Journal article
Breaking the siege: whiteness, difference and racial transformation
Whiteness and education (Print)
08/06/2026
DOI: 10.1080/23793406.2026.2715354
Abstract
In this paper, the author argues that investigating what Thandeka (1999) described as a siege mentality of whiteness produced through the policing of internal and external nonwhite zones is a crucial aspect of understanding and disrupting white supremacy. The author turns to critical whiteness studies in relationship with Boldt’s (2021) theorisation of vitality and learning to consider how siege mentalities of whiteness deny difference and protect white supremacy. This article offers the radical affirmation of difference as an anti-racist stance in education that can promote antiracist learning by cultivating movement between internal and external nonwhite zones. The author uses honest storytelling to tell and interpret three stories and, ultimately, conceptualise how vitality that can emerge from travelling between racial zones shares a relationship with racial transformation. Ultimately, the author argues that cultivating capacity to affirm difference is a vital element of pedagogy intended to interrupt white supremacy.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Breaking the siege: whiteness, difference and racial transformation
- Creators
- Samuel Tanner - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Whiteness and education (Print)
- DOI
- 10.1080/23793406.2026.2715354
- ISSN
- 2379-3406
- eISSN
- 2379-3414
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 08/06/2026
- Academic Unit
- Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9985218635002771
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