Coloristic Human Categorization. Fair Skin in- and outside of Africa (A01)

• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442261292

The project juxtaposes two cases of fair skin in postcolonial contexts between Africa and Europe: Africans with albinism, who are, thus, targets of stigma, and people with normal skin pigmentation who artificially lighten their skin, which is considered to be attractive. The project aims to study the (de-)thematization, signification, and presentation of skin colour in everyday life and in social media. Ultimately, the comparison of the two empirical cases under study with further cases of coloristic human categorization targets a post-racial reconceptualization of skin colour as a flexible marker of human categorization.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1482: Studies in Human Categorization
• Applicant Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Matthias Krings