 | |
| Author | Rogers Brubaker |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Academic |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Publication date | 2016 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 236 |
| ISBN | 9780691172354 |
Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities by American sociologist Rogers Brubaker is an analysis of racial and gender identity, published by Princeton University Press in 2016 in the wake of the publicity around Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal.
Brubaker's purpose is to compare the similarities and differences of the internal logic of gender and race. Brubaker examines gender and racial identity by comparing the Essentialist and Voluntarist perspectives. The "Essentialist" view, writes Brubaker assumes gender and race are grounded in "nature" and "history". [1] The "Voluntarists", by contrast says Brubaker, argue that race and gender identities can be "chosen." [1] Brubaker observes that the Essentialists emphasise the immutability of the external world while Voluntarists emphasises individual self-determination. However, despite the differences between both approaches, they both recognise some similarities in the "'if Jenner, then Dolezal' syllogism." [1]
Complicating the analysis argues Brubaker is the way in which, on the political left, race is a "more closely policed category" than gender, compared to the political right where sex and gender are "more closely policed." [1] Additionally, changing gender identity is given more sociological "legitimacy" than changing race. [1] The question of legitimacy is part of what Brubaker describes as "boundary work"- the demarcation of what should be regarded as science and therefore afforded certain privileges of "resources, respect and authority". [1]
Brubaker then notes how the "paring of transracial and transgender in the Dolezal debates points to an underlying shift in the landscape of identities." [1] He cites wider debates about immigration, religion and ethnicity examples of this. In an aside Brubaker notes that "syncretism, the mixing of elements from different religious traditions, illustrates the trans of between, as do those who identify with or participate in more than one religious community or tradition." [1]
Brubaker concludes by observing that the focus on "idiosyncratic aspects" of Dolezal's story has obscured the deeper trends in the way people think about identity. [1] However he also notes in his conclusion that the increasing fluidity of identity has not excluded these identities being "embodied" or expressed practically and physically. [1]
The book was received positively. Anthony Moran writing in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies said it was "an important intervention in debates about sexual/gender and racial/ethnic identities in a period of generalized identity unsettlement." [2] A. Loudermilk in PopMatters said, "Looking back at the summer of 2015 and the public debate over Dolezal, Brubaker sees a missed opportunity." [3]
Essentialism is the view that every entity has a set of attributes that are necessary to its identity and function. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In Categories, Aristotle similarly proposed that all objects have a substance that, as George Lakoff put it, "make the thing what it is, and without which it would be not that kind of thing". The contrary view—non-essentialism—denies the need to posit such an "essence'".
An ethnic group or ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups such as a common set of traditions, ancestry, language, history, society, culture, nation, religion or social treatment within their residing area. Ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation, particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism, and is separate from, but related to the concept of races.
Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of an identity group or category different from their own, which may include racial identity, ethnicity, caste, social class, sexual orientation, gender, religion, age and/or disability status. Passing may result in privileges, rewards, or an increase in social acceptance, or be used to cope with stigma. Thus, passing may serve as a form of self-preservation or self-protection in instances where expressing one's true or prior identity may be dangerous. Passing may require acceptance into a community and may also lead to temporary or permanent leave from another community to which an individual previously belonged. Thus, passing can result in separation from one's original self, family, friends, or previous living experiences. While successful passing may contribute to economic security, safety, and avoidance of stigma, it may take an emotional toll as a result of denial of one's previous identity and may lead to depression or self-loathing.
A minority group, by its original by definition, refers to a group of people whose practices, and race, religion, ethnicity, or other characteristics are lesser in numbers than the main groups of those classifications. However, in present-day sociology, a minority group refers to a category of people who experience relative disadvantage as compared to members of a dominant social group. Minority group membership is typically based on differences in observable characteristics or practices, such as: ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. Utilizing the framework of intersectionality, it is important to recognize that an individual may simultaneously hold membership in multiple minority groups. Likewise, individuals may also be part of a minority group in regard to some characteristics, but part of a dominant group in regard to others.
Caitlyn Marie Jenner is an American socialite, television presenter, activist, and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete.
Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person or group . One can regard the awareness and the categorizing of identity as positive or as destructive.
National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one state or to one nation. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language." National identity may refer to the subjective feeling one shares with a group of people about a nation, regardless of one's legal citizenship status. National identity is viewed in psychological terms as "an awareness of difference", a "feeling and recognition of 'we' and 'they'".
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these aspects include gender, caste, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, disability, physical appearance, and height. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage. These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and oppressing. For example, a black woman might face discrimination from a business that is not distinctly due to her race nor distinctly due to her gender, but due to a combination of the two factors.
Transracial may refer to:
Racial formation theory is an analytical tool in sociology, developed by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, which is used to look at race as a socially constructed identity, where the content and importance of racial categories are determined by social, economic, and political forces. Unlike other traditional race theories, "In [Omi and Winant's] view, racial meanings pervade US society, extending from the shaping of individual racial identities to the structuring of collective political action on the terrain of the state".
The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote transgender rights and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care. In some jurisdictions, transgender activism seeks to allow changes to identification documents to conform with a person's current gender identity without the need for sex reassignment surgery.
Rogers Brubaker is professor of sociology at University of California, Los Angeles and UCLA Foundation Chair. He has written academic works on social theory, immigration, citizenship, nationalism, ethnicity, religion, gender, populism, and digital hyperconnectivity.
The sociology of race and ethnic relations is the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of systemic racism, like residential segregation and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups.
Ethnicities is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes research in the fields of sociology and politics concerning questions of ethnicity, nationalism and related issues such as identity politics and minority rights. It was established in 2001 and is published bimonthly by SAGE Publications. The editors-in-chief are Stephen May and Tariq Modood.
Rachel Anne Dolezal, also known as Nkechi Amare Diallo, is an American former college instructor and activist known for her status as a self-proclaimed black woman. She is also a former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter president.
The feminist philosophy journal Hypatia became involved in a dispute in April 2017 that led to the online shaming of one of its authors, Rebecca Tuvel, a tenure-track assistant professor of philosophy at Rhodes College in Memphis. The journal had published a peer-reviewed article by Tuvel in which she compared the situation of Caitlyn Jenner, a trans woman, to that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who identifies as black. When the article was criticized on social media, scholars associated with Hypatia joined in the criticism and urged the journal to retract it. The controversy exposed a rift within the journal's editorial team and more broadly within feminism and academic philosophy.
Transracial people are individuals who assert a racial identity for themselves which differs from their birth race.
Matthew Windust Hughey is an American sociologist known for his work on race and racism. He is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, where he is also an adjunct faculty member in the Africana Studies Institute and the American Studies Program. His work has included studying whiteness, race and media, race and politics, racism and racial assumptions within genetic and genomic science, and racism and racial identity in white and black American fraternities and sororities.
In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World is the personal memoir of Rachel Dolezal. It was published in 2017 by BenBella Books, almost two years after the controversy about her racial identity in June 2015. The Guardian reported that 30 publishing houses turned down the manuscript before BenBella Books printed it in March 2017.
Racial misrepresentation occurs when someone deliberately misrepresents their racial or ethnic background. They may or may not pass as the assumed identity and such misrepresentation may or may not be fraudulent. It may occur for a variety of reasons, such as the desire to benefit from affirmative action programs that the person is not eligible for.