Rethinking race and racism as technologies of affect: theorizing the implications for anti-racist politics and practice in education

Abstract

This article draws on the concept of race and racism as “technologies of affect” to think with some of the interventions and arguments of critical affect studies. The author suggests that critical affect theories enable the theorization of race and racism as affective modes of being that recognize the historically specific assemblages which are practiced in schools and the society. It is also argued that rethinking race and racism as technologies of affect, a vision of anti-racist politics and practice in education can be formed in ways that go beyond recognition or resistance, but rather attend to the production of pedagogical spaces and practices that create ways of living differently. The education implications of this idea are discussed in relation to how teachers and teacher educators can begin not only to analyze the affective mobilizations of race and racism, but also to engage in political struggles that harness the affective forces of anti-racist action in everyday life.