SOC3033 Cultures of Race and Racism
Dr Vicki Harman
Office Hours: Tuesday 10-11am; Wednesday 3-4pm
Class Hours: Lectures Tuesday 3-4pm 03DK02; Seminars Tuesday 1-2pm LTA
Assessment 1:
Individual Essay
50%
3rd December
Assessment 2:
Seen exam
50%
TBC
Contents:
PG.2 Week 1 – Introduction/Race, ethnicity and immigration in Britain until mid-20 th century
PG.13 Week 2 – The politics of ‘race’ and immigration 1940’s present
PG.20 Week 3 – Race and the Meaning of ‘Whiteness’
PG.28 Week 4 – Intersectionality; ‘race’, class and gender
PG.35 Week 5 – ‘Race’, State and Nation
PG.45 Week 6 – Multiculturalism and Citizenship
PG.50 Week 7 – ‘Community Cohesion’, Space and Segregation
1
,Week 1 – Introduction and Key Terms
What is race?
‘Man’s most dangerous race’ (Montagu, 1974). He says people behave as though race is real,
but he argues the science doesn’t support this.
Race is associated in peoples minds with biology. There are many ways that people can
differ, but science focuses on skin tone etc.
It gives the idea that there are fixed and separate groups.
But its not possible to group human beings in terms of these ‘objective’ and ‘fixed’
categories.
‘Race is a fiction that we turn into a social reality everyday of our lives. It lies at the heart of
the complex, historical and multifaceted sets of social relationships to which we attach the
label racism.’ (Garner, 2010, pg.ix)
Even though many sociologists don’t believe in the term race, they are still interested in the
study of racism.
First time the term ‘race’ was seen in the English language was in a poem in 1508.
Race and genes:
Race is related to biology in peoples ‘social imaginations.’
Scientifically there is only one race; the human race.
There are many different ways in which humans can differ from each other.
Social significance attributed to differences is important to consider.
Race as an ideology:
Robert Miles, (1989) Racism
Races are imagined (like nations), we can see race as groups of imagined
communities.
Racialisation:
Where ‘race’ becomes socially significant through various social, economic,
cultural or psychological differences.
Race as ‘perceptual practice’:
Byrne (2006) White Lives:
Ethnography of mothers in London – looked at how they raised their children, who
they invited round, what schools they wanted their children to go to.
‘Race is a particular way of seeing, and then categorising, difference.’ (pg.21)
The white British mothers wanted some difference for their children, but not too
much difference.
We can learn to challenge our own stereotyping.
Racial formations:
‘The process by which social, economic, and political forces determine the content and
importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped into racial meanings.’
(Omi and Winant, 1986).
These can change over time eg Irish has been seen as problematic at certain times and not at
others.
‘Biological determinism’:
An explanation for the ‘way people are’, that is reduced to biological or genetic makeup.
2
, There has been attempts to show that some races are superior to others. Eg white European
men arguing that they were more intelligent than other races. This thinking can justify
systematic oppression eg slavery, apartheid.
This biological determinism is still relevant today eg ‘Chinese students are better at maths’
but why do we think this?
Ethnicity:
Ethnicity = collective identity based on a shared culture, history, language, or religion.
Ethnic identity = a felt sense of belonging to an ethnic group.
Understood in terms of culture not biology.
Lunchbox research – lunchboxes of migrant children; a compromise of what’s eaten at home
and what others perceive as what should be in a lunchbox. But some see it as an important
continuation of their ethnic identity – politics of belonging are changing, she was praised for
what she gave her children.
Both race and ethnicity are bounded and determinative – but there is some measure of
agency in understandings of ethnic identity.
However, racialised stereotypes are often buried or coded in the language of ethnicity.
Contemporary manifestations of ‘race’ are often coded in the language of culture.
Racism:
The dogma or doctrine which defines some racial or ethnic groups (often on the basis of
claims about biological nature) as superior to others.
This way of thinking leads to exclusion and/or inferior treatment of individuals or groups
based on perceived racial (and cultural) differences.
