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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 12
... conceptualised in the pastandatpresent; presents examples ofmarginal Whites, nationbuilding and white minorities. Whiteness isanessential purchase forstudents of Sociology, History, Politics and Cultural Studies studying topics relating ...
... conceptualised in a number of different yet not mutuallyexclusive forms.Asmuch as anything, it isalens through which particular aspectsof social relationshipscan be apprehended. When, inearly 2004, I beganthe task ofgrappling with ...
... conceptualising 'whiteness' as the opposite of essentialised. In approaches developed from postmodernism, social identities areseen primarilyas hybrid,contingent and fluid, almost to the point of representing a choice. 'Race' is just ...
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.