Non-white readings of whiteness

摘要

Whiteness has rarely surfaced as a theoretical category in consumer research. Yet consumer research is dominated by whiteness, reflecting the privileged position of white academics and a Euro-American epistemological stance that is inscribed within academic disciplines and institutions. Whiteness theory provides an explanation of ethnic and racial differences based on power, privilege and oppression. Whiteness is a marker against which other cultures, “the other,” are measured. Through the medium of in-depth interviews this article focuses on the non-white reading of whiteness as a distinctive, although marginalized, approach within studies of whiteness. The implications for consumption and consumer research are addressed.