Doctoral Student Arizona State University Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Overview: Reasons for chronic loneliness are attributed to individual and structural factors including race, age, gender, and sexuality, among others. To understand conditions that contribute to loneliness, I use neoliberalism as a frame to argue it is a structural, systematic, and intentional consequence of capitalistic racialization of non-normative gender, and sexuality.Proposal text: Loneliness is a concerning social problem. The literature on loneliness is growing in volume in public health and social work scholarship. There are many health risk factors associated with loneliness including dementia, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and stroke. Reasons for chronic loneliness include age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation among others. Today, loneliness is recognized as a major public health concern in the U.S with approximately 3 in 5 adults in the U.S. reporting they are lonely. Having multiple minoritized and stigmatized identities may increase the likelihood of experiencing isolation and rejection. Said another way, Black transgender and nonbinary people (BTNB) may experience even more social isolation due to aging concerns, ageism, racism, and cis-heterosexism. However, it is not our minoritized identities alone that generate isolation and health risk vulnerability. So my primary question is what structural conditions may be contributing to loneliness in Black trans adults, age 50 and older in the U.S.? To answer this question, I theorize by engaging neoliberalism as a frame to describe how conditions for loneliness for Black transgender people may be structurally created and maintained. I begin by examining the historical, economic, and political conditions for Black trans people, defining both loneliness and neoliberalism and describing their concurrent rise into the social sphere. Next, I argue three specific ways neoliberalism creates conditions for loneliness for Black trans people, and share a fictional case study to illustrate the conditions. I conclude with examples of community-driven solutions to combat loneliness and suggest ways social workers and social work education can engage with and follow the lead of Black trans communities.
Learning Objectives:
Define and operationalize loneliness and neoliberalism.
Describe three specific ways neoliberalism creates conditions for loneliness for Black trans people.
Discuss implications to social work and how we can engage with and follow the lead of the community.