Dr Richard Rowland and Prof Robbie Williams: Social Categories that Fit

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Social kinds include genders and races as well as other social properties and statuses such as the property of being an athlete, being a citizen, and being a refugee. This paper argues that we should distinguish between (a) whether A is treated as a member of social category C; (b) whether A should be treated as a member of social category C; and (c) whether social category C fits A; that is, whether it is fitting to treat or categorize A as a C. It argues that, at least sometimes, whether A is a member of C is determined by (c) rather than (a) or (b). This view sits in opposition with the currently dominant view about social categories according to which our social category membership is always determined by whether we are treated as a member of that social category (that is, by (a)). This paper makes two arguments for distinguishing (a-c) and holding that sometimes our social category membership is determined by the social category that fits us rather than just by the social category we are treated as or should be treated as a member of. First, this fit-based account of social category membership explains our disagreements about social categories better than the alternative social position account of social category membership. Second, this fit-based account evades, and predicts, certain wrong-kind-of-reason counterexamples that the alternative social position account faces. This paper then explains how this fit-based account has useful implications for thinking about social categories more generally.