Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a fundamental shift in American social organisation and governmental practice in the Trump era. It focuses on whiteness as an ideology – a collection of beliefs and understandings about what race is and how social arrangements and practices can be racially structured. The chapter presents a theoretical overview of discussions about whiteness, emphasising the connection between whiteness, national identity and nationalism. It examines the contours of the current crisis of whiteness, including the ways in which it is both similar to and different from past crises. The chapter analyses the ways in which race and whiteness are discussed within contemporary Russian public discourses – particularly in political commentaries and popular media – as well as the ways in which these concepts are connected to nationalism.