Hidden in plain sight: defying juridical racialization in Rhinelander v. Rhinelander

Author: Nadine Ehlers

Source: Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Volume 1, Number 4, December 2004 , pp. 313-334(22)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $50.43 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

This article examines the intersectionality of law and race to argue that law, in its broadest understanding, has played a pivotal role in the performative constitution of racial subjects. This disciplinary regulation, which has operated to "fix" an individual within a racial status under law, has augmented the production of the individual as a raced subject. An analysis of Rhinelander v. Rhinelander, however, illuminates that a defiance of racial performative dictates can render "race" hidden in plain sight. This rendering represents an escape from the regulatory mechanisms of law, posing a counter-power that threatens to disturb hegemonic whiteness.

Keywords: Race; Anti-Miscegenation Law; Performativity; Discipline; Defiance

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1479142042000270458

Publication date: 2004-12-01