‘Racism normally makes a linkage between a difference in physical appearance and a
(perceived) difference in group attitudes and behaviour’ (Modood, 2005, pg.38)
Racist beliefs can be used to create and maintain economic, social and political boundaries
and divisions between different groups.
Constitutes much more than personal opinions – historical legacies and social formations.
We don’t want to be called racist, its looked down upon.
Racism is a broader social formation, not an individual ‘disease’.
‘Institutional racism’ located at a broader, collective level, as outcomes of an organisations
activities.
Came from the McPherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence.
Racism can be built into our institutional systems and practices.
Conclusion:
Many of the key concepts we are dealing with in this course are contested in nature.
Notions of ‘race’ have been used as justification for systematic oppression.
Despite race not existing people continue to live and act as though it does.
‘There is arguably no other core concept which, despite being devoid of scientific validity,
has nevertheless retained a hegemonic position in the public consciousness.’ (Ratcliffe, 2004,
pg.15)
Race as a concept
History of ‘race’ as a concept:
14th and 15th century – black-white dualism rooted in Christian symbolism.
Late 15th century and beyond– European expansion into the Americas, Africa, Asia and
Australia.
Religious explanations were given to physical differences between people.
The European expansion changed race thinking; government, family, farming techniques.
Attitude by white explorers that people in the rest of the world were there to be exploited
and capitalised upon.
3
, The Enlightenment (c.1720-1820):
Construction of inventories of living things (including humans).
For Linnaeus (1707-1778) there four races: European, Asian, American and African.
For Blumenbach (1752-1840) there were five: Caucasian (or ‘white race’), Mongolian
(‘yellow’), Malayan (‘brown’), Negro (‘black’) and the American (‘red’).
Interestingly Northern African and Middle Eastern people were counted as
‘Caucasian’.
Even the ‘objective’ scientists came up with different numbers for the amount of races.
History of ‘Race’ as a concept:
In the 19th century, scientists built on the foundation laid by enlightenment thinkers.
They used techniques such as phrenology, craniology and anthropology to classify people.
Most of the techniques have subsequently been discredited or found to be biased.
Nonetheless, views of white people as a superior race informed Social Darwinism and later
the Eugenicists.
Ideas of ‘race’ helped to justify slavery.
The Slave Trade:
Not purely economic, related to social power relations.
Slaves defined as a ‘thing’ not a person. They weren’t protected by law.
Imperialism and Colonialism:
Creates new images of ‘the Other’.
Used to regulate social encounters.
Shaped in popular imagination (literature and adverts) in 19 th/20th century.
Links to class/gender at home and in colonies.
Development of racialised notions of national identity – ‘imperialism now gave racism a
national definition.’ (Mann, 1993)
Imperial images (1890s) ‘Pears Soap’ turning black skin into white skin.
‘Race’, ethnicity and immigration in Britain until the mid-20th century
An early black presence in Britain:
A black presence has been documented in Britain as far back as the Romano-British period,
when there were black soldiers in the Roman Imperial army (Fryer, 1984)
There is evidence for African troops on Hadrian’s Wall at the type of Severus’ visit (around
AD 200)
Myths and Stereotypes in 16th century:
(1550s) – First Voyages to the West African coast the development of plantations in the
Americas, and the importation of the first black slaves into England (Fryer, 1984)
According to Fryer, in the sixteenth-century British people had little knowledge of Africa or
its inhabitants.
Books and accounts from Englishmen who went to Africa often contained a mix of
observation, myths and far-fetched fantasy, including ‘that Africans were inherently
carefree, lazy and lustful.’ (Fryer, 1984, pg.7)
Mixed relationships:
The first mixed marriages in Britain occurred in 1578
Concerns about ‘too much racial mixing.’
Elizabeth I saying she wanted to expel all black people from Britain from fear of the ‘purity’
of British blood being threatened.
Relationships between white women and black men seem to garner much more attention
and were met with social disapproval. Inter-racial relationships have been met with differing
levels of opprobrium depending on the gender, status, and power of the people involved.
