Overview

The Gloria Wekker Reader compiles articles, essays, interviews, poems, and letters by the Afro-Surinamese Dutch theorist and activist, Gloria Wekker. Wekker is a preeminent scholar in feminist Black diaspora studies, especially known for her developments in epistemology and methodology, conceptualizations of sexuality, and mapping of the connections between race, gender, and empire. These writings demonstrate Wekker’s theoretical and political prowess, illuminating how her scholarship was foundational in shifting the fields of anthropology, feminist and queer studies, and Black diasporic studies. Featuring a foreword by Angela Y. Davis, engaging with The Gloria Wekker Reader is an invitation for interdisciplinary and intergenerational dialogue to inspire political action.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gloria Wekker ,  Chandra Frank ,  Nancy Jouwe ,  Mikki Stelder
Publisher:   Duke University Press
Imprint:   Duke University Press
Weight:   0.572kg
ISBN:  

9781478029731

ISBN 10:   1478029730
Pages:   504
Publication Date:   28 April 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Foreword / Angela Y. Davis xi Introduction: Gloria Wekker—Crafting Alternative Cultural Archives, Shaping Biracial Intimacies / Chandra Frank, Nancy Jouwe, and Mikki Stelder 1 Part I: Sexuality on the Move Introduction / Roderick Ferguson Tower of Babel on the Suriname River (1997) 1. Sexuality on the Move 31 2. What’s Identity Got to Do with It? Rethinking Identity in Light of the Mati Work in Suriname 73 3. Afro-Surinamese Women’s Sexual Culture and the Long Shadow of the Past 93 4. One Finger Does Not Drink Okra Soup: Afro-Surinamese Women and Critical Agency 113 5. Politics and Passion: In Conversation with Gloria Wekker / Andil Gosine 143 6. The Coded Language of Hottentot Nymphae and the Discursive Presence of Race, 1917 155 Part II. Black Europe Introduction / Gail Lewis Denial 7. Survivors: Portrait of the Group Sister Outsider 197 8. Another Dream of a Common Language: Imagining Black Europe 209 9. What Happens to Black Africa in the Afro-Surinamese Transatlantic Diaspora? 223 10. Afropessimism 233 Part III. The Cultural Archive Introduction / Sudeep Dasgupta Acknowledgment 11. How Families Navigate Empire 255 12. Introduction to White Innocence 263 13. A Wind-Swept Plain: The History of Gender and Ethnicity-Thought in the Netherlands (with Helma Lutz) 297 14. White Innocence: Reflections on Public Debates and Political-Analytical Challenges. An Interview with Gloria Wekker, Nella van den Brandt, Lieke Schrijvers, Amal Miri, and Nawal Mustafa 325 15. Diving into the Wreck: Exploring Intersections of Sexuality, “Race,” Gender, and Class in the Dutch Cultural Archive 343 16. Building Nests in a Windy Place: Thinking on Gender and Ethnicity in the Netherlands 365 Part IV: Transnational Feminism Introduction / Fatima El-Tayeb Transatlantic (1998) 17. Naming Ourselves as Black Women in Europe: An African American-German and Afro-Dutch Conversation (with Cassandra Ellerbe-Dueck) 391 18. A Letter of Audre Lorde 411 19. Still Crazy After All Those Years . . . Feminism for the New Millennium 413 20. “How Does One Survive the University as a Space Invader?”: Beyond White Innocence in the Academy 427 21. Reading Obama: Collective Responsibilities and the Politics of Tears (with M. Jacqui Alexander and Gail Lewis) 443 Contributors 465 Index

Reviews

""This impressive collection of Gloria Wekker’s work is essential reading for scholars and activists who want to strengthen their understanding of the complex ways in which the cauldrons of colonialism and the slave trade ignited forces responsible for capitalism and for the accompanying and equally tenacious structures of racism.""—Angela Y. Davis, from the foreword ""If you’re new to Gloria Wekker’s work, as I was, this volume of interviews, essays, letters, and more will be an excellent introduction to the Afro-Surinamese Dutch theorist and activist.""—Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

""If you’re new to Gloria Wekker’s work, as I was, this volume of interviews, essays, letters, and more will be an excellent introduction to the Afro-Surinamese Dutch theorist and activist.""—Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

Author Information

Gloria Wekker is Emeritus Professor of Gender and Ethnicity at Utrecht University. She is the author of White Innocence, published by Duke University Press, as well as The Politics of Passion. Chandra Frank is Assistant Professor of Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies and the 2024–2027 Taft Professor of the Public Humanities at the University of Cincinnati. Nancy Jouwe is a cultural historian and an independent researcher, writer and curator. Mikki Stelder is Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

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