The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness

Abstract

Bringing together essays from the controversial Berkeley conference of the same name, The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness presents a fascinating range of inquiry into the nature of whiteness as an identity crosscut by race. Representing academics, independent scholars, community organisers, and anti-racist activists, the contributors are all leaders in the 'second wave' of whiteness studies who collectively aim to combat the historical legacies of white supremacy and to inform those who seek to understand the changing nature of white identity, both in the United States and abroad. With essays devoted to theories of racial domination, comparative global racisms, trans-national white identity, and post-apartheid South Africa, the geographical reach of the volume is significant and broad. Dalton Conley writes on 'How I Learned to Be White'. Alan Berube discusses the intersection of gay identity and whiteness, and Mab Segrest describes the terrible spiritual price white people pay for living in a system of white supremacy. Other pieces examine the utility of whiteness as a critical term for social analysis, contextualise different attempts at antiracist activism, and explore how whiteness affects those seen as racially privileged. In a razor sharp introduction, the editors not only raise provocative questions about the intellectual, social, and political goals of those interested in the study of whiteness but hone in on several of the topic's major recurrent themes: the visibility (or lack thereof) of whiteness; the 'emptiness' of whiteness as a category of identification; and, conceptions of whiteness as a structural privilege, a harbinger of violence, or an institutionalisation of European imperialism. Contributors of this title include: William Aal, Allan Berube, Brigit Brander Rasmussen, Dalton Conley, Troy Duster, Ruth Frankenberg, John Hartigan Jr., Eric Klinenberg, Eric Lott, Irene J. Nexica, Michael Omi, Jasbir Kaur Puar, Mab Segrest, Vron Ware, Howard Winant, and Matt Wray.

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