Whiteness in Relation: Black Studies and the Racializing Assemblages of the Antebellum South

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Deepening Archaeology's Engagement with Black Studies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For decades, Black Studies scholars have provided powerful, far-ranging critiques of the concept of race and the processes of racialization. Yet, when applied to archaeological case studies, these concepts are often only used to discuss the lives of Africans and their diasporic descendants. However, as Black Studies scholars point out, their work also applies to whiteness and Indigeneity—creating a multifaceted set of theories that archaeologists can use when discussing racialization writ large. Drawing on Édouard Glissant’s concept of “relation” and Alexander Weheliye’s discussions of racializing assemblages, this paper applies Black Studies scholars’ perspectives on race to the study of whiteness in the Antebellum South, showing new areas where archaeologists can engage with Black Studies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Deepening Archaeology's Engagement with Black Studies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36336.0