Refashioning Blackness: Contesting Racism in the Afro-Americas - The 2013 Lozano Long Conference
February 20-22, 2013
The University of Texas at Austin
For more info, click here.
In recent years there has been an explosion of scholarly work on Afro–Latin America that has moved away from simply demonstrating that racial discrimination exists to analyzing the different ways in which black populations represent their identities, relate to the state, and mobilize politically internally and transnationally. In the United States, meanwhile, the election of the first African American president led many to proclaim the end of race and of black politics. The aim of this conference is to encourage a cutting-edge conversation about the current political and cultural moment in the Afro-Americas. How can scholars and activists engage in anti-racist politics in systems where racial democracy/post-racial ideologies prevail? Embracing blackness, which is often seen as the desirable and logical tactic to counter racism, is an insufficient response, as it can lead to fruitless debates about who is black and how blackness is being conceived and become disconnected from political action. This conference encourages participants to grapple with changing configurations of racial inequalities and racism in the Afro-Americas and the ongoing challenge to topple these hierarchies.
The University of Texas at Austin
For more info, click here.
In recent years there has been an explosion of scholarly work on Afro–Latin America that has moved away from simply demonstrating that racial discrimination exists to analyzing the different ways in which black populations represent their identities, relate to the state, and mobilize politically internally and transnationally. In the United States, meanwhile, the election of the first African American president led many to proclaim the end of race and of black politics. The aim of this conference is to encourage a cutting-edge conversation about the current political and cultural moment in the Afro-Americas. How can scholars and activists engage in anti-racist politics in systems where racial democracy/post-racial ideologies prevail? Embracing blackness, which is often seen as the desirable and logical tactic to counter racism, is an insufficient response, as it can lead to fruitless debates about who is black and how blackness is being conceived and become disconnected from political action. This conference encourages participants to grapple with changing configurations of racial inequalities and racism in the Afro-Americas and the ongoing challenge to topple these hierarchies.