Racialization/ethnicization of school emotional spaces: the politics of resentment

Abstract

The present article explores how emotional spaces are racialized and ethnicized in a multicultural elementary school in Cyprus through the majoritized group’s feelings of resentment. The data for this article are drawn from a two‐month ethnographic study at this school in which the students enrolled come from the two historically conflicting groups on the island, that is, Greek Cypriots (the majoritized group) and Turkish‐speaking students (the minoritized group). In light of the political problem in Cyprus and the ongoing conflict between these groups, the study investigates the emotions that Greek‐Cypriot students and teachers express about Turkish‐speaking children and the material implications of school policies and teachers’ practices on minoritized children’s lives. The study shows the ways in which the racialization/ethnicization of school emotional spaces contributes to the constitution of an affective economy of resentment towards Turkish‐speaking students and discusses how the emotional culture of resentment feeds school discourses, policies, and practices.

Keywords:

• resentment
• racialization
• ethnicization
• emotions
• elementary schools
• Cyprus

Notes

1. The term ‘Turkish‐speaking’ is purposely used here because it includes both Turkish Cypriots and Roma. It is not always easy to distinguish who is ‘ethnically’ Turkish Cypriot and who is Roma (see Trimikliniotis and Demetriou 2009); therefore, the term ‘Turkish‐speaking’ is preferred to refer to all Turkish‐speaking groups.

2. This case study is part of a larger two‐year ethnographic project that includes three multicultural elementary schools and one multicultural secondary school.

3. Pseudonyms are used for individuals and locations to protect anonymity.