Hidden in plain sight: defying juridical racialization in Rhinelander v. Rhinelander

Authors

Nadine Ehlers, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

68931

Publication Details

Ehlers, N. 2004, 'Hidden in plain sight: defying juridical racialization in Rhinelander v. Rhinelander', Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 313-334.

Abstract

This article examines the intersectionality of law and race to argue that law, in its broadest understanding, has played a pivotal role in the performative constitution of racial subjects. This disciplinary regulation, which has operated to "fix" an individual within a racial status under law, has augmented the production of the individual as a raced subject. An analysis of Rhinelander v. Rhinelander, however, illuminates that a defiance of racial performative dictates can render "race" hidden in plain sight. This rendering represents an escape from the regulatory mechanisms of law, posing a counter-power that threatens to disturb hegemonic whiteness.