Signifying Aggrieved White Selves: Trump Supporters’ Racial Identity Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 233264922110207
Author(s):  
Douglas Schrock ◽  
Shantel Gabrieal Buggs ◽  
Bertan Buyukozturk ◽  
Kristen Erichsen ◽  
Andre Ivey
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Emotional Communication ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Racial Discourse ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Interactionist Approach

Based on 29 in-depth interviews during the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, we examine how Trump supporters engaged in a form of identity work that we call signifying aggrieved white selves. Taking an interactionist approach, we demonstrate how they used racial discourse and emotional communication to engage in three distinct forms of racial identity work: (1) othering racialized freeloaders, (2) criminalizing racialized others, and (3) discrediting racialized dissenters. Our study contributes to research on racial discourse and emotions and research on race and the 2016 presidential election, which emphasize linguistic or cultural frames and/or subjectivity rather than the dramatization of racial selfhood. We propose that signifying aggrieved white selfhood is a generic process and that racial identity work is a useful lens for analyzing how a foundational concept of critical race theory—namely, that race is a social construct—is reproduced in everyday life.

The Great White Hope: Social Control and the Psychological Wages of Whiteness

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-390
Author(s):  
Robert S. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
White Racial Identity ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
White Population ◽  
Us Presidential Election ◽  
White Working Class ◽  
Run Up

In the run-up to and aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election, much has been made of the so-called “white working class.” Some credit or blame this group for the election’s outcome. Others warn against treating this group as monolithic. Yet despite any difficulties in defining this group and what might be ascribed to them, there appears to be an intensification of white racial identity among a growing segment of America’s white population. This article seeks to explore the dynamics of racial identity and racial contest and what they might presage for the possibility of achieving racial justice.

Data Scientists’ Identity Work: Omnivorous Symbolic Boundaries in Skills Acquisition

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702097730
Author(s):  
Netta Avnoon
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Sociology Of Culture ◽  
Sociology Of Work ◽  
Discursive Analysis ◽  
Self Learning ◽  
Depth Interviews

Drawing on theories from the sociology of work and the sociology of culture, this article argues that members of nascent technical occupations construct their professional identity and claim status through an omnivorous approach to skills acquisition. Based on a discursive analysis of 56 semi-structured in-depth interviews with data scientists, data science professors and managers in Israel, it was found that data scientists mobilise the following five resources to construct their identity: (1) ability to bridge the gap between scientist’s and engineer’s identities; (2) multiplicity of theories; (3) intensive self-learning; (4) bridging technical and social skills; and (5) acquiring domain knowledge easily. These resources diverge from former generalist-specialist identity tensions described in the literature as they attribute a higher status to the generalist-omnivore and a lower one to the specialist-snob.

BEYOND THE TOURIST EXPERIENCE: ANALYZING THE IMAGINATION OF PLACE AND TRAVEL IN EVERYDAY LIFE

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
The Self ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual State ◽  
Imaginary World ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article advocates a new agenda for (media) tourism research that links questions of tourist experiences to the role and meaning of imagination in everyday life. Based on a small-scale, qualitative study among a group of seventeen respondents of diverse ages and backgrounds currently residing in the Netherlands, we offer an empirical exploration of the places that are of importance for people’s individual state of mind and investigate how these places relate to (potential) tourist experiences. The combination of in-depth interviews and random-cue self-reporting resulted in the following findings: 1) all our respondents regularly reside in an elaborate imaginary world, consisting of both fictional and non-fictional places; 2) this imaginary world is dominated by places which make the respondents feel nostalgic; 3) in this regard, the private home and houses from childhood are pivotal; 4) the ‘home’ is seen as topos of the self and contrasted with ‘away’; 5) the imagination of ‘away’ emerges from memories of previous tourist experiences, personal fantasies and, last but not least, influences from popular culture. We conclude that imagining and visiting other locations are part of a life-long project of ‘identity work’ in which personal identities are performed, confirmed and extended. By travelling, either physically or mentally, individuals anchor their identity - the entirety of ideas about who they are, where they come from and where they think they belong - in a broader, spatial framework.

scholarly journals A turbulent time: government sources post-2016 presidential election

