Serving the White nation: Bringing internalised racism within a sociological understanding

Abstract

In this article I examine the current definitions of internalised racism in the extant literature and suggest where they may be expanded upon in order to further our sociological understanding of the phenomenon. I draw upon data from a wider study that investigates how internalised racism manifests within the lived experiences of racialised subjects in Australia. By introducing a re-reading of Hage’s White nation thesis specifically from the perspective of the racialised subject, I demonstrate how there are polarising variations in how internalised racism manifests, specifically in its affective impacts. I argue that beyond the racialised subject’s experience of a manifestation of internalised racism, whether negatively or positively, is how they conceive of themselves as relationally dependent upon the dominant racial group’s appraisal of them.