Instructor: Dr. Caroline Locher-Lo
Critical theories of racial and cultural difference. Initial formulations of theses against scientific racism and their later transformation by historical, social, and global-historical accounts of racial subjugation.
Term 2
Description: This course will explore theories on race, ethnicity, and culture–from the dawn of humankind into the present–with a focus on how these notions have been produced and reproduced. Students will utilise critical and theoretical approaches to delve into ethnic, racial, and cultural inequality in Canada and beyond. Numerous prominent racial theories will be called upon to provide lenses through which we will critically analyse the concepts of “race”, ethnicity, racism, identity, belonging, superiority, inferiority, orientalism, eurocentrism, ethnocentrism, dualism, hybridity, otherness, whiteness, essentialism, prejudice and bias, power, dominance, multiculturalism, xenophobia, diversity, cultural competence, and superdiversity. In essence, the course will examine a broad range of theories and notions pertaining to racial and cultural dynamics—and more importantly, their lasting implications.
For a deeper dive into the complexities of inequality, prejudice, and marginalisation, we will also dissect the structural circumstances and underlying conditions within which inequality is created, sustained, and normalised. Systemic structures of inequality will be explored through the notions of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, neoliberalism, classism, and transnationalism; and theories such as critical race theory, representation theory, structural-functional theory, and social conflict theory. This course will ultimately equip students with the critical thinking skills, sociological lenses, and conceptual footings to independently analyse and deconstruct unjust social phenomena in the contexts of race and culture. GRSJ315 201 also aims to illuminate the critical necessity of recognizing and responding to inequality in the contemporary era.