Sites of Race: (Conversations)

Critical social theorist and philosopher David Theo Goldberg is one of the defining figures in critical race theory.  His work, unsurpassed in its analytical rigor and political urgency, has helped transform the way we think about race and racism across the humanities and social sciences, in critical, social and political theory and across geopolitical regions.   In this timely collection of incisive and lively conversations with Susan Searls Giroux, Goldberg reflects upon his studies of race and racism, exploring the key elements in his thought and their contribution to current debates. Sites of Race is a comprehensive overview of Goldberg’s central ideas and concepts, including the idea of the Racial State, his emphasis on militarism as a culture, and his treatment of the "theology of race". Elegantly navigating between the theoretical and the concrete, he brings fresh insight to bear on significant recent events such as the War on Terror, Katrina, the killing of Trayvon Martin and Arizona's controversial immigration laws, in the process enriching and elaborating upon his vast body of work to date. Sites of Race offers fresh avenues into Goldberg's work for those already familiar with it, and provides an ideal entry point for students new to the field of critical race theory.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments vi Introduction 1 1 Race to modernity 14 2 Global racialities 35 3 Modernity’s civic religion 48 4 Racial states 66 5 Fearing Foucault 83 6 The raciologics of militarizing society 108 7 Migrating racisms 130 8 Civic lessons 152 9 Racial (ir)relevance 170 10 Reiteracing Obama 185 References 209 Index 218

About the Author :
David Theo Goldberg is Director at the UC Humanities research institute and Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California Susan Searls Giroux is Associate Vice President (Faculty) and Professor of English at McMaster University

Review :
Lively, incisive, and provocative, these conversations between Goldberg and Giroux serve both as an introduction to Goldberg's important work for newcomers, and as a significant elaboration that will be of great interest to those already familiar with him. The power and sophistication of Golberg's analysis is on full display, and the conversational style gives it a heightened sense of liveliness and urgency. This is a milestone text in the theorization of race and racism. Michael J. Monahan, Marquette University Through these provocative conversations in which Susan Searls Giroux asks David Theo Goldberg to reflect on the body of his work, we discover what it means to inhabit a world where race has been consigned to the realm of the invisible, but political, economic, and ideological structures continue to bear “the weight of race.” As Goldberg deftly recapitulates his considerable theoretical contributions, he links complex analyses of race and racism to key historical events, thus rendering them importantly accessible to new audiences today. Angela Y. Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz For decades, David Theo Goldberg has been theorizing race and racialization across a variety of temporal and geopolitical formations--apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, 19th through 21st century United States, Palestine/Israel, old Europe and new immigrant Europe. This splendid set of conversations between Goldberg and Giroux reprises the riches of his thought and places essential touchstones for theorizing race today, among them political theology, neoliberalism, gender and class, Eurocentrism, immigration, securitization, language and silence. Along the way, Goldberg and Giroux probe the riches and limitations of diverse theoretical approachesÑpsychoanalytic, Foucaultian, feminist, Marxist and postcolonial-- for grasping racial formations and subjections. This is a wonderfully readable, teachable and stimulating text. Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley