Table Of ContentRACE, ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL
THEORY
Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory provides a critical analysis of the main areas of
scholarly research and debate about racial and ethnic relations over the past few
decades. The book covers substantive areas of scholarly debate in this fast-changing
field, including race and social relations, identities and the construction of the
racial other, feminism and race, the relationship between race and nationalism,
antisemitism, the evolution of new forms of racism, race and political representation
and, more generally, the changing debates about race and ethnicity in our global
environment.
The book argues that there is a need for more dialogue across national and
conceptual boundaries about how to develop the theoretical tools needed to
understand both the historical roots of contemporary forms of racialised social
and political relations and the contemporary forms through which race is made
and re-made. A key argument that runs through the book is the need to develop
conceptual frameworks that can help us to make sense of the changing forms
of racial and ethnic relations in contemporary societies. This means developing
more dialogue across national research cultures as well as empirical research that
seeks to engage with the key issues raised by contemporary theoretical debates.
The book will be of interest to both students wanting to develop a deeper
understanding of this area of scholarship and to researchers of race, ethnicity and
migration working in various national and disciplinary environments.
John Solomos is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. He has
researched and written widely on the history and contemporary forms of race and
ethnic relations in Britain, theories of race and racism, the politics of race, equal
opportunity policies, multiculturalism and social policy, race and football, and racist
movements and ideas. His most recent books are Race and Racism in Britain (Fourth
Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and The Unfinished Politics of Race: Histories of
Political Participation, Migration and Multiculturalism (Cambridge University Press,
2022). His most recent edited books are Race and Ethnicity in Pandemic Times (Rou-
tledge, 2022), An Introduction to Sociology (SAGE, 2022), Theories of Race and Racism:
A Reader (Third Edition, Routledge, 2022), and Routledge International Handbook of
Contemporary Racisms (Routledge, 2020). He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Ethnic
and Racial Studies journal, co-editor of the Racism, Resistance and Social Change book
series (Manchester University Press), and General Editor of the online The Rout-
ledge Encyclopaedia of Race and Racism series.
‘John Solomos is the too-often unacknowledged uncle of UK race and ethnic stud-
ies. This work brings together insights from his field-making career, reflecting his
often stated belief that a commitment to teaching is central to the responsibilities
of a serious scholar. It is destined to become a core work in the field, encouraging
new generations of antiracist scholars to learn to think with the seriousness and
generosity of the author’.
Gargi Bhattacharyya, Professor of Sociology, University of East London, UK
‘Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory is a politically astute, empirically grounded, concep-
tually sophisticated and open-ended contribution to our understanding of race and
ethnicity at a moment when it is most needed. As popular movements and a new
generation of activists embrace black lives matter, as statues of slavers and colonists are
toppled, as universities grapple with what decolonising the curriculum might mean,
and the racial inequalities of everyday life are as entrenched as ever, there couldn’t be
a better moment than now to take stock of how we got to where we are today and
how we might move forward into a more racially just future. This is simply a superb
book. It provides a rigorous, intelligent and accessible pathway through the last half a
century of race thinking, debate, politics and the racialisation of social relationships, in
the UK and beyond. Most importantly, it provides an invaluable resource with which
to develop intelligent public conversations about race’.
Caroline Knowles, Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
‘Nobody in the world but John Solomos could write such a great book, based on
empirical research, theoretical clarity, a solid experience of teaching and an unbe-
lievable knowledge of both academic production and controversies, and the public
debates on racism and antisemitism. In a time when huge transformations affect
these key issues, which are so central in the political and social life, John Solomos
brings to bear a more accurate, precise, and up-to-date analysis. This book will be a
classic point of reference for years to come’.
Michel Wieviorka, Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences
Sociales, France
RACE, ETHNICITY AND
SOCIAL THEORY
John Solomos
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
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© 2023 John Solomos
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Solomos, John, author.
Title: Race, ethnicity and social theory/John Solomos.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021061911 (print) | LCCN 2021061912 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781857286328 (hardback) | ISBN 9781857286335 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780203519141 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Racism. | Race relations. | Multiculturalism.
