Introductory description

This is not a module which is about deciding whether something-or-other is ‘racist’, ‘not-racist’ or ‘antiracist’. It is about helping you think through social and historical processes that have created differential treatment along lines of “race”, how these inequalities are manifested today in our everyday lives, and the theory and practice of struggles against racism.

The module takes a sociological approach to understanding racisms, that is:

• Recognising race and racisms as produced through practices of people and institutions
• Understanding racism as a structure of power, entangled with other structures of power including gender, class, sexuality, disability and citizenship.
• Paying attention to how formations of race and racism can function in different ways in different places, times and situations (racisms rather than racism).

You will learn about different practices of antiracism that have taken place or are happening now and explore how different theoretical approaches to anti/racism can help us understand political struggle and social life. That is, antiracisms will be discussed both as an empirical real-world practice and as a resource for theorising political struggle and social life.

We will engage with social theory and relate this directly to empirical, real-life examples. You will be encouraged to think each week about how experiences in your everyday life, and in current affairs and the news, relate to the concepts and examples we are discussing.

Being respectful: The module focuses on socio-historical ideas and analysis and present-day examples. Some discussions may bring up strong feelings or experiences from students’ own lives. We encourage open and critical discussion in seminars and lectures, but please be respectful of one another. If you feel particularly disturbed by anything in the module, you are welcome to talk to the module convenor or seminar tutor about this.

Module web page

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. What is racism and what is antiracism?
2. Racism in theory and practice
3. Antiracism in theory and practice
4. Racial capitalism
5. "Decolonise the university"
6. Nationalisms and borders
7. Feminisms and antiracisms
8. Extreme vs everyday
9. Local to global

Learning outcomes

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

• Demonstrate an understanding of concepts, theories and processes of racism and antiracism
• Demonstrate a critical analysis of relationships between racisms and other relations of power (e.g. class, gender, sexuality, disability, citizenship)
• Demonstrate an ability to relate current social divisions to longer histories of power, domination and struggle
• Demonstrate an ability to identify relationships between social divisions at local, national and transnational scales
• Address the aims and objectives of the module demonstrating close engagement with module materials

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Specific reading list for the module

Research element

Independent library-based research for assessment

Subject specific skills

• a systematic understanding of sociological understanding of racisms and antiracisms, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of the sociology of 'race' and migration
• conceptual understanding that enables the student:
  *to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are
  at the forefront of sociology
  *to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research in sociology
• the ability to manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources including refereed research articles, other scholarly works, and archival materials

Transferable skills

• an ability to deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within a discipline
• an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge
• an ability to apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects
• an ability to critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem
• an ability to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring:
  *the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility
  *decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts
  *the learning ability needed to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.