ABSTRACT This article analyzes the experience of undocumented immigrants in the United States through José Esteban Muñoz’s conception of “brownness.” It begins by isolating and analyzing major features of brownness and then outlines how these play a role in the undocumented immigrant experience. Part of the analysis of Muñoz’s thought includes underscoring and expanding on the influence that Spinoza’s metaphysics has on his notion of brownness. Importantly, Muñoz’s “sense of brownness” culminate…
Read moreABSTRACT This article analyzes the experience of undocumented immigrants in the United States through José Esteban Muñoz’s conception of “brownness.” It begins by isolating and analyzing major features of brownness and then outlines how these play a role in the undocumented immigrant experience. Part of the analysis of Muñoz’s thought includes underscoring and expanding on the influence that Spinoza’s metaphysics has on his notion of brownness. Importantly, Muñoz’s “sense of brownness” culminates in highlighting the power of resistance that this minoritized position holds. Similarly, this article is a revalorization of the undocumented identity and experience, to not limit it to a passive position of victimhood, but to understand it as a potential source of powerful resistance.
