Whiteness: An IntroductionWhat is whiteness? Why is it worth using as a tool in the social sciences? Making sociological sense of the idea of whiteness, this book skilfully argues how this concept can help us understand contemporary societies. If one of sociology's objectives is to make the familiar unfamiliar in order to gain heightened understanding, then whiteness offers a perfect opportunity to do so. Leaning firstly on the North American corpus, this key book critically engages with writings on the formation of white identities in Britain, Ireland and the Americas, using multidisciplinary sources. Empirical work done in the UK, including the author's own, is developed in order to suggest how whiteness functions in Britain. Bringing an emphasis on empirical work to a heavily theorized area, this important text synthesizes and reviews existing work, incorporates multidisciplinary sources of interest to those outside the sociology sphere, and features concise chapters which will engage undergraduates. Garner deftly argues that whiteness is a multifaceted, contingent and fluid identity, and that it must be incorporated into any contemporary understandings of racism as a system of power relationships in both its local and global forms. |
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... Moreover, many socialscientists are squeamish aboutusing theterm 'whiteness'. Wendy Shaw notes that'... researchonwhiteness has tendedtosuffer from guilt bydiscursive association with the bulk ofWhiteness Studies' (2006: 854). This ...
... individual atthe topof the hierarchyasthe universal man(Eze 1997). Moreover, of thethree discursive repertoires in whichRuth Frankenberg's (1994: 188) interviewees respond – 'essentialist racism, color and power evasion, and.
... Moreover, most ofuswork andstudy in institutional contexts wherewhite people wield themost decisionmaking power andhold the highestpaidjobs. One of the many challenges arising fromthis work is to try and pick up the thread and find ways ...
... Moreover,the practiceof 'Restrictivecovenants,explicit or implicit threats of violence, and generally adverse social conditions keptblacks out of whiteareas' (Cutler etal. 1999: 496).When placedalongside other segregationist practices ...
... Moreover, Lipsitz (1995) points to the functioningofthe Federal Housing Authority (FHA), setup in 1934, whichlent virtually exclusively to white families inthe post war period.He pointstotheorganisation's area reportsand appraiser's ...