White Identities: A Critical Sociological Approach

White Identities: A Critical Sociological Approach

Pluto Press
2009-11-06
240 pages
Size: 215mm x 135mm
ISBN: 9780745327488

Steve Garner, Lecturer in Sociology
Aston University

Simon Clarke, Director
Centre for Psycho-Social Studies
University of the West of England

The study of white ethnicities is becoming increasingly important in the social sciences. This book provides a critical introduction to the topic.

Whiteness has traditionally been seen as “ethnically transparent” – the marker against which other ethnicities are measured. This analysis is clearly incorrect, but only recently have many race and ethnicity scholars moved away from focusing on ethnic minorities and instead oriented their studies around the construction of white identities. Simon Clarke and Steve Garner’s book is designed to guide students as they explore how white identities are forged using both sociological and psycho-social ideas.

Including an excellent survey of the existing literature and original research from the UK, this book will be an invaluable guide for sociology students taking modules in race and ethnicity.

Contents

  • 1. Researching ‘Whiteness’: An Introduction
  • 2. Whiteness Studies in the Context of the USA
  • 3. Empirical research into white racialised identities in Britain
  • 4. Britishness
  • 5. Whiteness and Post-Imperial Britain
  • 6. Psycho-Social Interpretations of Cultural Identity: constructing the white ‘we’
  • 7. Media Representations: constructing the ‘not white’ Other
  • 8. Whiteness, Home and Community
  • 9. Researching Whiteness: Psycho-Social Methodologies
  • 10. Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
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