White Innocence: Reflections on Public Debates and Political-Analytical Challenges: An Interview with Gloria Wekker

Abstract

This contribution is an interview with social and cultural anthropologist of Surinamese-Dutch background prof. dr. emerita Gloria Wekker. It discusses the debate that ensued in the Netherlands after the publication of her book White Innocence (2016), now translated in Dutch as Witte onschuld (2017). The interview covers the reception of the book, Wekker’s future work, and her legacy for the academic as well as public debates about gender and race. It goes into methodological questions concerning intersectional analysis and the notion of race as a social construct.