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Case Study 49: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCT: Sociological Construction of Race
“Too often, the analysis of race begins and ends with its dismissal as a social construct. Race as social construct becomes a master trope, sociology’s own construction of what race is about. Yet the discipline is substantially founded on the notion that all forms of sociality are constructs, particular relations inscribed in the world from the universe of possible relations. Simply making this point with reference to race or ethnicity does not, however, constitute a theory of them. While it is certainly true at one level of abstraction, a necessary condition for a useful theoretical account must be to demonstrate how they are not ‘just’ social constructs.” — Author: Chris Smaje (1997)*
A Brief Analysis of Race as a Social Construct
The term “social construction” or “social construct” has become a bit of a mahout. When discussions of race erupt, the disturbingly inevitable Stepford-like conditioned utterance, “It’s a social construct,” feels like an invocation offered up with a slightly bowed head in an almost reverent whisper. The “Amen Nod” in acknowledgment is a similarly involuntary signum crucis. The invocation and nod operate like a little mahout riding on the shoulders of mankind…
