Spring 2015: CSWS Research Matters
“Our Caribbean Kin: Race and Nation in the Neoliberal Antilles,” by Alaí Reyes-Santos, Assistant Professor, University of Oregon Department of Ethnic Studies
Our Caribbean Kin, published by Rutgers University Press in 2015, disentangles the affective component of political solidarity in the Antilles. Alaí Reyes-Santos received faculty grant support from CSWS for research related to this book.
Dr. Reyes-Santos writes:
“Kinship entails having an ethical concern for the well-being of those who belong to community. When Dominicans publicly demand respect for the human rights of Haitian migrants, they are imagining those migrants as their kin, as family, friends, or neighbors whose needs are theirs as well. This powerful experience of Haitian-Dominican kinship begs us to explore how, when, and why Antilleans choose to recognize each other as kin or as outsiders. To understand the inclusions and exclusions embedded in Antillean kinship narratives, I examine how a variety of political, literary, media, and popular narratives have represented racial mixture, gender relations, and sexual and ethnic differences to discuss what kinds of political kinship seem possible among Antilleans.”
For the complete publication: Spring 2015: CSWS Research Matters
