A logistical approach to diasporic return that explores the financial, trade, shipping, and land ... more A logistical approach to diasporic return that explores the financial, trade, shipping, and land acquisition strategies that led to the rise and fall of Chief Sam's African Movement (1912-1917). The article explains how the first generation of African Americans arrived in the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
Interview with undocumented activist Aly Wane for the 2019 special issue of Biography. "Biographi... more Interview with undocumented activist Aly Wane for the 2019 special issue of Biography. "Biographic Mediation: On The Uses of Personal Disclosure in Bureaucracy and Politics"
This special issue explores biographic mediation as a tool to analyze technical demands for perso... more This special issue explores biographic mediation as a tool to analyze technical demands for personal disclosure that affect earnings and overexposure to policing. Biographic mediation refers to institutional documentation of personal information to make decisions about who gets what and why, alongside public critiques and calls to action that feature personal narratives. The issue engages the dialectic between bureaucracy and politics, where institutional paperwork and public perception of applicants interact, making the case for exploring less visible linkages between paperwork and politics to better understand how biographic data operates within a political economy. Contributors include scholars and activists working to redefine the scope of rights that are narrowed on paper, while drawing attention to mechanisms for surveillance operating through biographic forms.
This article introduces a methodological approach called descendant epistemology, which builds kn... more This article introduces a methodological approach called descendant epistemology, which builds knowledge from questions posed by descendants or from the standpoint of relatedness. In dialogue with James Anquandah, Ghana's first archaeologist, I explore my relation to Alfred Charles Sam, an Akyem merchant and leader of a back-to-Africa movement who brought the first generation of African Americans to the Gold Coast (Ghana) during World War I. Complementing interviews Anquandah conducted with descendants in the 1970s, the article argues for the central importance of kinship to movement strategy, revising the narrative of fraud and failure that has shaped US media accounts of the African Movement and restoring the first generation of US migrants to Ghanaian immigration history.
This article offers a theory of biographic mediation to explain how life stories become the defau... more This article offers a theory of biographic mediation to explain how life stories become the default mode of accessing institutional support for education. The case study explores the technical process that links ideological and personal narratives in the development of the Horatio Alger scholarship program, while also accounting for institutional change provoked by applicant disclosures.
A conceptual proposal for investigating the uses of personal information in application forms in ... more A conceptual proposal for investigating the uses of personal information in application forms in terms of "biographic mediation". Contribution to the special forum on "What's Next in Auto/Biography Studies".
Roundtable discussion with Rabab Abdulhadi, Ahmad Abuznaid, Ebony Coletu, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Che... more Roundtable discussion with Rabab Abdulhadi, Ahmad Abuznaid, Ebony Coletu, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Che Gossett, Sarah Ihmoud, Robin D.G. Kelley, Aja Monet, Donna Murch, Nadine Naber, Jared Sexton, Nadera Shalhoub, moderated by Noura Erakat.
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive c... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, Forms of submission: Acts of writing in moments of need. by Coletu, Ebony EA, Ph.D., STANFORD UNIVERSITY, 2008, 190 pages; 3292335 ...
A logistical approach to diasporic return that explores the financial, trade, shipping, and land ... more A logistical approach to diasporic return that explores the financial, trade, shipping, and land acquisition strategies that led to the rise and fall of Chief Sam's African Movement (1912-1917). The article explains how the first generation of African Americans arrived in the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
Interview with undocumented activist Aly Wane for the 2019 special issue of Biography. "Biographi... more Interview with undocumented activist Aly Wane for the 2019 special issue of Biography. "Biographic Mediation: On The Uses of Personal Disclosure in Bureaucracy and Politics"
This special issue explores biographic mediation as a tool to analyze technical demands for perso... more This special issue explores biographic mediation as a tool to analyze technical demands for personal disclosure that affect earnings and overexposure to policing. Biographic mediation refers to institutional documentation of personal information to make decisions about who gets what and why, alongside public critiques and calls to action that feature personal narratives. The issue engages the dialectic between bureaucracy and politics, where institutional paperwork and public perception of applicants interact, making the case for exploring less visible linkages between paperwork and politics to better understand how biographic data operates within a political economy. Contributors include scholars and activists working to redefine the scope of rights that are narrowed on paper, while drawing attention to mechanisms for surveillance operating through biographic forms.
This article introduces a methodological approach called descendant epistemology, which builds kn... more This article introduces a methodological approach called descendant epistemology, which builds knowledge from questions posed by descendants or from the standpoint of relatedness. In dialogue with James Anquandah, Ghana's first archaeologist, I explore my relation to Alfred Charles Sam, an Akyem merchant and leader of a back-to-Africa movement who brought the first generation of African Americans to the Gold Coast (Ghana) during World War I. Complementing interviews Anquandah conducted with descendants in the 1970s, the article argues for the central importance of kinship to movement strategy, revising the narrative of fraud and failure that has shaped US media accounts of the African Movement and restoring the first generation of US migrants to Ghanaian immigration history.
This article offers a theory of biographic mediation to explain how life stories become the defau... more This article offers a theory of biographic mediation to explain how life stories become the default mode of accessing institutional support for education. The case study explores the technical process that links ideological and personal narratives in the development of the Horatio Alger scholarship program, while also accounting for institutional change provoked by applicant disclosures.
A conceptual proposal for investigating the uses of personal information in application forms in ... more A conceptual proposal for investigating the uses of personal information in application forms in terms of "biographic mediation". Contribution to the special forum on "What's Next in Auto/Biography Studies".
Roundtable discussion with Rabab Abdulhadi, Ahmad Abuznaid, Ebony Coletu, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Che... more Roundtable discussion with Rabab Abdulhadi, Ahmad Abuznaid, Ebony Coletu, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Che Gossett, Sarah Ihmoud, Robin D.G. Kelley, Aja Monet, Donna Murch, Nadine Naber, Jared Sexton, Nadera Shalhoub, moderated by Noura Erakat.
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive c... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, Forms of submission: Acts of writing in moments of need. by Coletu, Ebony EA, Ph.D., STANFORD UNIVERSITY, 2008, 190 pages; 3292335 ...
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