Introductory description

What is 'race' and why does it matter? This module answers those questions drawing on the wealth of expertise within Warwick Sociology, taught by experts who research and write about race and racism from a range of perspectives. Students will learn about both theoretical concepts and real-world examples that will help them to understand how race and racism shape the social world.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Theorising 'race'
2. Race, history, and empire
3. Nationalism, immigration and race
4. Race and gender
5. Race and class
6. READING WEEK
7. Race, inequality and social policy
8. Race and criminal justice
9. Race and religion
10. Post-race?

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Knowledge of basic concepts in the sociology of race
• Knowledge of a range of empirical studies of the sociology of race
• Understanding of race as a social construction with material consequences
• Awareness of relations between racialised power structures and other structures of power such as class, gender and nation
• Ability to describe examples of racialised inequality in terms of social structure, power and history as well as personal experience

Indicative reading list

Anthias, F. and Yuval-Davis, N. (1993) Racialized Boundaries, London: Routledge, (Chapter 2)
Bloch, A, Neal, S and Solomos, J (2013) Race, multiculture and social policy, London: Palgrave.
Englert, S (2019) 'Recentring the State: A Response to Barnaby Raine on Anti-Semitism', Salvage #7.
Garner, S. (2010) Racisms: An Introduction, London: Sage (Chapter 4).
Gilroy, P. (2002[1987]) There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack, London: Hutchinson (Chapter 2), pp.41-83.
Goldberg, D T (2015) Are we all post-racial yet? Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hall, S. (1997) ‘Race, the floating signifier’, Media Educational Foundation.
hooks, b (1981) Ain't I a Woman: black women and feminism, London: Pluto. [Extract: Chapter 4: Racism and Feminism: The Issue of Accountability]
Kundnani, A (2014) The Muslims are Coming, London: Verso
McClintock, A (1995) Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. Abingdon: Routledge. (Extract: p42-61, 'Inventing Race and the Family of Man').
Meer, N (2013) 'Racialization and religion: race, culture and difference in the study of antisemitism and Islamophobia', Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(3) 385-98.
Murji, K and Solomos, J (eds) (2015) Theories of race and ethnicity: contemporary debates and perspectives, Cambridge: CUP.
Parmer, A (2013) Race and ethnicity in the criminal justice process, in A. Hucklesby and A Wahidin (Eds), Criminal Justice: Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Phillips, C and Bowling, B (2007) Ethnicities , racism, crime and criminal justice, in M. Maguire, R. Morgan and R, Reiner (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Claredon Press.
Phillips C and Webster, C (2013) New Directions in Race, Ethnicity and Crime, London: Routledge.
Valluvan, S. (2019) The Clamour of Nationalism, Manchester: Manchester University (Chapter 1)
Wacquant, L (1999) ‘ Deadly Symbiosis: When ghetto and prison meet and mesh’, Punishment and Society, 3, 1, 95-134.
Yuval-Davis, N. (2011) The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations London: Sage (Chapter 3)

Subject specific skills

1. Understanding of race as a social construction with material consequences
2. Awareness of relations between racialised power structures and other structures of power such as class, gender and nation
3. Ability to describe examples of racialised inequality in terms of social structure, power and history as well as personal experience

Transferable skills

1. Critical thinking
2. Communication - written and verbal
3. Teamwork and working effectively with others
4. Information literacy/research skills