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Understanding the Sociology of Racism

Feb 1, 2025

Sociology of Racism

Authors and Source

  • Matthew Clair, Harvard University
  • Jeffrey S Denis, McMaster University
  • Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Overview

  • Sociology of racism explores racism, racial discrimination, and racial inequality.
  • Past focus: Overtly racist attitudes and policies.
  • Contemporary focus: Subtle, diffuse processes and structures reproducing racial inequality.
  • Racism is seen as an ideology of racial domination.
    • Justifies inferior treatment of other racial groups.

Key Concepts

Definitions

  • Race: Social construct; no biological basis for differences in ability or behavior.
  • Racism: Ideological, involves racial domination and hierarchical valuation.
  • Distinct from:
    • Racial Discrimination: Unequal treatment based on race.
    • Racial Inequality: Unequal outcomes in various domains (income, health, etc.).

Race vs. Ethnicity

  • Race: Assumed biological basis, fixed characteristics.
  • Ethnicity: Common ancestry, history, cultural practices, more fluid.
  • Socially constructed categories, shaped by social forces and state power.

Intellectual History

  • Two phases in sociology of racism:
    1. Late 19th to mid-20th century: Focus on overt attitudes.
    2. Mid-20th century to present: Includes implicit biases, structural/institutional racism.
  • Early sociology often maintained racist assumptions.
  • Shift post-WWII: From psychology of individual prejudice to systemic social processes.

Contemporary Approaches

  • Focus on persistent racial inequality despite declining overt racist attitudes.
  • New Racisms: Contextual principles justifying inequalities, e.g., symbolic racism, colorblind racism.
  • Implicit Bias: Unconscious attitudes affecting behavior and decision-making.

New Racisms

  • Principle-implementation gap: Support for racial equality in principle, resistance to policies.
  • Symbolic racism, laissez-faire racism, colorblind racism discussed.

Implicit Bias

  • Unconscious biases impacting expectations and actions.
  • Measured through Implicit Association Tests (IAT).
  • Studies show persistent biases even among minorities about their own groups.

Racism as a Social Process

  • Racialization: Constructing racial meaning, signification of categories.
  • Macro- and micro-level processes, including historical and interpersonal interactions.

Institutional Racism

  • Shift from individual to systemic focus.
  • Institutional Racism: Discrimination embedded in organizations, policies, and norms.
  • Macrostructural processes provide meaningful explanations of racial inequality.

Responses to Racism

  • Internalized racism: Acceptance of dominant ideologies by targets.
  • Everyday racism studies illuminate effects and strategies of resistance.
  • Comparative studies assess responses and strategies across contexts.

Challenges and Future Directions

  • Racial inequalities persist despite being a socially unacceptable topic.
  • Need for nuanced understanding and multivalent approaches.
  • Scholars urged to continue bridging different levels of analysis to address contemporary racism.

Related Topics

  • Crime, Immigration, and Ethnicity
  • Discrimination: Racial
  • Ethnicity, Sociology of
  • Social Inequality
  • Race Identity and Racism in the 21st Century

Bibliography

  • Extensive list of references including works by W.E.B. Du Bois, Blumer, Bonilla-Silva, and more on various aspects of racism and social inequality.