Skip to main content

Racializing Space, Gendering Place: Intersectional Challenges in Gaming Research.

Date:
Location:
Whitehall CB 118
Speaker(s) / Presenter(s):
Dr. Kishonna Gray

Utilizing Nirmal Puwar’s concept of space invaders, I explore the interconnected relationship between space and bodies, wherein specifically minoritized populations are stigmatized and framed as deviant when they are occupying spaces constructed by and for privileged bodies. The concept of digital space invaders refers to the process wherein minority bodies residing in institutionalized spaces are considered to be out of place, becoming ‘space invaders’, disrupting spaces and locations ‘which have not been “reserved” for them’. In the current context, I utilize the metaphor of the space invader to consider Black women’s occupation in digital gaming communities. Employing both Black feminist traditions with ‘post’- colonial feminisms, I draw connections in how these women are perceived, exploring the reproduction of deeply rooted prejudices and colonial legacies expressed in territorial concepts of belonging.