St Louis, Brett. 2021. Post-millennial local whiteness: racialism, white dis/advantage and the denial of racism. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(3), pp. 355-373. ISSN 0141-9870 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

In the tumultuous early 21st century, vigorous appeals to whiteness in Britain are largely attributed to populist ethno-nationalism. This article offers a complementary critical account focusing on the use of ‘racialism’ as a purportedly non-invidious theoretical framework for describing racial differences and resultant societal impacts. Drawing on recent examples, especially the work of David Goodhart and Eric Kaufmann, I consider the deployment of racialism to characterise a benign white ethno-racial communalism based on ‘self-interest’ and a positive preference for ‘co-ethnics’ sharing common values. I suggest that racialist local whiteness is used to pursue two repudiatory projects: first, politically weakening black, Asian and minority ethnic groups by constituting white disadvantage; and second, disarming accounts of pervasive and systemic racism by naturalising racial stratification. Ultimately, I argue that an understanding of racialist local whiteness guards against the racial reification of populist nationalism and illuminates the deeper entrenchment of racism.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1798485
Additional Information:	“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethnic and Racial Studies on 23 July 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01419870.2020.1798485.”
Keywords:	Whiteness, racialism, racism, race, ethnicity, nativism
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Sociology
Dates:	Date Event 14 July 2020 Accepted 23 July 2020 Published Online 2021 Published
Item ID:	29079
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2020 12:03
Last Modified:	28 Apr 2022 17:06
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/29079

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