In this talk, based on 12-months of ethnographic fieldwork in Hong Kong, I examine the narratives of one of my interlocutors to discuss the contradictions related to social hierarchies that individuals in Chinese men-white women romantic relationships experience. Situating my research in the wider context of a changing political economy and in relation to the historical legacies of Hong Kong’s postcoloniality, I explain my rationale for juxtaposing “whiteness” and “Chineseness.” This also establishes the basis to rationalize and discuss the methodology used for the research. Interrogating the possibility and desirability of post-racial intimacies, I reflect on my interlocutors’ awareness of the historical legacies, meanings, and stereotypes attached to their intimate relationships, which leads them to envision their love as the symbol of better, alternative futures. At the same time, but somewhat paradoxically, the liberal ideal of an individualized romantic love demands a denial of the existing sociocultural hierarchies in favor of an abstract post-race humanism.

Speaker
Gabriella Angelini
Department of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Gabriella Angelini is an Anthropology Ph.D. Candidate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is the recipient of the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS). She has collaborated with online publications such as Il Caffè Geopolitico and WWAM Bam! Her research interests focus on transnational intimacies and the intersectionalities of race, gender, and class, examined through feminist and postcolonial theories, and integrating the use of critical autoethnography as a complement to the traditional methods of anthropological inquiry.