In addition to the readings in the table below, the following texts are also useful:
[BL] = Blum, Lawrence. "I'm Not a Racist, But…": The Moral Quandary of Race. Cornell University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780801488153. [Preview with Google Books]
[BB] = Boxill, Bernard, ed. Race and Racism. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780198752677.
[M] = Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. Cornell University Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780801484636.
[S] = Shelby, Tommie. We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity. Belknap Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780674025714.
[Z] = Zack, Naomi. Philosophy of Science and Race. Routledge, 2002. ISBN: 9780415941648.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | No readings assigned |
| I. What, if anything, is race? | ||
| 2 | A Tiny Slice of the History of the Concept of Race |
Blumenbach, F. Joahann. "On The Natural Variety of Mankind." In The Idea of Race. Edited by Robert Bernasconi and Tommy Lee Lott. Hackett Publishing Company, 2000. ISBN: 9780872204584. [Preview with Google Books] Stocking, Jr., George W. "The Turn-of-the-Century Concept of Race." Modernism / Modernity 1, no. 1 (1994): 4–16. |
| 3 | "Our" Concept of Race | [BL] Chapter 6: "'Race': A Brief History, with Moral Implications." |
| 4 |
Race Eliminativism Screening: RACE - The Power of an Illusion, Ep. 1: The Difference Between Us. Directed by Christine Herbes-Sommers. Color, 57 min. 2003. |
Bamshad, Michael J., and Steve E. Olsen. “Does Race Exist?" Scientific American, December 2003. |
| 5 | Appiah and the Meaning of 'Race' | Appiah, Anthony K.  "Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections." (PDF) The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, delivered at University of California at San Diego, October 27 and 28, 1994. PhilPapers. |
| 6 | Race and Medicine |
Burchard, M. D., Esteban González, et al. "The Importance of Race and Ethnic Background in Biomedical Research and Clinical Practice." New England Journal of Medicine 348, no. 12 (2003): 1170–75. Root, Michael. "The Use of Race in Medicine as a Proxy for Genetic Differences." Philosophy of Science 70, no. 5 (2003): 1173–83. RecommendedRoot, Michael. "How We Divide The World." Philosophy of Science 67, Supplement. Proceedings of the 1998 Biennial Meetings of the Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers. (2000): S628–39. Risch, Neil, Esteban Burchard, et al. "Categorization of Humans in Biomedical Research: Genes, Race and Disease." Genome Biology 3, no. 7 (2002): Comment2007.1 –.12. |
| 7 | Race and Ethnicity |
Kitcher, Philip. "Race, Ethnicity, Biology, Culture." Chapter 4 in Racism: Key Concepts in Critical Theory. Edited by Leonard Harris. Humanity Books, 1999. ISBN: 9781573926393. RecommendedAndreasen, Robin O. "A New Perspective on the Race Debate." British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 49, no. 2 (1998): 199–225. Glasgow, Joshua M. "On The New Biology of Race." Journal of Philosophy 100, no. 9 (2003): 456–74. |
| 8 | Kinds of Social Construction |
Mallon, Ron. "A Field Guide to Social Construction." Philosophy Compass 2, no. 1 (2007): 93–108. RecommendedHaslanger, Sally. "Gender and Social Construction: Who? What? When? Where? How?" In Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader. Edited by Elizabeth Hackett and Sally Haslanger. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195150094. |
| 9 | Intersectionality |
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color." Chapter 17 in After Identity: A Reader in Law and Culture. Edited by Dan Danielsen and Karen Engle. Routledge, 1995. ISBN: 9780415909976. [Preview with Google Books] RecommendedCrenshaw, Kimberlé. "Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism and 2 Live Crew." Boston Review: A Political and Literary Forum. |
| 10 | Race and the Construction of Social Identity | Gooding-Williams, Robert. "Race, Multiculturalism and Democracy." Constellations 5, no. 1 (1998): 18–41. |
| 11 | Gender and Race Constructions |
Haslanger, Sally. "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?" Noûs 34, no. 1 (2000): 31–55. RecommendedMallon, Ron. "'Race': Normative, Not Metaphysical or Semantic." Ethics 116, no. 3 (2006): 525–51. |
| 12 | Racial Identities |
Hacking, Ian. "Making Up People." In Reconstructing Individualism: Autonomy, Individuality, and the Self in Western Thought. Edited by Thomas C. Heller, Morton Sosna, et al. Stanford University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780804712910. Haslanger, Sally. "You Mixed? Racial Identity without Racial Biology." Chapter 9 in Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique. Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780199892624. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 13 | Latina/o Identity and Race | Alcoff, Linda Martin. "Is Latina/o Identity a Racial Identity?" Chapter 1 in Hispanics / Latinos in the United States: Ethnicity, Race, and Rights. Edited by Jorge J. E. Gracia and Pablo De Greiff. Routledge, 2000. ISBN: 9780415926201. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 14 | Midterm Reflection | No readings assigned |
| 15 | Panethnicity |
