About the Book
Along with many other disciplines race and ethnicity studies has had its theoretical agenda questioned over recent years. In Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory John Solomos introduces the reader to the key issues and contemporary debates that surround our understanding of race. By analysing underlying themes from the major theoretical texts on ethnicity and difference, this book explores the controversies and anxieties which exists in current social theories of race. It suggests the importance of rethinking our approach to questions about race and ethnicity, in an age where political and social identities are becoming ever more complex and plural. Race, identity, cultural and social change are thoroughly reconsidered and what is necessary to construct a politics based on plurality and multiculturalism explored. Key chapters include: race and racism anti-semitism, racism and modernity race, difference and identity feminism, race and cultural politics nationalisms and racisms race and ethnicity in a changing world. This book will be essential reading for students of race and ethnicity, sociology and social theory.
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Theoretical frameworks and perspectives 2. Race and social relations 3. Constructing identities and the racial other 4. Reframing feminism, rethinking race 5. Nations, cultures, identities 6. Antisemitism, racism, and modernity 7. New racisms or beyond race? 8. Race, representation, and difference 9. Racism and ethnicity in a changing world
About the Author :
John Solomos is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. He has researched and written widely on the history and contemporary forms of race and ethnic relations in Britain, theories of race and racism, the politics of race, equal opportunity policies, multiculturalism and social policy, race and football, and racist movements and ideas. His most recent books are Race and Racism in Britain (Fourth Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and The Unfinished Politics of Race: Histories of Political Participation, Migration and Multiculturalism (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His most recent edited books are Race and Ethnicity in Pandemic Times (Routledge, 2022), An Introduction to Sociology (SAGE, 2022), Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader (Third Edition, Routledge, 2022), and Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Racisms (Routledge, 2020). He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Ethnic and Racial Studies journal, co-editor of the Racism, Resistance and Social Change book series (Manchester University Press), and General Editor of the online The Routledge Encyclopaedia of Race and Racism series.
Review :
‘John Solomos is the too-often unacknowledged uncle of UK race and ethnic studies. This work brings together insights from his field-making career, reflecting his often stated belief that a commitment to teaching is central to the responsibilities of a serious scholar. It is destined to become a core work in the field, encouraging new generations of antiracist scholars to learn to think with the seriousness and generosity of the author’.
Gargi Bhattacharyya, Professor of Sociology, University of East London, UK
‘Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory is a politically astute, empirically grounded, conceptually sophisticated and open-ended contribution to our understanding of race and ethnicity at a moment when it is most needed. As popular movements and a new generation of activists embrace black lives matter, as statues of slavers and colonists are toppled, as universities grapple with what decolonising the curriculum might mean, and the racial inequalities of everyday life are as entrenched as ever, there couldn’t be a better moment than now to take stock of how we got to where we are today and how we might move forward into a more racially just future. This is simply a superb book. It provides a rigorous, intelligent and accessible pathway through the last half a century of race thinking, debate, politics and the racialisation of social relationships, in the UK and beyond. Most importantly, it provides an invaluable resource with which to develop intelligent public conversations about race’.
Caroline Knowles, Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
‘Nobody in the world but John Solomos could write such a great book, based on empirical research, theoretical clarity, a solid experience of teaching and an unbelievable knowledge of both academic production and controversies, and the public debates on racism and antisemitism. In a time when huge transformations affect these key issues, which are so central in the political and social life, John Solomos brings to bear a more accurate, precise, and up-to-date analysis. This book will be a classic point of reference for years to come’.
Michel Wieviorka, Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France
