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Against 'Racisms': An Invidious Concept Under Fire

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  • Jack Kerwick

Abstract

In the contemporary Western world, it is impossible to go a single day without hearing about "racism." Yet beyond thinking of it as something at once ubiquitous and especially, maybe even uniquely, awful, no one seems to know what "racism" is. In this paper, I subject the concept of "racism" to interrogation. I show, first, that in spite of what the singularity of the term may lead us to believe, there is no unitary phenomenon to which "racism" refers. In fact, there are at least four logically distinct and, in some respects, inconsistent conceptions of "racism." The latter has been defined in terms of: (1) Racial Hatred (RH); (2) Racial Discrimination (RD); (3) Innate Inferiority (II); and (4) Institutional Racism (IR). Secondly, each of these conceptions is problematic on their own terms and, thirdly, none accommodates the popular sense that "racism" is both pervasive and particularly horrible. Finally, I recommend that "racism" is a word that we are better off retiring.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack Kerwick, 2014. "Against 'Racisms': An Invidious Concept Under Fire," E-LOGOS, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(1), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlelg:v:2014:y:2014:i:1:id:377:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.18267/j.e-logos.377
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