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Experiencing Difference

Experiencing Difference

Difference is a fundamental aspect of our human existence. This anthology emerges from the editor’s attempts to navigate the complex, variable and unpredictable materiality of difference.

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About the book

Difference is a fundamental aspect of our human existence. This anthology emerges from the editor’s attempts to navigate the complex, variable and unpredictable materiality of difference. The contributors present the various ways in which difference is experienced, interpreted and articulated. They tell of when and how they are named and/or recognized as different by others, and of their own naming and recognition of themselves as different. The essays show that gender, social class, ethnicity, race, region, appearance, dis/ability, sexuality, twin-ness, age, religion and occupational status are experienced and lived in multiple, complicated and contradictory ways. How the writers and others make sense of their differences is related to context, space and interaction. Difference, then, as the essays demonstrate, is relational, fluid, multiple and contextual, and therefore must be thought of in complex ways. Contributors have written in different styles and genres, which represent their respective voices and preferences. Through essays, written in narrative, journalistic and academic forms, short stories, letters, conversations and dialogues-contributors thoughtfully communicate their stories in ways that will maintain interest and attention, as well as facilitate an appreciation of the layered complexities of difference.

Race & Anti-Racism

Author

Carl E. James

Carl E. James holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University, where he teaches in the Faculty of Education and in the Graduate Program in Sociology. For many years, he taught annually in the Teacher Training Department at Upsala University, Sweden. With an interdisciplinary lens, he explores how race intersects with other identity markers – like ethnicity, gender, class, generational status, etc. – to shape individuals’ experiences and life trajectories. A Distinguished Research Professor and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he also holds the 2022 Killam Prize in Social Sciences, the Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), and honorary doctorates. With the belief that that longitudinal studies provide significant, in-depth and valuable insights into people’s lived realities, Carl often conducts follow-up studies with research participants — one of which is represented in the short NFB film Making It. In his work, he highlights the significant ways in which economic, social, and cultural conditions structure institutional policies, programs, and practices which mediate the educational, employment, and career opportunities and achievements of Canadian youth. He seeks to move us beyond the essentialist and homogenizing discourses that are used in the representation of racialized.