Race and Representation WEEK 6 BRITISH SOCIETY IN A GLOBALISING WORLD

A presentation by Keely Harris & Madeleine Bracken-Patterson

This week is about:• The construction of race in visual, literary and media

images.

• There is a focus on the need to ‘read’ these images in their historical context as well as exploring the possibilities for contesting visual cultures.

Nayak, A (2006) ‘After race: Ethnography, race and post-race theory’ Ethnic and Racial Studies 29: 3 411-430

Anoop Nayak , Newcastle University

The article focuses on an emerging post race approach

‘Post race approach ‘adapts an anti-foundational perspective which claims that race is a fiction only over given substance to through illusion of performance, action and utterance.’ page 416

Anti foundationalism rejects a foundationalist approach, i.e. an anti-foundationalist is one who does not believe that there is some fundamental belief or principle which is the basic ground or foundation of inquiry and knowledge. Therefore this approach rejects essentialism (a belief that things have a set of characteristics which make them what they are)

‘There is an identifiable post race lingua franca(language)’ page 414

‘Not unlike post modernism and post colonialism, post race theory, involves a breach of well established orthodoxy and in epistemological reorientation.’ Post race ways of thinking have recently been subject to a developing political and theoretical wrangling in race relations, there is a focus by scholars to not use race as an identity while others state this is constricting as it leads to structural inequalities to be overlooked (these are some of the possibilities and constraints of post-race theory)

Nayak contrasts and compares essentialist, social constructionist and post race approaches to race to build a more nuanced and rounded perspective on the ethnographic study of race.

(each one alone is potentially too rigid and does not provide a thorough enough understanding)

(referring to writing about all three approaches)

‘led me to argue against an oversimplification of binaries and toward a broader recognition of multi-textured bricolage or genealogy of race writing’ page 427

FinallyNayak throughout the article identifies broad issues with researching race. He also recognises ‘modern day ethnographers are increasingly race conscious’ page 413

Some of the issues he identified were:

The relationship between researcher and those being researched‘In light of suspicion, misconception and exploitation racialised minorities have at times questioned the intrusive role of white researchers and the ethnocentric dimension of this work’page 413

‘if race is an empty category, that holds no value, then what does it mean to be writing, researching and conducting ethnography’ (around race) page 412

Barry Troyna 1995 on issues that have been put under the spotlight ‘the stance and status of the researcher; the rationale for the research; the focus of the researcher's gaze; the way in which key theoretical, conceptual and analytical terms are conceptualised and operationalised; the conduct of the researcher and the nature of the social relations which are established ‘in the field’; processes through which the data are produced, interpreted and presented; and the un/intended audiences of the research report.’ page

386.