Brownness -

: It represents the "dizzy experience" of being caught in the middle, where individuals may be viewed as "near-black" (for labor exploitation) or "near-white" (as a "model category").

In recent academic discourse, notably in the works of José Esteban Muñoz, brownness is explored as an "affective particularity"—a way of feeling and being in the world. This "brown theory" suggests that brownness is: brownness

: It is often defined in ongoing relation to whiteness and blackness, sometimes serving as both ally and enemy to both. : It represents the "dizzy experience" of being