Amy Jo Murray
Biographic Data
| ID | 209652 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amy Jo Murray |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amy Jo |
| FAMILY NAME | Murray |
| SIGNATURE | MURRAY A J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2438-3507 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Considering Discursive Absence as Resonance
Discourse contains both presences and absences, conveying meaning by what is said and what remains unsaid. Discursive absences make for challenging analysis because the unsaid is slippery by design. This paper looks at questions of rigour (How would you study absence?) and morality (Why would you study absence?) to make a case for qualitative studies of discursive absence. To conduct convincing studies of discursive absence, we propose a complime…
I hardly see the husband”
Feminist scholars have focused on paid domestic labour as a site of gendered inequalities structured by race, gender, class, and citizenship. However, men are largely absent from feminist intersectional understandings of everyday interactions within paid domestic labour. This paper draws on an interview study of South African domestic workers focusing on their talk about interactions with male employers. The analysis demonstrates that talk about …
The haunting quality of racism
Anti-racism has nurtured many visions of post-racism futures. All this talk and political action relies on and reproduces discourses of racism. While much of this discursive force lies in what is said, we argue that a haunting quality of racism may arise from what is unsaid. This includes the multifarious points of connection between the present and the past. We are all implicated, albeit unevenly. This article describes the phenomenon of spectra…
Maintaining the Status Quo through Repressed Silences
As competent social actors, we individually and collectively leave things unsaid that might threaten to disrupt the status quo. In this article, we outline an understanding of the unsaid and extend its implications to include what we call 'repressed silences' or silences about which we do not speak. Drawing on a diary-interview study involving five domestic labour dyads comprised of a white employer and a black worker, we examine silences topical…
Buttressing Whiteness by Confessing Guilt and Rejecting Racism
This article makes a contribution to literature on “white-talk”. Existing literature shows how whiteness has been defended by criticizing black people, culture and government in subtle (and not so subtle) ways that allow speakers to deny racism. In contrast to denial, we focus on how white South Africans confess to feeling guilty for their privilege in comparison with their domestic workers. Confessions of guilt are ways of taking ownership of wh…
Torchbearers Forging Indigenous Pathways
Wétiko is a Cree term whose literal translation is cannibalism, an act of violent aggression. This term encapsulates the divisive forces that have infected the Americas for over 500 years, resulting in generational cultural trauma, and dehumanization of all who are subjected to its modern manifestations. It is analogous to an oppressive pandemic whose symptoms include racism, xenophobia, self-hatred, and despair. Despite the persistent forces of …
Qualitative Studies of Silence
Qualitative Studies of Silence brings together influential qualitative researchers from across the social sciences and humanities who have sought to understand the power of what remains unsaid, both psychologically and socially. Each chapter identifies one or more signs of silence and explains how these can form the basis of a rigorous qualitative investigation. The authors also demonstrate how silences operate in our private and collective lives…
The Wisdom of and Science behind Indigenous Cultural Practices
Conquest and colonization have systematically disrupted the processes by which Indigenous communities of the Americas transmit cultural knowledge and practices from one generation to the next. Even today, the extended arm of conquest and colonization that sustain oppression and culturicide continue to inflict trauma upon Indigenous people. Yet, current scientific research now attests to how Indigenous cultural practices promote healing and well-b…
Qualitative Studies of Silence
Qualitative Studies of Silence brings together influential qualitative researchers from across the social sciences and humanities who have sought to understand the power of what remains unsaid, both psychologically and socially. Each chapter identifies one or more signs of silence and explains how these can form the basis of a rigorous qualitative investigation. The authors also demonstrate how silences operate in our private and collective lives…
There was much that went unspoken
Domestic labour in South Africa has historically been a site of racial inequality which has continued into the post-apartheid era despite extensive transformation efforts. This article argues that silence presents an avenue for understanding how such racial hierarchy has persisted. We present a qualitative case study of a domestic labour dyad utilising the diary-interview method to analyse the presentation of labour troubles and the perceptions, …
There was much that went unspoken
Domestic labour in South Africa has historically been a site of racial inequality which has continued into the post-apartheid era despite extensive transformation efforts. This article argues that silence presents an avenue for understanding how such racial hierarchy has persisted. We present a qualitative case study of a domestic labour dyad utilising the diary-interview method to analyse the presentation of labour troubles and the perceptions, …
Maintaining the Status Quo through Repressed Silences
As competent social actors, we individually and collectively leave things unsaid that might threaten to disrupt the status quo. In this article, we outline an understanding of the unsaid and extend its implications to include what we call 'repressed silences' or silences about which we do not speak. Drawing on a diary-interview study involving five domestic labour dyads comprised of a white employer and a black worker, we examine silences topical…
