Books
Ioanide, Paula. The Emotional Politics of Racism: When Feelings Trump Facts in an Era of Colorblindness. Stanford University Press, 2015
Paula’s debut book, The Emotional Politics of Racism: How Feelings Trump Facts in an Era of Colorblindness, published by Stanford University Press, and named one of the Ten Must-Read Academic Books by Flavorwire.
By examining the role of public emotions in contemporary instances of racial violence and discrimination, this book argues that public feelings particular social issues often trump what empirical facts say about these issues. Thus, in understanding and challenging systemic discrimination, it is critical not only to take the unique logics of public feelings seriously but to learn to cultivate emotional economies that are supportive of equitable and inclusive systems change.
"The Emotional Politics of Racism is a sustained act of ethical witnessing. Paula Ioanide offers fresh insights into the relationship between social order and alienation, showing the interrelation of explanatory and affective modes that perpetuate gendered racial hierarchy. A must read for all students of racial capitalism."
—Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California
Read more here.
Along with Dr. Felice Blake and Dr. Alison Reed, Paula co-edited an anthology titled Antiracism Inc.: Why the Way We Talk about Racial Justice Matters (Punctum Books) about new ways of struggling toward racial justice in a world that constantly misuses antiracist ideas and practices.
Featuring scholars, poets, and activists, the collection seeks to address the growing phenomenon of appropriating, incorporating, and neutralizing antiracist discourses to perpetuate injustice.
In addition to critical essays by Felice Blake (“How Does Black Cultural Criticism ‘Work’ in the Age of Antiracist Incorporation?”), Kevin Fellezs (“Nahenahe (Soft, Sweet, Melodious), the Sound of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) Refusal”), Daniel Martinez HoSang (“A Wider Type of Freedom”), Paula Ioanide (“Defensive Appropriations”), George Lipsitz (“The Logic of ‘Illogical’ Opposition: Tools and Tactics for Tough Times”), Alison Reed (“Gentrifying Disciplines: The Institutional Management of Trauma and Creative Dissent”), Phia S. Salter + Glenn Adams (“Provisional Strategies for Decolonizing Consciousness”), and Barbara Tomlinson (“Wicked Problems and Intersectionality Telephone”), the volume also includes poetry by Dubian Ade, Jari Bradley, Dahlak Brathwaite, Corinne Contreras, Ebony P. Donnley, Colin Masashi Ehara, David Scott (YDS), Daniel Hershel Silber-Baker, and Sophia Terazawa, as well as interviews with Diana Zuñiga (CURB, Californians United for a Responsible Budget) and with Gaby Hernandez and Marissa Garcia (PODER, People Organizing for the Defense and Equal Rights of Santa Barbara Youth).
Blake, Felice; Reed, Allison; Ioanide, Paula. Antiracism Inc, Why the Way We Talk About Racial Justice Matters. Punctum Books. 2019.
Assessment Reports
Paula has spent her career applying her skills in social and behavioral science to real-world problems. Focused on building increasingly equitable and inclusive systems that reduce barriers and expand opportunities for all, Paula brings a unique mix of scientific rigor, strategic facilitation, and implementation delivery to people who want to do good in the world but may need a little help moving from the seed of a great idea to the outcomes of real change. Paula specializes in the fields of criminal justice (from policing to post-incarceration reentry), housing, and health services.
May 21, 2025: Principal Investigator & Author, “Alternatives to Incarceration & Reentry in Westchester County, NY,” Center for Community Alternatives and Pace University Law School. Funding provided by Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York State.
May 15, 2025: Principal Investigator & Contributing Author, “BART Fare Enforcement: Balancing Goals, Community Concerns, and Human Costs,” Center for Policing Equity in partnership with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
May 13, 2025: Co-Principal Investigator & Lead Author, “Sunflower Houses: Qualitative Assessment Report,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and Cornell University Center for Social Sciences.
