Whiteness as expertise in studies of the far right

Meier, Anna A

Abstract

This arcle addresses backlash from white academic gatekeepers to research on the white far right and white supremacist violence. Centrally, I interrogate how whiteness shapes the field's response to a seeming shi in paerns of polical violence toward white supremacist acvity. Taking white supremacy in the study of white supremacist violence seriously, I contend, would shi our aenon to larger social paerns of oppression and opportunies for liberaon. However, this does not happen due to a concept I call "whiteness as experse." Building on Charles W. Mills' white epistemologies of ignorance, I argue that the aributes of transferability and disconnecon both obscure and perpetuate how scholarship on white supremacist violence can further whiteness. First, I review the backlash experienced by the academic and policy turn toward white supremacist violence, even if scholars and praconers may not call it "white supremacist." I then introduce the concept of whiteness as experse in more detail, highlighng how insistence on "terrorism" as a unitary and unifying category leads to backlash against research on white supremacist violence. I conclude with examples of academic backlash to open discussion into the complexies of studying whiteness within a white-majority academy.

Citation

Meier, A. A. (2024). Whiteness as expertise in studies of the far right. Critical Studies on Terrorism, https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2024.2321649

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 13, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Feb 27, 2024
• Publication Date: Feb 27, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 14, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1753-9153
• Electronic ISSN: 1753-9161
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2024.2321649
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/31445062
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17539153.2024.2321649