Contact: Allison Matthews
Photo by: Beth Newman-Wynn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State social scientist is the author of a new book which examines how people who identify as "white," even with their divergent beliefs and attitudes, share common understandings of racial stereotypes.
"White Bound: Nationalists, Antiracists, and the Shared Meanings of Race" (Stanford UP, 2012) is the first solo work by Matthew W. Hughey, an assistant professor of sociology. A University of Virginia doctoral graduate, he long has studied issues of race, racism, racial identity, and inequality.
In completing the 296-page work, Hughey spent more than a year attending the meetings, reading the literature, and interviewing members of two white organizations, a white nationalist group and a white antiracist group.
Though the two groups were contrasted by obvious political differences, Hughey said he observed surprising similarities in how each interpreted white racial identity through similar racist and reactionary stories and worldviews.
Hughey will sign copies of his book at the Barnes & Noble at the MSU campus Nov. 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hughey also holds a master's degree in cultural studies from Ohio University, where he also earned a certificate of advanced graduate study for women's studies, and a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
At MSU, he also is an affiliated faculty member in the African American and Gender studies programs.
Previously, he was co-editor of "The Obamas and a (Post) Racial America?" (2011), "Black Greek-Letter Organizations, 2.0: New Directions in the Study of African American Fraternities and Sororities" (2011), and "12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today" (2010).
For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.