I highly recommend this essay by Eve Tuck to anyone who researches or writes about marginalized communities.
Sometimes in an effort to illuminate injustice, ppl can unwittingly contribute to the idea tht certain communities are defined by their suffering. pages.ucsd.edu/~rfrank/class_…
Sometimes in an effort to illuminate injustice, ppl can unwittingly contribute to the idea tht certain communities are defined by their suffering. pages.ucsd.edu/~rfrank/class_…
Tuck writes about how Native communities worked w/researchers to illuminate the inhumane conditions many of them lived in.
But after a while they realized they were being portrayed w/o contexts & in ways that made it seem like Native communities were nothing but their suffering.
But after a while they realized they were being portrayed w/o contexts & in ways that made it seem like Native communities were nothing but their suffering.
She argues for moving away from “damage-centered” frameworks & instead to “desire-centered” frames.
A desire-centered framework is “concerned with understanding complexity, contradiction, & the self-determination” of communities. Oppressed communities are not just their pain.
A desire-centered framework is “concerned with understanding complexity, contradiction, & the self-determination” of communities. Oppressed communities are not just their pain.
You can find more of @tuckeve’s important writing & research here. Her work has pushed my own thinking a great deal:
evetuck.com/writing/
evetuck.com/writing/
