Can We Unlearn Racism?

“In contemporary South Africa, power no longer maps neatly onto race,” introduces the topic of his new book Senior Fellow Jacob Boersema. In March of 2022, Jacob’s book titled “Can We Unlearn Racism?: What South Africa Teaches Us About Whiteness” was published by Stanford University Press.

In the book, Jacob draws on more than 150 interviews with a “cross-section of white South Africans,” who explain how they understand their whiteness. Can We Unlearn Racism further reveals how the process of unlearning racism entails “dismantling psychological and institutional structures alike, all of which are inflected by emotion and shaped by ideas of culture and power.”

Indeed, Jacob’s book pursues a question that should be at the forefront of every society’s collective consciousness. “This book offers valuable insights into the broader sociological process of unlearning, relevant today to communities all around the world,” Stanford University Press writes.

Learn more

• Learn more about and order Can We Unlearn Racism on this Stanford University Press page or via Amazon.