“This is not who we are”: Freedom as Moral Affect and the Whiteness of Mutuality

This paper introduces the idea of freedom as a moral affect to demonstrate the contrasting ways in which different kinds of people expressed, understood, and experienced freedom. Through an ethnographic account of a design workshop in Vietnam, this paper reveals how freedom as moral affect serves as a cultural fault line that organizes conflicting desires for social relations. Moreover, this paper critically assesses the whiteness of mutuality as the ultimate expression of freedom.