Centering the “T”: Envisioning a Trans Jotería Pedagogy

Jack  Caraves

doi:10.24974/amae.14.2.364

Jack Caraves

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.364

Keywords: Jotería, pedagogy, trans-conocimiento

Abstract

In this piece, the author reflects on his Trans Chicanx identity and how his embodiment shapes his teaching and pedagogy. The author begins with a spoken word piece that captures his journey to his own trans-conocimiento. Then the author looks to the foundational work of Chicana/Latina Feminist pedagogies and transpedagogies to envision a trans jotería pedagogy that centers trans migrants—and trans women and people of color—that is grounded in disruption and vulnerability through the unsettling of borders and binaries tied to systems of power. In doing so, the author reflects on his trans jotería praxis in the classroom and through his podcast Anzaldúing It. The author concludes with looking to the tensions that arise when disruptions of systems of power are central to teaching and pedagogy and highlights the vulnerability necessary of both teacher and student to embark on consciousness raising and healing exchange.

Author Biography

Jack Caraves

Jack Caraves (he/him/they/them) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and teaches in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at San José State University. Using qualitative methods, Caraves’ work documents Trans Latinxs in Los Angeles and how gender variance, racism, xenophobia and classism work as axis of power to discipline and police Trans Latinx and Gender Non-Conforming bodies. Caraves’ research contributes to the dearth of empirical research on Trans Latinxs, primarily to understand how their social location shapes their relationship to themselves, families, communities, and the state while centering their resilience.