Joseph Guzman

Joseph Guzman's research focuses on dynamics of race and class among African Americans and their social organizations. Through an ongoing ethnography of a Black social club I examine how sociability shapes the construction of Black masculinity and the tensions of navigating race- and class-based identities at the small group level and in relation to the larger Black community. In terms of economic and political mobilization, I use archival methods to examine how organizational and contextual dynamics affect the emergence, persistence, and decline of local civil rights organizations. At the communal level my sociohistorical work explores the urban projects of Bronzevilles. Specifically, I examine the emergence of Bronzeville as a concept, the influence of class, gender, and status (e.g., regional, skin tone) dynamics on its development, and how it ultimately transcended local circumstances.