Whiteness Racial Trauma and the University

<p><span>"This is an inconvenient book, to use Berlant’s term, bursting with generous readings of cultural and sociological criticism. Just what we need." - Yasmin Gunaratnam, Professor of Social Justice, Kings College London<br/><br/>"An essential reading for all in Higher Education. The first in recent times to really present the state of UK HE from a truly liberatory perspective." - Melanie-Marie Haywood, Director of Education Development Service, Birmingham City University</span></p><p>Universities are regarded as safe havens for knowledge production and the educational transformation of lives. There is, however, a long history of universities as sites of contestation where structures of hierarchical legitimacy are played out. </p><p>In response to the upsurge in global protests against racial violence and the criticism of colonial, racialised and Eurocentric forms of thinking, universities have adopted new roles as ‘anti-racist’ and ‘decolonial’ beacons of hope. This book unravels how such liberal progressive ‘acts’ hide a much deeper racialised logic of whiteness-framed structural narcissism, producing insidiously powerful and difficult to trace forms of racialised harm.<br/><br/>The <strong>Social Science for Social Justice</strong> series challenges the Ivory Tower of academia, providing a platform for academics, journalists, and activists of color to respond to pressing social issues.  </p>