Race An Introduction

Taking a comparative approach, this textbook is a concise introduction to race. Illustrated with detailed examples from around the world, it is organised into two parts. Part I explores the historical changes in ideas about race from the ancient world to the present day, in different corners of the globe. Part II outlines ways in which racial difference and inequality are perceived and enacted in selected regions of the world. Examining how humans have used ideas of physical appearance, heredity and behaviour as criteria for categorising others, the text guides students through provocative questions such as: what is race? Does studying race reinforce racism? Does a colour-blind approach dismantle, or merely mask, racism? How does biology feed into concepts of race? Numerous case studies, photos, figures and tables help students to appreciate the different meanings of race in varied contexts, and end-of-chapter research tasks provide further support for student learning.

1. Knowing 'race'; Part I. Race in Time: 2. Early approaches to understanding human variation; 3. From Enlightenment to eugenics; 4. Biology, culture and genomics; 5. Race in the era of cultural racism: politics and the everyday; Part II. Race in Practice: 6. Latin America: mixture and racism; 7. The United States and South Africa: segregation and desegregation; 8. Race in Europe: immigration and nation; 9. Conclusion.

Peter Wade is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester.