About this Research Topic
Colourism, the prejudice in which people with dark skin experience greater discrimination than people from the same ethnicity with lighter skin shades, can occur both within and between racialised groups. In colourism, minoritised ethnic people also experience greater discrimination the further their features are from those associated with whiteness. Colourism can have an impact on all areas of minoritised ethnic people's lives, including: educational achievement, employment opportunities, relationship opportunities, health experiences and experiences of the criminal justice system. It has such a profound impact on life chances that some minoritised ethnic people/global majority people resort to skin lightening practices and/or cosmetic surgery to benefit from the privileges associated with light skin and Eurocentric features.
This Research Topic seeks to raise awareness about colourism and the ways in which skin shade prejudice affects minoritised ethnic people in different geographic regions. It aims to highlight similarities and differences within and between countries. It brings together articles by scholars in different parts of the world to examine the experiences of those who benefit from light skin privilege, as well as those subjected to dark skin penalties. We seek to explore a range of issues, including the processes through which colourism is reproduced and sustained and theorisations of colourism and how it operates. The article collection will, in addition, explore different approaches to addressing colourism and ideas about how to challenge the prejudice. Papers are invited across the methodological spectrum, including quantitative work that examines how colourism affects particular populations and qualitative work that considers the effects of colourism in depth.
We are interested in articles that examine colourism among Asian, Black, Latin American, Middle Eastern and South Asian people and other people from minoritised ethnic/global majority backgrounds. We encourage the submission of articles that examine experiences of colourism in white majority countries and those that explore experiences in African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries. Comparative articles that explore colourism in different countries/geographical regions would also be valuable.
The possible topics we would like to see explored include (but are not limited to):
• Colourism in the family;
• Colourism among young people;
• Colourism and relationship formation;
• Colourism and employment;
• Colourism and social class;
• Colourism and the criminal justice system;
• Colourism and health;
• Colourism and reproductive health, e.g. fertility treatment.
This Research Topic seeks to raise awareness about colourism and the ways in which skin shade prejudice affects minoritised ethnic people in different geographic regions. It aims to highlight similarities and differences within and between countries. It brings together articles by scholars in different parts of the world to examine the experiences of those who benefit from light skin privilege, as well as those subjected to dark skin penalties. We seek to explore a range of issues, including the processes through which colourism is reproduced and sustained and theorisations of colourism and how it operates. The article collection will, in addition, explore different approaches to addressing colourism and ideas about how to challenge the prejudice. Papers are invited across the methodological spectrum, including quantitative work that examines how colourism affects particular populations and qualitative work that considers the effects of colourism in depth.
We are interested in articles that examine colourism among Asian, Black, Latin American, Middle Eastern and South Asian people and other people from minoritised ethnic/global majority backgrounds. We encourage the submission of articles that examine experiences of colourism in white majority countries and those that explore experiences in African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries. Comparative articles that explore colourism in different countries/geographical regions would also be valuable.
The possible topics we would like to see explored include (but are not limited to):
• Colourism in the family;
• Colourism among young people;
• Colourism and relationship formation;
• Colourism and employment;
• Colourism and social class;
• Colourism and the criminal justice system;
• Colourism and health;
• Colourism and reproductive health, e.g. fertility treatment.
Keywords: Intersectionality, Light Skin Privilege, Prejudice, Skin Shade, Skin Shade Capital
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
