HUMR 3301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bigfoot, Institutional Racism, Racialization

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Human Rights
• Course: HUMR 3301
• Professor: Paul Mkandawire

Document Summary

The word (cid:862)ra(cid:272)e(cid:863) is still use widely i(cid:374) (cid:271)iologi(cid:272)al s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)es how populations are differentiated by genetic frequency. Hierarchical arrangement of races into discrete categories of people distinguished by phenotypical features. Discourse of race entails 2 layers of selection and categorization. First: identification of physical or somatic features that set the criteria for human categorization. Second, a selection from this range of available somatic attributes those features that are signified as symbolising supposed differences between human beings. When the idea of race is invoked, it is a consequence of signification where certain (and not others) somatic features are given meanings and deployed to organize people into distinct groups race. People within each race are attributed to particular cultural attributes. Thus, a population is represented as discrete by virtue of a socially constructed profile of somatic and cultural characteristics. The deterministic nature of this representation means that all those who possess the signified characteristics are presumed to have associated cultural characteristics.