Rieger Speaker Series presentation next week: Dr. Victor Ray will present on March 2 (6 PM)

As part of the 2022 Jon H. Rieger Speaker Series, Dr. Victor Ray will present "Racialized Burdens: Applying Racialized Organization Theory to the Administrative State," on March 2, at 6 PM in BAB 218 (with an option to attend via Zoom).  Dr. Ray is an associate professor of sociology and criminology and African American studies at the University of Iowa, as well as a nonresident fellow at The Brookings Institute, and his research applies critical race theory to classic sociological questions - and an abstract of his presentation reads:

This paper develops the concept of racialized burdens as a means of examining the role of race in administrative practice. Racialized burdens are the experience of learning, compliance and psychological costs, which serve as inequality reproducing mechanisms. To develop this concept, we examine the role of administrative burdens in the US state from the theoretical perspective of racialized organizations. Using examples from attempts to access citizenship rights – via immigration, voting and the social safety net – we illustrate some key points. First, racialized burdens combine access to resources and ideas about racial groups in ways that typically disadvantage racially marginalized groups. Second, while still promising fair and equal treatment, racially disproportionate burdens can be laundered through facially neutral rules and via claims that burdens are necessary for unrelated reasons. Third, racialized burdens emerge when more explicit forms of racial bias in policies or administrative practices become illegal, politically untenable or culturally unacceptable. Racialized burdens neatly carry out the “how” in the production of racial inequality while concealing, or providing an alibi for, the “why.”

The event is free and open to the University community, but those planning to attend Dr. Ray's presentation both in-person or via Zoom should register in advance here.