Whiteness and futurity

Abstract

The category whiteness has received considerable attention in geography over the last 15 years. This paper argues that this research is oriented almost exclusively towards some notion of the past and as such fails to consider the way the category of the future might shape geographies of whiteness. The paper explores this proposition by showing how the geographic study of whiteness is carried out through three past-oriented modes of analysis: labour studies; postcolonial theory and identity; and critical whiteness studies and anti-racism. It then offers suggestions as to how each mode might benefit by engaging with the notion of futurity.