Term 2
GRSJ_V 350-201
Title: Joy as Resistance
Instructor: Dr. Isabel Machado
Description: Description: Joy seems to be everywhere these days, from activist affirmations to neoliberal co-optations. Defined by Kristie Soares as “both a scholarly field and an activist movement dedicated to examining how joy functions as a form of political resistance among minoritized communities,” Critical Joy Studies is still an emerging field. Looking at the works of Imani Perry, Lindsay Stewart, adrienne maree brown, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Miguel Valerio, among others, and using a special issue of the Journal of Festive Studies dedicated to “Joy as Resistance” as a starting point, we will look at how joy can fuel social movements and activate defiance and resistance while recognizing when joy can be understood as assimilation and accommodation, and be imposed as a tool to curtail and erase dissent. We will also think about how and when oppressed peoples need to ‘killjoy’ as a practice of resistance.