The Recalcitrance of White Ignorance. Benavides, L. S. In Clavé-Mercier, V. & Wuth, M., editors, Decolonising Political Concepts. Routledge, 2023. Publication Title: Decolonising Political Concepts Type: Book chapter![The Recalcitrance of White Ignorance [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex White ignorance is, according to Charles Mills (2007), a specific kind of “group-based cognitive handicap”. As an “inverted epistemology”, it designates not just any kind of ignorance white people may have, but one in which race “plays a crucial causal role” (Mills, 2007). As an active pattern of “belief-forming practices” (Alcoff, 2007), it has a “militant”, “dynamic” and “aggressive” character (Mills, 2007). Mills identifies five main cognitive processes involved in the production of white ignorance: perception, conception, memory, testimony, and motivational group interest. It is unclear, however, which of these elements plays a more substantive role in the dynamic, militant, and aggressive character of white ignorance. In this chapter, I argue that what Mills calls “motivational group interest” can more specifically account for the recalcitrance of white ignorance. Whilst Mills analyses white ignorance as a primarily cognitive phenomenon, I argue, following José Medina and Shannon Sullivan, that its affective dimensions can help explain why this kind of ignorance is so difficult to eradicate. Drawing on the works of Audre Lorde, Sara Ahmed, and George Yancy, I aim to show that white ignorance is rooted in affective strategies, through which whites aim to maintain their power. In this sense, white ignorance can be thought of as a matrix of the coloniality of many political concepts, and any decolonial project will also need to contend with its conative and affective roots. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Valentin Clavé-Mercier and Marie Wuth; individual chapters, the contributors.
@incollection{benavides_recalcitrance_2023,
title = {The {Recalcitrance} of {White} {Ignorance}},
isbn = {978-1-00-099945-7 978-1-03-227591-8},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85178563367&doi=10.4324%2f9781003293460-4&partnerID=40&md5=cfc0742c3da35909b80eec492126cb46},
abstract = {White ignorance is, according to Charles Mills (2007), a specific kind of “group-based cognitive handicap”. As an “inverted epistemology”, it designates not just any kind of ignorance white people may have, but one in which race “plays a crucial causal role” (Mills, 2007). As an active pattern of “belief-forming practices” (Alcoff, 2007), it has a “militant”, “dynamic” and “aggressive” character (Mills, 2007). Mills identifies five main cognitive processes involved in the production of white ignorance: perception, conception, memory, testimony, and motivational group interest. It is unclear, however, which of these elements plays a more substantive role in the dynamic, militant, and aggressive character of white ignorance. In this chapter, I argue that what Mills calls “motivational group interest” can more specifically account for the recalcitrance of white ignorance. Whilst Mills analyses white ignorance as a primarily cognitive phenomenon, I argue, following José Medina and Shannon Sullivan, that its affective dimensions can help explain why this kind of ignorance is so difficult to eradicate. Drawing on the works of Audre Lorde, Sara Ahmed, and George Yancy, I aim to show that white ignorance is rooted in affective strategies, through which whites aim to maintain their power. In this sense, white ignorance can be thought of as a matrix of the coloniality of many political concepts, and any decolonial project will also need to contend with its conative and affective roots. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Valentin Clavé-Mercier and Marie Wuth; individual chapters, the contributors.},
language = {English},
booktitle = {Decolonising {Political} {Concepts}},
publisher = {Routledge},
author = {Benavides, Laurencia Sáenz},
editor = {Clavé-Mercier, Valentin and Wuth, Marie},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.4324/9781003293460-4},
note = {Publication Title: Decolonising Political Concepts
Type: Book chapter},
}
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Mills identifies five main cognitive processes involved in the production of white ignorance: perception, conception, memory, testimony, and motivational group interest. It is unclear, however, which of these elements plays a more substantive role in the dynamic, militant, and aggressive character of white ignorance. In this chapter, I argue that what Mills calls “motivational group interest” can more specifically account for the recalcitrance of white ignorance. Whilst Mills analyses white ignorance as a primarily cognitive phenomenon, I argue, following José Medina and Shannon Sullivan, that its affective dimensions can help explain why this kind of ignorance is so difficult to eradicate. Drawing on the works of Audre Lorde, Sara Ahmed, and George Yancy, I aim to show that white ignorance is rooted in affective strategies, through which whites aim to maintain their power. 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