Handbook of Critical Whiteness : Deconstructing Dominant Discourses Across Disciplines

This timely handbook responds to the international drive to know more about Whiteness – its origins, its impacts and, importantly, the means for diffusing it. Guided by critical Whiteness theory, the volume deconstructs, decodes and disrupts Whiteness as it is constructed and employed in contemporary and diverse contexts. To do so, the international contributors discuss and critique the role of 21st-century Whiteness across a range of professions and disciplines relevant to the needs of contemporary global citizens. Failure to deconstruct Whiteness as an ideology and the power structure underlying national and global racial inequalities undermines the efforts to improve social, health and economic outcomes for societies and nations on a grand scale.

The handbook is comprehensive in its nature and contents, with 10 themed parts ranging from a more disciplinary-based approach, theoretical frameworks, and methodological frameworks, to different aspects of decolonized approaches to social, health, political and economic well-being. It navigates how various disciplines respond to the pervasive and persuasive nature of Whiteness in their operational settings, across individual, professional, organisational and systemic levels. The volume is unique in its dual focus on deconstructing Whiteness and providing examples and recommendations on how diverse groups seek to decolonize their communities and people through action. Examples and recommendations are discussed with particular focus on: 1) the interconnection between integrating indigenous and diverse knowledges and perspectives in deconstructing Whiteness; 2) the urgency for critical Whiteness discourse, dialogue and professional development across disciplines; and 3) institutional accountability to decolonisation and anti-racism. Considering the ongoing marginalization and institutional racism directed at non-White individuals and communities and the rise of White supremacy movements, critical Whiteness pedagogy and research is more important than ever.

Handbook of Critical Whiteness: Deconstructing Dominant Discourses Across Disciplines is an essential resource for students, educators, academics, researchers, higher education administrators, practitioners, policy-makers, organisational leaders, government stakeholders, and other professionals in social sciences, medicine, STEM, allied/global/public health, legal and political disciplines, and health and social care institutions. It especially engages those interested in decolonisation, critical race theory, critical Whiteness theory, critical multiculturalism, social justice, anti-racism and Indigenous knowledges.​

Jioji Ravulo has an extensive history in working locally, regionally and globally with diversity and equity groups striving to create sustainable initiatives and resources through meaningful collaborations and partnerships. Jioji has worked within the community services sector across various roles and areas including youth justice, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, educational engagement and homelessness. Jioji continues to undertake work in clinical private practice to ensure relevance of skills and knowledge that enhances social work teaching, learning and research approaches. Jioji’s father is iTaukei (indigenous) Fijian and late mother is Anglo Australian. As a queer person of colour, Jioji has personally and professionally experienced the negative impacts of racism and colonialism. Consequently, Jioji is obsessed with striving to understand the role of dominant discourses in upholding power structures, and equally coming up with ways to counteract through cultural diversity and its many differences. Within his research across various fields he strives to examine why marginality may occur in its various forms across equity groups, and to use critical Whiteness and decolonial theory as a broader and local lens to assist. 

Katarzyna Olcoń is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work, at the School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research centres on anti-racism, cross-cultural service provision and community mental health and well-being. She is interested in education and training for social work students and social and health service providers to effectively work with communities across racial and cultural differences and engage in an anti-racist practice. Some of her work has examined racial consciousness in White social work students, implementation gaps in culturally responsive care for refugee and migrant maternal health, and the problems with narrowly understood cultural competence model in social service provision. She also has a research program in community mental health which stems from her prior practice experience as a Polish and Spanish-speaking social worker in a community mental health setting in Chicago. She has been working on research projects that examine the practices supporting community mental health, workplace wellness, and the implementation of nature-based interventions within mental health services. Katarzyna is also a dedicated educator with fifteen years of teaching experience, including subject coordination and tutoring at the University of Illinois at Chicago, St. Augustine College in Chicago, and the University of Texas at Austin. Currently Katarzyna teaches Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families, Advanced Social Work Practice, and Perspectives on Diversity in the Master of Social Work and the Bachelor of Social Work programs.

