Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming

In Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming, Kishonna L. Gray examines how blackness intersects with race, gender, sexuality, and (dis)ability in gaming, highlighting the chains that bind marginalized populations to stereotypical frames and limited narratives. She argues that the normalization of whiteness and masculinity in digital culture leads to isolation, exclusion, and punishment of marginalized people, and that individual struggles of prejudice, discrimination, and microaggressions must be examined within larger institutional practices. Gray explores the capacity for gaming culture to foster critical consciousness, aid in participatory democracy, and effect social change, centering the perspectives that are often ignored and providing a critical corrective to notions of gaming as a predominantly white and male space.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 222 pages
Publication date: 30 September 2020
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press

In her groundbreaking book, Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming, Kishonna L. Gray delves deep into the complex and multifaceted issue of blackness in the world of gaming, examining how it intersects with race, gender, sexuality, and (dis)ability. Gray's argument is situated within the broader context of the concurrent events of Gamergate and the Black Lives Matter movement, highlighting the undeniable connections that bind marginalized populations to stereotypical frames and limited narratives in video games.

Intersectional Tech explores the ways in which the diverse identities of black gamers, both visible and concealed within the gaming world, shape their experiences. It sheds light on the pervasive normalization of whiteness and masculinity in digital culture, which often leads to isolation, exclusion, and discrimination of marginalized individuals. However, Gray argues that we must also examine the individual struggles of prejudice, discrimination, and microaggressions within larger institutional practices that perpetuate oppression. These new forms of racism, accompanied by a complementary colorblind ideology, constitute a digital Jim Crow, a modern iteration of the same strategies of oppression that have targeted black communities throughout American history.

Gray's book is grounded in extensive interviews that engage critically with identity development and justice issues in gaming. Through these interviews, she explores the potential of gaming culture to foster critical consciousness, contribute to participatory democracy, and drive social change. Intersectional Tech emphasizes the experiences of marginalized members within gaming culture, revealing that despite the truths articulated by those who expose the sexism, racism, misogyny, and homophobia that are prevalent within gaming communities, hegemonic narratives continue to be privileged.

This text serves as a powerful counterpoint to the dominant narratives in gaming, centering the perspectives that are often overlooked and marginalized. Gray's work highlights the need for greater diversity, inclusivity, and representation in the gaming industry, and for the industry to address the systemic issues that perpetuate discrimination and oppression. By doing so, gaming can become a more equitable and inclusive space for all players, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, or (dis)ability.

Weight: 296g
Dimension: 140 x 215 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780807174555