Post-millennial local whiteness: racialism, white dis/advantage and the denial of racism

ABSTRACT

In the tumultuous early twenty-first 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 characterize 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 naturalizing 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.

KEYWORDS:

• Whiteness
• racialism
• racism
• race
• ethnicity
• nativism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 “PM’s speech at Munich security conference”, 5 February 2011. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference

2 “PM’s speech at Munich security conference”, 5 February 2011. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference

3 Bliss asserts that race positive approaches to ethnopharmacology, for example, recognize the dearth of minority ethnic participants in clinical drug trials and argue for the inclusion of under-represented groups in redress instead of race-blind recruitment.

4 Outlining “The Study”, Kaufmann refers to his “Policy Exchange/YouGov survey of over 1600 British and 2600 Americans” (2017, 12).

5 In 2014, the UK government formally recognized Cornish people as a protected national minority with a unique and distinctive identity under the Council of Europe Framework for the Protection of National Minorities. On the day of the announcement, the Communities Minister Stephen Williams stated: “The Cornish and Welsh are the oldest peoples on this island and as a proud Welshman I look forward to seeing Saint Piran’s flag flying with extra Celtic pride on March 5 next year”. “Cornish granted minority status within the UK”, 24 April 2014. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cornish-granted-minority-status-within-the-uk.