This article intervenes in recent debates over the whiteness of the higher education
geography curriculum. Focusing on UK based universities, I examine the why and the white in the question ‘why is our geography curriculum so white’? It is argued that
the answer is coloniality induced institutional racism. I propose that engaging with insights from critical race theory, social justice and decolonial scholarship could help British geography to more effectively challenge racism, and other forms of dehumanisation, in our institutional arrangements and teaching practices.
History
Department
Geography and Environment
Published in
Area
Volume
52
Issue
4
Pages
708-715
Citation
ESSON, J., 2018. ‘The why and the white’: Racism and curriculum reform in British Geography. Area, 52(4), pp. 708-715.
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: ESSON, J., 2018. ‘The why and the white’: Racism and curriculum reform in British Geography. Area, doi:10.1111/area.12475, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12475. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.