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5.4: Race as a Social Construct

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    324850
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    Contemporary sociology rejects biological definitions of race, emphasizing instead its socially constructed nature. As mentioned in previous chapters, sociologists such as Michael Omi and Howard Winant (2015) argue that race is produced and reinforced through historical, political, and cultural processes. Genetic research has further demonstrated that there is more variation within so-called racial groups than between them, undermining the biological basis of race (Yudell et al. 2016).

    Despite this, racial categories remain salient due to their institutionalization in laws, censuses, and medical practices (Hochschild, Weaver, and Burch 2012). For example, the U.S. Census continues to classify individuals by race, reinforcing the perception of race as a fixed identity (Nobles 2000). This institutionalization sustains racialized inequalities, even as science discredits race as a biological fact.


    This page titled 5.4: Race as a Social Construct is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Salvador Jiménez Murguía.

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