I was absolutely struck by Thomas’ use of reparations as a framework for\u00a0thinking through the social conditions that she witnesses. I had to read the paragraph that introduced it a few times, as I initially struggled to conceive of how reparations could be operationalized as a way to think through anything. It led me to think through Tuck’s and Yang’s “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor”… if we use reparations as a theoretical tool, do we risk undermining the legitimacy of the real need for wealth redistribution? However, Thomas’ further explanation on page 6\u00a0brought the framework of reparations\u00a0to connect with ideas of citizenship and sovereignty. The notion of a transnational, international movement towards reparations is striking, but that isn’t quite where Thomas took us. I appreciate the sentiment that the reparations framework would help us think through the centrality of slavery across the Americas, but I still hesitate in thinking about our adoption of calls for action into an abstracted way of thinking about contemporary social forces… interested to hear how y’all grappled with this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was absolutely struck by Thomas’ use of reparations as a framework for\u00a0thinking through the social conditions that she witnesses. I had to read the paragraph that introduced it a few times, as I initially struggled to conceive of how … Continue reading