4
Dr Vicki Harman
Office Hours: Tuesday 10-11am; Wednesday 3-4pm
Class Hours: Lectures Tuesday 3-4pm 03DK02; Seminars Tuesday 1-2pm LTA
Assessment 1:
Individual Essay
50%
3rd December
Assessment 2:
Seen exam
50%
TBC
Contents:
PG.2 Week 1 – Introduction/Race, ethnicity and immigration in Britain until mid-20 th century
PG.13 Week 2 – The politics of ‘race’ and immigration 1940’s present
PG.20 Week 3 – Race and the Meaning of ‘Whiteness’
PG.28 Week 4 – Intersectionality; ‘race’, class and gender
PG.35 Week 5 – ‘Race’, State and Nation
PG.45 Week 6 – Multiculturalism and Citizenship
PG.50 Week 7 – ‘Community Cohesion’, Space and Segregation
1
,Week 1 – Introduction and Key Terms
What is race?
‘Man’s most dangerous race’ (Montagu, 1974). He says people behave as though race is real,
but he argues the science doesn’t support this.
Race is associated in peoples minds with biology. There are many ways that people can
differ, but science focuses on skin tone etc.
It gives the idea that there are fixed and separate groups.
But its not possible to group human beings in terms of these ‘objective’ and ‘fixed’
categories.
‘Race is a fiction that we turn into a social reality everyday of our lives. It lies at the heart of
the complex, historical and multifaceted sets of social relationships to which we attach the
label racism.’ (Garner, 2010, pg.ix)
Even though many sociologists don’t believe in the term race, they are still interested in the
study of racism.
First time the term ‘race’ was seen in the English language was in a poem in 1508.
Race and genes:
Race is related to biology in peoples ‘social imaginations.’
Scientifically there is only one race; the human race.
There are many different ways in which humans can differ from each other.
Social significance attributed to differences is important to consider.
Race as an ideology:
Robert Miles, (1989) Racism
Races are imagined (like nations), we can see race as groups of imagined
communities.
Racialisation:
Where ‘race’ becomes socially significant through various social, economic,
cultural or psychological differences.
Race as ‘perceptual practice’:
Byrne (2006) White Lives:
Ethnography of mothers in London – looked at how they raised their children, who
they invited round, what schools they wanted their children to go to.
‘Race is a particular way of seeing, and then categorising, difference.’ (pg.21)
The white British mothers wanted some difference for their children, but not too
much difference.
We can learn to challenge our own stereotyping.
Racial formations:
‘The process by which social, economic, and political forces determine the content and
importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped into racial meanings.’
(Omi and Winant, 1986).
These can change over time eg Irish has been seen as problematic at certain times and not at
others.
‘Biological determinism’:
An explanation for the ‘way people are’, that is reduced to biological or genetic makeup.
2
, There has been attempts to show that some races are superior to others. Eg white European
men arguing that they were more intelligent than other races. This thinking can justify
systematic oppression eg slavery, apartheid.
This biological determinism is still relevant today eg ‘Chinese students are better at maths’
but why do we think this?
Ethnicity:
Ethnicity = collective identity based on a shared culture, history, language, or religion.
Ethnic identity = a felt sense of belonging to an ethnic group.
Understood in terms of culture not biology.
Lunchbox research – lunchboxes of migrant children; a compromise of what’s eaten at home
and what others perceive as what should be in a lunchbox. But some see it as an important
continuation of their ethnic identity – politics of belonging are changing, she was praised for
what she gave her children.
Both race and ethnicity are bounded and determinative – but there is some measure of
agency in understandings of ethnic identity.
However, racialised stereotypes are often buried or coded in the language of ethnicity.
Contemporary manifestations of ‘race’ are often coded in the language of culture.
Racism:
The dogma or doctrine which defines some racial or ethnic groups (often on the basis of
claims about biological nature) as superior to others.
This way of thinking leads to exclusion and/or inferior treatment of individuals or groups
based on perceived racial (and cultural) differences.
