Engendering whiteness represents a comparative analysis of the complex interweaving of race, gender, social class and sexuality in defining the contours of white women's lives in Barbados and North Carolina during the era of slavery. Despite their gendered subordination, their social location within the dominant white group afforded all white women a range of privileges. Hence, their whiteness, as much as their gender, shaped these women's social identities and material realities. Engendering whiteness draws on a wide variety of sources including property deeds, wills and court transcripts, and interrogates the ways in which white women could be simultaneously socially positioned within plantation societies as both agents and as victims. It also reveals the strategies deployed by elite and poor white women in these societies to resist their gendered subordination, to challenge the ideological and social constraints that sought to restrict their lives to the private domestic sphere, to protect the limited rights afforded to them, to secure independent livelihoods and to create meaningful existences. -- .

This collection draws insights from an interdisciplinary group of scholars who specialize in diverse methods ranging from ethnography, archival research, and oral histories, to quantitative data analysis and experiments used in the social sciences and humanities to reflect on the empirical, methodological, and practical implications of conducting research beyond one's national borders. The goal of this book is to help researchers contemplate existing orientations that dominate current research processes and consider the need for transnational multidisciplinary practices that remain aware of the inequalities which continually inform research practices. With this focus, this collection is also a resourceful initiative that seeks to share experiences as well as extract key ideas and approaches likely to overlap or resonate in different disciplines.

The Oxford Companion to Black British History is an essential reference for anyone who wants to understand the long and fascinating history of black people in Britain from classical times to the present day. It brings together a unique collection of articles that provide an overview of the black presence in Britain, and the rich and diverse contribution made to British society. The A-Z guide includes entries for landmark figures, key events, concepts (such as Emancipation and Reparations), and historical accounts. Subject areas include medicine, military history, art, music, sports, and education. Entries range from the African auxiliaries stationed on Hadrian's Wall in the second century A.D., through John Edmonstone, who taught taxidermy to Charles Darwin, Mary Seacole, the "Black Florence Nightingale," and Walter Tull, a professional soccer player and First World War officer. The guide will be of tremendous interest to those involved in commenting on subjects relating to the Black British community, or anyone interested in finding out about the history of expatriated Africans outside the Americas.
Features:
First ever reference book to explore the fullhistory of black people in Britain
Detailed timeline charts key dates for people and events from the 2nd century AD to the 21st century
Edited by David Dabydeen, prize-winning novelist and respected academic, together with John Gilmore and Cecily Jones
Over 400 entries written by more than 100 specialists under the direction of Professor Dabydeen, his colleagues, and a distinguished team of advisers