Producing whiteness through urban space: the socio-spatial construction of white identities in Amsterdam

This article argues for an approach to the formation of whiteness that includes an explicit focus on urban neighbourhood spaces. Extending literature that mainly focuses on whiteness at the national scale, I propose an understanding of the construction of white identities as a co-constitutive process between space and race. My analysis is based on ethnographic research in a diverse neighbourhood in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that included observations as well as narrative and go-along interviews with people racialised as white and of colour. By identifying four socio-spatial practices, I show how the construction of white identities is a socio-spatial process.

Automated summary

This article argues for considering urban neighborhood spaces in the formation of whiteness, proposing a co-constitutive process between space and race. Based on ethnographic research in a diverse neighborhood in Amsterdam, the analysis identifies four socio-spatial practices that contribute to the construction of white identities.