The philosophy of race

"Race" is so highly charged and loaded a concept it often hampers critical thinking about racial practice and policy.

A philosophical approach allows us to isolate and analyse the key questions: What is race?

Can we do without race? What is racism and why is it wrong? What should our policies on race and racism be? The Philosophy of Race presents a concise and up-to-date overview of the central philosophical debates about race.

It then builds on this philosophical foundation to analyse the sociopolitical questions of racism and race-relevant policy.

Throughout, the discussion is illustrated with a wide range of examples: Afro-American 'blackness'; British-Asian racial formation; Aboriginal identity in Australia; the racial grouping of Romany-Gypsies and Jews in Europe; categories of race in Brazil; and the concept of model minorities in the US and UK.