Introduction: Expanding the Discourse on "Race"

Abstract

Introduction: Expanding the Discourse on "Race" In response to Mukhopadhyay and Moses's call for biological and cultural anthropologists to reestablish a dialogue on race, anthropologists from the four major subfields join colleagues from two allied disciplines to address the possible ways in which the anthropological discourse on race can become more holistic and amenable to the urgent needs and interests of the public. This essay offers an overview of the current resurgence of race-focused scholarship in anthropology, as well as a framework for an intertextual reading of the articles featured in this theme forum. Anthropologists' current conversation on race and racism is built on a rich legacy, elements of which are still being uncovered in gender-and racecognizant explorations of the discipline ' s past. I)espite the considerable hiatus since the last major juncture of race-centered debate and research, that legacy has recently inspired a promising upsurge of critical analysis which, if mobilized effectively, may contribute to the subversion of the often subtle cultural and structural logics of contemporary racism, as well as clear the ground for a new culture for multiracial democracy. Toward this end, anthropologists and others interested in using anthropological tools must cultivate more richly nuanced analyses and intervention strategies informed by insights emerging from the cross-fertilization of ideas from the various subfields along with such fields as human genetics and ethnic studies. Anthropology's unique role in interrogating, theorizing, and potentially disrupting the dynamics of racism may be dependent on understanding the conceptual and methodological significance of strategic intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary interfaces. [race, racism, holistic analysis of race, interdisciplinary dialogue, public anthropology]

Creating a Diasporic Archaeology of Chinese Migration: Tentative Steps Across Four Continents

“…When such an artifact and its intense emotional influence are combined with the knowledge that similar circumstances exist today, it speaks directly to the historic roots of modern racism in immediate and accessible ways. Such a project becomes part of a larger development within anthropology, one aiming to resituate race at the forefront of research as a key issue in decolonizing our discipline (Harrison 1997(Harrison , 1999Orser 1999Orser , 2001Orser , 2004. I believe that involving historical archaeology in the resituating of race as a central concern in anthropology joins a growing chorus of archaeologists looking for ways to make our discipline meaningful to the modern world (Gadsby and Chidester 2007;McGuire 2008;Rathje 1977;Shackel and Chambers 2004;Wilk and Schiffer 1979;Wood 2002).…”

Domestic Violence Among the Black Poor: Intersectionality and Social Justice

“…The ubiquitous sexualized and racialized (Harrison 1998) images of violently aggressive Black males and eagerly promiscuous Black females that populate the cultural landscape can strongly affect counselors' perceptions of actual Black male-female relationships, counselor-client dynamics, public policy, and police and legal interventions.…”

Public Sociology or Partisan Sociology? The Curious Case of Whiteness Studies

“…Therefore, to eliminate the concept of race would be a "theoretical and political error" (Andersen 2001;Renzetti 2007), because to do so would encourage the growth of colorblind ideologies. Even though the "emerging etiquette of race" (Applebaum 2005) and the passage of government mandates that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race have limited blatantly racist utterances and actions, racism reproduces itself through new, covert, or aversive practices that protect the status quo (Emerson and Smith 2000;Harrison 1998;Hyland 2005;Lynn and Parker 2006;Marvasti and McKinney 2007;Mueller et al 2007;Santas 2000): "Indeed, it is my contention that it is especially when white people believe themselves to be good and moral antiracist citizens that they may be contributing to the perpetuation of systemic injustice" (Applebaum 2005:277; italics in original). Those who would reject this contention do not realize that their "stance" is white (Applebaum 2005).…”

“…All other forces, including the class struggle, are relegated to the margins. William Julius Wilson's work is dismissed out-of-hand as a defense of the culture of poverty thesis (e.g., Harrison 1998;Ladson-Billings 1996;Welcome 2004). Racism is the problem.…”