Dr Jessica White PhD, FHEA

Personal Statement

I am a social and cultural historian of modern Britain, focusing on the intersecting histories of race and gender in the latter decades of the twentieth century. I completed my PhD in History from the University of Manchester in 2021, where I wrote my dissertation titled, 'Race, motherhood, and multiculturalism: the making of female identities in the British inner city, c. 1970-1990'. My current project explores the history of white women and integration in post-war Britain.

In general, I am interested in how race, racial thinking, and racism have shaped, and continue to shape, women's lives in modern Britain. In particular, my research has focused on how large-scale immigration in the immediate post-war decades from the New Commonwealth altered women's actions and identities in Britain. I am fascinated by women's everyday lives, as well as the concerted actions they take to bring about change in their local communities. I have written extensively on the experiences and activism of Black British women in the North West, as well as on white women and their under-explored role as producers and reproducers of racial thinking and racism. Finally, I believe in the importance of thinking 'institutionally' when exploring these histories, considering the role of the state in engineering and facilitating the everyday racial violence in women's lives. I welcome PhD supervision enquiries from any student interested in pursuing a doctorate related to any of the above themes.

I am also interested in questions to do with researcher positionality and historical ethics in relation to the study of race, which I have written about here.