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White Privilege, 'Anti-white Racism' and White Supremacy in Australia
A Slippery Slope to Societal Harm
White Privilege, 'Anti-white Racism' and White Supremacy in Australia
A Slippery Slope to Societal Harm
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Description
White Privilege, 'Anti-white Racism' and White Supremacy in Australia examines the rise of white victimhood narratives in Australia, particularly the growing claims of 'anti-white racism'-the belief that white people are now the targets of prejudice and systemic discrimination. Sharples and Blair place these claims within the broader framework of Australia's settler-colonial and multicultural identity, arguing that narratives of white victimhood function as a continuation of denial-denial of racism, of white privilege, and of Indigenous sovereignty and dispossession. They unpack how mainstream institutions have legitimised and amplified these narratives, giving them a platform and reinforcing a backlash against diversity, anti-racism and social progress. White victimhood is not a new phenomenon in Australia, but in recent years, it has reached new heights, emboldened by shifting global politics and a sense of entitlement tied to the perceived loss of privilege. This book examines what these claims reveal about race, power and national identity in contemporary Australia-and the political and social stakes of not taking them seriously.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Belonging
Chapter 3: Denial
Chapter 4: 'Anti-white Racism' and White Victimhood
Chapter 5: Populist Mainstreaming
Chapter 6: Anti-Racism
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
Product details
| Published | Oct 01 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 9781666942927 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 1 bw figure, 6 tables |
| Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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This timely and thorough analysis addresses a growing discourse that serves the interest of white privilege in Australia since British colonisation. Although Australia is increasingly multicultural, politics and media combine to promote the idea of white victimhood, from right-wing extremist views into the mainstream. Drawing on empirical evidence, Sharples and Blair move beyond critique to offer constructive solutions.
Linda Briskman, Western Sydney University, Australia
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This book offers an exceptionally readable overview of the causes, history, and ongoing processes that maintain white supremacy in Australia and underpin claims of 'anti-white racism.' It will be of immense interest to both Australian and international readers because it is able to balance accessibility with complexity, evidence with explanation, fascinating examples, and canny analysis of causes. It lays bare the situation Australia needs to reckon with and makes a compelling and hopeful case for racial literacy.
Lucy Nicholas, Western Sydney University, Australia
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Provocative, rigorous, and unapologetically critical, this book dismantles the fiction of 'anti-white racism' and exposes how narratives of white victimhood operate as forms of denial that obscure enduring structures of power and privilege. Grounded in empirical evidence and attuned to Australia's settler-colonial context, Sharples and Blair offer a timely and necessary intervention into debates on race and racialisation, revealing how grievance can be politicised and mobilised to sustain entrenched inequality while masquerading as its critique.
Fethi Mansouri, Deakin University, Australia

























