SOCY 597: Contemporary Race Theory (Fall 2015)
Prof. Zine Magubane
Office Hours: T/Th 1-3 (McGuinn 418)
Magubane@bc.edu
Course Description: This course is a historically grounded examination of the
‘racialization’ of persons of African descent in the United States. We begin with
establishment of the first British colony (Virginia) in North America and end in the
contemporary ‘post-racial’ era. Along the way we will consider the evolution of Jim
Crow, anti-colonial struggle, the Cold War, segregation, and the ‘war on drugs’. The
aim of the course is to examine how the meanings and definitions of race, class, and
gender have interacted and evolved over time. Our geographic focus is the United
States. However, we will be particularly interested in tracing the impact of global
forces on racism, classism, and sexism in the United States.
Requirements:
Paper 1: Due, October 23 (30%)
Paper 2: Due, December 11 (30%)
Class Presentation (20%)--Before the end of the first week of class please email me
your top three choices for presentation dates
Attendance & Participation (20%) – Please bring the assigned book/article/chapters
we are reading with you to class each day. The course will revolve around close
reading and detailed and specific discussion of the assigned texts.
Required Texts
Alexander, Michelle. 2012. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness.
Baptiste, Edward. 2014. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of
American Capitalism.
Blackmon, Douglas. Slavery By Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black
Americans From the Civil War to WWII.
Brown, Kathleen. 1996. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs.
Dudziak, Mary. Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.
Massey, Douglas and Nancy Denton. 1993. American Apartheid: Segregation and the
Making of the Underclass.
Wilder, Craig. 2013. Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s
Universities.
Prerequisites: There are no formal prerequisites. However, the course assumes
familiarity with at least some of these key concepts/terms:
Colonialism
Post-colonialism
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Postcolonial theory
Postmodernism
Postmodern theory
Intersectionality
Imperialism
Marxism
Pan-Africanism
Empire
Liberalism
Transnationalism
Discourse/discursive
Social construction/constructivism
Queer theory
Sociology of sex and gender
Patriarchy
--------------------------------9/1: Introduction
9/3:
9/8:
“Little White Lie” (in-class film)
Samuels, Allison. 2015. “Rachel Dolezal’s True Lies.” Vanity Fair [electronic
reserve]
Winant, H. and Omi. M. 1994. Racial Formation in the United States: From the
1960s to the 1980s. (Chapter 4 “Racial Formation”) [electronic reserve]
Bonilla Silva, E. 1997. “Rethinking Racism: Towards a Structural
Interpretation.” American Sociological Review [electronic reserve]
9/10: Loveman, M. 1999. “Is Race Essential?” American Sociological Review. Vol. 64
(no. 6): 891-898. [electronic reserve]
Bonilla Silva. M. 1999. “The Essential Social Fact of Race.” American
Sociological Review Vol. 64 (no. 6): 899-906. [electronic reserve]
9/15: Fields, B.J. 1990. “Slavery, Race, and Ideology in the United States of
America.” New Left Review (May/June): 95-119. [electronic reserve]
Brown, K. 1996. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs. (Chapter
3 “Good Wives and Nasty Wenches: Gender and Social Order in a Colonial
Settlement”) & Chapter 4 “Engendering Racial Difference 1640-1670”.
9/17: Brown, K. 1996. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs.
(Chapter 6 “From ‘Foul Crimes’ to ‘Spurious Issue’: Sexual Regulation and the
Social Construction of Race” & Chapter 7 ‘Born of a Free Woman: Gender and
the Politics of Freedom).
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9/22: Brown, K. 1996. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs.
(Chapter 9 ‘Tea table Discourses and Slanderous Tongues’ & Chapter 10
‘Anxious Patriarchs’.
9/24: Wilder, C.S. 2013. Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, The Troubled History of
America’s Universities. (Chapter 1 ‘The Edges of Empire, Chapter 2 ‘Bonfires
of the Negros’)
9/29: Wilder, C.S. 2013. Ebony & Ivy (Chapter 3 ‘The Very Name of a West Indian’ &
Chapter 7 ‘Institutionalizing Race in the American Academy’)
10/1:
10/6:
10/8:
10/13:
Film: ‘The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross: The Age of
Slavery’ (shown in class) Baptiste. E. 2013. The Half Has Never Been
Told. (Chapter 2 ‘Heads’)
Baptiste. E. 2013. Half Has Never Been Told. (Chapter 4 ‘Left Hand’ &
Chapter 7 ‘Seed’)
Film: ‘The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross: Into the Fire
1861-1896’ (shown in class)
Blackmon, D. Slavery By Another Name (Chapters IV,V, XIV, XVI)
10/15:
Film: Slavery by Another Name (shown in class)
10/22:
Von Eschen, P. 1997. Race Against Empire (Chapters 4, 5, 6)
10/20:
10/27:
10/29:
11/3:
11/5:
11/10:
11/12:
Von Eschen, P. 1997. Race Against Empire: Black Americans and AntiColonialism 1937-1957 (Chapters 1, 2, 3)
Dudziak, M. 2000. Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of
American Democracy. (Chapters 1, 2)
Dudziak, M. 2000. Cold War Civil Rights (Chapter 3)
Von Eschen, P. 1997. Race Against Empire (Chapter 7)
Dudziak, M. 2000. Cold War Civil Rights (Chapter 4)
Von Eschen, p. 1997. Race Against Empire (Chapter 8)
Dudziak, M. 2000. Cold War Civil Rights (Chapters 5, 6)
Massey, D and Denton, N. 1993. American Apartheid: Segregation and
the Making of the Underclass. (Chapters 2, 3)
Massey, D. and Denton, N. 1993. American Apartheid. (Chapters 4, 5)
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11/17:
11/19:
11/24:
11/26:
12/1:
12/3:
12/8:
Massey, D. and Denton, N. 1993. American Apartheid (Chapters 7. 8)
Alexander, M. 2012. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age
of Colorblindness. (Chapters 1, 2)
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
Alexander, M. 2012. The New Jim Crow. (Chapters 3, 4)
Alexander, M. 2012. The New Jim Crow (Chapters 5, 6)
Wrap Up (revisit Omi and Winant, Bonilla-Silva, Loveman, and Fields.
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