A phenomenology of whiteness

TLDR

Whiteness is an ongoing, unfinished history that orientates bodies, shapes spatial engagement, and functions as a habitual background to social action. The paper proposes to study whiteness through the lens of phenomenology. By drawing on the lived experiences of non‑white bodies in a white world, the authors examine how whiteness becomes worldly through the differential noticeability of bodies. This phenomenological approach exposes institutional habits by bringing underlying structures to the surface.

Abstract

The paper suggests that we can usefully approach whiteness through the lens of phenomenology. Whiteness could be described as an ongoing and unfinished history, which orientates bodies in specific directions, affecting how they `take up' space, and what they `can do'. The paper considers how whiteness functions as a habit, even a bad habit, which becomes a background to social action. The paper draws on experiences of inhabiting a white world as a non-white body, and explores how whiteness becomes worldly through the noticeability of the arrival of some bodies more than others. A phenomenology of whiteness helps us to notice institutional habits; it brings what is behind to the surface in a certain way.