Publication details
When skin matters: A comparative study of manipulating whiteness by Roma of Czech Republic and Burghers of Sri Lanka
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| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | This paper looks into the issue of whiteness among the two minorities in the populations of Czech Republic and Sri Lanka respectively, namely the Roma and the Burghers. Despite the scientific abandonment of the concept of race, being revoked visually through the complexion or the color of the skin as well as applied socially as an intrinsic part of division of power, the author argues it is still very much present in everyday society and it is experienced by all the citizens of the two countries that the race and skin color function as two factors of prestige. Various definitions of whiteness are employed and manipulated by the two minorities while interacting with the two majorities they are socially integrated into. The paper explores their variations, similarities, techniques, ideologies and power relations that facilitate them in their moves in society. Negotiation of whiteness among the two particular minorities is placed within larger national contexts, bringing the issues of skin color at the center of attention to both Czech and Sri Lankan societies as a whole. The research method of ethnography is employed, calling upon data extracted from long term observations, in-depth interviews and secondary data analysis. The author takes a constructivist stand point. The paper on the whole is framed within current social science theories of race, racism, whiteness and power. |