The Philosophy of Race

Sailee Khurjekar argues that race is culturally constructed.

- Sailee Khurjekar

We know what the human race is, but what about the different ‘races’ that comprise it? There are competing theories about the definition and role of human races, alongside debates surrounding the existence of races at all. Social constructionism is the idea that beliefs are formed by the habits and traditions of a society. Social constructionists on race are concerned with the relationship of race to social reality. This is also what I want us to be concerned with briefly here.

There are two major strands of social constructionism on race: political constructionism and cultural constructionism. Sally Haslanger is a proponent of the former, and believes that race is constituted by power relations. She raises awareness of the power relations between different groups, especially in the incitement of violence and oppression, and addresses the unequal treatment of groups of people by other groups. Chike Jeffers, meanwhile, is a proponent of cultural constructionism. He adopts a hybrid approach: the origins of race are political, but the persistence of the idea of race in the future is tied to its cultural power. I will try to show that the social constructionist position on race provides the most convincing definition of what race is, specifically proposing why we should be cultural constructionists on race.

Social Constructionism on Race