Nakayama, Thomas K. & Judith Martin, Editors
Sage Publications Ltd.

Reviewer: Eleanor Novek
Monmouth University
Website: http://www.monmouth.edu/~enovek

As discourse about the meanings and implications of Whiteness has spread in recent years, the popular press has taken note. Some news stories problematize the emergence of Whiteness as an area of academic interest, as in "New on campus: Whiteness studies," (a Chicago Tribune story). Others cast the topic as a debate between two apparently extreme positions, as in "Whiteness studies, an attempt at healing," a Boston Globe story.

Now, an antidote to the oversimplifications of such news coverage can be found in "Whiteness, The Communication of Social Identity," a new book edited by Thomas K. Nakayama and Judith N. Martin.

The editors, professors of communication at Arizona State University, have compiled a thoughtful collection of articles by 19 authors. Their book explains Whiteness as a communicative construct, introduces the field of Whiteness studies, and illuminates a number of its theoretical foundations. It also analyzes constructions of Whiteness in domestic and international contexts and explores the possibilities of destabilizing the ideology of Whiteness.

In the introduction, Nakayama and Martin assert that contemporary studies of identity and culture have revealed the networks of privilege and oppression contained in the meanings we assign to race and ethnicity. Thus, the editors assert, "each chapter of the book should be read as a piece in the larger project of antiracism."

However, in a chapter entitled "Reflections on Critical White(ness) Studies," Parker C. Johnson points out the paradox of such a mission. Johnson wonders whether this field of study originated in the discomfort of White men invested in the former invisibility of their privilege. "Ultimately, this work seeks to decenter and unseat white supremacy, or does it?" he asks (p. 5).

As do many valuable works authored by scholars of the African American experience, "Whiteness, The Communication of Social Identity" raises important questions about constructs of race that have been ideologically suppressed in public discourse in the United States.

Still, Johnson's question is a good one, and should linger as we read "Whiteness." The study of racial construction situated in a posture of privilege is dissimilar in important ways from the study of racial construction positioned in oppression.

The book is divided into four sections. The first, "Foundations of Whiteness," introduces some of the basic concerns and issues surrounding Whiteness. The book's second section, "Postcolonial and Poststructuralist Views on Whiteness," uses theoretical frameworks to foreground Whiteness in a field of differing power relations. The third section of the book, "Whiteness in U.S. Contexts," examines constructions of Whiteness in specific settings and circumstances in the United States, while the fourth, "Whiteness in International Contexts," explores meanings of Whiteness in other countries.

The authors employ a variety of research methods, including surveys, rhetorical analysis, and cultural criticism. Interesting, a number of the book's female authors use personal narrative, a persuasive tool for situating the researcher and valorizing her experiences.

For example, in "White Identity in Context: A Personal Narrative," Melissa Steyn compares the constructions of Whiteness she knew growing up White in South Africa to those she encounters as a graduate student in the United States. Wen Shu Lee reflects on the distinctions of gender and color in her native Taiwan as well as those faced by African American women and other women of color in "One Whiteness Veils Three Uglinesses: From Border-Crossing to a Womanist Interrogation of Gendered Colorism."

"Whiteness: The Communication of Social Identity" offers a sound introduction to the field of Whiteness studies. Though scholarly, it is accessible to a wide audience. The book could also be a valuable addition to courses that explore the intersections of race and media in society, because it offers students a provocative challenge to the invisibility of the construct of Whiteness that has shaped the bulk of their educational and cultural experiences.

Nakayama and Martin have also recently published: Intercultural Communication in Contexts (Mayfield Publishing, 1997) and Readings in Cultural Contexts with Lisa Flores (Mayfield Publishing, 1997).

A tangential note: The review copy of the book contained numerous typographical errors. This is no fault of the authors, but is surprising from a publisher of repute.