Throwing our bodies against the white background of academia

Abstract

Specifically, I examine how to conduct research without representing Black bodies as a fixed, exoticised Other that is oppositional to a disembodied white Self. To do so, I use double consciousness alongside Black feminist work on dialogues as a methodological framework to centre Black Muslim women as knowledge producers. This novel approach moves away from simply describing (and fixing) racialised bodies to a particular performance/experience, and instead explores how performances shift as we negotiate different bodies, objects, and spaces. The paper advances discussions in critical race studies and the ethics of geographical research by illustrating how the situated experiences of the researcher and the participant are embedded in processes of knowledge production: I look to subvert the fixing of racialised bodies as deviations from the normative white background of academia. K E Y W O R D SBlack feminism, dialogue, double consciousness, normative whiteness, race and higher education, research ethics 1 | THE WHITE BACKGROUND OF ACADEMIA I feel most coloured when I am thrown against a sharp white background. … Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself. (Hurston, 2000, p. 96) I've often thought about the above quote by Zora Neale Hurston in relation to how knowledge is produced within academic institutions: her words expose an ethical quandary with developing research about persons racialised as non-white against the "sharp white background" of academia.This paper responds to my ethical concerns with conducting research about racialised minorities within academic institutions that perpetuate normative whiteness. In doing so, the rest of this introduction outlines the "sharp white background" that I struggled with through my work on the clothing practices of Black Muslim women in Britain. Second, I examine how the racialised Other has been constructed as oppositional to whiteness. Following this, I extend work on double consciousness and dialogue by bringing these concepts together and using them as methodological tools to explore the relationship that Black Muslim women have to this (white) Self/(black) Other binary.My research with 21 Black Muslim women in Manchester and Sheffield (ages 18-51) arose from the dearth of work about our experiences (Johnson, 2019). Research on British Muslims focused primarily on Muslims with South Asian heritage (e.g., Brown, 2006;Phillips, 2015), while research about Black communities and religion focused on the role of Christianity and Black churches (e.g., Harris, 2006;Knowles, 2012). By centring Black Muslim women, I focused on how ---

Who is worthy of a place on these walls? Postgraduate students, UK universities, and institutional racism

“…Ayesha's image and narrative highlight how the walls that keep the building upright have placed on them images which reflect the upholding of whiteness within that institution. During the interview, Ayesha explained she is continuously confronted with what Johnson (2020) refers to as “sharp white backgrounds” against which her social location was set. Johnson (2020), in her paper entitled “Throwing our bodies against the white background of academia,” raises concerns about conducting research with racialised minorities within academic institutions that perpetuate normative whiteness.…”

“…During the interview, Ayesha explained she is continuously confronted with what Johnson (2020) refers to as “sharp white backgrounds” against which her social location was set. Johnson (2020), in her paper entitled “Throwing our bodies against the white background of academia,” raises concerns about conducting research with racialised minorities within academic institutions that perpetuate normative whiteness. The “sharp backgrounds” are materialised in the images that Ayesha, and other students, used to narrate experiences of navigating their institution based on their social locations.…”

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