Classification: LCC HT1521 .R23229 2022 (print) | LCC HT1521
(ebook) | DDC 305.8–dc23/eng/20220105
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061911
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061912
ISBN: 978-1-857-28632-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-857-28633-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-51914-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780203519141
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
CONTENTS
Preface viii
Introduction 1
Origins and trajectories 1
Political and policy context 6
Situating this book 9
Race relations and social theory 12
Structuring the argument 17
References 21
1 Theoretical frameworks and perspectives 25
Concepts and analytical frames 25
Sociologies of race in Britain 27
Sociological perspectives in America 34
Critical and interdisciplinary theories 36
Globalisation of scholarship and research 37
Postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on race 41
Rethinking the boundaries of race and ethnicity 44
References 46
2 Race and social relations 53
Race, social relations, and class 53
Genesis and development 57
From race to class, and back again 61
Reconceptualising racism and social relations 66
vi Contents
Racism and society 69
Locating race and ethnicity in the social world 71
References 74
3 Constructing identities and the racial other 81
Identities, boundaries, and racialisation 81
Culture, identity, race 83
Whiteness and the racial other 88
Intersectional approaches to race and ethnicity 93
Living with difference 94
References 98
4 Reframing feminism, rethinking race 103
Race and feminist theorising 103
Limitations of feminist theories and race 104
Whiteness and feminist theorising 109
Black feminist perspectives 112
Intersectionality, culture, and racial politics 116
Minority women, mobilisation, resistance 120
Reframing the boundaries of feminism 122
References 124
5 Nations, cultures, identities 129
Nationalism, race, and nation 129
Constructing nations through race 130
Race, nation, and gender 134
Englishness, Britishness, and beyond 138
Remaking the nation after colonialism 142
Race, culture, and national identity 144
Nationalism and race in the global environment 147
References 150
6 Antisemitism, racism, and modernity 155
Background and context 155
Changing perspectives 157
Historical forms of antisemitism 158
Sociology and antisemitism 161
Antisemitism and the politics of racism 167
Political and cultural expressions 173
References 176
Contents vii
7 New racisms or beyond race? 181
What kind of racism? 181
From racism to racisms 182
Multiculturalism, diversity, and post-race 187
New racial orders 189
Political languages and race 191
Culture, race, and whiteness 194
Racism, populism, and post-race 198
References 200
8 Race, representation, and difference 205
Political inclusion and exclusion 205
Race, ethnicity, and politics 206
Representation, pluralism, and mobilisation 208
Migrants, mobilisation, and citizenship 212
Political identities and social movements 214
Looking to the future 218
References 223
9 Racism and ethnicity in a changing world 227
Race making in the present 227
Reframing the field of study 230
Emerging issues and questions 232
Racism and migration 236
Race and global inequalities 240
Comparative research cultures 243
Rethinking research priorities 245
References 250
Bibliography 255
Index 295
PREFACE
This book is being published at a time when questions about racial and ethnic
relations are very much at the centre of both political and policy debates and
broader conversations in society. The issues that it addresses are, therefore, both
the subject of intense interest and often seen as sites of controversy, both within
specific societies and more globally. This is evidenced in the growing number of
both scholarly and more popular books that have been published over the past
few years that address both the long and messy histories of race and racism and
the role that political and social identities framed by racial and ethnic categories
play in contemporary societies. Given this wider context and the timing of its
publication Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory is both an effort to bring together an
account of this evolving area of scholarship and research and an intervention in
ongoing political and policy debates about how questions about racial and ethnic
inequalities and divisions can be addressed in the contemporary environment. It
is written, however, in a style that seeks to analyse key areas of scholarly curios-
ity and research rather than as a programmatic statement that seeks to convince
readers to see these questions through a specific theoretical frame. This is because
it seems important in this environment to be open to different ideas and perspec-
tives, to maintain a degree of curiosity, and to ask difficult questions about both
the historical background and the present.
Although questions about racial and ethnic studies are controversial for
some commentators, as evidenced in controversies about the issues of critical
race theory in the United States (Cobb 2021; Stewart, Cobb and Keith 2020;
The Economist 2020, 2021), there can be little doubt that both in the academic
sphere and in the wider civil society discussions about these issues have become an
integral part of wider societal preoccupations about social justice, inequality, and
social change. Indeed, both in the mass media and social media platforms, these
are issues that have become central to current societal preoccupations and often
Preface ix
the subject of intense controversy and tension. One can see this both in scholarly
and research-based monographs and in the broader range of more popular texts
that seek to address the changing role of race and racism in contemporary socie-
ties (Coates 2015; DiAngelo 2021; Eddo-Lodge 2017; Greenfield-Sanders 2019;
Kendi 2017; Morrison 2019). We shall engage with some aspects of these contro-
versies throughout this book, although our main concern will be to provide an
overview of the evolution of scholarly and research agendas in the contemporary
period. The substantive chapters of the book are framed around key areas of
scholarly research and debate and aim to provide readers with an accessible guide
to current research agendas as well as to help situate current preoccupations
within a broader historical context.
The style and tone adopted in the book lie in its origins, which go back to
two sources that have helped to shape both the structure of the arguments devel-
oped in it and the style in which the key themes are presented. The first source
goes back to my efforts to teach various cohorts of students at Aston, Warwick,
Birkbeck, Southampton, London South Bank, City, and again at Warwick the
basics of theoretical debates about race, racism, and ethnicity. In my efforts to
engage students with these debates, it became clear that there were few texts that
provided an overview of the origins and the trajectories of both historical and
contemporary discussions in sociology and in the social sciences and humanities
more generally. Partly because of my own frustrations at the relative dearth of
accessible overviews of these theoretical debates and perspectives, I have felt
a need for some time to produce a critical account of contemporary theoreti-
cal trends and debates. But without the actual experience of trying to engage
students with these theories over time I doubt whether this book would have
developed in the way that it has. I found that the need to provide students with
the tools to access and discuss often esoteric conceptual debates forced me to try
to make sense of debates and discussions to engage in meaningful conversations
about them with my students. The dialogues and debates with various groups of
students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, helped me to think differently
about the key theoretical debates addressed in this book. So, thank you to all
the students who have helped me, often without directly knowing it, along the
way by discussing ideas, sharing criticisms, and expressing various degrees of
enthusiasm. I hope that the effort to engage students’ curiosity about how we
can make sense of both the histories and the present forms of racial and ethnic
relations comes through in the various parts of this book. I hope to hear from
future cohorts of my own students and others as they engage with the key ideas
and concepts that are the subject matter of the book.
The second source lies in the empirical research projects and writing projects
that I have undertaken over the years that have forced me to think about the con-
nections between theory, history, and contemporary empirical research. My key
research projects over the past five decades or so have focused on a wide range
of issues, such as the evolution of policy agendas about black youth, changing