‘Racism normally makes a linkage between a difference in physical appearance and a
(perceived) difference in group attitudes and behaviour’ (Modood, 2005, pg.38)
Racist beliefs can be used to create and maintain economic, social and political boundaries
and divisions between different groups.
Constitutes much more than personal opinions – historical legacies and social formations.
We don’t want to be called racist, its looked down upon.
Racism is a broader social formation, not an individual ‘disease’.
‘Institutional racism’ located at a broader, collective level, as outcomes of an organisations
activities.
Came from the McPherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence.
Racism can be built into our institutional systems and practices.
Conclusion:
Many of the key concepts we are dealing with in this course are contested in nature.
Notions of ‘race’ have been used as justification for systematic oppression.
Despite race not existing people continue to live and act as though it does.
‘There is arguably no other core concept which, despite being devoid of scientific validity,
has nevertheless retained a hegemonic position in the public consciousness.’ (Ratcliffe, 2004,
pg.15)
Race as a concept
History of ‘race’ as a concept:
14th and 15th century – black-white dualism rooted in Christian symbolism.
Late 15th century and beyond– European expansion into the Americas, Africa, Asia and
Australia.
Religious explanations were given to physical differences between people.
The European expansion changed race thinking; government, family, farming techniques.
Attitude by white explorers that people in the rest of the world were there to be exploited
and capitalised upon.
3
, The Enlightenment (c.1720-1820):
Construction of inventories of living things (including humans).
For Linnaeus (1707-1778) there four races: European, Asian, American and African.
For Blumenbach (1752-1840) there were five: Caucasian (or ‘white race’), Mongolian
(‘yellow’), Malayan (‘brown’), Negro (‘black’) and the American (‘red’).
Interestingly Northern African and Middle Eastern people were counted as
‘Caucasian’.
Even the ‘objective’ scientists came up with different numbers for the amount of races.
History of ‘Race’ as a concept:
In the 19th century, scientists built on the foundation laid by enlightenment thinkers.
They used techniques such as phrenology, craniology and anthropology to classify people.
Most of the techniques have subsequently been discredited or found to be biased.
Nonetheless, views of white people as a superior race informed Social Darwinism and later
the Eugenicists.
Ideas of ‘race’ helped to justify slavery.
The Slave Trade:
Not purely economic, related to social power relations.
Slaves defined as a ‘thing’ not a person. They weren’t protected by law.
Imperialism and Colonialism:
Creates new images of ‘the Other’.
Used to regulate social encounters.
Shaped in popular imagination (literature and adverts) in 19 th/20th century.
Links to class/gender at home and in colonies.
Development of racialised notions of national identity – ‘imperialism now gave racism a
national definition.’ (Mann, 1993)
Imperial images (1890s) ‘Pears Soap’ turning black skin into white skin.
‘Race’, ethnicity and immigration in Britain until the mid-20th century
An early black presence in Britain:
A black presence has been documented in Britain as far back as the Romano-British period,
when there were black soldiers in the Roman Imperial army (Fryer, 1984)
There is evidence for African troops on Hadrian’s Wall at the type of Severus’ visit (around
AD 200)
Myths and Stereotypes in 16th century:
(1550s) – First Voyages to the West African coast the development of plantations in the
Americas, and the importation of the first black slaves into England (Fryer, 1984)
According to Fryer, in the sixteenth-century British people had little knowledge of Africa or
its inhabitants.
Books and accounts from Englishmen who went to Africa often contained a mix of
observation, myths and far-fetched fantasy, including ‘that Africans were inherently
carefree, lazy and lustful.’ (Fryer, 1984, pg.7)
Mixed relationships:
The first mixed marriages in Britain occurred in 1578
Concerns about ‘too much racial mixing.’
Elizabeth I saying she wanted to expel all black people from Britain from fear of the ‘purity’
of British blood being threatened.
Relationships between white women and black men seem to garner much more attention
and were met with social disapproval. Inter-racial relationships have been met with differing
levels of opprobrium depending on the gender, status, and power of the people involved.
4
