GRSJ 315: Critical Racial Theories

GRSJ 315 (3): Critical Racial Theories
Term 2

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.

GRSJ 315-201

This course will explore theories of race, ethnicity, and culture since the dawn of humankind, focusing on how these notions have been produced and reproduced. Students will utilize critical and theoretical approaches to delve into ethnic, racial, and cultural inequality in Canada and beyond. Numerous and prominent racial theories will be called upon to provide a lens through which we will critically analyze the concepts of “race”, ethnicity, racism, identity, belonging, superiority, inferiority, orientalism, eurocentrism, ethnocentrism, otherness, whiteness, essentialism, prejudice and bias, power, dominance, multiculturalism, 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 marginalization, we will also dissect the structural circumstances and underlying conditions within which inequality is created, sustained, and normalized. Systemic structures of inequality will be explored through the notions of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, neoliberalism, classism, 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 sociological lenses and conceptual footings to analyze and deconstruct unjust social phenomena in the contexts of race and culture. GRSJ315 201 also aims to illuminate the critical necessity to recognize and respond to inequality in the contemporary era.

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