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Alicia Kubas
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Democrats And Republicans ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose Since the 2016 presidential election, hyper-partisanship has become a regular facet of the political landscape with Democrats and Republicans in increasing conflict. The purpose of this paper is to determine if perception of government sources related to trust and credibility has changed since the 2016 election and if the experiences and strategies of librarians who teach or consult about government information has changed in response to this environment. Design/methodology/approach A 24-question survey was distributed to garner qualitative and quantitative responses from librarians who teach or consult about government information in an academic environment. A total of 122 responses were used for analysis. Findings Academic librarians are seeing more concern from patrons about disappearing online government information and wider distrust of government information. Librarians also noticed that the political leanings of students color their perspective around government sources and that librarians also need to keep their political beliefs in check. Respondents emphasized a need for more government literacy and information literacy topics when discussing evaluation of government sources. Research limitations/implications The data collection only included responses from academic librarians. Further research could include in-depth interviews and look at experiences in various library types. Originality/value With the timeliness of this topic, there has not been an in-depth investigation into how the Trump administration has changed user trust and perception of government sources from the librarian’s point of view. This paper continues the conversation about how librarians can address the growing distrust of government information and give us insight into the effects of a turbulent political climate on government sources.

scholarly journals Navigating “Mixedness”: The Information Behaviours and Experiences of Biracial Youth in Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indra Ayu Susan Mckie
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Social Life ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Racial Climate ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Information Avoidance ◽  
Daily Experiences ◽  
Continuous State ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
Depth Interviews

It is generally understood that, ‘for those deemed white, the idea of race serves as a vast source of unearned privilege within all facets of life; for those deemed coloured, it means susceptibility to countless forms of prejudice and racism’ (Nuttgens 2010, p. 255). But what does this mean for a person with indistinguishable physical features, who is questioned daily, “where are you from?” or, even more dehumanisingly – “what are you? In the current racial climate of Australia, biracial second-generation Australians are left to choose between two or more identities on how to behave in attempts to fit binary racial groups and expectations (Shih & Sanchez 2009). This paper presents the data from six in-depth interviews with Asian biracial youth from across Sydney. The interviews explore how this group has confronted race while developing their own identities during adolescence, as well as how their understanding of being “mixed” has developed over time. In exploring this collective racial identity, I draw from my own racialised experiences to address emergent themes from my findings. Numerous displays of information behaviours emerged from the participant’s stories of isolation, belonging and resentment towards their racial mixedness. Information avoidance, browsing, seeking and satisficing were observed within their daily experiences of school, family and social life. Such practices informed how these individuals internalised their inherited intersection of racial persecution and privilege. Critical engagement with information behaviours theories justifies the modern notions of identity as a continuous state of reconstruction (Hall 1996) as the biracial participants of this study struggle to find balance with the external validation of others and their driving agency to be themselves.

“(Not) forever talk”: restaurant employees managing occupational stigma consciousness

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Michiko Shigihara
Keyword(s):  
Food Service ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Stigma Consciousness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Future Selves ◽  
Restaurant Employees ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine restaurant employees’ engagement in identity work to manage occupational stigma consciousness.Design/methodology/approachResearch methods included ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews.FindingsWidespread societal stigma attached to food service work disturbed participants’ sense of coherence. Therefore, they undertook harmonizing their present and envisioned selves with “forever talk,” a form of identity work whereby people discursively construct desired, favorable and positive identities and self-concepts by discussing what they view themselves engaged and not engaged in forever. Participants employed three forever talk strategies: conceptualizing work durations, framing legitimate careers and managing feelings about employment. Consequently, their talk simultaneously resisted and reproduced restaurant work stigmatization. Findings elucidated occupational stigma consciousness, ambivalence about jobs considered “bad,” “dirty” and “not real,” discursive tools for negotiating laudable identities, and costs of equivocal work appraisals.Originality/valueThis study provides a valuable conceptual and theoretical contribution by developing a more comprehensive understanding of occupational stigma consciousness. Moreover, an identity work framework helps explain how and why people shape identities congruent with and supportive of self-concepts. Forever talk operates as a temporal “protect and preserve” reconciliation tool whereby people are able to construct positive self-concepts while holding marginalized, stereotyped and stigmatized jobs. This paper offers a unique empirical case of the ways in which people talk about possible future selves when their employment runs counter to professions normatively evaluated as esteemed and lifelong. Notably, research findings are germane for analyzing any identities (work and non-work related) that pose incoherence between extant and desired selves.

scholarly journals KIAI NU DAN POLITIK (KETERLIBATAN KIAI NU JEMBER DALAM KONTESTASI PILPRES 2019)

Fenomena ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Abdul Haris ◽  
Abdulloh Dardum
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Data Presentation ◽  
Political Work ◽  
The People ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Pair Number ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Depth Interviews

