Topographies of Whiteness: Mapping Whiteness in Library and Information Science
Editor: Gina Schlesselman-Tarango
Expected: April 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63400-022-2
Call for Proposals:
From the materials libraries and archives collect to the spaces they design and inhabit, whiteness can be mapped and traced in library and information science (LIS). Exploring the diverse terrain of LIS, this edited collection strives to unveil, name, explore, interrogate, problematize, and ultimately fissure whiteness at work. It will provide critical accounts of LIS history, exploring the legacies and current formations of whiteness, from whiteness and technology to whiteness and library pedagogy. Offering theoretical and practical approaches, this text will consider possibilities for challenging oppressive legacies and charting a new course towards anti-racist librarianship. Finally, this text will take seriously the limitations of and problems inherent in studying whiteness.
Proposals might address the following:
Theoretical approaches to whiteness in LIS, including but not limited to those drawn from postcolonial, critical race, whiteness, disability, feminist, womanist, queer, media, and architectural studies.
Histories and legacies of whiteness and white supremacy in LIS; ways in which these histories and legacies are tied to colonialism and cultural imperialism.
Whiteness and white supremacy at work in LIS subfields and practices, including but not limited to archives, cataloging, collection development, information technology, instruction, and reference.
White identity in LIS.
The ways in which whiteness intersects with class, gender, sexuality, ability, etc. in LIS.
Practical steps and theoretical approaches librarians can take to move beyond “checking their privilege” to engaging in meaningful anti-racist librarianship.
The limitations of and problems inherent in studying whiteness, white identity, white privilege, etc.
This is not an exhaustive list.
Proposals are welcome from anyone involved in LIS. Contributions from people of color, those who belong to communities underrepresented in LIS, and those who work in school and public libraries are encouraged. Autobiographical accounts of white privilege should be paired with theoretical or practical suggestions for moving towards anti-racist practice.
This collection will contain papers and essays of approximately 1500 – 5000 words. Proposals should include a short biographical statement followed by an abstract of no more than 500 words describing the proposed contribution.
Send proposals to gschlesselman@csusb.edu by September 15, 2015.
Timeline
Submission of proposals deadline: September 15, 2015
Notification regarding proposals: November 1, 2015
First drafts of manuscripts due: May 1, 2016
Editing and revision: June-October 2016
This book is forthcoming in the Litwin Books/Library Juice Press Series on Critical Race Studies and Multiculturalism in LIS, Sujei Lugo, editor.