Book, Pact of Whiteness, The [LS]

Language: Brazilian Portuguese. In this powerful book, Cida Bento — elected in 2015 by The Economist as one of the fifty most influential people in the world in the field of diversity — denounces and questions the universality of whiteness and its harmful consequences for any substantive change in the hierarchy of social relations. Faced with dozens of refusals in selection processes, Cida Bento identified a pattern: no matter how qualified she was, she was never chosen for the vacancies. The same happened with her brothers, who, like her, also had completed higher education. On the other hand, white people with equivalent — if not inferior — resumes were hired. In her master's and doctoral research, the author dedicated herself to investigating this model, which was repeated in the most diverse corporate spheres, and to demystifying the fallacy of meritocratic discourse. What he found was an unspoken agreement of self-preservation, which serves the interests of certain groups and perpetuates the power of white people. Cida Bento called this phenomenon the “narcissistic pact of whiteness”. In this book, the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Labor Relations and Inequalities (Ceert) brings together her experience to present evidence of this tacit agreement and invite us to shift our gaze to those who, in order to remain at the center, drive everyone else the margin.