Being Italian: The Peculiar Journey of Blackness
Topics: Black Geographies
, Socialist and Critical Geographies
, Cultural Geography
Keywords: Black Geographies, Europe, Italy, Race, Racism, Identity
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 56
Authors:
Heather Merrill, Hamilton College
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Abstract
When protests against systemic racism erupted in Italian piazzas following the tragic murder of George Floyd, a young woman whose parents are from Somalia disclosed that for the first time in her life, she felt as if Torino were her city, her home. Growing up as a “Black girl,” she’d always felt alone, and ignored. This demonstration of solidarity fueled hope for a reckoning with endemic racism, and an acceptance of Blackness in Italy. How might this happen? The question of how nonbinary anti-racist culture might emerge remains critical, as African Italians are rejected through citizenship policies, and everyday practices. Allan Pred developed an unparalleled theoretical and methodological approach to the scholarly and activist study of social problems and power relations generated in our current “extended moment of danger.” His approach captures the intertwined workings of social and economic, cultural and subjective processes that sustain what he called “taken-for-granted” “situated ignorance.” Building on Pred’s approach, I situate my discussion on “race” as a key yet taken-for-granted aspect of power particular to modern western capitalism, that is permeating contemporary Italian culture. I forefront b/Black spaces in order to draw attention to spaces one has learned to ignore, and highlight Black perspectives and lived experiences. There is considerable contestation and reworking of place and belonging in Italy, lived and expressed in everyday “situated practices.” A synthetic and generative form of the Black radical tradition is emerging that is both place-based and also African diasporic.
Being Italian: The Peculiar Journey of Blackness
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
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