Gloria Wekker Explained

Gloria Wekker
Birth Date:13 June 1950
Birth Place:Paramaribo, Suriname
Nationality:Surinamese / Dutch
Occupation:educator, writer
Years Active:1981 - present
Known For:Critical race theory,[1] Afro-Caribbean and gender studies
Notable Works:The Politics of Passion, White Innocence

Gloria Daisy Wekker (born June 13, 1950) is an Afro-Surinamese Dutch emeritus professor (Utrecht University) and writer who has focused on gender studies and sexuality in the Afro-Caribbean region and diaspora. She was the winner of the Ruth Benedict Prize from the American Anthropological Association in 2007.

Biography

Gloria Wekker was born in 1950 in Paramaribo, Suriname. Her family migrated to the Netherlands when she was a one year old infant and lived in a neighborhood in Amsterdam that had formerly been predominantly Jewish prior to WWI. [2] [3] She returned to Amsterdam in the 1970s and became active in the Afro-European Women’s Movement.[4] Wekker earned a master's degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Amsterdam in 1981 and began her career working in various governmental agencies in Amsterdam, such as the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Culture on Ethnic Minorities' Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. In 1984, she became a founding member of "Sister Outsider", an Amsterdam-based, literary circle for lesbian black women named after the work by Audre Lorde. In 1987, she served as a Policy Associate in the Office for the Coordination of Ethnic Minorities' Affairs.

In 1992, Wekker earned her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles with a thesis on the sexuality and subjectivity of Afro-Surinamese women. In 2001, she was appointed to the Aletta-chair of the Department of Women's Studies at the Utrecht University.[5] [6] Her work focuses on the intersections of colonialism, racism, white privilege, feminist theory, lesbian theory and women in the Caribbean. Her work has earned her the title of "Holland’s Angela Davis"[7] as she has forced the Dutch to examine their alleged ingrained stereotypes and attitudes towards racism and patriarchy.[8] She has led debate which questioned the racist nature of such iconic images in Dutch tradition as Sinterklaas (Santa Claus)'s helpers as blackface golliwogs known as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete),[9] as well as the imagery of what constitutes beauty.[10]

Wekker was nominated in 2004 for the Dutch Scientific Research Council's "Triomfprijs" (Triumph prize). In 2006, her book The Politics of Passion: Women's Sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora won critical praise[11] and was awarded with the 2007 Ruth Benedict Prize from the American Anthropological Association.[12] Wekker gave the 2009 Mosse Lecture, titled Van Homo Nostalgie en betere tijden. Multiculturaliteit en postkolonialiteit (On Gay Nostalgia and better times. Multiculturalism and postcolonialism).[13] [14] In 2011, she began a sabbatical to work at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies on a research project, which resulted in the publication in 2016 of White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race. In this book, Wekker utilizes a scavenger methodology by "work[ing] with interviews, watching TV and reading novels, analyzing email correspondence..." in order to develop a clear understanding of the Dutch cultural archive. Because of her work with both sociology and policy, Wekker led an international committee which was appointed at the University of Amsterdam in 2015 to increase diversity at the university.[15] The committee published their findings in the report Let's do diversity in 2016.[16]

Selected works

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The black Dutch feminist taking the fight against right-wing extremism to the ballot box. 14 March 2017 .
  2. Book: White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race . Wekker . Gloria . 2016 . Duke University Press . 10.1215/9780822374565 . 9780822374565 . 16 November 2022.
  3. Web site: Gloria Wekker. Surinam Stars. 10 February 2016. Paramaribo, Suriname. Dutch. 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20170209122256/http://www.surinamstars.com/Gloria%20Wekker.html. 9 February 2017. dead.
  4. Encyclopedia: Pesole. Betta. Gloria Wekker. Encyclopedia of Afro-European Studies. 10 February 2016. Universidad de León, León, Spain. 2011. 2 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160602230701/http://www.encyclopediaofafroeuropeanstudies.eu/encyclopedia/gloria-wekker/. dead.
  5. Web site: 9th Annual Summer School on Black Europe. Dialogo Global. 10 February 2016. 28 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191028071225/http://www.dialogoglobal.com/amsterdam/people.php. dead.
  6. Web site: Gloria Wekker. The University of the West Indies. 11 February 2016. St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
  7. News: Neilson. Zoe. For Pete's sake. 11 February 2016. The Voice. 7 December 2014. London, England. 15 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160215123809/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/pete%E2%80%99s-sake. dead.
  8. News: Wekker. Gloria. Acht wetenschappelijk onderbouwde argumenten tegen Zwarte Piet. De Wereld Morgen . 23 October 2014. Antwerp, Belgium. Dutch.
  9. News: ten Broeke. Asha. Zwarte Piet. 11 February 2016. UT Nieuws. 11 November 2014. University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands. 15 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160215152428/http://www.utnieuws.nl/opinie/60711/Zwarte_Piet. dead.
  10. News: Julen. Jeannine. 'Kroes gaan' is een hele stap. 11 February 2016. de Verdieping Trouw. 17 November 2013. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dutch.
  11. Book review: Gloria Wekker, The Politics of Passion: Women's Sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora. Feminist Theory. 9. 1. 119–120. Sage Publications. 10.1177/14647001080090010702. April 2008. Miller-Young. Mireille. 144313219.
  12. Web site: Gloria Wekker. Colofon Utrecht University. 10 February 2016. Utrecht, the Netherlands.
  13. Web site: Van Homo Nostalgie en betere tijden. Multiculturaliteit en postkolonialiteit. Wekker. Gloria. Gloria Wekker. 16 September 2009. Utrecht University. 6 February 2019. Dutch. On Gay Nostalgia and Better Times. Multiculturalism and Postcolonialism.
  14. Book: 2014. Bowen. John R.. Bertossi. Christophe. Duyvendak. Jan Willem. Krook. Mona Lena. Mona Lena Krook. [{{Google books|VYcPAQAAQBAJ|page=255|plainurl=yes}} European States and Their Muslim Citizens: The Impact of Institutions on Perceptions and Boundaries]. Cambridge University Press. 255. 978-1-107-03864-6.
  15. News: Westerveld gaat UvA democratiseren ("[Lisa] Westerveld will democratize Amsterdam University")]. 11 February 2016. Science Guide. 19 November 2015. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dutch.
  16. Web site: Diversity Committee presents final report 'Let's do diversity' . University of Amsterdam . 12 October 2016 . 8 August 2021.

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