Bridging the gap with ‘whiteness studies’

“Whiteness studies,” a much-discussed new branch of ethnic studies, may help bridge the gap between the cultural left’s focus on identity and the traditional left’s emphasis on economic justice, writes Homi K. Bhabha, a professor of humanities at the University of Chicago.

On the one hand, whiteness studies draws on the work of Foucault in underscoring the privilege and power that derive from the nearly invisible, “natural” fact of white skin, he writes. On the other, the scholars studying the new subject emphasize class, poverty, and “white trash” in ways that would warm the hearts of those who say the cultural left often overlooks issues of economic inequality.

Mr. Bhabha suggests, for example, that without the awareness of ethnicity that is central to whiteness studies, the philosopher Richard Rorty’s call for left-wing patriotism could easily slip into “us vs. themism” and xenophobia.

At the same time, he finds some of the rhetoric of whiteness-studies advocates too stark. When they call on whites to commit “racial suicide,” for instance, they apply oversimplified rhetoric to complex racial categories that need to be approached with nuance and sophistication.

The magazine can be found at newsstands and libraries.