The Problem of Passing

Sandra Harvey is Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

"A masterful contribution in its indictment of our static and mono-directional understanding of 'passing' as an implied choice. Harvey's analysis is sharp, well written, and brings light to new ways of thinking about subjects as diverse as Black Lives Matter Movements to colonial studies and philosophy as 'passing zones' that seek to further eradicate the rights of Black, Indigenous and 'othered' subjects."-Andrew Jolivette, author of Indian Blood: HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco's Two-Spirit Community "Harvey's bountiful book zeros in on scenes of 'the hunt' and 'the stakeout' to argue that passing is of utmost concern for black life. In The Problem of Passing, the shadow of the modern knowing subject chases the fugitive and at times its own tail. The chords that Harvey strums in this formidable book about racial passing are both familiar and unusual. Harvey's book is essential reading for anyone concerned with surveillance and passing in the wake of chattel slavery."-Tiffany Lethabo King, author of The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies