How do you define race?

Race is…

An objective condition

An ideological construct

• It is biological• we are all born into different races • we cannot change our race

• it was created socially/historically• an illusion that does ideological work• a “false consciousness”

Omi, Michael and Winant, Howard. (1993). “On the Theoretical Concept of Race.”

Race is…

An objective condition

An ideological construct

A process

• It is biological• we are all born into different races • we cannot change our race

• it was created socially/historically• an illusion that does ideological work• a “false consciousness”

• as a global hegemonic phenomenon• racial formation is a process in which the meaning of race changes, as the concept of race persists• “the meaning and salience of race are forever being reconstituted in the present”

Omi, Michael and Winant, Howard. (1993). “On the Theoretical Concept of Race.”

Does race matter in Hong Kong and China?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUG6KSy9rPI&feature=related

“The Chinese Dream?”“As China rapidly climbs to world economic power, some enterprising individuals are emigrating here in the hopes of finding a new version of the American Dream. Blogging For China translates an article from the Southern Metropolis Daily on African traders who move to China (notably the city of Guangzhou, which currently holds an estimated 100,000 Africans) with the same burning desire of an earlier generation who emigrated to America: a better life. Many of them face strong prejudice against blacks in China and struggle to integrate themselves into their villages.”

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/06/17/the_chinese_dream.php

http://annansi.com/blog/2007/12/cultures-collide-a-new-chinese-african-identity/

“As more and more Chinese make their way into Africa seeking opportunities, what will be the cultural impacts on African communities? While many larger Chinese corporations are setting up shop in Africa, there are also individual Chinese businessmen – and women – exploring the opportunities on the African continent. The image above shows an increasingly common interaction between Chinese and Nigerian businesswomen in Lagos. African students are already beginning to attend Chinese universities as a way to make themselves more marketable in the growing Africa-based Chinese job market. Around the world, the Chinese are known for creating businesses in communities where there was never an obvious cultural relationship, but then again so are Africans. So with the growing Chinese/African cultural exchange will both cultures maintain their distinction or will a new identity arise?”

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2008/06/19/in-south-africa-chinese-is-the-new-black/?mod=googlenews_wsj

June, 2008

“A high court in South Africa ruled on Wednesday that Chinese-South Africans will be reclassified as “black,” a term that includes black Africans, Indians and others who were subject to discrimination under apartheid. As a result of this ruling, ethnically Chinese citizens will be able to benefit from government affirmative action policies aimed at undoing the effects of apartheid.”

“But as Frank Dikötter of the University of Hong Kong argued in his brilliant 1992 book The Discourse of Race in Modern China, traditional notions about culturally inferior "barbarians" intermingled with Western forms of scientific racism to form a distinctively Chinese racial consciousness in the 20th century. The "yellows" were locked in a struggle with their equals, the "whites"--and both were superior to the "blacks," "browns" and "reds." The dislike and distrust of Europeans was always mixed with envy and admiration. The disdain for dark-skinned foreigners, in contrast, was and remains relatively uncomplicated. Maoist China railed against Western imperialism, and saw itself as a leader of the global proletariat of Africans and Asians. “

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/china-race-racism-opinions-columnists-reihan-salam.html

“The author first demonstrates that racial categories of analysis were not confined to the edges of Chinese thought systems, but have been widespread and influential during the past century. Secondly, he argues that racial discourse did not result from 'Western influence' but was largely due to endogenous developments which had only a minimal relationship to Western thought. Thirdly, he dispels the myth of Chinese 'cultural universalism' to show that outgroups were often classified according to physical characteristics alleged to be permanent. And finally, he indicates that this discourse did not exist in isolation of social movements but was part of a symbolic universe in perpetual change. Frank Dikotter's conceptual approach is grounded in discourse analysis, social constructivism and intergroup sociology. He makes detailed comparisons with Western notions of race, and approaches a number of related topics such as Occidentalism, non-Darwinian evolutionism, categorical thought…”

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Discourse-of-Race-in-Modern-China/Frank-Dikotter/e/9780804719940

“Race, of course, is a cultural construct with no relationship to objective reality. Phenotypal variations like hair texture or skin colour are subjectively perceived and culturally constructed by social groups: some may focus on skin colour, others on eye colour. These biological differences do not of themselves induce cultural differences, but are utilized to legitimize role expectations: physical features are given social meaning. Classifications based on physical appearance have no scientific foundation. Races do not exist, they are imagined.”

(Dikotter’s definition of race)

What are sociological concepts we have learned in this course?

How can we apply them as researchers?