Am I a white man? Political epistemology of the majority paradox

Abstract

How can one speak about minority issues as a White man? Standpoint epistemology is not just for minorities, and it does not silence majority voices. Indeed, what is required is not a confession; rather, critical thinking in the first person. In order to avoid Donna Haraway’s “god trick”, I start from the French rejection of gender and critical race studies situated in an international context of reaction. Joan W. Scott’s feminist (and minority) paradox (speaking up as a woman, in order not to be treated as one) then helps conceptualize what I call the majority paradox: speaking up, from a majority position, about minority issues, without speaking for minorities. Taking seriously this majority paradox creates a position that is symmetrical to Patricia Hill Collins’ “outsider within”: the insider without. Being called a traitor as a result only reveals a kind of majority identity politics. Resisting this identification can thus be productive.