I am white, therefore I am : A phenomenological study of whiteness as experienced by white women in relation to Others within a travel context

Sammanfattning

This thesis provides a complex understanding of the phenomenological experience of whiteness as a racial category. Based on theories of critical whiteness studies, intersectionality and (white) phenomenology, I conducted five semi-structured interviews with five white women about their understandings of their whiteness within a context of transnational travel. The interviews have been interpreted using thematic analysis, with the aim to show that whiteness is inherently relational and contextual, always in conjunction with Others and in interplay with the spatial context, while at the same time intrinsically related to other intersectional parts of the self. By making use of autoethnography as a methodology, my situated knowledge as a researcher was integrated within the entire thesis. The study has shown that whiteness never stands alone but is inherently relational, not only with racialized Others, but also with other intersections such as womanhood, which complexifies the experience and understanding of it. Moreover, whiteness is perceived as the most normalized standard from which everything different and other is measured by, while it serves as an invisible social category that can move through the world unnoticed. Consequently, the normality of whiteness creates a feeling of reassurance and comfort and thus keeps it in its place as the most normalized social category from which the world unfolds.