When the archive sings to you SNCC and the atmospheric politics of race

Through our engagement with the ‘Freedom Singers’, we advocate for approaching the archive through the racial politics of atmosphere to understand both the affective, emotion-laden practices of the past and the affective work carried out by contemporary researchers within the archive. This atmospher...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCultural geographies Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 361 - 368
Main Authors Inwood, Joshua FJ, Alderman, Derek H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE 01.04.2018
SAGE Publications
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Appreciation
Archives & records
Atmosphere
Civil rights
cultural geographies in practice
Freedoms
Politics
Race
Singers
Singing
atmosphere
race
affect
civil rights
emotional justice
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Through our engagement with the ‘Freedom Singers’, we advocate for approaching the archive through the racial politics of atmosphere to understand both the affective, emotion-laden practices of the past and the affective work carried out by contemporary researchers within the archive. This atmosphere provides an important pathway for identifying and analyzing the relationality and encounters that advance a fuller study of the black experience and define what (and who) constitutes critical actors in that story. The Freedom Singers and their politico-musical legacy, while lost to many members of the public and even many scholars, offer an important lesson in broadening our appreciation of civil rights practice, as well as the practice of archival research itself. This piece contributes to broader understandings of the archive as an affective space and the role of affect in analyzing archive materials.
ISSN:1474-4740
1477-0881
DOI:10.1177/1474474017739023