Whiteness at the Abyss

A Lacanian Reading of 'White Anxiety'
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-3-031-78508-5
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Buch, Englisch, 122 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 296 g

Reihe: The Palgrave Lacan Series

‘Whiteness’ is an omnipresent term within research on race and racism. This book differs from existing conceptualizations by adopting a psychoanalytic line of approach and by directing its attention to a particular socio-historical instantiation of whiteness—the investments, fantasies and fears apparent within (post) apartheid South African contexts. It foregrounds the notion of ‘white anxiety’, which is conceptualized not only via notions of psychical temporality, but with reference to the dystopian visions of the future, ideas of inter-generational guilt, and fantasies of demise. To posit an imagined ‘end to whiteness’ is not, of course, an uncontroversial gesture; the closing section of the book surveys the key themes—antisemitism, white Nationalism, the trope of the race traitor—in online attacks the author was subjected to. This compelling work will appeal to all those with an interest in psychoanalytic approaches to race and racism, and to anyone working in the areas of critical race and whiteness studies.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hook, Derek

Weitere Mitwirkende

George, Sheldon

Moss, Donald

Žižek, Slavoj

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychotherapie / Klinische Psychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturtheorie: Poetik und Literaturästhetik
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Minderheiten, Interkulturelle & Multikulturelle Fragen
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Fragments From a Research History.- 2. Petrified Life.- 3. White Anxiety.- 4. Reflections on a Scene of Attack.

Über Autor(innen)

Derek Hook is Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University, USA, and an Extraordinary Professor of Psychology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.