New Books in Popular Culture Johanna Lukate, "(Dis)Entangled: Black Hair, Race, and Identity" (Coronet, 2025)
Jan 16, 2026
Johanna Lukáte, a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute, explores the intricate relationship between Black hair and identity in her upcoming book. She discusses how hair serves as a powerful storyteller of race, gender, and beauty ideals. The conversation touches on the natural hair movement's impact, comparative studies between England and Germany, and how hair choices are influenced by family and romantic relationships. Johanna highlights surprising revelations and emphasizes that everyone carries a meaningful hair story, weaving together personal narratives and societal structures.
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Hair As Social Language
- Hair conveys layered social meanings beyond biological facts about hair.
- Johanna Lukáte argues labels like 'Black' flatten rich variation in identity and appearance.
Natural Hair Network In Germany
- Johanna joined a German natural-hair network that supported parents and partners in hair care.
- Conversations there revealed people straighten hair to 'be seen as German' and linked skin color and texture in perceptions.
Start With Qualitative Research
- Use qualitative methods first to capture nuance when studying understudied identity topics.
- Johanna used interviews, ethnography and images to reveal meanings lost in surveys and checkboxes.
