Beyond White Innocence

Guest lecture by Gloria Wekker, Professor Emerita of Gender Studies at Utrecht University.

Abstract

In this lecture, I am extending an invitation to embark on a decolonial, intersectional reading of Dutch history and culture, but by extension, also of other European nations that either did or did not have empires. I will first zoom in on 'White Innocence', the dominant Dutch self-representation, which combines a rosy, self-flattering view of the Dutch self with an erasure of the fundamental grammar of race in Dutch society. How does White Innocence manifest and by which strong paradoxes is it held up? Subsequently, I want to explore how this dominant habitus of 'White Innocence' works in the Dutch academy and in everyday life. I will investigate how 'race' is a silent, but powerful organizing principle of society, of our institutions and of ourselves.

Bio

Gloria Wekker is author of several books, including "The Politics of Passion: Women's Sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora" (2006) and "White Innocence" (2016).

The lecture is organized by Mathias Danbolt, Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, and is funded by Independent Research Found Denmark.