Paperback | 192 pages | ISBN 978-1-85168-543-1 | Aug 2008
Despite the long struggle to eliminate racism, it is still very much with us. In fact, since 9/11, racism appears to be on the rise, making it more important than ever before to understand the meaning of race and the effect it has on society.
Alana Lentin maps the emergence and development of ideas about race through political history right up to modern debates about multiculturalism and Islamophobia, and considers the implications of a ‘post-racial’ society at a time when science has placed genetics over culture. Provocative and intelligent reading for the newcomer and expert alike, this invaluable resource exposes the roots of racial thought and demonstrates why it has remained crucial to our everyday lives.
“I’ve learned an enormous lot from Alana Lentin’s book. I only regret that a guide like this was not in existence when sixty years ago I started to study that phenomenon, one of the most insidious and complex of our times.”
Zygmunt Bauman, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds
“Clearly and convincingly written. Alana Lentin offers a very good springboard from which students can launch a critical examination of racisms.”
David Theo Goldberg, Director of the University of California Humanities Research Institute
“This book brings some valuable clarity into a theme that often generates a lot of confusion.”
Stephen Castles, Director and Senior Researcher at the International Migration Institute, Oxford University
“An excellent and up to date introduction to one of the world’s most enduring forms of injustice.”
Les Back, Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths College