Carleen S Hardin | University of Amsterdam (original) (raw)

Papers by Carleen S Hardin

Whiteness studies is a more recent field to have cropped up in academia. The early 1990s saw such... more Whiteness studies is a more recent field to have cropped up in academia. The early 1990s saw such a sharp increase in whiteness research that almost overnight it seems, there was a multitude of books and scholarly articles written on the subject. There was an underlining desire of scholars and historians to rectify the tendency in historic writing, study and research to emphasize "race" as being only black. Yet also, through the study of whiteness, they wanted to trace the influence of white privilege and social status in American history so as to somehow get a better understanding of the political and social construction of race. 1 David R. Roediger was one of the first to publish a book on whiteness and thus was a key figure in launching the flood of works on whiteness in the 90s; his foundational book, Wages of Whiteness nearly became a reference guide to those whiteness scholars who followed him. And it is one of the books that this paper will analyze. However, its importance in the field of whiteness studies is no greater than that of Matthew Frye Jacobson's work Whiteness of a Different Color, both of which scholars have read and examined to the present day. This analysis will attempt to show what these works have in common and how they differ from one another; each book will be specifically surveyed, and details such as content, historical context, present-day impact and future implications presented by each author in his book will be compared. Generally, Wages of Whiteness will be looked into first, followed by Whiteness of a Different Color. Specifically, and following the explication of the books, a discussion of the content and context will be offered, ending with an examination of the present-day and future implications propounded by the authors.

This briefly explores de Beauvoir's views on jazz music in her work America Day by Day.

The word humanitarianism is one that may invoke thoughts of a general good will towards one's fel... more The word humanitarianism is one that may invoke thoughts of a general good will towards one's fellowmen or providing aid to those caught in the aftermath of some terrible natural disaster. It seems like a word that only recently came into public awareness, and in a sense it is, but the history of humanitarianism goes further back than recent decades that have seen the rise of the importance of equality and social justice.

Thesis Chapters by Carleen S Hardin

Almost from their beginning, Americans have had a love/hate relationship with immigration. But th... more Almost from their beginning, Americans have had a love/hate relationship with immigration. But the fact is that Americans repeatedly build walls around themselves, socially and culturally, to keep strangers out. Nativism has been widely adopted in every generation of Americans up until the present day, and its patterns have been highly repetitive despite changing ideals, political stances and centuries. Indeed, the crux of the nativism issue in America is the prevalent and recurring sense of needing to preserve the norm, the status quo, to the point that immigrants are seen as enemies—strangers who need to be kept out or kept down, the “devils beyond the city gates."

Drafts by Carleen S Hardin

Nineteenth-century American nativists did not hide their contempt for foreigners. Perhaps some of... more Nineteenth-century American nativists did not hide their contempt for foreigners. Perhaps some of the more self-conscious nativists tried to sugar coat their sentiment or deny that their feelings were racist or xenophobic, even as their words were meant to expose immigrants' detrimental flaws-flaws that nativists assumed would mean the breakdown of the American nation. But these sorts of veils were thin at best. Nativist words and representations can never really be considered tolerable in the end, no matter how one tries to disguise them. In this chapter, we will dig into some of the common nativist representations of the Irish, discovering the themes of these representations and how these representations were disseminated. When one reads through nativist literature, one picks up two major themes amongst the nativist language. The first is that the Irish were not worthy of citizenship for several reasons, which will be examined below. The second theme in nativist literature to be discussed, and one that reverberates to this day about other immigrant groups is that the Irish were a problem to be solved. They were either a drain on society or a threat to it, creating an image of both a parasite and an intruder.

Whiteness studies is a more recent field to have cropped up in academia. The early 1990s saw such... more Whiteness studies is a more recent field to have cropped up in academia. The early 1990s saw such a sharp increase in whiteness research that almost overnight it seems, there was a multitude of books and scholarly articles written on the subject. There was an underlining desire of scholars and historians to rectify the tendency in historic writing, study and research to emphasize "race" as being only black. Yet also, through the study of whiteness, they wanted to trace the influence of white privilege and social status in American history so as to somehow get a better understanding of the political and social construction of race. 1 David R. Roediger was one of the first to publish a book on whiteness and thus was a key figure in launching the flood of works on whiteness in the 90s; his foundational book, Wages of Whiteness nearly became a reference guide to those whiteness scholars who followed him. And it is one of the books that this paper will analyze. However, its importance in the field of whiteness studies is no greater than that of Matthew Frye Jacobson's work Whiteness of a Different Color, both of which scholars have read and examined to the present day. This analysis will attempt to show what these works have in common and how they differ from one another; each book will be specifically surveyed, and details such as content, historical context, present-day impact and future implications presented by each author in his book will be compared. Generally, Wages of Whiteness will be looked into first, followed by Whiteness of a Different Color. Specifically, and following the explication of the books, a discussion of the content and context will be offered, ending with an examination of the present-day and future implications propounded by the authors.

This briefly explores de Beauvoir's views on jazz music in her work America Day by Day.

The word humanitarianism is one that may invoke thoughts of a general good will towards one's fel... more The word humanitarianism is one that may invoke thoughts of a general good will towards one's fellowmen or providing aid to those caught in the aftermath of some terrible natural disaster. It seems like a word that only recently came into public awareness, and in a sense it is, but the history of humanitarianism goes further back than recent decades that have seen the rise of the importance of equality and social justice.

Almost from their beginning, Americans have had a love/hate relationship with immigration. But th... more Almost from their beginning, Americans have had a love/hate relationship with immigration. But the fact is that Americans repeatedly build walls around themselves, socially and culturally, to keep strangers out. Nativism has been widely adopted in every generation of Americans up until the present day, and its patterns have been highly repetitive despite changing ideals, political stances and centuries. Indeed, the crux of the nativism issue in America is the prevalent and recurring sense of needing to preserve the norm, the status quo, to the point that immigrants are seen as enemies—strangers who need to be kept out or kept down, the “devils beyond the city gates."

Nineteenth-century American nativists did not hide their contempt for foreigners. Perhaps some of... more Nineteenth-century American nativists did not hide their contempt for foreigners. Perhaps some of the more self-conscious nativists tried to sugar coat their sentiment or deny that their feelings were racist or xenophobic, even as their words were meant to expose immigrants' detrimental flaws-flaws that nativists assumed would mean the breakdown of the American nation. But these sorts of veils were thin at best. Nativist words and representations can never really be considered tolerable in the end, no matter how one tries to disguise them. In this chapter, we will dig into some of the common nativist representations of the Irish, discovering the themes of these representations and how these representations were disseminated. When one reads through nativist literature, one picks up two major themes amongst the nativist language. The first is that the Irish were not worthy of citizenship for several reasons, which will be examined below. The second theme in nativist literature to be discussed, and one that reverberates to this day about other immigrant groups is that the Irish were a problem to be solved. They were either a drain on society or a threat to it, creating an image of both a parasite and an intruder.