The Anthropology of White Supremacy: A Reader

An anthology of original essays that examine white supremacy around the globe through the lens of anthropology

White supremacy, an entrenched global system that emerged alongside European colonialism, is based on presumed biological and cultural differences, racist practices, the hypervaluation of whiteness, and the devaluation of nonwhites. Anthropology has been shaped by--and has helped to shape--white supremacy, yet the discipline also offers powerful tools for understanding this system at a global scale. The Anthropology of White Supremacy gathers original essays from a diverse, international group of anthropologists to explore how this phenomenon works both within anthropology and in cultural and political structures around the world.

The book features historical and ethnographic analysis about Brazil, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, and the United States, and addresses the ways white supremacy impacts a broad range of issues, including finance, advertising and media representations, militarism, police training, migration, and development.

The Anthropology of White Supremacy demonstrates not only how anthropology can help us to better comprehend white supremacy, but also how the discipline can help us begin to dismantle it.

The contributors include Omolade Adunbi, Samar Al-Bulushi, Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús, Michael L. Blakey, Mitzi Uehara Carter, Subhadra Mitra Channa, Celina de Sá, Vanessa Díaz, Britt Halvorson, Faye V. Harrison, Sarah Ihmoud, Anthony R. Jerry, Darryl Li, Kristín Loftsdóttir, Christopher A. Loperena, Keisha-Khan Y. Perry, Jemima Pierre, Jean Muteba Rahier, Laurence Ralph, Renya K. Ramirez, Junaid Rana, Joshua Reno, Rhea Rahman, Jonathan Rosa, Shalini Shankar, Shannon Speed, and Maria Dyveke Styve.

Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús is a cultural and social anthropologist, professor of American studies at Princeton University, and the author of Electric Santería. Jemima Pierre is associate professor of African American studies and anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of The Predicament of Blackness. Junaid Rana is a cultural anthropologist, associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the author of Terrifying Muslims.