The Persistent Power of "Race" in the Cultural and Political Economy of Racism

Abstract

KEY WORDS: social construction of race, neo-racism without races, scientific antiracisms, subjugated know ledges in anthropology, racialized ethnicity ABSTRACT Historically, anthropology has occupied a central place in the construction and reconstruction of race as both an intellectual device and a social reality. Cri tiques of the biological concept of race have led many anthropologists to adopt a "no-race" posture and an approach to intergroup difference highlighting ethnicity-based principles of classification and organization. Often, however, the singular focus on ethnicity has left unaddressed the persistence of racism and its invidious impact on local communities, nation-states, and the global system. Within the past decade, anthropologists have revitalized their interest in the complex and often covert structures and dynamics of racial inequality. Recent studies shed light on race's heightened volatility on contemporary sociocultural landscapes, the racialization of ethno-nationalist conflicts, an thropology's multiple traditions of antiracism, and intranational as well as international variations in racial constructions, including the conventionally neglected configurations of whiteness. OVERCOMING DENIALUntil recently, anthropology has not been as visible as some other fields in the new critical discourse on race Ccf 51, 126,142,192). Historically, anthro pology has occupied a central place in the construction and deconstruction 0084-6570/95/1015-0047$05.00 47 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1995.24:47-74. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by University of California -Davis on 02/08/15. For personal use only. Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS RACISM IN CONTEMPORARY NATIONAL AND GLOBAL DISJUNC TURES The current era of global political and cultural economy is characterized by the disorder engendered by reconfigurations of regional, national, and transna-Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1995.24:47-74. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by University of California -Davis on 02/08/15. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1995.24:47-74. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by University of California -Davis on 02/08/15. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1995.24:47-74.

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