TY - JOUR
T1 - Whiteness, masculinities and radical democracy
T2 - Mapping four spaces of (dis)appearance
AU - Asenbaum, Hans
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper has been made possible by a research visit hosted by the Margem research group of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. I am grateful for the invitation as well as the thoughtful comments provided in the seminar of the research group. In particular, my thanks go to Ricardo Fabrino Mendonça, Ângela Cristina Salgueiro Marques, Renato Duarte Caetano and Bruno Dias Magalhães for written comments as well as inspiring conversations. The paper is also indebted to Selen Ercan who provided insightful comments. Finally, I am very thankful for the support and feedback of the special issue editors Elisabeth Holzleithner, Birgit Sauer and Sylvia Mieszkowski.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023/4/26
Y1 - 2023/4/26
N2 - Radical democratic theory conceptualizes public visibility as empowering. In particular, feminist democratic theorists propose a politics of presence through identity politics, according to which it is the visibility of the marginalized body that in itself articulates a political claim for inclusion. Today, a new subject enters the space of appearance: the white, cisgender, heterosexual man claims recognition through embodied identity performances. Engaging in the men’s rights and Trump movements, the performance of white masculinities, however, does not appear as empowering, but as anxious, defensive and weak. Drawing on whiteness and masculinity studies, this article explains why public visibility may both empower and weaken. By combining the concept of visibility with voice, it maps four spaces of (dis)appearance and explores the mobility of identity groups between them. Whether entering the space of appearance is empowering depends on the point of departure. Instead of claiming equal recognition, as marginalized groups do, white men cling to their unearned privileges. The article observes a general migration towards the space of appearance, rendering it more contentious.
AB - Radical democratic theory conceptualizes public visibility as empowering. In particular, feminist democratic theorists propose a politics of presence through identity politics, according to which it is the visibility of the marginalized body that in itself articulates a political claim for inclusion. Today, a new subject enters the space of appearance: the white, cisgender, heterosexual man claims recognition through embodied identity performances. Engaging in the men’s rights and Trump movements, the performance of white masculinities, however, does not appear as empowering, but as anxious, defensive and weak. Drawing on whiteness and masculinity studies, this article explains why public visibility may both empower and weaken. By combining the concept of visibility with voice, it maps four spaces of (dis)appearance and explores the mobility of identity groups between them. Whether entering the space of appearance is empowering depends on the point of departure. Instead of claiming equal recognition, as marginalized groups do, white men cling to their unearned privileges. The article observes a general migration towards the space of appearance, rendering it more contentious.
U2 - 10.1080/09589236.2023.2203374
DO - 10.1080/09589236.2023.2203374
M3 - Article
SN - 0958-9236
VL - 32
SP - 832
EP - 843
JO - Journal of Gender Studies
JF - Journal of Gender Studies
IS - 8
ER -