Can sociologists do without the concept of 'race'?

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Can sociologists do without the concept of ‘race’?

‘Race’ is a commonsense term, the meaning of which has been deliberated by sociologists, many of whom believe it should be discarded. The concept of ‘race’ supposes there are biological features which distinguish groups of people whilst the phrase ‘racial conflicts’ presumes disagreement arises solely from contact between ‘races’ rather than aspects dissociated from ‘race’ such as political or economical debate. Today, it is widely believed biological ‘races’ are nothing but social constructs and scientists and sociologists alike disagree humans are divided into several different types of species according to dissimilar physical or genetic characteristics. Although there are noticeable physical differences, these are dissociated from the stereotypical characteristics unwillingly taken on by different communities across the world, for example, in the 18th century, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, identified human subgroups according to what he decided were geographical, physical and mental characteristics which separated each group. He claimed white man, the Homo sapiens europaeus, was lively, inventive and intelligent while the black man, the Homo sapiens afer was cunning, slow and negligent. Though he researched each aspect of the black and white communities, his outcome places emphasis on the positive characteristics of people with pale skin and the negative features of those with darker skin which many believe is entirely invalid, asking why people should be separated by their skin colour.

To assume the terms ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ have the same meaning would be wrong. ‘Race’ refers to groups which exhibit unchangeable biological and mental attributes. Popeau quotes " Race is a concept that has long been used to ascribe natural differences to people from different cultural backgrounds" A term inherited from 18th- and 19th-century colonialism, ‘race’ is defined as ’socially and politically consequential grouping of people based on physical appearance, ancestry and culture.’ suggesting a persistent need to define and differentiate between groups - too often for negative reasons, and often based on myth. ‘Ethnicity’ refers to the social and cultural such as music, food, dress and language, aspects which change through time, unlike the presumed inherent attributes which the term ‘race’ embodies.

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It is suggested that there were three distinct periods in which contributions were made to the development of notions of 'race' after the Reformation. The first period occurred during the years 1684-1815, the era of the discovery of the 'New World' and the ensuing triangular slave trade. Writers of this time dealt explicitly with the idea of race, believing it to be an ethnic grouping. In 1775, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach wrote 'The Natural Varieties of Man' in which he classified modern humans into five broad categories; Caucasian, Mongoloid, Malayan, Ethiopian and American, based primarily on measurements of the skull. This ...

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