Espiritu, Yen Le. "Ethnicity and Panethnicity." Chapter 1 in Asian-American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Temple University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9781566390965. [Preview with Google Books] Recommended———. "Pan-Asian American Ethnicity: Retrospect and Prospect." Chapter 7 in Asian-American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Temple University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9781566390965. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 16 | Are Arabs a Race? |
Naber, Nadine. "Introduction: Arab Americans and U.S. Racial Formations." Chapter 1 in Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects. Edited by Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber. Syracuse University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780815631774. [Preview with Google Books] Jamal, Amaney. "Conclusion: Arab American Racialization." Chapter 12 in Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects. Edited by Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber. Syracuse University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780815631774. RecommendedRacial Formation of Arab Americans, University of Michigan. |
| II. Racism | ||
| 17 | Extrinsic, Intrinsic & Cultural Racisms |
[BL] Chapter 1: "'Racism': It's Core Meaning." Appiah, Kwame Anthony. "Racisms." Chapter 1 in Anatomy of Racism. Edited by David Theo Goldberg. University of Minnesota Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780816618040. [BB] Modood, Tariq. Chapter 9 in "'Difference', Cultural Racism and Anti-Racism." |
| 18 | Racism in the Heart |
[BB] Garcia, J. L. A. "The Heart of Racism." Chapter 10. Shelby, Tommie. "Is Racism in the 'Heart'?" Journal of Social Philosophy 33, no. 3 (2002): 411–20. |
| 19 | Oppression and Institutional Racism |
Ezorsky, Gertrude. "Overt and Institutional Racism." Chapter 1 in Racism & Justice: The Case for Affirmative Action. Cornell University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780801499227. [Preview with Google Books] Young, Iris Marion. "Five Faces of Oppression." Chapter 2 in Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780691152622. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 20 | Equality and Social Justice |
Anderson, Elizabeth S. "What is the Point of Equality?" Ethics 109, no. 2 (1999): 287–337. RecommendedMacKinnon, Barbara. "Economic Justice." Chapter 13 in Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. 6th ed. Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. |
| 21 | Equality and Respect |
LeBron, Christopher. "Equality from a Human Point of View." Critical Philosophy of Race 2, no. 2 (2014): 125–59. RecommendedNozick, Robert. "Justice does Not Imply Equality." Chapter 10 in Equality: Selected Readings. Edited by Louis P. Pojman and Robert Westmoreland. Oxford University Press, 1997. Lucas, J. R. "Against Equality." Chapter 11 in Equality: Selected Readings. Edited by Louis P. Pojman and Robert Westmoreland. Oxford University Press, 1997. Benn, Stanley I. "Egalitarianism and the Equal Consideration of Interests." Chapter 12 in Equality: Selected Readings. Edited by Louis P. Pojman and Robert Westmoreland. Oxford University Press, 1997. |
| 22 | Inter-culturation, Cultural Appropriation, and Commodity Fetishism |
Mercer, Kobena. RecommendedCamp, Elizabeth. "The Socio-Aesthetics of Pink." November 5, 2014. Aesthetics For Birds. Callan, Eamonn. "The Ethics of Assimilation." Ethics 115, no. 3 (2005): 471–500. Young, James O., and Conrad G. Brunk, eds. The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. ISBN: 9781405161596. [Preview with Google Books] Coombe, Rosemary. "Sports Trademarks and Somatic Politics: Locating the Law in a Critical Cultural Studies." York University, 1999. |
| 23 | Screening: Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Directed by Shola Lynch. Color, 102 min. 2012. |
No readings assigned |
| 24 | Racial Profiling | Lever, Annabelle. "Why Racial Profiling is Hard to Justify. A Response to Risse and Zeckhauser." Philosophy & Public Affairs 33, no. 1 (2005): 94–110. |
| 25 |
Prisons Note: This session was taught by guest lecturer Jerome Hodges |
Alexander, Michelle. "Introduction." In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press, 2012. ISBN: 9781595586438.
RecommendedDavis, Angela Y. Are Prisons Obsolete? Seven Stories Press, 2003. ISBN: 9781583225813. |
| 26 | The Case for Reparations |
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "The Case for Reparations." The Atlantic, June 2014. Rosen, Rebecca J. "Ta-Nehisi Coates on Not Knowing How Much You Don't Know." The Atlantic, June 13, 2014. Note: The Rosen reading also contained a video of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jeffrey Goldberg discussing Coates' article "The Case for Reparations." The class watched a clip from the video and then had an open discussion based on questions provided in this session's lecture notes. |
| 27 | Short Student Presentations |
Recommendedhooks, bell. "gangsta culture: a piece of the action." Chapter 2 in We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 9780415969277. |
Related Resources
The following site includes sections on race, racism, and related topics:
Elizabeth S. Anderson's Race, Gender, and Affirmative Action: Resource Page for Teaching and Study, University of Michigan.