The Possessive Investment in Whiteness

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by George Lipsitz


ISBN
9781439916391
Published
Binding
Paperback
Pages
448
Dimensions
152 x 229 x 30mm

George Lipsitz's classic book The Possessive Investment in Whiteness argues that public policy and private prejudice work together to create a possessive investment in whiteness that is responsible for the racialized hierarchies of our society. Whiteness has a cash value: it accounts for advantages that come to individuals through profits made from housing secured in discriminatory markets, through the unequal educational opportunities available to children of different races, through insider networks that channel employment opportunities to the friends and relatives of those who have profited most from past and present discrimination, and especially through intergenerational transfers of inherited wealth that pass on the spoils of discrimination to succeeding generations. White Americans are encouraged to invest in whiteness, to remain true to an identity that provides them with structured advantages.

In this twentieth anniversary edition, Lipsitz provides a new introduction and updated statistics; as well as analyses of the enduring importance of Hurricane Katrina; the nature of anti-immigrant mobilizations; police assaults on Black women, the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Freddie Gray; the legacy of Obama and the emergence of Trump; the Charleston Massacre and other hate crimes; and the ways in which white fear, white fragility, and white failure have become drivers of a new ethno-nationalism.

As vital as it was upon its original publication, the twentieth anniversary edition of The Possessive Investment in Whiteness is an unflinching but necessary look at white supremacy.
EOFY 2025 Book Frenzy
59.49
RRP: $69.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $69.99
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

You might also like

All About Love
bell hooks
27.99
23.79
15% Off
Mean Streak
35.99
29.99
17% Off
Always Was Always Will Be
19.99
16.99
15% Off
Sand Talk
24.99
21.24
15% Off
The Psychopath Test
24.99
21.24
15% Off
The Will To Change Men Masculinity And Love
32.99
28.04
15% Off
The Way We Are
36.99
31.44
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.