Since, at least, the 1980s scholars from a range of disciplines have reinvigorated research on race, moving beyond a paradigm that considered race solely in relation to the biological sciences. By conceptualising race more broadly as a signifier structured by power, scholars working across Black Studies, Settler Colonial Studies, Cultural Studies, Sociology, and Critical Race Theory have refigured approaches to research on race. Here, Stuart Hall’s analysis of race as a “floating signifier” has proven particularly influential. Taking Hall’s scholarship as a starting point, this workshop seeks to encourage scholars working on race from a range of disciplinary perspectives to think collaboratively about their current research projects.
The workshop will begin with a discussion of selected texts – we encourage attendees to relevant theoretical texts. Attendees will then present a selected source or short piece of writing from their research projects. This is an opportunity to workshop some preliminary ideas in an interdisciplinary community of scholars seeking to tackle race and racialisation from a variety of perspectives.
To participate, please send a bio (max. 100 words) and a short statement explaining why the workshop will be useful to your research (max. 200 words) to jamie.gemmell@kcl.ac.uk. Feel free to suggest any relevant theoretical texts with your application.
The workshop is primarily open to scholars working at King’s College London, although applications from scholars at other institutions will be considered. Please get in touch if you have any questions!
Possible Readings
Hall, Stuart. “Race, the Floating Signifier: What more is there to say about “Race”?” In Selected Writings on Race and Difference, edited by Paul Gilroy and Ruth Wilson Gilmore, 359-373. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2021.
Hall, Stuart. “Subjects in History: Making Diasporic Identities.” In Selected Writings on Race and Difference, edited by Paul Gilroy; Ruth Wilson Gilmore, 329-338. Durham: Duke University Press, 2021.
Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong. “Introduction: Race and/as Technology; or, How to Do Things to Race.” Camera Obscura 24, no. 1 (2009): 7-35.
Wolfe, Patrick. Traces of History: Elementary Structures of Race. London: Verso, 2016.