Feb 17, 2025: Principal Investigator & Contributing Author, “Improving Outcomes for Contra Costa Public Defender Clients,” Public Safety Innovations, Center for Policing Equity in partnership with Contra Costa County Public Defender Office, California.
Feb 13, 2025: Principal Investigator, Strategic Consultant, & Lead Author, “Second Chance Hiring: A Case Study of URO’s Beyond the Box Initiative,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School.
Feb 22, 2024: Co-Principal Investigator & Author, “Sunflower Houses Assessment Report, 2022-2023: A Transitional Housing First, Restorative Justice Model in Tompkins County, NY,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and Cornell University Center for Social Sciences.
Oct 23, 2023: Contributing Author, “Redesigning Public Safety in the City of St. Louis: A Progress Report,” Public Safety Innovations, Center for Policing Equity.
March 2024: Co-Principal Investigator & Sole Author, “Systemic Barriers to Successful Reentry in Tompkins County: Employment Report,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, Cornell University.
Sept 2022: Co-Principal Investigator & Author, “Systemic Barriers to Successful Reentry in Tompkins County: Health Report,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, Cornell University.
Oct 2021: Co-Principal Investigator & Author, “Systemic Barriers to Successful Reentry in Tompkins County: Housing Report,” Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Funding provided by Tompkins County and the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, Cornell University.
2021: “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Homeless Population of Cattaraugus County,” Report Commissioned by Balance of State/Continuum of Care of Cattaraugus County, New York.
2020: “Costs of Youth Incarceration,” Report Commissioned by Judge Marjorie Olds for NYS Reentry Taskforce.
Scholarly Work
“Kalfou Danjere: Dangerous Crossroads and the Keys to the Kingdom” in KALFOU, Vol. 12, Issue 1, Spring 2026. In production.
Revised Reprint: “Black People Would Make It If They Just Worked Hard”: The Myth of Meritocracy” in Getting Real About Race: Hoodies, Mascots, Model Minorities, and Other Conversations, eds. Stephanie M. McClure, Cherise A. Harris, and James Bridgeforth, 4rd Edition, Sage Publications, 2026. In production.
“Police Brutality in 1990s New York City: The Scars of Zero Tolerance and Community Struggles for Justice” in History of Police Brutality in America. Routledge, 2023.
Apocalyptic Fears in a Time of Dying (of) Whiteness. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 35(4), 323–348. https://doi.org/10.5325/jspecphil.35.4.0323
Revised Reprint: “Black People Would Make It If They Just Worked Hard”: The Myth of Meritocracy” in Getting Real About Race: Hoodies, Mascots, Model Minorities, and Other Conversations, eds. Stephanie M. McClure and Cherise A. Harris, 3rd Edition, Sage Publications, 2021.
“Negotiating Privileged Students’ Affective Resistances: Why a Pedagogy of Emotional Engagement is Necessary” in Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness Across the Disciplines, eds. Kimberle Crenshaw, Luke Harris, Daniel HoSang and George Lipsitz. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2019.
"Why Did the White Woman Cross the Street?" Cultural Countermeasures against Affective Racism, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 20, No. 2, April-June 2018, pp.198–221. doi: 10.1080/10999949.2018.1434376
“‘Obama Say Blacks Should Just Work Harder, Isn’t That Right?’: The Myth of Meritocracy” in Getting Real About Race: Hoodies, Mascots, Model Minorities, and Other Conversations, edited by Stephanie M. McClure and Cherise A. Harris, 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, 2016.
“The Alchemy of Race and Affect: ‘White Innocence’ and Public Secrecy in the Post-Civil Rights Era,” in Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring 2014.
“A Response to Ben Pitcher's 'Obama and the Politics of Blackness: Antiracism in the ‘post-black’ Conjuncture,” Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 12, Issue 4, 2010.
“The Story of Abner Louima: Cultural Fantasies, Gendered Racial Violence and the Ethical Witness,” Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 2007): 4-26.