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Knowing How to Feel: Racism, Resilience, and Affective Resistance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2021

Taylor Rogers Open the ORCID record for Taylor Rogers [Opens in a new window]
Taylor Rogers*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Loyola Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
*
Corresponding author. trogers11@luc.edu
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Abstract

This article explores the affective dimension of resilient epistemological systems. Specifically, I argue that responsible epistemic practice requires affective engagement with nondominant experiences. To begin, I outline Kristie Dotson's account of epistemological resilience whereby an epistemological system remains stable despite counterevidence or attempts to alter it. Then, I develop an account of affective numbness. As I argue, affective numbness can promote epistemological resilience in at least two ways. First, it can reinforce harmful stereotypes even after these stereotypes have been rationally demystified. To illustrate, I examine the stereotype of Black criminality as it relates to false confessions (Lackey 2018). Second, it can encourage “epistemic appropriation” (Davis 2018), which I demonstrate by examining the appropriation of “intersectionality” and #MeToo by white culture. Finally, I conclude that resisting harmful resilience requires affective resistance, or efforts that target numbness via different kinds of affective engagement. I consider Kantian “disinterestedness” as a candidate.

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Hypatia , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , Fall 2021 , pp. 725 - 747
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hypatia, a Nonprofit Corporation

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