Studying at York
Normative Perspectives on Race - POL00086M
- Department: Politics and International Relations
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Alasia Nuti
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module summary
Our era of ‘colourblindness’ is still shaped by ‘race’ in many profound and pervasive respects. This module aims to analyse and discuss some of the ways in which race is at the roots of contemporary inequalities and injustices. In particular, the module will merge theoretical and normative reflections on race with the analysis of the actual demands of political grassroots movements trying to denounce and overcome racial inequalities.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The first part of the module will explore some of the most influential accounts of the experience of being racialized as ‘Black’, of what ‘races’ are, and how they operate in creating systems of inequalities and disadvantage. In particular, we will ask whether races are a biological reality or are socially constructed, discuss whether racial identities are always a source of injustice, and examine different theories of the production of race inequalities. This first part will offer the theoretical and normative foundations for examining the specific challenges that race posits in our contemporary societies, which will constitute the focus of the second part of the module. We will move to discuss issues of mass incarceration, racial profiling, inter- and intra-race solidarity, legacies of colonialism and slavery, and responsibility for redress. We will do so by putting in dialogue classic and contemporary political and social theorists with activist movements fighting for the radical reform of the prison system, for reparations for past racial injustices (e.g., colonialism and slavery) and for the end of police brutality. Among the grassroots movements that will be discussed, special attention will be devoted to Black Live Matters in the US and to its normative underpinnings by looking at the ways in which this influential and powerful movement has been denouncing the interwoven dimensions of racial injustice in the US. Moreover, we will examine how race intersects with other axes of oppression, such as gender, in creating positions of privilege and disadvantage.
Due to recent events, the module will give special attention to the US context; however, we will also discuss the role that race has played (and arguably still plays) in shaping European societies, especially in light of their past of colonization and imperialism.
Over the term, two viewings of movies will be organized: Bamboozled by Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay’s recent documentary 13TH. These two viewings, which will be optional activities for students, will offer the opportunity to further engage with and discuss the major topics covered during the first and second part of the module through a different media and in a more informal setting.
At the end of the module, we will be able not only to know what races are but also to envisage what races should be.
Module learning outcomes
At the end of the module students should be able to:
· understand the different and pervasive ways in which race shapes our societies and the international sphere
· analyse the various accounts of how race operates and what racial injustice amounts to
· critically evaluate some of the most pressing racial issues in our societies, such as the racialization of the prison population, the legacy of colonialism and slavery, and racial profiling
· appreciate how other axes of oppression, like gender, intersects with race
· understand the relationship between the theory and the politics of race
· critically analyse not only theoretical texts but also demands of grassroots movements and organizations that strive to achieve racial equality and justice
Academic and graduate skills
· reconstruct and critically appraise arguments.
· engage in reasoned debate over these arguments.
· form and justify independent views, and argue for them by presenting reasoning and cogent argumentation.
· collaborate with others in presentations
· communicate their views and learn how to reply to potential challenges
· defend their arguments clearly and accurately in written work
Indicative assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive oral feedback through seminars and in feedback and guidance hours. Written feedback will be given on summative work within six weeks of submission.
Indicative reading
Here, there is a list of some key texts on accounts of race injustice and of experiences of being racialized as Black, i.e., for the first part of the module:
Du Bois W.E. [1903] (1997), “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” In The Souls of the Black Folk, ed. D.W. Blight and R. Gooding-Williams (Boston: Bedford Books)
Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States. Third Edition. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Fanon F. (1967), Black Skin, White Masks (London: Pluto Press)
Feagin, J.R. (2015) How Blacks Built America: Labor, Culture, Freedom, and Democracy. New York: Routledge, 2015.
———. (2010) Racist America: Roots, Current Realities and Future Reparations. New York: Routledge.
———. (2006) Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression. New York: Routledge.
———. (2013) The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing. New York: Routledge.
Feagin, J.R., Leslie H. Picca, and Ruth Thompson-Miller. (2014) Jim Crow’s Legacy: The Lasting Impact of Segregation. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Loury G.C. (2003), The Anatomy of Racial Inequality (Cambridge [MA]: Harvard University Press)
Here, there is a list of indicative key texts on some dimensions of the politics of race that will be discussed in the second part of the module (e.g., solidarity, mass incarceration, reparations for past racial injustice, intersectionality and Black feminist thought):
Alexander M. (2010), The New Jim Crow (New York: The New Press).
Anderson E. (2010), The Imperative of Integration (Princeton [NJ]: Princeton University Press
bell hooks (1992), Ain’t a Woman (London: Pluto Press)
Collins P. (2000) Black Feminist Thought (New York: Routledge).
Crenshaw K.W. (1991) “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color”, Stanford Law Review 43 (6).
Davis, A. (2003) Are Prisons Obsolete? New York: Seven Stories Press
Gilroy P. (2002). ‘There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack’: The Cultural Politics of Race
and Nation (London: Routledge).
Shelby T. (2016) Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform (Cambridge [MA]: Harvard University Press).
———. We Who Are Dark (Cambridge [MA]: Harvard University Press)
Thompson, J. (2002) Taking Responsibility for the Past: Reparation and Historical Injustice (Cambridge: Polity Press).
Threadcraft S. (2016) Intimate Justice: The Black Female Body and the Body Politic (New York: Oxford University Press).
Wacquant, L. (2002). “From Slavery to Mass Incarceration.” New Left Review 13: 41–60.
Over the term, students will also be offered the viewing and discussion of two movies that address some of the topics covered in the module:
Bamboozled (by Spike Lee, 2000)
13TH (by Ava DuVernay, 2016)