

David Ian Hanauer

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Chapter ten, written by David Ian Hanauer, uses the controversial cultural component of UK ‘citizenship criteria’ – the so-called ‘Britishness test’ – to draw out general themes of migration, ... More

Chapter ten, written by David Ian Hanauer, uses the controversial cultural component of UK ‘citizenship criteria’ – the so-called ‘Britishness test’ – to draw out general themes of migration, territoriality and national identity relative to the nation-state.Less

Belonging and European Identity

Bo Stråth

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

This chapter, the first in the ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Belonging’ section outlines a framework within which to understand the processes that have led to narratives of national and European ... More

This chapter, the first in the ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Belonging’ section outlines a framework within which to understand the processes that have led to narratives of national and European belonging, and explores the exclusionary tensions upon which they are predicated. It was written by Bo Stråth, distinguished Professor in Nordic, European and World History at Helsinki University, whose research focuses on the issue of modernity of Europe in a comparative context.Less

Identity, Belonging and Migration: Beyond Constructing ‘Others’

Paul Jones and Michał Krzyżanowski

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

‘Identity, Belonging and Migration: Beyond Constructing ‘Others’’, written by Paul Jones and Michael Krzyanowksi, addresses similar themes to the chapter that comes before it by seeking to discourage ... More

‘Identity, Belonging and Migration: Beyond Constructing ‘Others’’, written by Paul Jones and Michael Krzyanowksi, addresses similar themes to the chapter that comes before it by seeking to discourage the uncritical application of the concept of identity, which the authors argue is not always helpful when assessing the relationship of migrants to collectives.Less

Dilemmas of Secularism: Europe, Religion and the Problem of Pluralism

Gerard Delanty

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Gerald Delanty’s ‘Dilemmas of Secularism: Europe, Religion and the Problem of Pluralism’ argues that contemporary discussions of migration, exclusion, and belonging must be understood in the context ... More

Gerald Delanty’s ‘Dilemmas of Secularism: Europe, Religion and the Problem of Pluralism’ argues that contemporary discussions of migration, exclusion, and belonging must be understood in the context of broader tensions around religion, secularism, and transformations in the liberal conception of the social order.Less

Multiculturalization of Societies: The State and Human Rights Issues

Irène Bellier

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Chapter seven, written by Irène Bellier, addresses the concept of human rights in the context of so-called ‘multicultural societies’, and uses the Roma as an illustrative case study.

Symbolic Violence

Helena Flam and Brigitte Beauzamy

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Helena Flam and Brigitte Beauzamy’s ‘Symbolic Violence’ is the first chapter within the third and final section of the book, titled ‘Cases of Belonging and Exclusion’. It assesses the relevance of ... More

Helena Flam and Brigitte Beauzamy’s ‘Symbolic Violence’ is the first chapter within the third and final section of the book, titled ‘Cases of Belonging and Exclusion’. It assesses the relevance of the concept of symbolic violence, now perhaps primarily associated with Pierre Bourdieu, for understanding the ‘everyday’ forms of discrimination faced by migrants in Europe.Less

Transformations of ‘Dutchness’: From Happy Multiculturalism to the Crisis of Dutch Liberalism

Marc de Leeuw and Sonja van Wichelen

in Identity, Belonging and Migration

Marc de Leeuw and Sonja van Wichelen’s ‘Transformations of ‘Dutchness’: From Happy Multiculturalism to the Crisis of Dutch Liberalism’ provides a discussion of Islamophobia in the Netherlands, ... More

Marc de Leeuw and Sonja van Wichelen’s ‘Transformations of ‘Dutchness’: From Happy Multiculturalism to the Crisis of Dutch Liberalism’ provides a discussion of Islamophobia in the Netherlands, placing it within the context of multiculturalism in Europe.Less