ERIC Number: ED645255
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 183
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-8340-5856-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Reproduction and Maintenance of White Supremacy in Academic Libraries: An Examination of the Racialized Experiences of Library Student Workers
Nancy Housel Abashian
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton
The purpose of this study was to understand the influence of whiteness and white supremacy on academic library student workers. Understanding their experiences contributes to emerging literature that challenges the insidious, oppressive "invisibility of whiteness" that exists in these spaces. This study expands upon a powerful collection of Black, Indigenous and People of Color's narratives of whiteness by examining a diverse group of student workers within a predominantly White academic library. Also examined is the organization's complicity in maintaining white supremacy, concealed within the professional value of neutrality. Using Victor Ray's theory of racialized organizations as a framework, this phenomenological qualitative study sought to make visible the ways white supremacy operates throughout an academic library organization in order to identify opportunities to dismantle it. Using a three interview series, 11 student workers previously employed at Carousel University (pseudonym) a mid-sized university in the southern-tier region of New York State, were asked to describe their experiences. Their responses provided insights on the following research questions: how do student workers experience whiteness and the process of racialization in academic libraries; what details arise that might diminish the negative effects of structural racism in academic libraries; and, what other aspects of identity influence the effect of white supremacy on their experiences in academic libraries. Student workers were asked to share their experiences from three distinct points of view: as a student using the library, as a worker serving library users and as a member of the library organization. Analysis of the data produced five key themes: Agency and Identity, Culture, Neutrality, Oppression, and Organization. These themes, interpreted through Ray's theoretical framework, demonstrated that student worker experiences increased the "visibility of whiteness" and confirmed that white supremacy can be "seen" and therefore acted upon. Continuing to engage in similar conversations could reveal other tendrils of power inequity conducted across racial lines in an academic library organization. This study elucidates a position from which to launch future lines of inquiry around whiteness and white supremacy in organizations, and illuminates several potential strategies to mitigate white supremacy in academic libraries. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Academic Libraries, Library Personnel, Librarian Attitudes, Student College Relationship, College Students, Predominantly White Institutions, Race, Student Diversity, Racism, Whites, Advantaged, Student Attitudes, Racial Attitudes, Minority Groups
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A