Nikki Payne

 My research investigates the correlation between practices which I call technologies of whitening (includes hair-straightening skin-lightening and rhinoplasty) and citizenship in the Dominican Republic. How does “looking Dominican” (read: not black) affect ones access to certain social and physical spaces? How does the ascription of certain individuals as ugly or beautiful delineate their space, and do technologies of whitening then help citizens circumvent such socio-spatial restrictions.

 I will  be in the field in January 2010