Kajian tentang dinamika dan kiprah politik kiai selalu menarik untuk terus dikaji dari berbagai sudut pandang berbeda. Pada kontestasi Pilpres 2019, beberapa kiai NU struktural maupun non struktural di Jember terlibat aktif dalam memenangkan pasangan calon no urut 1, Jokowi dan Ma’ruf Amin. Penelitian ini ingin mengungkap makna politik dalam perpsektif kiai NU Jember, serta motivasi dan bentuk keterlibatan mereka dalam kontestasi politik praktis (Pilpres 2019). Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Secara operasional penggalian data dalam peneilitian ini dilakukan dengan cara pengamatan, wawancara mendalam terhadap para informan yang sudah ditetapkan, dan dokumentasi. Data yang didapatkan setelah itu dianalisa melalui dua tahap, yaitu selama proses pengumpulan data di lapangan dan setelah data tersebut terkumpul dengan langkah; 1) reduksi data, 2) penyajian data, dan 3) penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa 1) Mayoritas kiai NU Jember memaknai politik sebagai perjuangan untuk mewujudkan kemashlahatan umat. Politik juga dimaknai dengan upaya untuk menjaga aqidah umat dari faham atau ideologi yang berseberangan dengan NU. 2) Ada dua motivasi yang mendorong keterlibatan kiai NU Jember dalam politik praktis, yaitu orientasi dakwah dan orientasi ideologis. 3) Bentuk keterlibatan kiai NU dalam politik praktis (Pilpres 2019) di Kabupaten Jember dilakukan dengan beberapa cara, diantaranya memberikan dukungan melalui edaran/maklumat, konsolidasi sesama kiai dan instruksi secara langsung kepada para santri, wali santri, dewan guru/asatidz, alumni dan simpatisan pesantren. The dynamics and political work of the kiai are always interesting to be studied from various points of view. In the 2019 presidential election contest, several structural and non-structural NU kiai in Jember were actively involved in winning the candidate pair number 1, Jokowi and Ma'ruf Amin. This research intends to reveal the political meaning from the perspective of the kiai NU Jember, as well as their motives and forms of involvement in practical political contestation (Pilpres 2019). This research was conducted using a qualitative approach. Operationally the data mining in this research was carried out through observation, in-depth interviews with the informants who had been assigned, and documentation. The data obtained after that were analyzed in two stages, namely during the data collection process in the field and after the data was collected by steps; 1) data reduction, 2) data presentation, and 3) concluding. The results of this study indicate that 1) The majority of NU Jember kiai interpret politics as a struggle to achieve the benefit of the people. Politics is also interpreted as an effort to protect the aqidah of the people from opposing ideologies or ideologies. 2) There are two motivations that encourage the involvement of the Jember NU kiai in practical politics, namely dakwah orientation and ideological orientation. 3) The form of involvement of NU kiai in practical politics (2019 Presidential Election) in Jember Regency is carried out in several ways, including providing support through circulars/announcements, consolidation of fellow kiai and direct instruction to students, guardians of santri, a board of teachers/asatidz, alumni and pesantren sympathizers.

scholarly journals Parents’ perception of raising healthy Black children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Hall
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Healthy Development ◽  
Children's Home ◽  
Black Canadian ◽  
The Impact

The early learning environment is important in the development of racial identity for Black and bi-racial children as this may be the first environment outside of the children’s home environment where they learn about themselves and others. Through semi-structured interviews this qualitative research explores five Black Canadian mothers’ racial socialization practices and perceptions of how their children’s racial identity is being represented in the early learning environment. Employing a constructivist framework and Critical Race Theory (CRT) four overarching themes were identified: “racial socialization behaviours connected to Black identity”, “parents using racial socialization to combat racism”, “lack of resources supporting racial identity”, and “diversity of teachers, authority belongs to everybody”. The mothers in this study employed racial socialization behaviours to buffer against the impact of racism in order to support the healthy development of their children.

K–12 School Counselors Utilizing Critical Race Theory to Support the Racial Identity Development and Academic Achievement of African American Males

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1_part_4) ◽  
pp. 2156759X2110400
Author(s):  
Brandee Appling ◽  
Shanel Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
African American ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
African American Males ◽  
Racial Identity Development ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
K 12

This article examines the role of racial identity development in the academic achievement of African American adolescent males. Through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), we highlight how K–12 school counselors may support and enhance the schooling experiences of African American males by understanding and acknowledging how racial identity development may impact academic achievement. A focus on CRT in education emphasizes the continual persistence of racism ingrained in K–12 education located within the educational opportunities, curriculum, representation, and teacher perception of African American males. We offer insight into how school counselors may work to decrease barriers to achievement by analyzing the effect race and gender have on the identification, retention, and underachievement of their African American male students.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document