Shape Shifters: Journeys across Terrains of Race and Identity

Shape Shifters explores the fluid, ambiguous, contingent, multiple, and malleable mixed-race identities across time and space, highlighting the forces of migration, borderlands, trade, warfare, occupation, colonial imposition, and the creation and dissolution of states and empires.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 434 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2023
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Shape Shifter's is a captivating collection of essays that delve into the diverse experiences of individuals with mixed racial identities,spanning from the Roman and Chinese borderlands of classical antiquity to medieval Eurasian shape shifters,Native peoples of Spanish California,and African Americans in the post-civil rights era. Throughout their lives or across generations within their families, racial shape shifters have transitioned from one social context to another, often experiencing shifts in their identities as new social environments were imposed upon them.

Shape Shifters challenges the traditional binary categories of racial identification commonly found in insular discussions about mixed-race individuals. It recognizes these mixed-race identities as fluid, ambiguous, contingent, multiple, and malleable, acknowledging that they are shaped by a complex interplay of factors such as migration, borderlands, trade, warfare, occupation, colonial imposition, and the formation and dissolution of states and empires.

Contributions from renowned scholars like Ryan Abrecht, George J. Sánchez, Laura Moore, and Margaret Hunter, among others, enrich the book's insights. They explore the historical forces that have shaped the identification of mixed-race peoples across time and space, highlighting the contingent nature of their identities and the ways in which they have evolved in response to changing historical circumstances.

Through its comprehensive examination of mixed-race identities, Shape Shifters provides a valuable contribution to the field of race studies. It challenges preconceived notions and sheds light on the rich and complex tapestry of human experiences that arise from the intersection of race and culture. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the multifaceted nature of human identity and the enduring impact of historical forces on our understanding of race and society.

Weight: 658g
Dimension: 153 x 231 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496236876