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University of Kent Occasional Distinguished Lecture Series 2006/07

6pm lecture – 8 November 2006

Sara Ahmed

Professor of Race and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College, London

The Promise of Happiness


Abstract: This paper explores how we are directed towards some objects more that others by the very promise of happiness. In other words, happiness is presumed to be 'what follows' proximity to certain objects, which is what makes these objects circulate as social goods, acquiring affective value, as necessary ingredients for a good life. The paper considers how certain bodies are seen as the origin of good and bad feeling, as well as 'who' or 'what' are read as converting bad feelings into good ones. Drawing on a reading of the film Bend it Like Beckham, the paper explores how multiculturalism is given positive affective value: the would-be-citizen who embraces the national game is rewarded with happiness. The film participates in a wider discourse that reads public speech about racism as melancholic, as the refusal to let go of suffering. The paper explores how this conversion between unhappy racism and multicultural happiness takes place, and in so doing, offers a critique of what we could call 'the affirmative turn'.

Supported by the Faculty of Social Sciences, followed by a drinks reception

Place: Grimond Lecture Theatre 2, University of Kent

For a campus map, please see: http://www.kent.ac.uk/maps/

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