I hardly see the husband”
Feminist scholars have focused on paid domestic labour as a site of gendered inequalities structured by race, gender, class, and citizenship. However, men are largely absent from feminist intersectional understandings of everyday interactions within paid domestic labour. This paper draws on an interview study of South African domestic workers focusing on their talk about interactions with male employers. The analysis demonstrates that talk about …
The Wisdom of and Science behind Indigenous Cultural Practices
Conquest and colonization have systematically disrupted the processes by which Indigenous communities of the Americas transmit cultural knowledge and practices from one generation to the next. Even today, the extended arm of conquest and colonization that sustain oppression and culturicide continue to inflict trauma upon Indigenous people. Yet, current scientific research now attests to how Indigenous cultural practices promote healing and well-b…
Qualitative Studies of Silence
Qualitative Studies of Silence brings together influential qualitative researchers from across the social sciences and humanities who have sought to understand the power of what remains unsaid, both psychologically and socially. Each chapter identifies one or more signs of silence and explains how these can form the basis of a rigorous qualitative investigation. The authors also demonstrate how silences operate in our private and collective lives…
The Wisdom of and Science behind Indigenous Cultural Practices
Conquest and colonization have systematically disrupted the processes by which Indigenous communities of the Americas transmit cultural knowledge and practices from one generation to the next. Even today, the extended arm of conquest and colonization that sustain oppression and culturicide continue to inflict trauma upon Indigenous people. Yet, current scientific research now attests to how Indigenous cultural practices promote healing and well-b…
Qualitative Studies of Silence
Qualitative Studies of Silence brings together influential qualitative researchers from across the social sciences and humanities who have sought to understand the power of what remains unsaid, both psychologically and socially. Each chapter identifies one or more signs of silence and explains how these can form the basis of a rigorous qualitative investigation. The authors also demonstrate how silences operate in our private and collective lives…
There was much that went unspoken
Domestic labour in South Africa has historically been a site of racial inequality which has continued into the post-apartheid era despite extensive transformation efforts. This article argues that silence presents an avenue for understanding how such racial hierarchy has persisted. We present a qualitative case study of a domestic labour dyad utilising the diary-interview method to analyse the presentation of labour troubles and the perceptions, …
Buttressing Whiteness by Confessing Guilt and Rejecting Racism
This article makes a contribution to literature on “white-talk”. Existing literature shows how whiteness has been defended by criticizing black people, culture and government in subtle (and not so subtle) ways that allow speakers to deny racism. In contrast to denial, we focus on how white South Africans confess to feeling guilty for their privilege in comparison with their domestic workers. Confessions of guilt are ways of taking ownership of wh…
Torchbearers Forging Indigenous Pathways
Wétiko is a Cree term whose literal translation is cannibalism, an act of violent aggression. This term encapsulates the divisive forces that have infected the Americas for over 500 years, resulting in generational cultural trauma, and dehumanization of all who are subjected to its modern manifestations. It is analogous to an oppressive pandemic whose symptoms include racism, xenophobia, self-hatred, and despair. Despite the persistent forces of …
Maintaining the Status Quo through Repressed Silences
As competent social actors, we individually and collectively leave things unsaid that might threaten to disrupt the status quo. In this article, we outline an understanding of the unsaid and extend its implications to include what we call 'repressed silences' or silences about which we do not speak. Drawing on a diary-interview study involving five domestic labour dyads comprised of a white employer and a black worker, we examine silences topical…
The haunting quality of racism
Anti-racism has nurtured many visions of post-racism futures. All this talk and political action relies on and reproduces discourses of racism. While much of this discursive force lies in what is said, we argue that a haunting quality of racism may arise from what is unsaid. This includes the multifarious points of connection between the present and the past. We are all implicated, albeit unevenly. This article describes the phenomenon of spectra…
I hardly see the husband”
Feminist scholars have focused on paid domestic labour as a site of gendered inequalities structured by race, gender, class, and citizenship. However, men are largely absent from feminist intersectional understandings of everyday interactions within paid domestic labour. This paper draws on an interview study of South African domestic workers focusing on their talk about interactions with male employers. The analysis demonstrates that talk about …
Considering Discursive Absence as Resonance
Discourse contains both presences and absences, conveying meaning by what is said and what remains unsaid. Discursive absences make for challenging analysis because the unsaid is slippery by design. This paper looks at questions of rigour (How would you study absence?) and morality (Why would you study absence?) to make a case for qualitative studies of discursive absence. To conduct convincing studies of discursive absence, we propose a complime…
Sociology (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Law (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Gender Studies (3 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Silence (3 works)