Tinashe Dune is a multi-award winning academic in the areas of health sociology and public health. Her research, teaching and practice (clinical psychology) focus on the experiences of marginalised populations. This includes the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people, those living with disability, ageing populations, LGBTIQ-identifying people and Indigenous populations. Dr Dune is an expert in qualitative research methods and sexual and reproductive health. She also utilises innovative mixed-methods approaches and interdisciplinary perspectives to support multidimensional understandings of the lived experience, health outcomes and ways to improve wellbeing. As a result of her work Dr Dune has been nationally recognised by the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australia and Western Sydney University for her excellence and innovation in Public Health teaching. She has also been recognised as an ambassador against bigotry and an advocate for diversity and inclusion by the Australian National University’s Freilich Foundation as well as for her Excellence in Community Engagement and Sustainability by WSU for her LGBTIQ advocacy work. She is also Director of the Secretariat for African Women Australia (AWAU) - a community based organisation which seeks to be Australia's national hub for research and outreach for African women and by African women in Australia. In her role with AWAU she actively engages with academic, industry and community stakeholders to conduct and implement translational research.

Alex Workman (MRes) is a criminologist interested in the social justice outcomes of marginalised populations, particularly those who are sexually diverse, and the intersections they have with other parts of their identity. Alex’s doctoral thesis investigates survivors of intimate partner violence and their manifestation of resilience after leaving the relationship. This study focuses on the lived experiences of gender and sexuality diverse people and other intersections of their identity, such as people living with a disability, Indigenous people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, and religious minorities. Alex’s research focuses on the intersections of public health, criminology, policing, and human rights. The intersectional disciplinary approach to research has seen Alex travel internationally to present his research in Canada and Scotland as part of the Law Enforcement and Public Health (LEPH) conference. Additionally, Alex is also co-chair of the Intersectionality in Law Enforcement and Public Health Special Interest Group (GLEPHA). Alex has taught various health and social sciences disciplines, including cultural safety, policing, criminological theory, and human rights, across undergraduate programs at Western Sydney University. Alex’s most recent work centres around cultural competence, cultural safety, and trauma-informed approaches within criminal justice systems. The title of this edited volume book is Culture, Diversity and Criminal Justice Towards Culturally Safe Criminal Justice Systems.

Pranee Liamputtong is currently a professor in behavioural sciences, at the College of Health Sciences, VinUniversity, Vietnam.  She is a medical anthropologist and has interests in the health of women, children, immigrants, refugees, older people, and transgender individuals. In terms of health issues, Pranee is very interested in issues relating to motherhood, reproductive health, sexuality, sexual health, and mental health. She has carried out a number of research projects with refugee and immigrant women in Australia and women in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. She has also undertaken qualitative research with women living with HIV/AIDS and women living with breast cancer in Thailand. Pranee’s research interest also includes online research and has carried out research in the area of online dating and implications for sexual health. Recently, Pranee has focused her research on sexuality and sexual health issues of Asian women, refugee/immigrant women, young people, and trans women from CALD backgrounds. Pranee has been supervising a large number of research students, both local and international, who have their interests in conducting qualitative research in the areas of gender, sexuality, reproductive health, sexual health and cross-cultural research. She is now undertaking research with ethnic minority women in Vietnam. Pranee is a qualitative researcher and has written a number of textbooks on this approach. She has also written a number of textbooks on health-related issues. Some of her textbooks (Qualitative Research Methods, Research Methods in Health: Foundations for Evidence-Based Practice, Social Determinants of Health, & Public Health) have been adopted widely, both in Australia and overseas. Her recent books focus more on the production of handbook, including Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, Handbook of Social Inclusion, Research and Practices in the Health and Social Sciences, and Handbook of Social Science and Global Public Health. She has been teaching qualitative research methodology, the social determinants of health and health promotion and disease prevention.