More than Just Black - Gullah Geechee Revitalizationism and Identity Politics in Postliberal U.S. American Society
Raja-Léon Hamann
Identity politics has come under heavy criticism in the last few years. Numerous political analysts, politicians, and even some scholars have identified it as one of the main reasons for the current ‘crisis of liberalism’. Within such debates, identity politics is commonly represented as contributing to the fragmentation of society through its allegedly exclusive focus on the recognition of so-called minorities and correlated neglect of the socio-economic concerns of ‘the majority’ . Developed in light of these discourses, my PhD project strives to investigate the interrelations between identity politics, the integration of political and cultural diversity, and economic redistribution. I argue that most of the dominant criticism of identity politics is based upon a one-dimensional understanding of the phenomenon which tends to simplify its real-world complexities. Most importantly, such criticism disregards the fundamental role of identity politics for social change. The empirical focus of my work is the revitalization movement of an African American population group called Gullah Geechee. Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of enslaved Africans and African Americans who have been able to pass down the cultural traditions of their ancestors to a higher degree than most other African American communities. The group originates and principally lives in the Southeast of the United States, a region commonly referred to as the Lowcountry, encompassing the coasts and barrier islands of Southern North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Northern Florida. Stigmatized by mainstream society along the lines of race, ethnicity, and class, Gullah Geechee have for long been denied their status as a culturally distinct group. In recent years, however, there has been a growing political organization and cultural promotion among them, revolving around a radical critique of racial discrimination and interrelated dynamics of socio-economic oppression, such as gentrification, economic privatization, deregulation, and the disproportionally negative effects of climate change upon marginalized groups of people. As a consequence of this movement, Gullah Geechee culture, heritage, and identity have become a source of political mobilization and unification not only for Gullah Geechee themselves, but for other African Americans and even some European Americans as well. The aim of my dissertation is to (a.) analyze the internal differentiation of the Gullah Geechee revitalization movement, (b.) relate it to other contemporary Black movements, and, finally, (c.) situate the groups’ various demands within the broader societal context of a liberal democracy that appears to stand at a crossroads.
Duration
2019 - 2023
Funding
PhD scholarship from the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (2019-2023)
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Olaf Zenker
rajaleonhamann(at)gmail(dot)com