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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An Introduction Steve Garner . ,- , '- n - v ' 0. .; ' a" ' Whltengs UCUOIIQV an 11'1111'0 Steve Garéler Whiteness One of thekey areas of debate about race and. Front Cover.
An Introduction Steve Garner. Whiteness One of thekey areas of debate about race and ethnicity in recent yearshasbeen the question of the construction of whiteness. Much of this literature has focused on the situation in the USA but ...
... areas, pointing thereader towards theindepth reading tofollow upon these arguments, andtrying to givea flavour ofthe variety of approaches and waysto use whitenessas a tool for socialscientists engagedin the analysis of racism. Indeed ...
... areas in urban settings.GypsyTravellers do not takeproperty developers to courtwhen thelatter attempttobuild on land adjoining theirsites.To lose sight of thisimbalance allows identity politics based onwhite victimhood to be given ...
... areas where the outcomes may unintentionally bolster, rather than challenge, the racialised status quo. Moreover, most ofuswork andstudy in institutional contexts wherewhite people wield themost decisionmaking power andhold the ...